Faith in Fakes

[Banksy: Exit through the Gift Shop (2010)]

Is Mister Brain Wash real?

I have to say that it was quite some time before the question even occurred to me. I'd watched Banksy's movie twice, squirming with horror at the artistic crimes of his artistic alter-ego (and nemesis) Thierry Guetta, but the idea that the latter might be partially - or wholly - fictional, a mere hoax on the viewing public, didn't strike me until I saw it mentioned as a possibility in an article about something else.

I'd always prided myself on having a good nose for such things. Peter Jackson's famous 1995 mockumentary Forgotten Silver fooled me for about five minutes, I recall. Banksy's prank - if prank it is - is far more cunning than that one.

Once the idea's come up, though, it's extremely difficult to get it to go away. Could there really be a creature out there such as MBW [Mr Brain Wash], terrorising the "honest" world of the humble street artist? How much more likely it seems that "Thierry" is just an actor, a stooge set up to take a dive, a non-pompous way of starting a dialogue around that old perennial, "What is Art?"

There doesn't seem to be much of a concensus on the matter even so. There certainly does seem to have been a big "Mr Brain Wash" show in LA in 2008. But, then, when you think about it, what does that prove? I guess the main point is, if you think Mr Brain Wash's art is shallow, derivative shit, what exactly distinguishes it from the deliberately shallow satirical images plastered up by Bansky and his ilk? What makes one set of images look fresh and witty and the other set look tired and lame?

[Banksy: One Nation Under CCTV (2005)]

What makes good art good, in fact? Clearly a lot of people look at Banksy's stencils from the Left Bank wall in Israel as crude propaganda. Others would see them as frivolous aestheticism unworthy of their "serious" topic. And yet to me they seem clever and heartrending at the same time: designed to communicate a big message in big strokes, but unquestionably capable of eliciting the same query from everyone who looks at them: "What exactly do we think we're doing here?"

I don't know what makes good art good any more than anyone else. If I did I'd be out there making it instead of sitting here talking to you guys. Nor am I positive that I always know it when I see it. I think I'm seeing the real thing here, though.

In the end it really doesn't matter if Mr Brain Wash is real or not (I fear that the balance of probability has begun to swing to "not", for me). The Banksy documentary he inhabits seems to me every bit as original and daring as his West Bank mural project. The reason? Because each of us has a little bit of Mr Brain Wash sitting inside us: the complacent Mr No-Talent who thinks he or she can get away with imitating other people's (or even our own) inspiration and feel that's somehow good enough ("the audience laughed; I got paid"); the time-waster who fills the world with so much mediocre dreck that there's no room left for the real thing when it does happen along.

Where do you draw the line? That's the question Banksy's film is really asking. The line between Mr Brain Wash and Bansky himself, on the one hand: the "real" (albeit super-tricksy) artist and his simulacrum. On the other hand, the real possibility that we ourselves might chance on something really worth saying, versus that easier alternative of continuing to churn out pastiche and self-parody. The need, above all, to shut up from time to time on the chance there might be something there worth listening to.

•

I raised some of these issues a year or so ago in a post on Fakery. Since then I've come across another book on the subject, Melissa Katsoulis's Telling Tales: A History of Literary Hoaxes (London: Constable, 2009). Melissa includes no bibliography or set of references, and is - for the most part - content to tread the same old track through Chatterton, Ossian, William Henry Ireland, Ern Malley, and Helen Demidenko, but she's certainly dug out some striking new additions to the canon of fakes: some of the Oprah-endorsed "misery memoirs", for instance.

Th real question, though, remains: Is "Melissa Katsoulis" a real person? There's a striking lack of corroboration around the subject. The (huge) author's photograph on the inside back cover could really be anyone, and one is forced to ask the question why anyone would want to compile so essentially perfunctory and untheorised a chronicle of infamy under their own name ...

This fake book's fake cover is, in some ways, the wittiest part of the whole scam. "Melissa' (whoever she is - Andrew Motion? Nigella Lawson?) is certainly laughing all the way to the bank. Who's to say that half of those "roaring twenties" tricksters she's dug up are real in any case? What better camouflage for a trickster than making other tricksters into your subject matter?

[Melissa Katsoulis: Telling Tales (2009)]

2010 - Our Year in Review

[Christopher Isherwood & W. H. Auden (January 1938)

Think in this year what pleased the dancers best
When Austria died and China was forsaken,
Shanghai in flames and Teruel retaken,

France put her case before the world: 'Partout
Il y a de la joie.' America addressed
The earth: 'Do you love me as I love you?

- W. H. Auden. "In Time of War" XXII (1938)

1938, for W. H. Auden, was marked by Hitler's Anschluss [integration, connection] (read: invasion) with Austria, the ongoing Sino-Japanese war, the final brutal stages of the Spanish Civil War, but also the continuing blithe naivety of the European and American democracies in the face of all these threats ...

I guess any objective summary of our year 2010, seventy-odd years later, would have to include - on the positive side - the miraculous rescue of the 33 Chilean miners on October 13, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest on November 13, and the fascinating Wikileaks revelations (thanks to the courage and vision of Julian Assange and his colleagues).

We'd also have to record, unfortunately, the Haitian earthquake in January, the Pacific tsunami in February, the escalating tension between North and South Korea, the appallingly mismanaged BP oilspill in the Gulf of Mexico, and - closer to home - the Christchurch earthquake in September, and the terrible mining tragedy at Pike River in November.

Under the circumstances, it seems a little frivolous to compile a checklist of our own year of events and achievements, but this has been a very full year for us - as for so many other people. Who knows? You might even get a chuckle out of one or two of the items below:

[Bronwyn Lloyd & Jack Ross (September 2010)

1. 31 March:
   
   
   [Jack reads at the launch of Dieter Riemenschneider's bilingual German-English NZ poetry anthology Wildes Licht]
   
   
   


2. 4 July:
   
   
   [Jack finishes compiling A Gentle Madness, a bibliography blog which lists his 15,000-odd books both by category and position on the shelves]
   
   
   


3. 15 July:
   
   
   [We receive copies of Bravado: A Literary Arts Magazine 19, for which Jack was the guest fiction editor]
   
   
   


4. 1-2 September:
   
   
   [Jack attends the nzepc's Sydney Poetry Symposium]
   
   
   


5. 11 September:
   
   
   [Jack discusses NZ poetry with Paula Green at the Going West Books and Writers Weekend, a propos of her new book 99 Ways into NZ Poetry, co-written with Harry Ricketts]
   
   
   


6. 22 September:
   
   
   [Bronwyn and Jack launch the Pania Press edition of Michele Leggott's Northland at her Inaugural Professorial Lecture]
   
   
   


7. 23 September:
   
   
   [Launch of Jack's short story collection Kingdom of Alt at the Alleluya cafe
   (together with Alex Wild's novel The Constant Losers)]
   
   
   


8. 28 September:
   
   
   [Bronwyn's PhD graduation]
   
   
   


9. 6 November:
   
   
   [Bronwyn's One Brown Box exhibition opens at Objectspace]
   
   
   


10. 17 November:
    
    
    [Preliminary launch of the new edition of Kendrick Smithyman's Campana to Montale (together with Scott Hamilton's edition of Smithyman's Selected Unpublished Poems)]
    
    
    


11. 16 December:
    
    
    [We receive copies of 11 Views of Auckland (to be launched in early 2011)]
    

Finds: Tree Worship

INFORMATION PLEASE ...

Does anyone out there know anything about this book, Tree Worship? It appears to have been privately published in Auckland in 1965, but it would be interesting to know more about its author, Charles Alldritt, in particular ...

Charles Alldritt, Tree Worship (1965)

Alldritt, Charles. Tree Worship: With Incidental Myths and Legends. Auckland: Printed for the Author by Strong and Ready Ltd., 1965. [No ISBN]. xiv + 122 pp.

back cover

TREES, those majestic natural monuments, have in silence watched men and cities rise and fall. They have been adored and have witnessed many peculiar, and sometimes cruel, rites. FROM THE RUINS of dead civilisations we learn just how much cruelty was the direct result of bigotry, self-righteousness and the apparent inability to examine or question beliefs. FEAR OF RIDICULE by their fellows and of reprisal by gods and rulers, have made people obedient to many ridiculous precepts. We may pity their credulous acceptance of the dictates of those who presumed to speak for the gods, and this is a reminder that we too could perhaps improve our methods. Though many may remain timid, there will always be those who dare to question the orthodox, and who are inquisitive and adventurous enough to explore. UNDER THE STONES we raise there may be all sorts of crawling horrors, but there may also be a diamond.

He appears to have been someone with strong, but possibly rather heterodox views on religion. Beyond this publication (and one or two other pamphlets conserved in libraries), I haven't been able to find out any more about him. Why was he so anxious to publish this information in book form, for instance? Was it his own idea, or someone else's? The copy I've been examining is dedicated to "Merle and Jim Burns", with an added little note at the bottom of the page:

Jim, Thank you for all your help. Chas.

halftitle

Here are the titlepage and frontispiece (presumably painted by the author, who must have had some artistic talent):

TREE WORSHIP WITH INCIDENTAL MYTHS AND LEGENDS WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES ALLDRITT PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY STRONG AND READY LTD. AUCKLAND 1965

SCANDINAVIAN CREATION LEGEND

Odin and his brothers created the first human beings from two logs of wood. One log was ash and the other elm; from the ash they made the first man and called his name Ask, and from the elm they made the first woman and they named her Embla.

(see page 81)

The book is dedicated:

TO JANICE (on her twenty-first birthday)

Perhaps the author's daughter? The preface is also interesting. There are quite a few underlinings and pencil corrections in the text of this copy, presumably added by the author himself. The words "don't apologise", written next to the dedication, seem to refer not so much to Janice as to the words "Early critics have suggested that the purpose of the book is not clear. Perhaps there is no purpose" [my italics].

PREFACE

The subject matter is the work of a collector rather than a scholar. Part I is a collection of opinions and theories which could possibly have some bearing upon the practices, beliefs and legends contained in Part II. Early critics have suggested that the purpose of the book is not clear. Perhaps there is no purpose. An attempt has been made to avoid bias and prejudice and it is sincerely hoped that it can be similarly read. There is always the tendency to believe a postulate to be true simply because it would be contrary to our accepted beliefs if it were not. Fortunately we now live in a more tolerant age, and those who differ are not. necessarily branded as heretics. As this goes to press it is interesting to find that last year (1964) the Church of Rome has been pleased to suggest that the "Holy Spirit” is also present "in other faiths." This is a big step away from the bigotry of ancient times but we still need to travel further. Unfortunately we still have with us those who expect the rest of the world to conform to their particular "civilized ritual," and expect others to remember their places. " If the rich man's schoolboy son asks a question he is taking an intelligent interest, but if the street Arab asks the same question he is being insolent and too familiar. There is a very human tendency to look upon those of other faiths as street Arabs, whereas we would he better advised to accept their questions regarding our beliefs as attempts to understand, rather than insults. Sometimes we are so quick to defend those things which we ourselves do not fully understand. Surely the obvious needs no defence, and our differences in secondary matters is of little importance. This book was written for enjoyment, and the necessary research has been exciting and rewarding. Lengthy explanations have been avoided as it is felt that readers prefer to arrive at their own conclusions.

CHARLES ALLDRITT Auckland, January, 1965

Something of the rather eclectic nature of the book can be deduced from the Table of Contents reproduced above. There's another page of it, as well as two pages listing the illustrations (four plates as well as numerous line drawings).

PART I Trees Before Men Ethics Faith The Oracle Adjustment Priest Kings Prayers to Powers – Intercession Magic and Holy Relics John Evelyn Beliefs in Magical Powers Pagan Rites in Christian Worship Changing Colour Criticism of Ancient Philosophy PART II Ritual and Dedication of Trees Paradise Treasures of Heaven Giants Pillars Egypt-Osiris Egypt-Sky-Goddess Tree as an Altar-•Sacred Sites Sacred Sites Groves Horns The Bull was the Symbol of Light Moses Yahweh Yahweh-Baal Moloch-Human Sacrifice Moloch Human Sacrifice-Indian Judge Ritual Killing

The first page of the text attempts to give some rationale for the author's choice of subject matter, but it does all sound somewhat post facto. Perhaps, as he remarks above, "there is no purpose."

PART I TREES BEFORE MEN

The title of this book is really a misnomer as trees were seldom worshipped by themselves or for themselves. but they have played an important. part in practically every faith. Examples in Part. II will serve to show just. how widespread these connections are. Exactly how trees came to have such pride of place will never be known, but certainly awe, inspired by their grandeur and age, was a contributing factor. It has been affirmed (Botticher) that "the worship of the tree was not only the earliest form of divine ritual, but was the last to disappear before the rise of Christianity." Our planet was covered with lush growth and impenetrable forests long before man made his appearance. In these difficult conditions his travel was restricted by trees, but these also afforded him protection. He looked upon trees as his parents and general providers. His kinship was even closer than to his brothers of the animal world; and as animals differed, so did trees; some were beneficient [sic.] while others were cruel. With the incessant play of natural forces they also had beauty, sound and movement. [p.1]

The page below looks, at first sight, rather sinister. That is, until one reads the text surrounding it:

1. German Nazi Emblem. 2. Swastika (top arm points right). 3. Sauvaskita (negative swastika, top arm points left). 4. Jain Swastika. 5. Tibetan Lunar Swastika. 6. & 7. Indian Swastikas. 8. Azazel (The Devil) with inverted star. 9. Staff of Typhon (Egyptian evil genius). 10. A 'positive' V symbol-Egyptian Hathor, the sky-cow, with the four sky-supports, also V-staves. For confirmation of figure 2 being the positive swastika refer to: Ward (Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods), Blavatsky (Theosophical, The Secret Doctrine), Mackenzie (The Migration of Symbols), O'Neill (The Night of the Gods). Pentacle used in Black Magic, copied from a drawing in Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie (Eliphas Levi).

CHANGING COLOUR

A most perplexing aspect of symbolism is the discovery that it does in fact often undergo a change of meaning and colour. Magical properties - either real or supposed change from positive to negative according to the manner in which they are used or viewed. An example of this can be illustrated by the two signs familiar to us during World War II – the Swastika and the "V" sign. In regard to the first of them, attempts have been made to show that there are two kinds, and that Hitler’s symbol was the negative one. Reference to books written before the war show that more writers favoured the belief that the opposite was the case. Swastikas on doors of temples - both in the east and in the west - show the symbol as good, that is if it is read from the same side as the lettering on both doors. … [pp.18-19]

There's also some interesting material on pp.99-100, in the section entitled "NEW ZEALAND." The author admits that "A New Zealand book should include reference to Maori folklore", and goes on to recommend A. W. Reed's Myths and Legends of Maoriland (Wellington: A. H and A. W. Reed, 1954) "for easy reading." Among others, he records the following legend:

There is still another story of Rata the Wanderer who "chanted an incantation to protect himself against the spirits before taking an axe and cutting down a tree." He required the tree to make himself a canoe; but in the night the "children of Tane" put the tree together again, and after this had been repeated several times Rata became ashamed and asked forgiveness, whereupon the spirits made a canoe for him. For, according to the legend, "to those who love the Garden of Tane, the Children of Tane are kind." When trees are cut down then the Sky-father's tears wash away the soil and the earth is then unable to nourish any living thing. Thus it would seem that our concern for conservation of the soil today is not by any means a new thought in New Zealand. [p.100]

The only other real clue to the work's genesis comes at the beginning of the Bibliography:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(A few references are missing as the work was commenced from notes gathered for a short lecture some fifteen years ago, precise records were not then kept, but those we have been able to trace are given.)

"Some fifteen years ago" would put the lecture back around 1950. On p.101 the author remarks: "Nothing appears to have been written on the subject of sacred trees since the two world wars," which gives us a clue as to just how long he had been collecting material on this theme. Two last clues to ponder:

In conclusion it is suggested that, if the reader has any doubt regarding the possible power of trees, perhaps he has never tried the experiment of contemplation in some quiet grove or forest where trees are large and old. [p.103]

It sounds a little like Tolkien's semi-sentient trees, or (more to the point) the dark reaches of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood. The rather pagan tone of this passage also gives some point to his remark that earlier writers on tree worship "were biased in favour of the narrower Christian viewpoint, and over emphasised the wickedness of those practices which were not of Christian origin."[p.101] Also, on the back of the frontispiece in this copy, the following words have been hastily scribbled in pencil:

Does it read "Some Trees", or "Come Trees"? The latter could be some kind of invocation, perhaps. Just how far did this author take his fascination with "the possible power of trees"? I'd really love to know ... Please, if you do have any knowledge of the book or its author, leave it as a comment on this blog entry (if you wish it to remain confidential, just leave me an email address, and I'll reply without posting your comment online).

Ask & Embla