I guess that at some point or another all of us have had the experience of having to present ourselves to others in a new way. Perhaps it was that first interview with a potential employer, as a student approaching graduation. In my case the event that comes to mind was the occasion on which I decided to take the plunge, and make an approach to a colleague at work …. only this time as a potential lover. I’ve spent the afternoon wondering about whether I might step out of one (perhaps stereotypical) version of myself as an artist, and adopt a rather different persona.
For quite a few years now a rather good “gastro-pub” between Otley and Harrogate (The Square & Compass) has kindly displayed some of my work in its restaurant. Because it is the closest such venue to the famous Almscliff Crag I have confined the selection to images of the crag. On Thursday, after the long interruption caused by the pandemic, I will be going over there again in order to change the display. I have had the feeling for a little while now that I have worked Almscliff out of my system, and that it would be nice if I could offer their customers a quite different version of my artistic self. Consequently, I have spent a good part of the afternoon going through my racks, and trying on, in my imagination, a variety of other artistic “personalities”. My inclination is still towards the landscape “me” …. but which one?
I have a long-standing friend who is a transvestite, and I believe that he (she?) can spend quite a lot of time in front of the mirror, trying on a variety of outfits before going out somewhere. It is a curious thought that perhaps we have more in common by way of experience than I suspected. We must exchange notes some time. It could be interesting. This all takes me back to my teaching days, when I used to introduce students to a very interesting work by Erving Goffman, entitled The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. It must be fifty years old now, but it’s still very well worth reading.