bLOGOS/HA HA: Herstory Painthing

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.

30 May 2020

Herstory Painthing

Further to last week's Falls the Shadow

which began :

In today's edition of Memo Review

Rex Butler regards ...

Theatre of the Actors of Regard

Jane Sutherland (1853-1928), Obstruction, 1887

Turns out, it was neither a cow (La vache qui rit) nor a bull (Logos). It was, in fact, another young girl, MISS-spelled by a malevolent ha-ha turned split-logos (post and rail), immured in deceptive appearance.

A ha-ha (French: hâ-hâ or saut de loup) is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier while preserving an uninterrupted view of the landscape beyond.

The design includes a turfed incline that slopes downward to a sharply vertical face (typically a masonry retaining wall). Ha-has are used in landscape design to prevent access to a garden by, for example, grazing livestock without obstructing views. In security design, the element is used to deter vehicular access to a site while minimizing visual obstruction.

The name "ha-ha" is thought to have stemmed from the exclamations of surprise by those coming across them, as the walls were intentionally designed so as not to be visible on the plane of the landscape.^[1] Alternatively, it may have been referred to as "ha-hah" as an abreviation of "half and half" with half a wall and half a ditch. Daniel Dering in 1724, John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont (father to the prime minister, Spencer Perceval), observed of Stowe: "What adds to the beauty of this garden is, that it is not bounded by walls, but by a ha-hah [sic], which leaves you the sight of the beautiful woody country, and makes you ignorant how far the high planted walks extend."

Elioth Gruner (1882-1939)
Landscape : Two Figures at Post and Rail Fence
Lot 16 : Shapiro : SH179 - Australian and International Art
for auction 10 June 2020

Upon the scene arriving, seeking judgement, liberation, Prince Elioth didst deconstructed that spelling rail and so released the trapped girl|s, the one and thus the other, to be and to talk, together, free. Unbounded.