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.


13 January 2015

CLOSE

 
Today, online, we received this image and text 
from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney :
  
Chuck Close: Prints, Process and Collaboration

‘It may seem at first that you are looking at a face, but it soon becomes clear that each work is a document of a mind-boggling process’ – Sydney Morning Herald.

MCA Members receive unlimited FREE entry to the Chuck Close exhibition.

Daily until 15 Mar
       
The SMH quote set us thinking again about the latin dictum Nomen est omen. Meaning, in relation to people and their occupations or significant activities, the name forebodes the act. Sometimes referred to as nominative determinism.

It occurred to us that the Mr CLOSE might well be regarded as a fine example of such a view.

We appreciated the simple meta-complexity of the image the MCA provided : 
someone(s) looking at something : 
we (you, me) and the father look at an image/ 
a child and the image of a child look at us...

A CLOSE look at the detail of the 'actual' child in the overall image - simply by clicking ENLARGE - and it now appears more like the image made by Mr CLOSE :


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


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