Thursday, September 30, 2010

DISPLACEMENT, TRANSMISSION, SUBLIMATION...

I'm falling down the impending winter rabbit hole with alarming speed. It was the rain that did it I think. That sense of being trapped inside and the thought of months of the same. Last year it was Depeche Mode that saw me through winter; this year I'm already unavoidably drawn to Joy Division and it's only just October. And like clockwork, before long I will be compelled to knit something and buy some decent Scotch. Maybe I should listen to Beyonce, start drinking Malibu and report back on any changes.

The weird thing about checking your stats is that you find out stuff you don't necessarily want to know. I usually don't bother too much - but when I do, it's bizarre to see some of the search terms that have landed people here and which posts they've been reading. By far, far, far my most read post of all time is the old How To Crawl Out of a Hole one. You're not all majorly depressed are you, or is it because you're intrigued by the pretty sidebar telephone? Save our souls.  I suppose if I will write S.O.S. Emergency on something clickable...Anyway that post has some great comments, I'm glad it's being kept alive.

And then there are the really, really old posts from years back that suddenly get a crazy number of views in one day. It's something I shouldn't think about but it freaks me out a bit all the same. That's why I don't rummage around in my stats too much - usually.

Today I was thinking about the Louise Bourgeois quote, "Art is a guarantee of sanity" which appears on one of her large scale pieces (pictured).  She said it was the best thing she'd ever said. I also read the last interview she gave before she died, in Another Magazine - and the interview with Helmut Lang who said he thinks about Louise Bourgeois every day. At the same time I was thinking about sublimation - in the sense of displacing destructive energy by channeling it into creativity. It's apparently the strongest, most constructive defense mechanism we have, according to some bloke called Freud. Then, (are you still with me?) I happened to read Jeanette Winterson's piece on how she displaces difficult emotions. " I will drive the thing round and round in my head and suddenly try and park it, well crash it, actually, into my relationship."

So that was Thursday. The only answer is to sublimate.

4 comments:

Camille said...

You made me curious about having a look at my own stats, giving ridiculous results. Well, I probably disappoint many readers as the terms 'dream furniture' are the most used on google to access my blog... referring to one post about an old dresser found on craigslist. For the S.O.S. telephone, I think it makes people very curious about what's behind it which could be (maybe!) an explanation... Your readers simply cannot be depressed people!

Madelene said...

I tend to put on Joy Division during autumn as well. I can't believe it's October again, last year this month produced a lot of good changes in my life that have since seemingly disappeared. I wish I could go back to 2009.. but then also, I don't.

Anonymous said...

some very sound reasoning here. but please, stick to joy division and scotch.
xxx
mia

Claire said...

Camille - there are so many searches for "Lily Cole weight" "Lily Cole fat" and I only mentioned her name once about 3 years ago in reference to a Tim Walker photo! Yes, I think it's the telephone...at the moment a post I wrote 3 years ago is getting hundreds of views a day and I have no idea why - it's not been linked to or anything as far as I can see...

Madelene - it's comforting somehow, though it doesn't exactly cheer you up. Just right for the season.I don't wish I could go back to Oct 2009 - it was a horror. But I have minor hopes for this one...

Mia - admit it, you secretly love a bit of "Single Ladies", I know I do...x