SIR – The Groat must have suffered from a severe "no news" day last week by being forced to print such drivel by Corrina Thomson.
Even the title of her so-called journalistic contribution, "Emin’s clarty bed showed little skill", was awarded a text size of nearly an inch high. I know size isn’t everything but really this is such an obvious sign of desperation.
Tempting as it is to give Corrina’s deliberately provocative ramblings the treatment they deserve, i.e. a wide berth, I accept the bait.
Her article demonstrates closed-minded thinking set in a foundation of ignorance topped off with a total lack of connecting with her readers.
Beauty may be, as she proposes, in the eye of the beholder, but this is not the same as art appreciation.
I would suggest that anyone who cannot or refuses to see and appreciate any level of skill involved in creating art must be suffering from blindness due to an overdose of beauty in the eye!
The description of Thurso High School as looking "horrific" is pure sensationalism more suited to tabloids than the John O’Groat Journal.
Perhaps the article was written for a tabloid but rejected due to low standard of writing?
There are many things in life, Corrina, that are "horrific", but the appearance of Thurso High isn’t one of them.
I do have to thank Corrina for one thing however. The title of her article included the word "clarty", a word I thought was misspelt in that it should have been charity.
Even "clarity" would have helped me see more clearly.
Apparently it means mucky, dirty, unclean, disgusting and so on. It would be a compliment in some parts of society as there is money to be made in dirt.
Using such a surrealist statement as "Ceci n’est pas une pipe" without any translation or explanation and out of context really illustrates the author is either brave or misguided.
For those that do not know these words, which in English are, "This is not a pipe", then please note they belong to the Belgian artist, Rene Magritte.
These words were written on a painting of what at first glance looks like a pipe. The actual title of the work is Treachery of Images; the first time the image was seen by the public was in 1929 and was deployed extensively in Magritte’s work throughout his career until he died in 1967.
One analysis by Michael Foucault of this image focuses on the relationship of words and meanings, almost mocking or insulting our intelligence. Maybe there is a little of Magritte in Ms Thomson?
Having enjoyed the privilege over many years of hanging and displaying several exhibits of the Society of Caithness Artists Annual Exhibition I have never seen any "real stinkers", as Corrina calls them. This is an insult to the artists and written surely for cheap laughs.
Ian Pearson,
Glass Creations,
Thurso Glass Studio,
Riverside Road,
Thurso.
