Newsletter 6/2002 - Guest editor

New CD
Being To Being

Author: Tim Gerwing

To hear parts of the CD and find out more, visit:
http://www.dreamwindow.net/lascaux21

I came to know about Gurdjieff through a series of what now no longer seem to be coincidences. Several years ago, I came across some photocopies of Gurdjieff material. At the time, I found these writings bleak, prone to the cult of personality, and too heavy; I rejected them as disinteresting and thought no further about them.

Years later, after having become quite disillisioned not only with art and music, but also with my thinking and experience of living, I attended one of Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft seminars. In preparation, I read a few JG Bennett books (in particular "Witness" and "Deeper Man"), as I knew Fripp had attended one of the last courses at Sherbourne House. The reading and the experience of the Guitar Craft course were significant for me. I can't say they stopped me from feeling negatively, but rather offered a kind of tantalizing clue as to why I felt this way, and the possibility of using the negative feelings as tools instead of being completely ruled by them.

Subsequently, I read as much of Bennett's work as I could, and found that, for me, it was easier to digest and accept than the works of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. I put this down to the fact that as a Westerner and 21st century schizoid man, I am culturally closer and "safer" with Bennett. The main theme which attracted me throughout my reading of Gurdjieff and Bennett was the theme of Work. It's a theme I don't pretend to understand, but one which resonates in a way that makes it possible to continue.
The music on this CD deals with 2 main themes: my struggle to find what it is I have to say in this world, and my feelings about how we treat our lives. One of the central aims in making this album was to offer a kind of emotional support for people that I feel is lacking very much in the world as we make it.

I chose the title "Being To Being" in part as a response to Bennett's statement: "We are not beings doing things, we are doings being things". The idea was to think of the word "Being" as a verb instead of a noun, and somehow to express the idea that we are connected not in a pretty or "nice" sense, but connected in fact, inescapably, and that our primary purpose is to do.

This CD is my preliminary expression of my desire to do.

Tim Gerwing
November 2002