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.


14 August 2010

REAL WORDS

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There's an Australian Federal Election on and its propaganda, reporting and analysis are dominating the main media. All this as
I keep returning to consider this scenario.

Pierrot in a bubble_sRGB_400

Who would have imagined that REALITY would figure at the heart of a national election? Maybe in an ancient Athenian election, but in Australia 2010?

Of the two major parties vying for the peoples' endorsement, one (The Liberals, lead by Tony Abbott) presents itself as a would-be government of REAL ACTION. (motto 1. Stand up for Australia. Stand up for real action. motto 2. SUPPORT REAL ACTION). REALLY (sic) they just mean ACTION : the example they promote is WE WILL TURN THE BOATS (of asylum seekers) BACK.
Vote One : John Wayne for Australia 2010

The other major, Labor, is lead by Australia's first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. She has attained this position not via a general election but through an extraordinary internal party coup. She is seeking both a mandate for her party and to legitimate her own historical leadership position. When the first few weeks of Labor's formal election campaign went disastrously awry, Gillard declared she would now run her own campaign (not only did she gain Labor leadership through her conspiracy with "Labor's faceless men", as her opposition represents it, but now she was admitting to be the puppet of campaign strategists). She said she would now be, and we would now see, THE REAL JULIA.

2010.08_real vision buried in the ballyhoo_sRGB_400
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A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...

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