On the day the war started

I woke up this morning and couldn't decide where to write anything.  I was thinking I could put something on the Simple stories blog as I was feeling very political and sad. I had marched with my three children to try and stop the last war - or perhaps the war before the last war - we were shouting 'who let the bombs out - Bush Bush Bush and Blare' to the tune of who let the dogs out by the Baha men.

It then struck me that I may be a as Cameron described over a third of the house of Commons a terrorist sympathiser.    I could not find a way through any kind of thinking that would justify dropping bombs on Syria. I wonder what Tony would think of his sons speech - if he were still here I bet that Christmas dinner at the Bens would have been a little fractious.  Me and my brother did encounter Tony Ben at the opening of Selby Coalfield in the 1970's we were playing a game with sticks I think and ran infront of him. I remember a large imposing man with a pipe saying "Get out of my way little boys." But having lived through a proper war Tony was always a person to advise caution. when it came to killing people.  He was less cautious about telling kids off at public events but later in life I was able to forgive him this.

Perhaps the thought of war has made art seem even more inadequate in actually doing anything in the world.  Me and Kate went to visit Anthony Shrag  in Edinburgh on Friday - he does a lot of work on conflict and agonism which is a clever way of falling out with everybody but still been able to do things.  He said that art was not about finding solutions but a way for people to ask difficult questions.  Perhaps within this thinking we need to except arts limitations.

The film above I made with Geoff Bright it's part of a project looking at anger and creativity perhaps art can offer a way to channel anger and make it constructive.  Today though on the first day of the war and still suffering from a Art hangover after visiting the Biennial in Venice and a couple of less than inspiring shows, art feels impotent, like an old blind toothless dog happy to sit in his basket for the last few months of her life.