He was once voted Britain’s best known artist, and ROLF HARRIS is perhaps even better loved for his nifty didgeridoo mouthwork. But what kind of ideas does he admit to stealing from other painters?
What’s the most rock’n’roll thing you’ve done today?
To get up. I've had surgery done on my mouth — I've had trOuble wrth a tooth. so I woke up this morning with a fierce pain in my gums and I had to take some Nurofen so I wasn't on the rock'n'roll trail this morning. I must say.
In which time in history would you love to have lived and why?
Well. l think when you look back at history you look back at all the glamour side of things. but I think you fail to realise that the hygiene and the food and the various things we take for granted today would not have been there. l think stepping back in time to some prevrous date in history would he a bit of a shock for most of us. so I wouldn't really like to. In prevrous times. human life was regarded as very cheap and dispensable. I think if you did step back you'd definitely want to be one of the ruling mob you'd want to be one of the movers and the shakers.
Your house is on fire - loved ones and pets are safe and you have a chance to go and retrieve one thing. What would it be?
lthink a couple of paintings of my mum and dad that l (lid in /:3. I'd grab the two of them — they're both side by side on the wall. They're lovely. What’s the longest time you’ve slept soundly in one go over the last five years?
Probably coming back from doing a gig really late
120 THE LIST I"; [Lg 218.4, 230‘;
ANSWER MACHINE
and sleeping through the day. getting back home at about five in the morning from a gig somewhere haying driven all night. sleeping to about three the next afternoon and waking up thinking: ‘Where the hell am l’?'
What was the last thing you stole?
I can't think of anything I've stolen of late. I've stolen a fevx ideas from people. but not earth shattering — not things that would discommode the other person. but in paintings quite often you see great ideas for a format or an approach to a painting.
If you could wake up tomorrow and have obtained one ability what would it be?
To ski - I would love to ski. I've orin tried it a few times and l'rn totally bloody (llSélSll’OLlS. I fall over at the drop of a hat. lvly leg goes one way and the other one goes the other and I'm flat on my back. That's how quickly it happens — wang. bang. down in the snow.
How many times a day do you look in the mirror?
Oh. probably a couple of times when I shave and when I'm taking pills and things. I've got to take pills all over the place.
Do you consider yourself organised? How often do you have to look for your keys?
l'rn all right With keys but I'm not organised. I've got a terrible record in my office. I put things down; I can't find them. It's a total mess.
What’s your favourtite biscuit?
The ones I really love are ginger: Ginger Snaps or the Ginger Nuts or the crunchy ginger ones or the very thin ginger ones. I really love ginger in bisCuIIs‘. How big do you tip in restaurants?
Usually about 10—12“: — something like that.
Do gentlemen prefer blondes?
Umm. I don't think so. I think the importance is the vitality and the vivacity of the person. It's nothing to do with their hair colouring.
I Rolf on Art — The Big Event. the Mound. [Tr/Hibi/rg/i. Sun 28 Aug.
ANIMALS FROM HISTORY
I Nils Olav has been promoted to colonel-in- chief of the Norwegian army. Olav, aged six, is a king penguin from Edinburgh Zoo.
I Olav has never seen action but other mascots have been less fortunate. In the American Civil War. the 2nd Kentucky lnfantry's dog Frank followed the men into battle. was imprisoned for six months alongside the troops in a Tenessee jail and was presumed killed in action.
I The most famous mascot of the conflict was Old Abe, a bald eagle first captured and tamed by the Chippewa Indians. He was traded with the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, where he attended 36 battles, flying just out of musket range, and eventually gave the unit a new name (‘The Eagle Regiment’). He died in 1904, having inhaled smoke during a fire. I Other mascots included badgers. pigs and squirrels. Those who doubt a small tree-dwelling rodent‘s use in armed warfare should perhaps check out Twiggy the waterskiing souirrel. Twiggy tours around the US. skiing behind a remote controlled boat at speeds of up to five miles an hour. Then again. given that owner Lou Ann Best claims also to have trained miniature ponies. French poodles. a toad. a black cat and an armadillo to waterski. it’s doubtful just how much skill is involved — or how much the respective animals enjoy being dragged over water while wearing a cute lifejacket. CheCk out the video: www.skiingsquirrel.com.
I One animal credited with a rather more important role is the horse that ended the rule of Catherine the Great. The story goes that the enlightened despot, who corresponded with Voltaire, encouraged the colonisation of Alaska and was the first person in Russia to receive the smallpox vaccine, grew bored of men and rigged up a harness so she could have sex with a horse. The harness snapped, and she was crushed. I The story is. of course. absolute nonsense. While she did take a number of sexual partners. there is no evidence that Catherine indulged in animal love. She suffered a stroke in the lavatory in 1796. and died in bed.
I Laika, the first earthling in space, was launched in Sputnik 2 in October 1957. The Soviet press claimed that the craft had all the necessary life support for the dog. In fact, it was never designed to return. The three- year-old Husky crossbreed, which had been found in the streets of Moscow, survived less than seven hours before dying from a combination of stress and overheating. Sputnik 2 orbited the earth for another six months.