RAB draws my attention to the latest artbollocks.
Graffiti by Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten may be of greater significance than the discovery of early Beatles recordings, academics have said.
Rotten, born John Lydon, drew on the walls of the band’s London flat in 1975 after disliking a recent redecoration.
Now, a paper in the journal Antiquity is suggesting the flat is an important historical and archaeological site.
The authors say it is “a direct and powerful representation of a radical and dramatic movement of rebellion.”
Yup, you read it right, a doodle on a wall is of “great significance” more so than the early works of the Beatles. Fuck me sideways! The irony being that John Lydon, the artist in question, would probably take exactly the same tack. As RAB points out, he would likely as not take the piss and spit these academics out.
…all you have to do is get on a plane to LA and knock on John’s door, be greeted with a wide grin, a plate of crumpets and a lot of beer, and fuckin ask him about this “Historic” find. He will then proceed to wind you up something Rotten, then kick you out when he gets bored, laughing his arse off!
No, it is not archaeology, it is not art. It is an example of graffiti. It is of no significance whatsoever. Never was, never will be and as for the rampant artbollocks about a “powerful representation of a radical and dramatic movement of rebellion” Jeebus! I lived through the punk era. It was about loud music and grunge clothing. It was no more a rebellion than what went before or since.
Artbollocks is alive and well though, even if the Punks did grow up.
Now LR, you’re not playing the game here. You’ve been told it’s art from above and that should be an end to it. They have spoken.
Never thought I’d ever see the 1970s referred to in the same sentence as the word ‘antiquity’. Sounds like another case of needing an airdrop of dictionaries.
The answer to the question, as posed, is simple…
NO.
It’s bollocks, as you say!
It’s important to remember that to those people to whom J Rotten (retired) was important, they will see deep meaning in his childish scribbles.
For those of us with brains, less so.
John would know exactly the meaning of his childish little scribbles, and as I said originally, John Lydon would invite the “Archaeologists” in and then proceed to play with them for as long as his patience and temper holds up ( I have done the same. I let the Mormons in by mistake once, but once in, I decided to have some fun at their expense)and then boots them out with the words “Drivel, utter wanking Drivel!” wringing in their ears.
The Punks were rebelling against something though you know, trouble is it only turned out to be Progressive Rock!Punk was a very nessessary cleaning of the Augean Stables, but most of it is unlistenable to now. Nobody puts on Never Mind the Bollocks and does the ironing, do they? 😆
Thanks for the blowback or pingback, whatever it’s called, by the way LR.