We got married - 31 Oct 1978

I just wanted another picture of the sea and me and Lin. The oil on the wall at 1 Daisy Road was my recreation of a strong north wind blowing across the Gulf of Corinth. If I get this in I've given myself an excuse for putting in more pictures of people. Gosh look at that knife. * * *

From: W*** Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:30:51 +0100 (BST) To: Simon Subject: Re: Permission to use 'The Gallery' image in my blog? I have been somewhat effected by this new tension between secular humanists and fundamentalist believers myself, I mean of all three monotheistic faith, not just of Islam. I am now a homeless wanderer (at the age of 53), trying to negotiate staying alive, with hiv, and trying to describe what is going on. I lost my home when Islamic fundamentalists sent me a sheep's head in London and the police had to move me out. I have been on the road since (for 2 years). I believe I am only one of the first of many who will be in this position soon. I love your reference to Goya, he has always been in the highest Pantheon of my heroes. I had forgotten about his 'exile', but of course remember now his Bordeaux washer-woman. I have just left Berlin and find myself in a completely new culture, where I know none of the language and not a single soul. This is very hard. I am still waiting to see what the outcome of this journey will be for me. I do not have Internet access at 'home' yet, but will be starting an artist residency (for 3 months) in this city on the 1st of August and will have access then. I would be very pleased to continue this sharing with you then. Sincerely, B*** Dear B***. Weber said ‘the relationship between democracy and bureaucracy creates one of the most profound sources of tension in the modern social order.’ Churchill said ‘the English never draw a line without blurring it.’ One enduring comedy - ‘Yes Minister’ - and two government enquiries – Hutton and Butler - attest its consequence (the relationship between politics and administration – the line of consequence and responsibility you present in The Gallery). Lord Hutton’s enquiry in January 2004 claimed that the scepticism of one set of managers about information presented to politicians by another set, had not reached the politicians. An important political decision – to make war - was based on the judgement of MI6, rather than the co-ordinated reservations of the Joint Intelligence Committee. Lord Butler, reporting in July 2004, included in his review of evidence for the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, a précis by a policy advisor of evidence collated by the JIC about the likelihood of such WMD in Iraq. That summary - the dossier - had ‘put a strain' he said 'on the JIC in seeking to maintain their normal standards of neutral and objective assessment’. Continuing, in the passive voice to avoid direct reference to the subject, Butler added, ‘more weight was placed on the intelligence than it would bear.’ The political decision that followed was catastrophic - its future consequences unfathomable. ... I imagine Thucydides being moved to tears of grief and anger at human stupidity and cruelty, yet determined not to lose the plot. He wrote what he did. You quoted him underneath an image. I found it while googling Thucydides. Now we write. Words written on a papyrus roll transferred to parchment codex to printed books and thence to cyberspace. Who could have known the old man had so much ink in him or doubted his pen was mightier than his sword.

Best, Simon