Joe McConnell's blog
Joe McConnell finds that he can't stop trying to make art. Is this pathology or therapy? Joe has been hanging around the disability arts scene for longer than he cares to remember, and feels the time has come to start doing something other than ranting and scribbling apoplectically about political issues close to his heart; something which mental health professionals have deemed to be obsessive and undesirable. Well they are the professionals and surely must be right? Read his blog and find out
Joe Mc visits the Damien Hirst room at Tate Britain
'Mother and Child. Divided. London 1993' was the first piece of work I saw by Damien Hirst. You might recall it consisted of a cow and her calf dissected, then pickled in formaldehyde. I was revolted...Comments: 4
Joe Mc remembers Naji Al-Ali
I have really enjoyed the past few weeks blogging on DAO. One of the pleasures has been sharing this space with the sparkling insights of Caroline Cardus, Sophie Partridge, Rockinpaddy (move over...Comments: 5
Joe Mc on a journey through the underworld ...
A few weeks ago i was overjoyed on reading a blog post from Colin Hambrook, where he told us that one of his favourite movies is Orphée (Jean Cocteau, France, 1949). It is one of mine as well....Comments: 5
Joe McConnell is not feeling very normal today
'Nice to see you using art to get back to being normal again.' A recent comment from a well-meaning friend who had just grabbed my DAO blog and was feeding back. This stopped me in my tracks. When...Comments: 4
Joe Mc on feeling like Mattia Pascal
'Il Fu Mattia Pascal' (The Late Mattia Pascal), by Luigi Pirandello [1], tells the story of a man who, afer a lifetime spent in a quiet provincial town, vanishes and is believed dead. Elswehere, he...Comments: 1
Joe Mc in search of '5 Rhythms'
In the last post, I mentioned the power of music in lifting the vibe and helping you get through when it's difficult to do anything much at all. Listening to music seems key to what unlocked a...Comments: 4
Joe Mc and the food of love
I mentioned the other day that my recent recovery from a year-long period of severe depression was helped by making art. This is still working for me. And many friends and colleagues are remarking...Comments: 5
Joe Mc tells the truth for a change ...
The writer and performer, Julie McNamara, once advised me to 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story'. Maybe it is ironic that, with her recent humdinger of a play Crossings, Julie went...Comments: 5
Joe Mc on cutting off his book to spite his face ...
Today is the day i say farewell to Facebook. I only went on it a few weeks ago because it was a way of catching up with the humanitarian flotilla which was heading for Gaza. The BBC is so unreliable...Comments: 6
Joe Mc on how he came to like the Beatles
I wish to say thank you to a dear friend who played me some old Beatles numbers recently, and made me realise what a tosser I had been for the past half-century to have been completely...Comments: 2
Joe McConnell on the kindness of strangers
In the last post and chorus, I mentioned that for some time now i can't stop making art. That's true. Now for as long as I can remember, i've been into drawing - pretentiously daydreaming that i was...Comments: 5
Joe McConnell is the new kid on the blog
This could actually be called Joe Blogs. But the joke would run thin very quickly and must have been used many times before. That's me alright. Always joking. Partly because all my life I've had an...Comments: 6