Barrett's Bicycles and Back To School

http://www.sydbarrett.net/Front%20Pages/art.htm

So, Syd (or Roger) Barrett's customised bicycles are for sale today.
Two customised bicycles belonging to the late SYD BARRETT are to be auctioned off in Cambridge, England. Barrett, who founded legendary rockers PINK FLOYD in the 1960s, died last month (JUL06) at the age of 60. The musician quit the music industry in 1972 and lived a reclusive life until his death. The bicycles on auction are two that Barrett hand-painted himself and rode every day. Paintings and furniture made by Barrett as well as his writing, art materials will also be up for auction. A spokesperson says, "The auction will consist of items left by Syd in his Cambridge house."24/08/2006 17:20 contactmusic.com
I wonder, if his visual contribution to society was as well recognised as his musical contribution, would he have self-destructed in such a spectacular way.
I reckon I could cope with MY art becoming famous. Indifference is horrible and often causes you to not recognise yourself, as you try to change to meet the tastes of others. I don't know if people who do not "indulge" in creative activities really understand this.
I really liked Syd's solo albums and his paintings. I customise my car. I wonder if he had ideas spilling out of his head and landing on any surface (mundane or professional) the way I do? I wonder what would have happened to him had he been on the medication I'm on?
Its hard to distinguish between unwanted thoughts/feelings/sensations and wanted ones. I'm glad I stayed away from Acid. I think it would have been a nightmare. Luckily I recognised early on that the mind/brain/soul(?) is a highly sensitive organ and any outside forces acting on it are bound to have some effect and a lot of the time this effect is totally unpredictable. OK, so there's the excitement, there's the risk, but if you spend enough time teetering on the edge of the void one day you are just going to fall in. And when you do, there's no way out.

Autumn is icumen in. The air is borderline wintry. I wont miss the summer - far too hot, too sticky the heat in this country, the grass went brown and its hard to nurture any energy both in the garden and in my own self. Its been raining pretty much daily for the last month, on and off, springlike showers mostly. Its given me a new sense of life. Not necessarily optimism, not exactly hope (which is like picking ideas up with slippery fingers without washing them first), just a willingness to engage with growing things. The show finishing has also added to this perspective. I am very much into creating in a collaboration now, whether it be with nature or other artists. Nature itself is an artist. We bought a shredder the other day and I am buying lots of plants on e-bay (in a frenzy of spending!) , and I plan where to put them in the garden - but that's really just supplying Nature with a palette and raw materials. She can then decide what thrives and what withers and dies. Ideas are like that. At the moment I don't want to paint because it doesn't seen real. Also I guess there is an element of shrugging ones shoulders after a week of effort rewarded by indifference. A break while I commune with nature will give me a bit of space and a bit of a jolt I think. Also its probably good for me too look at other artists instead of bashing away at my own stuff before I go back to college. Its Back To School fever everywhere but I still have a month. But that's not very long. I'm going to have to start focusing again soon. My partner is working a bit more locally now and the atmosphere in the house has changed somewhat for him being around more often, and I know if I treat the whole house as a studio its not going to go down well - so I'm ambivalent about going back to college. It'd be nice to be hands-on making things again, but I'll miss the privilidge of the peace and the privacy of home...
Syd was Roger at home and Roger was Syd outside. Home and Outside are polar opposites?