Derek Jarman & Leland Wheeler's Day-Book - Today and Tomorrow (all images included below the description)
How this project came to be.
In 1991 Leland received a hand inscribed copy of Derek Jarman' s unusual day-book, Today and Tomorrow.
It's
a lovely book, showcasing some of his paintings from the 'Luminous
Darkness' series and it offers the numerical date of each month but not
the days of the week, or any specific year. Leland showed it to me a few
times, remarking he had never actually used it. Somewhere about 2009-10
he decided to make a few entries. He did not continue to use it
however, and so it remained until his death in 2022. He did, however,
keep some odd clippings, fragments of notes (written in his elegant
handwriting in pen & ink), peculiar little cut outs intended for a
collage (I think), and some photographs. Earlier this year, 2024, I
unpacked the day-book and was inspired to do something with it to honor
the memories of both Leland and Derek. As I looked at the cache of
Leland's tucked-away items and the book itself, it came to me that I
should try and compose it in a style that mirrored Derek's own treatment
of words and images in his Sketchbook/Journals. There were also
two copies of books by Jarman, 'The Last of England' and 'Blue', both
badly damaged in a storage container mishap. I was able to salvage a few
pages of those to add as embellishments. Fortunately, I also had copies
of those books, alas mine were not signed by the author, as were
Leland's!
As
I began to assemble the day-book I became increasingly aware of the
uncanny nature of Time itself. It was evident to me that since there
were no distinct days or years, it mattered little what source or
specific times the materials noted, or what order any of the fragments
were placed. Each page seemed to create itself. I did often feel the
presences of my two guides, and a few synchronistic occurrences took
place during the assembly of the material...these too personal to share,
but still acknowledgeable.
I was surprised from time to time to
discover just how well the fragments fit together, as though Leland had,
perhaps, one day intended to do something similar with the day-book.
Ultimately,
whether my effort is a success or not artistically, I did learn a lot
about my own thoughts concerning the years we inhabit this earth, the
memories we choose to hold dear, and the loves of families, friends and
fellow travelers...
Indeed, the whole concept of Time, temporal and multidimensional, deepened for me and still remains a fascinating Enigma.
Jaff Seijas
May, 2024
*some pages have fold-outs - those images also included
