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.


25 August 2010

"Power is organised chaos"

.
Five days after the Australian Federal Election and still no government. It appears we may have a Hung Parliament. (Curious phrase : hang > suspend > suspense) Some seats are yet to be declared. Counting continues.

What is known is that there are at least 3 or 4 Independents elected to the House of Representatives and the so-called Balance of Power is likely to be with them. (Last night, in a dream, a character declared: "Power is organised chaos".)

After the widely criticised puppetry of the two major parties and the Presidential-style performances of their lead players, along with the almost total disappearance of the others, this present indeterminacy comes as a breeze of unexpected possibility.

Cherchez le candidat (Find the candidate)

The Electoral Officer hasn't seen him.
The voters can't find him.
Can you?


Hang on, what's this?!

1890s_chromo_The Electoral Agent_Find the PoliticianAha!_sRGB_400
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...

LOGOS/HA HA