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Dearg_Doom

Listed below are comments made by Dearg_Doom between Thursday, 7th May 2009 and Friday, 16th October 2009.

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What would you do with your plinth moment? 12:49pm on 16 Oct 2009 The one hundred days have come and gone. I turned down my place on the plinth and while I was initially enthusiastic about the project after seeing how it was realised I became disappointed.

The main problem for me was that by placing cameras so close to the plinth and having them stream the audio as well, 24/7, it sadly became more of a reality TV experience than one of sculpture or installation. I have spoken to other people who were offered places and then had second thoughts and their reasons were similar to mine.

Saying that the Fourth Plinth project was democratic and representative of the nation and it's people is akin to saying that the TV show Big Brother is all these things.

The attention seekers and charity do-gooders completely thwarted Gormley's intentions and turned installation into spectacle. The weight of having to decide 'what to do' during their hour was simply too much for most Plinthers and their often unsuccessful attempts to be 'Novel' and 'Different' rendered the vast majority simply 'More of the same'.

I feel that by placing a single camera some distance away from the plinth, so that the location and 'installation' of the plinth was more apparent, by not broadcasting any sound, by requesting that people only wore their normal attire or work clothes and that they 'did' nothing, the project may have been more successful and perhaps closer to the artists original intentions.

It rained like crazy during 'my' hour. No regrets.
Herta who? 08:53am on 09 Oct 2009 I am Dearg Doom.

Interesting post Razia. As always much appreciated.
All aboard the Booker express 12:45pm on 30 Sep 2009 I make a point of not reading Booker nominations.
All aboard the Booker express 11:00pm on 29 Sep 2009
I am Dearg Doom.

With the greatest respect...

EasternGreen -

'This discussion thread seems to be going nowhere.

The starting point of this 'debate' was Doctuer_Eiffel's statement that he makes a point of not reading novels listed for the Booker prize...'

'I don't usually engage in this sort of thread debate...'

John Self Asylum -

'First rule of internet message boards...'

Firstly this is not a 'discussion thread', this is not a 'debate' and this is not 'internet message boards'. This is Razia Iqbal's BBC Arts blog. She writes the blog, we write comments. Look at comment number one from the irrepressible Dennis JR... this is a comment. Look at comment number two from the Doctuer... this is a comment.

Also...

John Self Asylum -

'Doctuer_Eiffel is a troll...'.

'Troll Calling' is in itself a major troll activity. It is often an attempt to invalidate another person’s opinion. Doctuer_Eiffel's first post is simply an opinion, not an argument. He is under no more obligation to justify his opinion than Dennis JR is for post number one. Yes, some of his further comments have been somewhat provocative and ill tempered but is this not understandable when he posted his opinion and was then challenged to defend his right to have it?

And 'mobbing posts' of the type -

'yes we are right because there are more of us' ... 'yes that's right! we are right and the person we disagree with is a TROLL!'

where several people 'gang up on' and attempt to create a false consensus in order to undermine or invalidate another person's opinion, would also be best left in Shrek's swamp.

I feel that we all make the sort of blanket exclusions that Doctuer_Eiffel has made regarding the Man Booker nominations. How many of you read or have ever read soft porn novels? Would a fan of this genre convince you that you were being narrow minded by excluding this type of book? Likewise Mills & Boon novels, am I risking missing out on 'the best book ever written' by not even considering these books?

Surely it is the same with music. Many people are utterly disinterested with X-Factor style TV talent show winners. Are they being narrow minded? Perhaps in the eyes of fans of these shows. In my mind they have simply identified a mechanism or agenda that so distorts or skews a media, as to put it utterly outside their field of interest. Are they entitled to this opinion?

Come on Razzer, any chance of another blog post? You are about as prolific as Nelson's right hand (Post 1797) ;) Your comment section too often takes on the nature of a grumpy taxi queue, as people wait and wait for the next post. Some of the other BBC bloggers post every day. I understand you are based in London and it can be quite hard to find something arts based to write about :-p but once ever three of four weeks seems a bit stingy.
All aboard the Booker express 5:08pm on 28 Sep 2009 I am Dearg Doom.

vlad-let -

'...to be labeled a "Spam Fan" for simply being interested in how other people choose seems a little harsh.'

Indeed yes, I take your point and regret that this may have come across as name calling. That wasn't my intention and perhaps I tried to stretch the metaphor a little too far. I accept that your points re wanting to know how other people select works of fiction were genuine.

I also accept that as someone who reads a great deal but has very little time for works of fiction, my 'two cents worth' would be best viewed from this perspective. I would hope that we could have a lively and even animated discussion about this or any other subject without causing offence or irritation or being overly provocative.

After all, it was a wise woman who said,

"There's really no need to be rude."

;)
All aboard the Booker express 08:36am on 25 Sep 2009 I am Dearg Doom.

The good Doctuer_Eiffel, while a Stuckist, is in this case very correct. He has clearly made his point. People who choose not to eat processed pork are not closed minded philistines. They simply are aware of what a meat processing plant does to meat. The Man Booker, media response and conditioning, marketing and art competitions in general are simply a great spam factory. Some people like processed pork, clearly a lot do.

Also, can we please stop calling fiction 'Books' as if this part of publishing is all there is. The Man Booker Prize (and it's international version) is a creative writing/fiction competition. As such, someone who has no interest in dreary self serving memoirs or made up nonsense would simply not be tempted by a list of populist fiction.

'Book Clubs'? surely you mean popular fiction appreciation clubs, or do your book clubs regularly read technical manuals, academic publications and factual histories, for example. I doubt it.

The Spam Fans have demanded to know just how the good Doctuer selects the next book that he will read. I find this question mind numbing. How do they choose which piece of music or visual art they will interact with next? Are they capable of making any independent choice based on an independent view? Or is their life and interaction with art, just a series of lists and tick boxes? When they visit music stores, do they ask the cashier for the top five most popular CDs? Are the walls of their home decorated with prints of the five highest selling paintings in history?

Fiction is dying. The novel is getting smaller and less are being sold. There are less book stores in every town, every year. People buy their books from large bookstore chains, from supermarkets and online. In a nation where most adults have read Rowling’s fairly tales and most have not read, for example the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Franz Kafka, in a nation where more people have read the memoirs of Jade Goody than the works of Immanuel Kant, this discussion is at best ridiculous.
Debates and Complaints 09:35am on 07 May 2009 Mark,

Could you please confirm to me and the other readers of your blog if you are comfortable and happy with the epithet "Redneck" being used by a member to attack another member who posted a comment. This is clearly a derogatory term used to target a person's perceived social and/or ethnic identity. Is this the tone and standard of interaction you feel happy to condone on the Davenport Diaries' comments section?
Or is it the case that you feel that the impact of such hate speech is relative to location and/or it's relevance regarding the target. What I mean by that is, for example, are the racial epithets used to attack black people only offensive when used to attack black people or are they also offensive when used to attack, again for example, Indian and Pakistani people or for that matter when used to attack white people from Northern Ireland?
Would you yourself be happy to use this term to attack an individual in the editorial content of your blog? While I anticipate the screeching and tedious political correctness gone mad replies from other readers, I would like to make the point that as these questions are directed at you, only your response will have any relevance.

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