1999
December 1999
Little news for this month as we all hibernate for `the holidays`.
The Stoke Musicians` Collective is now online at www.stokemusicianscollective.fsnet.co.uk. This organisation was formed in 1979 by Grainger Reece and a remnant of the Artists Action Group, who were responsible for the Transformationalist revival in the 1970s. The site includes a piece of music by Amphibrach Enallage And The Catalectic Paragoge, the group which performed some of Hammersley`s music at a 1981 concert in Burslem.
I wish you all a Merry Transformationalistic Christmas and a Happy Transformationalistic New Year.
November, 1999
1. Whilst trawling the net I came across this:
“There is a small contingent that might be referred to as the transformationalists. While being fully supportive of personal preparedness and community organizing, they are aiming for much more than mere survival of Y2K. They would hold that Y2K is, at least in part, the consequence of a political and economic system that is out of touch with the natural world and with the real needs of people--a system that promotes materialism while ignoring meaning and values. They see Y2K as a possible catalyst for a long overdue transformation of society, moving it in the direction of greater sustainability, equity, diversity, and humanity.”
Whether these transformationalists have any connection to the original Transformationalists I cannot say. Perhaps each century throws up its own version of Transformationalism as it draws to an end. For those wishing to explore these neo-transformationalists I point you to the Institute of Noetic Sciences, source of the quotation above.
2. Closer to home, the curious relationship between Arnold Bennett and the Transformationalists surfaced again in Issue 125 (November 1999) of City News, the free newspaper printed by the Stoke-on-Trent City Council. This particular edition featured a special ‘four page Arnold Bennett pull-out’ section, designed to advertise a series of programmes about the author on Radio Stoke. The supplement was headed: “The Five Towns Of Arnold Bennett/A Century of Change in Stoke-on-Trent/A radio documentary series to celebrate the ever changing face of Stoke-on-Trent”. Beneath this were several photographs of the city arranged in a haphazard manner to create a kind of ‘then and now’ collage. I will ignore the fact that the Transformationalists received no mention in any of the four pages of the ‘pull-out’ and I also refuse to make Mulligan`s mother about the snide use of the words ‘change’ and ‘changing’ in the headline. However, I must object to the use of two photographs in the collage which had obviously been doctored in some way to make them into obvious parodies of Transformationalist Postcards. I have no idea why this was done and I am forced to assume that someone in the Arnold Bennett Society (or perhaps even the Stoke-on-Trent City Council) is intent on perceiving the complex relationship between the author and the Transformationalists as some kind of blood feud. When I have acquired a new scanner I will include the photographs here and let you be the judge as to whether they are genuine, or merely poor examples of the forger`s art.
3. No such problems with the photograph below. I found this in the Department of Photographic Records in the Ontological Museum of the International Post-Dogmatist Group. As yet, I have been unable to ascertain whether this was ever issued as a postcard. Also, its American origin creates the usual problems of classification. However, whether it is a new variant or merely some yank`s ironic twist on the classic, I think you will agree that it is transformationalistic.
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