NURSERYWORLD at Galerie Jennifer Flay, Paris, 2003 (text)

Somewhere, way beyond the furthermost surviving and rejected leftovers from the recently departed past, it is known full well and often played upon (but kept top-secret, never discussed openly) that there lie remnants of a long since lost pre-era, been and gone even before then, occurring in a non-space, apart from all others, by now just about completely forgotten, only almost barely remembered –and yet learnt off by heart, forever thought of and felt for, no matter how faraway. Despite justified preferability and every single universal desire, dream, urge, hope and wish being really always about them –they are not necessarily innocent, safe and enjoyable by any means; although the pragmatic and functional desperate need to escape and abandon this side and end of things, in favour of reaping benefits and improvement offered elsewhere, far outweighs any mere threat or real risk. However, enforced terms of STRICTLY NO THOROUGHFARE/ALL ENTRY FORBIDDEN/OUT OF BOUNDS/OFF LIMITS/KEEP OUT apply inflexibly throughout -as well as it being nearly impossible or at least severely difficult to find and return to this earliest time and distant place again, whether for short-term visits or a permanent one-way-trip; anyway, such expeditions themselves are fraught with treacherous conditions, problematic setbacks and threatening dangers, plus, an outcome of empty-handed disappointment is a sure likelihood, if nothing worse, rather than anything else more adverse happening. When and wherever they actually went to and are hidden, banished into exile, how and if that can ever be reached, the seductive haunting attraction and irresistible lure is infectious and addictive; all those who get involuntarily drawn, held and caught by the grip and clutches of this imprisoning embrace, fall into and stay put under unbreakable and reversal-proof charmed curse magical spell damnation enchantment. Constantly, optimistic hope and belief in promises of closeness to hand, waiting around the next corner, any moment now –prove to be near miss after near miss. Nonetheless, reliable evidence suggests everything there has stayed the same, well preserved, without change, as they were left -but, also, probable certainty that upon discovery and arrival, instead of the customary warm and generous welcome-back and homecoming reception expected, entry and membership is subject to selective and conditional acceptance policies, still, not without loopholes, of course….


Douglas Park, 2003