Cenotaph

This is one of the reliefs created by Herbert Tyson Smith (1883-1972) for Liverpool's Cenotaph which was unveiled on 11th November 1930.

As I looked at it this morning I couldn't help but reflect not only on the sickening loss of life in the First World War but on how that "war to end all wars" was ultimately just one war on an ever-lengthening list of wars fought with varying degrees of justification and for various political, moral or religious ends.

Although I have very mixed feelings about many of the conflicts that this country has participated in, or caused, over the centuries and is still involved in now and although my natural inclination is, I suppose, towards pacifism I am convinced that some causes - the fight against Nazism and genocide being an obvious example - are worth going into battle for and always will be. And I have nothing but respect for the men and women who are prepared to put their lives on the line.

After my visit to the Cenotaph I met up with Notebooker who'd come over for a day of culture, coffee and cake.

After a spot of lunch we went to FACT to see Kurt Hentschläger's installation ZEE. This was the first time I've been asked to sign a disclaimer before experiencing an art work!

The piece involves walking into a fog-filled room with very minimal visibility and being subjected to flashing lights and noise for 12 minutes.

I found it very unsettling - a strange mixture of sensory deprivation and sensory overload - and, thinking about it since, I've kept coming back to the men in the First World War trenches enduring (and not just for
12 minutes...) gas, noise, flashing lights, terror and, in so many cases, horrific mental and physical wounds and/or death. And I've wondered a lot about the purpose of art too.