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.


28 December 2011

Re. things that are interesting to look at

.
Reviewing the year's local art scene, art critic for THE AGE Robert Nelson distinguishes between...
Since the publication of Nicolas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics in 1998, you can sense the terms of artistic interest and prestige slowly changing. Instead of seeing art as the product of a unique individual author, relational art prefers the idea of works springing up in dialogue with the user, referring to the social context that artists share...
and reckons...
Alas, the problems with relational art are as big as the theory that supports it. There was once a time when artists immersed themselves in a medium and satisfyingly concentrated on poetic invention within it. As artists abandon the techniques and discipline of a medium and see their role as social facilitators and theorists, they have less and less chance to make a contribution to visual language. They tend not to come up with things that are interesting to look at.

Reflecting on art's paradoxes
Robert Nelson / THE AGE
28 December 2011
( click here to read full article )
The red emphases are by bLOGOS/HA HA

You (who RN nominates as the subject : see paragraph 1 above) may or may not regard these as things that are interesting to look at.

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

LOGOS/HA HA