the shapelessness of night

I recently went to the Louise Bourgois exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh which includes her series of drawings called Insomnia Drawings. I usually sleep well, but tonight I’m wide awake, so I’ve been reflecting with admiration on how much she achieved when everyone else was asleep. One of the books available in the exhibition included some memorable quotes from Louise, such as “water is a metaphor for the shapelessness of night” and ” he completely disappeared into silence”, the latter being the title of one of her works in 1947. I’ve sometimes wondered if that will be my fate one day too.

The gallery shop was also displaying a copy of ‘Brian Eno: Visual Music’ by Christopher Scoates which I hadn’t heard of before. I only managed to flick through it but could immediately tell it contained a lot of inspiring material from Brian, so I bought a copy. I’m sure it will be quietly influencing, encouraging and inspiring me over the weeks to come. In some ways I would like the extra hours for production available through insomnia, though I know it can be a crippling condition. But look at how much Louise Bourgois achieved in just one year of sleeplessness.