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.


15 July 2012

Hall of Fame [ Name and Shame ]

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Zhang Bingjian in his Beijing studio in front of his Hall of Fame

A Portrait Of Chinese Corruption, In Rosy Pink
by Louisa Lim /NPR
29 July 2012

At an artist's studio in Beijing, dozens of pink-tinted portraits hang in neat lines: beaming men in ties and glasses, the very picture of the archetypal Communist apparatchik. Their portraits are painted rosy pink — the color of money, or at least China's 100-yuan bill.

The collection of paintings is called the Hall of Fame. But in fact it's a wall of shame: Each is a Chinese official found guilty of corruption.

The gallery of rogues is the brainchild of artist and filmmaker Zhang Bingjian. So far, he has commissioned 1,600 portraits of corrupt Chinese cadres.

"This is the beauty of the piece," he says. "It's open-ended. You don't know when it will be finished. Probably 10,000, 100,000, who knows? ... There are many new famous people coming every day."



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