HOW TO SPOT A TRANSFORMATIONALIST

It is difficult. It is easier to say what Transformationalism is not than what it is. It is not Surrealism as Jeff Hartnett pointed out: "A surrealist might say: `The fish lies on the table reading a newspaper.` Whereas a transformationalist might say: `The fish lies on the table but on the subject of the chair it tells the truth and nothing but.`" Thus one can watch the films of David Lynch and declare them surrealistic, whereas the films of Arch Oboler just leave one feeling slightly odd.

But Transformationalism is more than mere oddity. To continue in the realm of cinema, leaving aside Arch Oboler`s oeuvre what is one to make of such transformationalistic classics as "Nothing Lasts Forever" (1984, directed by Tom Schiller) and "Steel Justice" (1992, directed by Christopher Crowe)? Not forgetting "The Blood Of Fu Manchu" (1968, directed by Jess (Jesus) Franco) which is perhaps the most truly tansformationalistic of them all. The questions "The Blood Of Fu Manchu" leaves hanging in the air are akin to the pronouncements of Hartnett`s fish upon the chair. What happened to Shirley Eaton? How does Fu Manchu manage to contact her in the future and why does he not use this device to greater purpose? Why the uniform? One could go on but one would run the risk of implying that Transformationalism is merely a means of perception. Thus any movie could be read through transformationalistic eyes to reveal hidden depths and secret truths. This is patently not the case. "Star Wars" is not a transformationalistic film. Neither is "Lawrence Of Arabia" or "The Sound Of Music". Even though there is an obvious connection between "Titanic" and the Transformationalists, since the captain of that ill-fated vessel came from Stoke-on-Trent, thankfully James Cameron`s epic is in no way whatsoever transformationalistic.

Moving on to music we perhaps stand on firmer ground. John Cage was a Transformationalist. His piece for silent piano, 4`33", can be played by anyone, in fact is played by all of us, all of the time, unless we happen to be playing something else. Thus everyone is a musician whether they like it or not. I would also claim Albert Ayler as a member of the brotherhood. And for that matter Wilton Crawley and the sublime Fess Williams*. But this is jazz and not a lot of people like it. And of those that do they are more likely to be impressed by Charlie Parker`s solo on "Lady Be Good" from the J.A.T.P. concert of March 1946 than by Willie Smith`s transformationalistic stylings. So we move onto popular music, surely there are enough rebels among the rock fraternity to claim a host as Transformationalists. Unfortunately, although they hope to die before they get old, few achieve their ambition and the revolution seems to revolve around clothes, and not even hats at that. However I would like to think that the spirit of Frederick Hammersley lives on in John Otway.

Literature must be bursting with Transformationalists but I have yet to find any. Hammersley`s oft-quoted remark about books, "I love them monks", does not really serve as a guide. Norman Spinrad`s "The Mind Game" contains a cult called the Transformationalists but this is a coincidence and the book itself is a swipe at Scientology. An alternative history of the Transformationalists can be found in the Doctor Shock books, the first of which is currently available online. Set in the fictional city of Stump, the stories of the good doctor feature guest appearances by a number of Hammersleys and Binghams and the final volume of the trilogy is entitled "Doctor Shock And The Transformationalists". But these are not transformational- istic works. Neither is "The Inheritors" by Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford, although it does involve Greenland. But while on the subject mention should be made of Arnold Bennett`s "Buried Alive" which was published in 1908 and is a comic novel about a famous artist who swaps places with his dead valet. It has been read as an allegory of the life of Malcolm Bingham** and as a satire on the artistic establishment of London. It could also be seen as Bennett`s attempt to ingratiate himself with the artistic community of the Potteries. Bennett was born in1867 in Hanley (which was also the home town of Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic and Frances Haslam, grandmother of Jorge Luis Borges) but he left the Potteries in 1889 for London. His stories and novels set in the Five Towns brought a certain kind of literary fame to the area of his birth but did nothing to advance the Transformationalists` cause. The benefits Arnold Bennett brought to the tourist industry of the Potteries are somewhat offset by the confusion he sowed by changing the number of towns which now make up the City of Stoke-on-Trent. There are actually six towns but Bennett decided to leave out Fenton. Interestingly enough, in "The Garden Of Forking Paths", the only story Jorge Luis Borges set in his grandmother`s home county of Staffordshire, Fenton is the only one of the Six Towns to get a mention.Bennett died of typhoid fever in London in 1931 and his ashes were brought back to Stoke-on-Trent by his brother. He carried them in a hatbox.

Finally, the traditional visual arts of painting, sculpture and the rest. There is nothing. Malcolm Bingham said it all.

*Click the picture on the left to hear the 1930 recording of “Playing My Saxophone” by Fess Williams` Royal Flush Orchestra, or the one on the right to hear their 1929 recording of “Goin’ To Getcha”.

**The great artist in "Buried Alive" is called Priam Farll, a name that fairly screams out "anagram!" however it is difficult to make anything sensible from the letters. I tentatively offer the following:  `Mal., R.A.,R.I.P.,f.l.`, i.e. `Malcolm Bingham, Royal Academician, Resquiescat in pace, falsa lectio (a false reading)`. 

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