Monday, November 18, 2002



I always enjoy seeing bearded Australian deity Rolf Harris' face filling my television screen. That simple laugh, those national health spectacles, his Sedgwickian chin. Even if he does classify the putting to sleep of animals as great television and family entertainment, his soul-sucking treatment of music and his lack of comprehension concerning cartoons is a sheer delight. Pure entertainment, unmatched for banality since his Jake the Peg routine went arse over tit following an incident with an unnoticed hole in the stage!


So, imagine how excited I was to accidentally stumble across "Rolf On Art" last week whilst channel hopping. Rolf's reproduction of La Trek, his modern-day version of the Moulin Rouge, was totally stunning. Exactly where the similarities between Harris and La Trek began and ended it was impossible to determine, La Trek's original posters bearing the simple graphic work of inspired genius and Harris' finished product bearing more resemblance to a school leaver's portfolio just before getting turned down for art college. But still...the mindless optimism and constant giggling at his own ineptness, all delivered with the firm conviction that he'd managed to encapsulate the essence of great art despite the obviousness, even to a layman, that he'd been closer when the canvas was blank, was a joy to behold.


"Can you see what it is yet?"


Yes Rolf...it's a big pile of shit.