a field student of substance or substances

Lost and Found in E17 thinks he has been trying to scratch his head intelligently recently in order to come up with a knock out post. This has not been so easy due to conflicting commitments, seasonal and otherwise; the latter including a certain sensitivity induced by a gang of Mr Punches who decided to teach him a lesson in the fine art of 'this is the way we do it'. The so called Professors denied all responsibility for this fantastic assault. Precisely what substance LaFiE17 has been scratching remains a mystery; as deeply mysterious as the above 'definition' posed by Benedict de Spinoza. This text came via the first web site I could find offering a Latin translation of Definition 3 from Ethics:

By substance I understand what is in itself and conceived through itself, i.e., that whose concept does not require the concept of another thing, from which it must be formed.

This difficult hypothesis is what I like to think informs a book art work, 'Nowhere to be found', I exhibited as part of Common Grounds, a group show at the Hornbeam Centre, for the E17 Art Trail 2010. LaFiE17's archaeological self recently excavated the art work from under his bed, and with a little restorative treatment, will be re-presenting it at Book-ish - and, barring crazed attacks by outraged real art lovers - it will be out again at Waltham Forest Arts Club's May exhibition, The Long Conversation: Poetry and Painting.
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These are just two events in what is a veritable plethora of arts events happening in the borough. LaFiE17, aka Julian Beere (which is me, I think), has offered his services to local art by volunteering time to the organisation of Waltham Forest Arts Club events and activities. 20 artists have contributed to, The Long Conversation, including, all being well, a guest artist, Majed Shala from Gaza, who will be presenting works concerning issues of identity, conflict and hope in the Middle East. Majed Shala will also be exhibiting at:
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What I didn't mention in my brief report about the Natural Beekeeping Awareness Day at Hawkwood was that one of the beekeepers, Sally Haywill, gave a presentation about the experiences of Palestinian beekeepers in Gaza and the West Bank - an endeavour and/or pastime made all the more difficult due to the restrictions on movement and the destruction of habitat due to colonisation/development and defence.