Take a walk on the Flipside

So I am supposed to be at work today but instead decided not to get out of bed - not exactly calling in sick but just noting the fact that i hadn't slept and simply could not rouse any enthusiasm for climbing into the big bad world. Subsequently waking at 11am, the relief I felt at a day of no resonsibility, no talking, was palpable.

On Saturday night, i saw two films at the Revelation Film Festival. The first, Jandek on Corwood, was an amusing and somewhat chilling documentary about one of the world's most prolific but unknown recording artists. Jandek, the international man of mystery, has over a career of many years released more than 25 albums featuring poorly tuned guitar riffs, howls and grunts for the benefit of his somewhat piddling collection of 100 or so fans. Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder - that much seems certain.

At the time the film was made, he had been interviewed only once by phone and once (maybe) in person. All we knew about Jandek was that he lived somewhere in Texas, may or may not have friends and recording partners, may or may not have bumped off the equally mysterious Nancy, may or may not be a raving lunatic or a genius - who knows?

Whatever was going through his mind, Jandek's apparent isolation made a chilling impact on his music. While I could not support the claim that he had a rare talent his delivery was genuinely eerie at times. Primal wails, strange yelps, deadpan accapella and the off-key twanging of the guitar sent intermittent shivers up and down my spine. At times the music seemed like the ramblings of a schizoid personality, a discordant trip into the inner workings of a very disturbed and lonely individual. But this, of course, was just conjecture - Jandek could well have been a hobbyist, a socialite, a perfectly happy person with strange taste in music.

What was interesting about the film were the conclusions drawn by the fans, music journalists and avant-garde types who fervently believed in the man's talents (despite an obvious lack) and created their own theories about who he was and what he was trying to achieve. In this world when celebrities are picked over like chicken carcasses and their proclivities, desires and motivations are laid bare, it is fascinating to think that one man could have retained such a mysterious air for so long. And equally fascinating was the determination of the fans to avoid delving too deeply into his whereabouts. Perhaps knowing how fragile and meaningless their interpretations were, and all too aware of the disappointments offered by cold hard reality, they chose to let the fantasy win out.

Perhaps they were wise to do so. Googling yesterday, i discovered that Jandek had in the past two years performed live a number of times. He had shown his face! He had come out from hiding! Perhaps weary about the endless speculation, or suprised out of isolation by the growing realsiation about his cult status, or perhaps enjoying the moment he had been planning all his life, Jandek had unveiled himself to the world.

I cannot tell you how disappointing that was.