Composition : iii

Wrought wires ringing with signals of life. Barred windows and crumbling, white-noise walls. Bricks, brackets and fuses – old weathered things.

I got to thinking about these surface compositions, how the outside works even better if it bears some reflection of the inside – meaning, simply, content is important. It reminds me of a question that Eugene (Street Kids father figure in Durban, South Africa) asked to no one as we drove around together one day in a smart neighbourhood, looking at all the big houses with high walls keeping wealthy South Africans safe. It is his experience that people show very different courtesies in their giving, depending on who stands to receive. He was reflecting on an encounter with some people we had just met. They treated him one way until they saw my white skin and became nice. I suppose his reflection was about transparency. He simply asked:

'Does the outside of your heart look like the inside?'

Does my surface stay true to what is underneath it? Do my compositions merely look pleasing on the surface, or are there layers within them that back up the original impression? It may sound like an obvious question, but it's a good one.

{Todays' Soundtrack: Bonobo - Black Sands}