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.


29 March 2018

domenico de clario + tonglen* (from the opaque)


domenico de clario +
tonglen* (from the opaque)
from 6.15 pm good friday march 30 2018
540 morpung avenue irymple / mildura
(entry and parking via 73 coorong avenue irymple)

On Good Friday March 30, upon the rising of the full moon the third and final tonglen performance will accompany the planting of seven trees atop the burial mound.

At 6.30 pm the artist, in conversation with Helen Vivian and Ross Lake, will describe the development of this major installation, from its beginning to the final covering of the archive and the building of the mound. The ritual planting of seven trees (an Olive, a Flame tree, a Jacaranda, a Murray Pine, a Eucalyptus Woodwardii, a Grevillea Robusta, and a Eucalyptus Erythronema) will begin at 7.16 pm (sunset) accompanied by a collaborative sound performance. A BBQ and wine will be served at 8.00pm and you are invited to explore the garden and continue the conversation.

The tonglen burial project began on the southern winter solstice of June 21 2016 and included a performance presented by Domenico de Clario, Ren Walters, Carmen Chan, Tony Yap and Juana Beltran. The second stage took place on the spring equinox of 22 September 2016 and included a performance presented by Domenico de Clario and David Palliser.

*

underneath my feet then above my head while my body is somehow placed between these timeless transactions yesterday i watched the earth cover the cars the trailer the mattresses and a few other objects that had spilled from the ledges onto the lowest level of the burial site and i imagined the mound and the seven trees atop it red bottlebrush an orange tree a yellow lemon a green cypress a blue royal empress a lilac and a jacaranda growing together fed by and manifesting all of the numberless energies underneath resting at last destinies inextricably woven together my mother’s shoes my father’s winter trousers my children’s toys my cricket gloves pads shelves my entire collection of art magazines from the seventies my faithful vw beetle and my father’s toyoa corolla and its trailer til now covering the earth upon which all else rests this venture begun under the full moon winter solstice and ending under the new moon’s first day of summer all that i’ve gathered and treasured and held and touched and left in forgotten corners all of it together in a most democratic final embrace in no order whatsoever in a respectful adherence to the seemingly random nature of it all the benign indifference of the universe and at each turn sung to sleep via the intoning of lullabies the ones i’ve listened to all my life the ones i sang as a child and now for the last time i offer to the shreds of things underneath my feet not as a goodbye but as an agreement to now transfer all of our common stories from touch and sight to memory spoken by southern zephyrs breezing through leaves delighting in their future manifested colour from both afar and right inside the palm of my hand welcoming rain heat wind sorrow and the endless flurry of feathers in nests

*

I hope to see you at the burial site on `march 30 and I thank you for your continued interest in and your support of tonglen.

domenico de clario
march 2018