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.


02 June 2013

Venice Biennale 2013 : The Encyclopedic Palace


Following on from yesterday's post, "...about the ways some one might order a heap of Art and non-Art things", we note the theme of this year's Venice Biennale : The Encyclopedic Palace.

From a New York Times article :
         
“The Encyclopedic Palace” is the theme. It is taken from the title of a symbol of 1950s-era Futurism - an 11-foot-tall architectural model of a 136-story cylindrical skyscraper that was intended to house all the knowledge in the world. Its creator, the self-taught Italian-American artist Marino Auriti, dreamed it would be built on the National Mall in Washington. The model now belongs to the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan, which is lending it to the Biennale. “It best reflects the giant scope of this international exhibition,” Mr. Gioni said, “the impossibility of capturing the sheer enormity of the art world today.”
              
courtesy : Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
Within the matrix of interconnectedness : curator of the 2013 Venice Biennale, Massimiliano Gioni looks at Marino Auriti's 1950s model of The Encyclopedic Palace.

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

    
Paolo Baratta, the longtime president of the Biennale, said that “after 14 years of having traditional curators I thought it was time to ask a man of the next generation.

“At a time when contemporary art is flooding the world,” he added, “it seemed to make more sense to present a show that doesn’t just include a list of artists from the present but rather looks at today’s art through the eyes of history.”
 
        
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ...
 
LOGOS/HA HA