David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :
'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)
(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.
On 18 December we posted here about Clement Meadmore: The art of mid-century design
at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, focussing on a 1956 work we'd not previously encountered :
Clement Meadmore, 1956
To that we added this by FIAPCE :
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
Now, from the summer heap sorting, we add this from 2014. Archetypes live, OK!
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A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
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Regarding meta-matter :
What sort of question(s) is
"What's the matter?"?
What sort of answer(s) is
"What sort of question is that?"?
At the end of this clip, Clement Meadmore says,
"I guess, to me, the common denominator of all this is a matter of looking."
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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Yesterday, we were sorting through some of our cartoons from previous years. One of these was headlined Re. Painting One's Elf Into A Corner.
This morning, we read Boo, hiss, border wall in
the New York Times by Op-Ed columnist David Leonhardt regarding President Trump's televised Address To The Nation yesterday:
Televised prime-time speeches are performances. No matter how serious the subject, they are an opportunity for politicians to use the tools of entertainment — lighting, setting, writing, delivery — in the service of persuasion.
Neither President Trump nor the Democratic congressional leaders did a particularly effective job last night, in their dueling speeches about the government shutdown. Trump is almost comically stiff while reading a pre-written speech. He spent much of his Oval Office address squinting in the camera, as if he couldn’t read his teleprompter, and — as social media noted — he audibly sniffed after many of his lines.
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, for their part, crowded next to each other at a single podium — an awkward set-up that, as Clare Malone of FiveThirtyEight pointed out, is likely to be parodied on Saturday Night Live this coming weekend.
It's unlikely that either performance was effective enough to move public opinion. “Literally no one will remember the Trump speech one week from now. (Same goes, obviously, for the Democratic response),” wrote MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
If last night helped either side, it was probably the Democrats, mostly because they remain in the better position on the fight over the border wall. "Schumer’s doing a nice job painting Trump into the shutdown corner here. Democrats are happy to reopen the government and keep negotiating on the border. Trump isn’t. That’s the winning position,” wrote Vox’s Ezra Klein.
FIAPCE
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Sengai Gibon (1750-1837)
collection FIAPCE
FIAPCE
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Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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Magus/Magi - magician, sorcerer
image - magical appearance
imagination - visit of the Magi
Baby Jesus - Word (LOGOS) made flesh (HA HA)
aka LOGOS/HA HA (Laughing Christ)
Girolamo da Santacroce (1480/1485-1556) detail
Theatre of the Actors of Regard
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Well, I'm so tired of crying but I'm out on the road again
I'm on the road again
Well, I'm so tired of crying but I'm out on the road again
I'm on the road again
- Canned Heat
Another year gone –
hat in my hand,
sandals on my feet.
- Matsuo Basho (trans. Robert Hass)
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you're mine, I walk the line
- Johnny Cash
FIAPCE
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As observed by Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)
New Year’s morning :
the ducks on the pond
quack and quack.
As observed by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)
Year after year
on the monkey’s face
a monkey’s face.
Below, a haiga (haiku and image) by Basho. The drawing depicts a New Year's Eve home altar offering of Kagami mochi which is traditionally broken and eaten in a ritual called kagami biraki (mirror opening).
collection FIAPCE
We don't have a translation of the above Basho haiku, but here's a thematic contender, translated by Jane Reichhold :
ariake mo
misoka ni chikashi
mochi no oto
dawn moon
close to the end of the year
pounding rice
... and as translated for NYE by TAR :
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Ota NANPO (1749-1823)
Cup of Destiny - lyrics
collection FIAPCE
Amyl and the Sniffers (2016-
Cup of Destiny - lyrics
[Chorus]
I drank from the right glass
I’m takin’ the right path
But it is testing me
I'll have the last laugh
Down at the work task
They’ll get the best of me
Oh, the cup of destiny
I drank from the right glass
I'm takin' the right path
But it is testing me
I'll have the last laugh
Down at the work task
They’ll get the best of me
Oh, the cup of destiny
[Verse]
Well you never really know it till it hits ya
You see it in your face, an old school picture
You pour yourself one every night
It doesn't mean that you're wrong or right
Look at the bottle, look at the glass
There is your future, there is your past
It all makes sense when you get some
It doesn't matter if you're old or all done
Amy Taylor at Gizzfest Dec 9 - photo WDZIEKONSKI
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Fumi Uchida (1842-1910) | Tengu of the Actors of Regard
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