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.
Nanquan, Guizong, and Mayu were on their way to see
Master Nanyang.
Halfway there, Nanquan drew a circle on the ground and said,
“If you understand it, we’ll go.” Guizong sat in the middle of the circle. Mayu made a curtsy. Nanquan said, “If this is so, we don’t need to go.” Guizong said, “What makes you think so?”
These happy fellows are Kanzan and Jittoku as depicted by Sesshū Tōyō (1420-1506).
Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku) are popular figures in Zen painting. They have been depicted many times as a pair, and the duo has become an identifiable motif in Zen painting and representative of deeper meanings in Zen Buddhism as a whole.
Hanshan, whose name means "Cold Mountain", is believed to be an eccentric Zen poet from the Tang Dynasty (618–907) who lived on the Tiantang Mountain in Zhejiang Province.
Shide, whose name means "foundling" or "pickup," was a kitchen worker at the nearby Guoqing Temple. He is said to have been abandoned by his family, and then found and raised by Fenggan, another Zen eccentric. As legend goes, the two formed a close friendship, with Shide stealing scraps from the kitchen to bring to Hanshan, and the pair spending time in nature, away from societal structure and institutions. Little is verified about the lives of these two figures, and they "have come to exist only in the works they have left behind.[1]"
Hanshan and Shide are easily recognizable in Zen painting. They are almost always depicted wearing scrappy and ratty clothing, appearing disheveled, wandering in nature, laughing, or with mischievous looks on their faces. Hanshan is identified by the scroll he holds in his hand, alluding to his work as a poet. Shide is identified by the broom he holds, which references his work as a kitchen cleaner at the monastery.
We follow with interest the variety of their many depictions. Here is a favourite, by Ekaku Hakuin (1686 - 1769), about which Katsuhiro Yoshizawa translated by Norman Waddell writes :
(It is an image) that employs the 'scroll within a scroll' motif. (It) shows a man standing before a hanging scroll inscribed with a verse from the 'Poems of Kanzan' :
If you have Kanzan's poems in your house It will be better for you than reading sutras; Write them out and paste them up on your wall, They'll be there to read whenever you want.
The smiling figure standing before the inscription savoring the words is the poet Kanzan himself. In a touch that adds a three-dimensional effect to the composition, Kanzan's companion Jittoku is shown peering out from behind the scroll.
By the time the viewer has read the inscription and grasped its meaning, he is contemplating the poem in the same manner as the smiling Kanzan. It might be hoped that he has become aware at least of the possibility of becoming Kanzan himself.
Ekaku Hakuin (1686–1769) Theatre of the Actors of Regard
collection Eisei Bunko Museum
A similar staging by Hanabusa Itchō (1652-1724).
Hanabusa Itchō (1652–1724) Theatre of the Actors of Regard
collection FIAPCE
Itcho ('a butterfly') was a student of the haiku master Basho ('banana tree') [click]. The scroll that Kanzan and Jittoku regard, hung from their upturned broom, does not contain a poem by Hanshan, nor is it even about them. In a cross-time paradox loop, we regard their regard of a tribute to a future-present-past master poet, Itcho's teacher Basho : a banana plant grows in the light of the moon (enlightenment). A Basho basho haiku :
Basho nowaki shite A banana plant in the autumn gale - Tarai ni ame o I listen to the dripping of rain Kiku yo kana Into a basin at night.
[The two friends appear here much as Sesshu earlier depicted them, still painted in the Kano style, which Itcho would abandon for a style of his own, so this is probably an early work. Basho died in 1694.] There's some concurrence with the 1972 Aktion 'Ausfegen' by Joseph Beuys and his two students who swept up the detritus in Karl Marx Platz, Berlin, after the May Day parade. A few months after that... [Beuys manifested his social philosophical ideas in abolishing entry requirements to his Düsseldorf class. Throughout the late 1960s this renegade policy caused great institutional friction, which came to a head in October 1972 when Beuys was dismissed from his post. That year he found 142 applicants who had not been accepted that he wished to enroll under his teaching. 16 of them agreed and he then occupied the offices of the academy to gain a hearing about their admission. They were admitted by the school, but the relationship between Beuys and the school were irreconcilable.[18] The dismissal, which Beuys refused to accept, produced a wave of protests from students, artists and critics. Although now bereft of an institutional position, Beuys continued an intense schedule of public lectures and discussions, as well as becoming increasingly active in German politics. Despite this dismissal, the walkway on the academy's side of the Rhine bears Beuys as its namesake. Later in life, Beuys became a visiting professor at various institutions (1980–1985). - Wikipedia)
René Block Collection
A more recent depiction has Hanshan and Shide/Beuys and student with a formal projection-space [click] hung upon an upended red Label broom. The TAR tableau continuum...
Theatre of the Actors of Regard collection FIAPCE
Here's the scene again, from 1974 : 'Hanshan and Shide' as projection-space blob-heads in the manner of Fred Williams, as they/as we/as you and I regard this meta-deep detail of the TAR field.
We've shown Fukurokuju before [click here] as calligrapher and as projection-space. Here's another recently come to light, Kano school style, forehead adorned with TAR pangram :
"One of each, thanks." - Anon.
[19] And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
[20] Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
[21] And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. - God "Everything is everything" Now hear this mixture, where Hip Hop meets scripture - Lauryn Hill
Teaching aids 2 (July), Colin McCahon,1975 coll. AGNSW
detail coll. FIAPCE A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/ someone looks at something...
LOGOS/HA HA
Iroha pangram plus numerals 1234, Ryokan (1758–1831)
A pangram (Greek: παν γράμμα, pan gramma, "every letter") or holoalphabetic sentence is a sentence using every letter of a given alphabet at least once.
In Japanese, although typical orthography uses kanji (logograms), pangrams can be made using every kana, or syllabic character. The Iroha is a classic example of a perfect pangram in non-Latin script.
We've been musing on the Iroha pangram plus numerals 1234 by the Japanese Zen monk, poet and respected calligrapher Ryokan (1758–1831) and on Colin McCahon's Teaching Aids series as a way of further considering the TAR pangram,
sentence - Wiktionary
1. In grammar, a sentence is a group of words that follow normal grammar rules, and that, in writing, begins with a capital letter and ends with a period '.', question mark '?', or exclamation mark '!'. Usually a sentence has a subject, verb, and object.
2. In law, a sentence is the punishment that a judge gives to a criminal.
3. In art and in TAR, a sentence might be (say) a composition of signs of elements regarded as crucial.
etymology
Borrowing from Middle French sentence, from Latin sententia (“way of thinking, opinion, sentiment”), from sentiēns, present participle of sentiō (“to feel, think”); see sentient, sentience, sense, scent.
which we base draw many times each day.
Noteworthy, we reckon, is the chasmic worldview difference between practising (1) the traditional Japanese Iroha panagram and (2) the best known English language pangram :
1.
Although its scent still lingers on the form of a flower has scattered away For whom will the glory of this world remain unchanged? Arriving today at the yonder side of the deep mountains of evanescent existence We shall never allow ourselves to drift away intoxicated, in the world of shallow dreams.
- English translation by Professor Ryuichi Abe
2. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Some more from wikipedia :
The Iroha (いろは) is a Japanese poem. Authorship is traditionally ascribed to the Heian era Japanese Buddhist priest and scholar Kūkai (空海) (774–835). However, this is unlikely as it is believed that in his time there were separate e sounds in the a and ya columns of the kana table. The え (e) above would have been pronounced ye, making the pangram incomplete.[4]
It is said [by whom?] that the Iroha is a transformation of these verses in the Nirvana Sutra:
諸行無常 是生滅法 生滅滅已 寂滅為楽
which translates into
All acts are impermanent That's the law of creation and destruction. When all creation and destruction are extinguished That ultimate stillness (nirvana) is true bliss.
cataLOGOS/HA HA Recession Art & Other Stategies HAND SPACE exhibition TAR performance "Thank you Peter. It's a real pleasure and a privilege to be included in this dialog. I feel like someone coming to a classic car meet or something. You bring your own perfect example of a thing, and I'm quite proud of collecting the catalog for the show because its been a receptacle for those ideas."
HAND SPACE material (1982) mailed by Robert MacPherson to Peter Tyndall Lecture Topic: Recession Art & Other Strategies, 1985, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane
Speaker: Peter Cripps Respondent: Channon Goodwin
In response to the social, political and cultural contexts of the 1970’s and 80’s, Peter Cripps curated the exhibition Recession Art & Other Strategies, at the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane in 1985. According to Cripps, ‘Recession art refers to art which is made under the pressure of little money and an insignificant market. It tends to be small, easy to produce, store and dispose of. It included the development of new strategies for the sale of works; the possibility of replacing parts as they sell with replicas. It is an art based on the limited means of production, speed of production and small size of constituent units, which, since they can form larger works, do not restrict the artist in the scale of his work. It is an art based on intellect rather than on formal qualities.’
In his lecture, Cripps reviews this exhibition, interrogating its legacy, as well as exploring perceived synergies between historical and contemporary independent art practice. Additionally, he assesses the role and impact of this type of artist thinking and practice on the contemporary context.
Peter Cripps is an artist and a former Director of the Institute of Modern Art (IMA), Brisbane (1984–86). As an artist has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally since the 1970s, with recent major individual survey exhibitions including Peter Cripps: Endless Space at the IMA, Brisbane in 2012, and Peter Cripps: Towards an Elegant Solution, ACCA, Melbourne in 2010. Between 1973 and 1988, Cripps worked as a curator and various other roles within a number of major Australian museums, galleries and alternative art spaces, as well as in a freelance capacity.
Permanent Recession: Art Labour & Circumstance – Channon Goodwin and Peter Cripps in conversation : Channon Goodwin is an artist and arts-worker based in Melbourne. Goodwin is the Director of Bus Projects, founding Convener of the All Conference network, and makes films and podcasts for Fellow Worker.
On TV, a COVID sign outside a London court : PLEASE OBSERVE SOCIAL DISTANCING which triggers memories of studying Brecht in our matriculation year, of being very interested in his deconstructive meta-strategy verfremdung (*have never forgotten that term) variously translated as ESTRANGEMENT, ALIENATION, DISILLUSION, DEFAMILIARISATION, DISTANCING EFFECT. MAKING THE FAMILAR STRANGE sits best here. David Barnett writes :
The Difficulty of Translating the Term Translating the term has caused all manner of problems in English, primarily because it was once almost universally known as ‘alienation’. This is not a useful translation because of the negative connotations the word has in English (if you alienate an audience, for example, spectators tend to leave the theatre). I prefer to consider Verfremdung as a single word that describes a process: making the familiar strange. The editors of the latest edition of Brecht on Theatre have decided to keep the word in its original German to acknowledge the lack of an easy translation into English.
‘Making the familiar strange’ is an example of a dialectical process : the audience encounters something it recognizes; that thing is then presented as strange (that is, the ‘thing’ is now in contradiction with itself); and the audience then has to reach a new understanding in order to move beyond the contradiction.
