File:Vejvoda Goran Eno Brian Q&A Jan 1984.pdf

Q&A, handwritten facsimile of an exchange with Brian Eno for the Zaobilazne strategije book published in former Yugoslavia.

This meeting with Brian Eno took place in Paris at the Select Hotel Rive Gauche in a room facing the square above the Sorbonne. It was a nice fresh day in early January of 1984, when Slobodan Cicmil and myself arrived for the interview. Brain was cordial, but he immediately said he didn't want any pictures taken. In the small room at the end of the corridor he said his feet hurt and took off his shoes and proposed that we sit on the floor, which we did. He than noticed that our cassette recorder wasn't great and he asked if we wanted to use his Sony TC-D5m, which was a big deal at the time. Two cassettes were recorded. The interview went on for quite a while. Almost suddenly he felt that it was enough and politely suggested that if there were other questions he would answer them by hand.

In the pre-digital communication age I remember being back in Belgrade and thinking that he will never answer, he did a few months later. This was a point d'orgue as the book was a chronological presentation of his work through his own words; conceived to be used as a pick and choose menu for inspiration. The idea of non-linear thinking or as Edward de Bono called it 'Lateral thinking', and other innovative non-system based strategies were a driving force behind this project. Eno's stochastic and heuristic tactics pushed to the limit seemed quite funky and engaging. I was very interested to share obliques approaches in creativity with my fellow artists and especially rock musicians, that there were other ways of making, producing, records, sounds and art in general.

Yugoslavia at that time was more open to the west than the Soviet influenced and controlled block. The predetermined, academic 'ready to think' ways of generating any form of art were conventional and widespread. The book came out in 1986 and was well accepted and became a bit of a collectors item. It was one of the first books on Eno's work.

Goran Vejvoda, 2020