uncarved.org blogginess: “I met him a couple of times and he was wonderful – really generous and kind and interesting. One time he’d just come out of hospital and showed up at the Scala Cinema in Kings Cross where I’d organised to show a selection of films including his Dreamachine and footage of William Burroughs in London.”
This is absolutely true.
John’s a fucking good organiser alongside all his other talents.
Seriously, he’s the most impressive person I’ve met in the last 20 years. And I’ve met some good’uns. But unlike a lot of famous people, when you meet John you realise that it’s people like him that make the world go round.
This particular night that he’s describing was one of the best shows ever. The sort of thing that changes lives because it presents people with art and knowledge and people that show that the world is not what you thought it was. I don’t think that sort of show really happens any more. A lot of that activity has moved the web, which is great, but it just shows how pressurised life has become. The venues, the space, the opportunity to bring people together has contracted a lot in the last ten years, in London at least. I don’t have numbers to support this argument, but I definitely get the impression that it’s a lot harder to put on non-mainstream events now.
But maximum — and I mean maximum — respect to John for making things happen when it was possible.