A note from England

Here is something that a new friend wrote to me today. I quite like it and don't want to forget his kindness, not to mention deep philosophical knowledge.....



I am glad I met you too, Jimmy. You're a great guy, and you're knowledgeable on a lot of subjects. Not only that, but you have a certain charm that sort of shines through what you write, and, in particular, through your artworks -- which I interpret as being your own interpretation of the world [for I have great difficulties in believing that one ever painted a picture outside of what his interpretations of it were]. It is my belief that someone whose logic is distorted lives in an exceedingly interesting universe. Art is, I think, the distortion of logic; or, perhaps better, an interpretation of logic; for as I said, art is for me an interpretation of the world. Hegel said that logic is the same thing as metaphysics; metaphysics deals with the big questions, like why are we here, does anything, or everything, or nothing, exist, that sort o'thing. [link] is a link to discovering more. I think that art is the same thing as metaphysics. That is my interpretation of it. Metaphysics to Hegel was best expressed in logic, and to me, metaphysics is art. I have myself arrived at THIS conclusion, after I read, and believed, the work of Schopenhauer, a tiny fraction of which said that art is the only way that we are capable of understanding the world.

So, as I was saying: yes. Your logic, or your metaphysics, or, indeed, your art, are extraordinarily interesting. You, Sir, are one of the few people, I believe, who perceive the world as it really is. One might say immediately that your images are not realistic, but to me, in the sense that they are filled with a great deal many of emotions, they are perhaps key to understanding the world. I think that you can take pride in yourself, my dear Jimmy, that you are one of a relatively rare few who are and have ever been capable of interpreting the world as a thing-in-itself. [Paradoxically, you manage to achieve this through your OWN interpretations; I am aware of this.]

If we do indeed kick it in person, I'm buying you a beer. And we can talk about art. Or bullshit. Or both. Or anything else. You, Sir, are what we in England call "a legend".