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.
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In today's local broadsheet, THE AGE, a reprint from The Guardian :
Switched-on works seek a little light relief, in which Maev Kennedy chronicles some recent legislative farce from those who would define ART.
It is a question that has dogged the contemporary art world since Duchamp put a urinal in a gallery: is it art?
read the full article here
What particularly delights this reader is to see the objects in question depicted in not one but two photographs. One shows the
head of a viewer, the other shows the
feet of a 'viewer'. (Or should we say, the feet of a passer-by?) No matter, it seems a fine sign of the times : the matrix of regard continues to expand.
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...
LOGOS/HA HA
