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.


13 November 2009

Symbolismsmus | Madnessmus

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Sword and Shield : Seal of the Ministry of State Security of the GDR

After watching The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) on SBS.TV last night - it's a 2006 German film about the monitoring of the East Berlin cultural scene by agents of the Stasi - one more souvenir of that madness came to mind.

1992_GDR Pennant_400w

It is a pennant flag of the GDR, found in a rubbish bin at some newly (re)occupied offices in East Berlin when your correspondent was there in 1992 for an exhibition: DOUBLE CROSSED AGAIN | DEATH TO ALL MIRRORS! Overturned, the pennant is pinned as shown in the bLOGOS/HA HA Office Complex.

The GDR Coat of Arms was intended to represent the factory workers (the hammer), the intelligentia (tellingly, the compass) and the farmers (the wreath of grain). To this reader, it now appears more like divide (the Compass of Dualism) and conquer (smash!).

At a meta level, as a consequence of these two-or-more readings, it appears as flickering relative view. And therefore, as a further consequence, as mere projection upon mere projection-space. That is, also as absolute view, empty.

Same old
(something or other)
Same old
(empty of something or other)


detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something . . .

LOGOS/HA HA