Pretty sure that trees are immune to Covid but sweet that someone is trying to protect them..beats chopping them down which is currently happening at a rate of 15 billion a year..which leads me nicely (and not at all coincidentally) onto this petition..sign to ban any products linked to deforestation, sign it if you want to survive. This is the most selfish act you will ever commit..
p.s this is my 1500th post! Just wanted to say tanks to everyone who has stuck with me from the off, through ups and downs, through comedy and despondency…will this ever end? I’m not sure. Will I ever run out of things to photograph or bang on about? Who can say? I never imagined I would go on this long and there are days (most of them) when I think about quitting but then I see something incredible (like this masked up tree) and I feel compelled to document. So I guess its business as usual..albeit in a highly unusual time…
And so concludes our virtual trip to Ibiza circa 2019..when dancing was still a thing. A time when massive groups of people were not only allowed but extremely willing to be crammed together on the dancefloor, breathing each other’s breath, sweating each other’s sweat. These things might seem fairly undesirable right now but that was kind of the point. You were packed in so tightly together that all barriers between individuals were broken down. You were no longer separate entities. You became one gi-normous amorphous blob of rhythmic motion. And yes, that was considered a good thing.
The pandemic has proven categorically one thing..we need to interact with each other. It is imperative. We cannot properly function without human to human contact which is why having to keep away from each other is proving so friggin hard. We are mammals. We are designed to be close to one another. That is why we are so hot. (37 degrees on the inside to be precise) It’s so we can keep each other warm. Physically and metaphorically.
How do we cope with being apart from each other like this? In all honesty I don’t know but it is evident that we are failing to do so. Certainly not enough to stop the spread of the virus which is the whole point. We should be able to but clearly it is having a very detrimental effect on us all. And the longer it goes on the more it is going to grind us down. I have spoken to a lot of people this week and everyone seems incredibly despondent which is hardly a surprise as we are now six months in and it might as well be day 1 because we have made zero progress.
And as depressing as that is I urge you all to stay strong and keep your chins up. Let’s be honest, this ain’t going anywhere anytime soon so we are gonna have to settle in for the long haul which requires a deeper level of acceptance from all of us. We must endure this. And it will pass. The 2nd world war lasted 6 years and that was endured. This is like a war situation only difference is the enemy is invisible. I’m not saying its gonna last 6 years but we need to start thinking about it in those terms, for our own sanity.
We keep expecting this to end any day and it just won’t. And that sucks to high heaven but all we have to do is survive this. No more, no less. And that includes not losing our shit. We need to keep ourselves together for as long as this lasts and we’re gonna have to toughen the fuck up, just like previous generations did. We’ve had everything handed to us on a plate. No-one has ever said no to us. We have done what we wanted when we wanted. Well, now we can’t and we are just gonna have to pucker up and deal with it. No way round it I’m afraid.
I will be back on the streets of London as of Monday but it has been great to have got away from it for a few weeks, even if it was only virtually. And, now, as I walk past the masses in masks and wonder how the fuck this came to pass I will cast my mind to a time and a place when it hadn’t happened yet and pray for the day when it returns…
We stayed at an apartment right on the playa del bossa and every evening we sat out on the balcony and watched as everyone decked out for a night out strolled down the sidewalk/catwalk, preened and poised for action. It was like Ibeefa Tv and extremely captivating as we saw the daylife disappear and the nitelife begin…
Getting dressed up is half the fun of going out and I have not really had much reason to do so since lockdown..my ‘going out’ clothes stare at me forlornly from within my wardrobe, wanting to know when they will be back in action…I have nothing to tell them other than what I tell myself..be patient, your time will come again. And much as I have been enjoying a more ‘casual’ approach to life (back in combats for the 1st time since the 90s ;) I really wanna get suited n booted again – if things don’t improve soon, I’m gonna wear my 3 piece down Tescos and rock out under the faulty fluorescent in Aisle 7. ..fuck it.
Can you even imagine being crammed in a room with this many people all dancing to the same groove? Currently I would have to say no. It already seems so alien, so impossible. This is another time, or even another time line. It feels like it an alternate reality because this version of reality will not accomodate it. But if not now, then when? How long will it be before mass music based gatherings can resume? How long will it be before fun comes back? It feels like it has been sucked out of our existence, replaced with restrictions and recriminations…and a shit load of tension. And the longer this goes on, the more it seems like it won’t return, or not in the same way at any rate. And maybe by the time that it does we won’t be the same…
The shots this week were taken on one night during the closing parties at the club Hi (formerly Spaced) and tbh I didn’t really enjoy it at all. For me, it personified everything that is wrong with the big clubs in Ibiza these days. The music sucked and the crowd were a bit argy bargy. All shoving, no hugging. All elbows, no smiles. All in all it was pretty lame (altho think I had a slightly better time than the gents below) and yet, all said and done, I would probably give my eye teeth to be back there right now. In the absence of any dancing whatsoever I am finding myself pining for even the most average of nights out.
I first went to Ibiza 10 years ago back in 2010 and one night I was there I was introduced to the guy who owned DC10 and I told him how great it was being on the island for the first time and he turned me and said very matter of factly “you’re five years too late”. I really can’t even imagine what he is saying today. Actually, I guess he is now just saying to people “you’re too late”.
I hope to fuck by the time this all blows away/over/up that it won’t be too late and dance culture will live and breathe again..as I need dancing like I need breathing. I feel like I just can’t exist without it. And I am not alone. The U.K government clearly does not see the dance industry and all of its players as a priority but for us who lived inside it, it is of paramount importance. It is the good bit. The bit we live for. The bit we need. The bit that makes all the other shit tolerable.
p.s I might post up some more Ibiza shots next week as well as am enjoying being in another place and space to here and now. As lockdown looms it feels like virtual travel is back on the menu…
Somer moody shots this week to get you in the mood (see what i did there) for a series taken in Ibiza exactly this time last year during the closing week of the season. Why now? Well, firstly, I want to show a country that supports and champions clubbing and exists primarily because of it. It would appear not everywhere has so little regard for dance culture as they do here in Britain, where almost nothing is being done to protect the venues and the workers of the nightlife/events industry which is currently unable to function in any genuine capacity. Other countries in Europe (remember that place?) see it as a vital component of their society and their economy are doing everything they can to ensure it survives the ravages of the ongoing Covid freeze.
It is beyond painful to me to watch the U.K gov turn its back on the nitelife industry and everyone who works within it. The Tories do not see how essential it is. They do not consider culture important at all. They never have. And they know that most people who work in the creative industries do not vote for them so why should they help them? Never mind how much money it makes (66 billion a year), how many jobs (1.6 million) or how many people it attracts from all over the world…none of this seems to be a consideration. Forget about the amount of joy and pleasure it generates. No, fuck all that, let’s just let it die and all you leftie muso druggie layabouts can fuck off and try and get real jobs ‘cos we ain’t doin shit all to get you out of this mess…
And secondly, (no, I hadn’t forgotten) there is fuck all going on here at the moment so we might as well hang out in Ibiza (B.C) and party like its 2019…
p. s if you are in U.K and have ever been out and gone to any event whatsoever at any point in your life, please sign this petition for our Gov to give further financial support to the hospitality and events industry or you might never again…
