bLOGOS/HA HA: First Catch Your Self

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 November 2015

First Catch Your Self

Hey, there's a National Self-Portrait Prize.

We are reminded of

First Catch Your Hare :

The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy

by Hannah Glasse (1747)

It's such a well known phrase, but...

Ian Mayes, writing in The Guardian, quotes Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable as stating "First catch your hare. This direction is generally attributed to Hannah Glasse, habit-maker to the Prince of Wales, and author of The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy (1747). Her actual directions are, 'Take your Hare when it is cas'd, and make a pudding...' To 'case' means to take off the skin" [not 'to catch']; Mayes notes further that both the Oxford English Dictionary and The Dictionary of National Biography discuss the attribution. (Wikipedia)

Oh! First skin your hare!

Such a curious notion, a Self-Portrait, even more so a National Self-Portrait Competition. A challenging one, we'd have thought. First, catch your self!

First Skin Your Self :

The Art of Self-Portraiture Made Plain
and Easy

by Invited Artists (UQ 2015)