In "Balls of the Angel" Tijs Goldschmidt writes how horses in Iceland drop their faeces over the faeces of other horses in order to establish their dominance. The practical goal is to erase the scent of the other with one's own. Now there are horses that are dominant and show it this way, and there are horses that may make an attempt at dominance. Would there be horses that are simply vengeful? Are there horses with a mistaken conception of their own strength?
Goldschmidt makes a link with artists that make an attempt at other people's work (that's where I feel spoken to). An unknown Belgian artist who uses a Magritte canvas because there is nothing else to paint on, and erases Magritte with his own crap. A young Russian artist who sprays a dollar sign over a Malevich; an important artistic event or the attempt of an inferior to attack the dominance of the master? Robert Rauschenberg who erased a Willem de Kooning drawing, mostly a conceptual act because he first asked de Kooning for his permission.
There is a lot to do about the new and the former generations of artists. In many cultures the young are supposed to look up to the masters and follow their example. At my academy, the young were supposed to poop over the scent of those who had last established the rules.
What can I say? I have no wish to erase Satyricon, which to me is the film of films. I had rather be part of it. I would love to take it over, but I'm not ready yet to do anything but cooperate, to integrate. My steps have been carefully taken, maybe too carefully. But they have been taken, and I'm waiting for the right moment to share dominance.
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