In the lair of the White Bear

A chance encounter

I first met the White Bear last summer, in the guise of her secret identity (who shall remain nameless, naturally enough). For the purposes of this article though, I can tell you that the White Bear hails from Copenhagen, which is why, on my asking what had brought her to Glasgow, she told me that she was working on an art project funded by Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA). Intrigued but wary- because of my philistine tendencies when it comes to modern art, I soon warmed to the White Bear’s theme when she explained to me that it had been inspired by a quotation from Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who regular readers will remember is my favourite writer from the pantheon of 19th century Great Russians:

“Try and set yourself the task not to think of a white bear, and the cursed thing comes to mind every minute"

"Winter Notes on Summer Impressions" 1863

Fyodor Dostoyevsky