11.12.04

Transparent Things

A thin veneer of immediate reality is spread over natural and artificial matter, and whoever wishes to remain in the now, with the now, on the now, should please not break its tension film. Otherwise the inexperienced miracle worker will find themselves no longer walking on water but descending upright among staring fish.

-Vladimir Nabakov

22.11.04

The Eye of God

All things in constant motion.
Stillness is a dream, fit only for poetry.
Every position is always defined relative to other things that are also in motion.
A fixed point could only be the Eye of God.

11.11.04

1848 1876 1897

1848: "Year of Revolutions." Starting in France, European countries are swept up in revolution, none of which succeed, most of which end bloodily. The anti-slavery Free Soil Party divides the Democratic Party and slave-holding career soldier Zachary Taylor is elected president of the U.S..

1876: Western Union has a profound influence on the election of Rutherford Hayes as U.S. President, who lost the popular vote and won the electoral vote by 1, and not without controversy. His rival, Samuel Tilden, never conceded, and was called "President Tilden" by Democrats. (They called Hayes "Rutherfraud.")

1897: Wm. Randolph Hearst uses the New York Journal to change public opinion in favor of war with Spain, famously telling a photographer, "Your provide the photographs, I'll provide the war." The Spanish American War followed the next year.

11.9.04

the Future

Torniamo all antico,
e sar a un progresso.

We go back to the ancient,
and that will be a step forward.

22.6.04

The Medium of Intervention

So the task is to produce "dissensus," for transforming ourselves not into self-acclaimed walking corpses, but into sacrificial victims for a ritual devoted to the reestablishment of contradictory experiences, which is what culture should be about.

~ Francesco Bonami Parkett No.69

Which is what Francesco Bonami thinks culture should be about. I'm happy to join in if it looks like fun.

22.5.04

Equal Temperament Washes Clothes

Equal temperament reminds one of the truth; just intonation is the truth.

----------- LaMonte Young

Sound can do a lot of things--sound can wash clothes.

-----------Sun Ra

11.4.04

Sentipensante & Aeviternity

SENTIPENSANTE
thinking with the heart
Feelings and thoughts operating in perfect concert.
The word was first used by Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan author, quoting some fishermen on the South American coast.

AEVITERNITY
a state of temporal presence that lies outside of time
...and therefore outside of the changing universe.
The concept comes from Christian mythology, as the celestial home of angels.

11.3.04

Monk v. Holiday

A MONK is a dark area on a printed page, caused by uneven inking of a plate or type. The term derives from the pre-printing press days of Europe, when publishing consisted of monks, hand-copying texts, and the occasional splotches of ink were inevitable.

HOLIDAYS are light spots in a coat of paint. As it was explained to me, it comes from the good-humored sentiment, "The painter must have been taking a holiday when this part of the wall was being painted."