With Great Pleasure: Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood's choice of key literature (from Radio 4's "With Great Pleasure"), was a real surprise for me. She was both insightful and passionate. My image of her had been, "a bit decadent, trivial, silly ...". However this was a rather superficial impression from our conservative and tabloid press. Sometimes the UK's media is a sorry relfection of our country. I also think this reflect my parents deeply conservative views (my father in particular), while my mother is more liberal but I don't think either of them take fashion designers.  

However this program was excellent, I loved her choices of literature

"I think Huxley is the greatest writer of the 20th century" talking about Brave New World.

She also spoke regarding "the broken mirror of TS Elliot's poem The Wasteland".

The excerpt from Mark Lynas' book on the grave dangers of climate change "Six Degrees" wasn't strident but wonderfully poignant. She spoke about being "traumatised by climate change", I think this is probably quite insightful.

Her choices of literature weren't all tragic, she had several joyful pieces: the romantic beauty of Shakespeare's Love's Labours Lost, the playful and spritely nature of  Lewis Carol (Alice in Wonderland), and the importance of physical expression of ballet as an art form.

Apparently she has a Manefesto for "active resistant to propoganda"

Art gives culture and culture is the antidote to propoganda

she went on to sight TS Elliot poem "The Wasteland" being prophetic and powerful.

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD'S CHOICES

The Three-Cornered Hat
from Ballet by Arnold Haskell
Published by Pelican Books

Love’s Labours Lost, Act 5 Scene 2
Shakespeare

Six Degrees by Mark Lynas
Published by HarperPerennial

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
from Alice in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll
(Non copyright)

The Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas
Published by Pimlico

Dido, Queen of Carthage (play)
by Christopher Marlowe
(non copyright)

Hammer by Sara Stockbridge
Published by Chatto & Windus

The Vanishing Face of Gaia
by James Lovelock
Published by Allen Lane

manifesto |ˌmanəˈfestō|noun ( pl. -tos)a public declaration of policy and aims, esp. one issued before anelection by a political party or candidate.ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Italian, from manifestare, fromLatin, ‘make public,’ from manifestus ‘obvious’ (see manifest 1 ).