Diary of a Genius

The uneasy marriage of reason and nightmare which has dominated the 20th century has given birth to an increasingly surreal world.

Corporation t-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday... — Comedy and Tragedy, Gilbert Bridge, Barbican Centre, City of London, EC2Y

More and more, we see that the events of our own times make sense in terms of surrealism rather than any other view…

Mister city oliceman sitting... — Petticoat Lane, Spitalfields, Tower Hamlets, E1

…whether the grim facts of the death-camps, Hiroshima and Viet Nam, or our far more ambiguous unease at organ transplant surgery and the extra-uterine foetus…

Crabalocker fishwife, pornagraphic priestess... — Ofra Zimbalista's Blue Men, Maya House, Borough High Street, Southwark, SE1

…the confusions of the media landscape with its emphasis on the glossy, lurid and bizarre, its hunger for the irrational and sensational.

If the sun don't come, you get a tan... — Patricio Forrester's Deptford Marbles, New Cross Road, Deptford, Lewisham, SE14

JG Ballard’s introduction to Salvador Dali’s Diary of a Genius (1974)

One thought on “Diary of a Genius”

Excellent! The closeup composition of the mask was wonderfully done, a little unsettling and more than a little “strange” – just the right lead-in mood for the post. I always enjoy your work!