Two Distracted Angels, Wings Stowed

BACKGROUND VOICES

Two Distracted Angels, Wings Stowed
A Note to the Viewer
The following dialogues are intended to be listened to.
Unfortunately, on this occasion time prevented the
preparation of sound files, but these will be provided in
future exhibitions. Meanwhile, it is hoped that the text is an
acceptable temporary substitute
puffing away at their fags and glued to their phone screens.
PAINTER: This is just a modern overlaying of a biblical
attitude, as angels are often portrayed as looking downwards
and appearing introspective.
CRITIC: Nevertheless, they seem to be unaware of how
quickly their youth is slipping by, how it is fragile in its
transience.
MRS EVERYMAN: You mean the green light is telling them to
get a move on?
PAINTER: Exactly that! There is an implied urge for them not
just to get on the train, to get on with youth, but also to play
their instruments, to express their soul.
CRITIC: And maybe some of these ideas are reflected in the
choice of colours? I’m thinking of the way the train is
portrayed as different from the rest of the painting.
PAINTER: I wanted the turquoise shades from the side of the
train to be translucent, as if suggesting the fragility of sunny
youth and its brevity. The green light is really ignored by the
angels, who seem grounded in original human sin, mixed in
with fallen man, but whose music will later lift them above it.
MRS EVERYMAN: Ok, but I don’t quite understand. Are they
really angels? The wings of the angels are folded, but why do
they need all that luggage? What’s inside those suitcases?
Saved souls? Will the music take them back to heaven?
CRITIC: Yes, is it the fact that they are musicians, who can
put themselves in touch with the heavenly spheres, which
makes them angels?
PAINTER: Their identity as musicians will take them on a
journey to a spiritual home, a kind of celestial city. This is
suggested by the towers in the background, wrapped in a
blue mist, which function as a destination, not a backdrop.