August 3

Today I helped a docile fly out of my kitchen. The trouble with this humid weather is that I leave the windows open and invariably the flies decide to come in and get trapped. Why they cant remember the way they came in is anyones guess. Maybe im anthropomorphising? 

As I popped my head out of the back door to let the fly go, I noticed the farmer feeding the cows some bread. Oh, the joys of countryside living. I went back to the studio and had a small reverie about flies with human noses. I have no understanding as to why, so I made a song about it called “Lord of the Flies”. Oh, the joys of the creative mind.

This little incident got me thinking about the nature of creativity and the unconscious mind. As Salvador Dalí once said, “The one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous.”¹ Perhaps my fly with a human nose is just the right kind of outrageous to unlock something deeper.

The fly’s struggle to escape reminded me of our own struggles to break free from the confines of our conscious minds. We buzz around, bumping into invisible barriers, not realising that the way out is often the same as the way in. It’s a fitting metaphor for the creative process, don’t you think?

And what of the farmer feeding his cows bread? There’s something almost surreal about that image. It’s these everyday occurrences, when viewed through the lens of an artist’s eye, that can spark the most intriguing ideas.

As I work on my “Nose of the Flies” song, I can’t help but wonder what other strange and wonderful creations might emerge from this simple encounter? Most probably none.

1. Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was a prominent Spanish surrealist artist known for his wild imagination and striking and bizarre images.Listen to Lord of the Flies: