Artistic Differences: Better Before, by Pierre-Yves Monnerville

My friend Pierre-Yves Monnerville had little to say about this exhibition, a slideshow on inter-generational envy featuring a grizzled Gallic Andrew Sullivan lookalike and titled “Better Before”. Never mind, since the in-character scribble monologue, as usual, says it best.

(Transcription:) The previous generation is so lucky. They must have had a much better life than us now. My parents especially. They did make the very best of that summer of love, flower power, compulsory use of drugs and so on. I am so very jealous. I wish I could be my age now but in the 70s. My God! I’d have loved to be a classic COLT model, fuck everyone bareback senseless and especially fearless. Anyway, let’s not get carried away here.

(cont.) More importantly, what I envy the most is the values and ideals they had then. It’s probably a bit easier now for women and minorities, us gays and all the rest of it. But they seemed a fair bit more hopeful. The thing my lot lacks the most is definitely the belief that we can change the system. Maybe getting involved in some kind of charity and/or political organisation will cheer me up a bit. I’ll Google something tomorrow. I mean it. I will.

(cont.) As for the COLT model, I can always try and sort something out. I mean it too but maybe the day after tomorrow.