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 August 2021

Scroll/ers of TAR

click image to enlarge 

The work is not signed by the artist, but it bears numerous inscriptions, seals and signatures from its subsequent owners — including the seals of the Southern Tang emperor Li Yu, the Song theorist Mi Fu, and the Qianlong Emperor — show that it passed through the hands of many collectors over the following 1,200 years.

The original drawing, some 12 inches (30 cm) square, was later mounted on a 20 feet (6.1 m) long handscroll to provide sufficient space for the seals and inscriptions.
Wikipedia  
The original drawing...

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
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 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


     

29 August 2021

Untitled Document + Ehh (a sound)

click image to enlarge  

FIAPCE  -1973-  
The work is not signed by the artist, but it bears numerous inscriptions, seals and signatures from its subsequent owners — including the seals of the Southern Tang emperor Li Yu, the Song theorist Mi Fu, and the Qianlong Emperor — show that it passed through the hands of many collectors over the following 1,200 years.

The original drawing, some 12 inches (30 cm) square, was later mounted on a 20 feet (6.1 m) long handscroll to provide sufficient space for the seals and inscriptions.
- Wikipedia  

The later form (Ehh, below), with remnants of several seals still visible, was acquired by Colin Laverty in 1973.

Verso inscriptions :

  TITLE : Ehh (Ehh is a soundNOT a word.)

  COMPLETED ON 27/1/'73 AT FIAPCE (Ph.FOSTERVILE 1)



FIAPCE  -1973-   
Below, as exhibited by Geoffrey Hassall at Sydney in 2017.
click image to enlarge

FIAPCE  -1973-   
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


  

28 August 2021

Tethers of TAR


The work is not signed by the artist, but it bears numerous inscriptions, seals and signatures from its subsequent owners — including the seals of the Southern Tang emperor Li Yu, the Song theorist Mi Fu, and the Qianlong Emperor — show that it passed through the hands of many collectors over the following 1,200 years.

The original drawing, some 12 inches (30 cm) square, was later mounted on a 20 feet (6.1 m) long handscroll to provide sufficient space for the seals and inscriptions.

It later came into the collection of Sir Percival David, and was bought by the Metropolitan Museum in 1977, funded by the Dillon Fund.
- Wikipedia  

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


  

26 August 2021

ontoLOGOS/HA HA : SEARCH is a land grab

    


Gordon : SEARCH is a land grab, right nowAnd once we grab all the land, then we can think about incorporating more code.

Joe : Cam's got a point. The current model isn't scalable. The three of us can't keep up with the expansion. But we shouldn't add more code. We should add more people.

Gordon : How many? I mean, we can't pay everybody in Necco Wafers. You know, hiring an engineer is one thing...
Joe : What's our strongest section?
Gordon Probably comedy.
Joe : Exactly. Haley loves comedy, so it's our most thorough, well-organized section.
Gordon : Well, then, we need experts. You know, someone -- someone who's obsessed with like...
Joe : Sports.
Gordon : ...sports.
Joe : Exactly. We need more Haleys.
  
SIX WEEKS LATER : Joe and Gordon are interviewing for staff 'experts' ...


Katie : : Yeah, the -- the best thing a-about a PhD in Library Science is I get to call myself a "bibliothecographer."
Joe : So you were a photography archivist at Chicago Art Institute.
Gordon : Th-That sounds cool.
Katie : Eh, hypothermic, actually, I survived exactly one winter. I'm a California girl. But not in the David Lee Roth kind of way.
Joe : Can you, uh -- 
Can you give us an example of your methodology? For instance, how do you organize your CDs?
Katie : Well, my, um -- my brother is really into metal, and I helped him manage his collection.
I put all of the death metal CDs on one shelf, from the simple bands like Obituary and Cannibal Corpse on the left, to melodic and technical death in the middle, eh, followed by death/black and grind/death and death crossovers, and then I put the industrial death, folk death, and barely-death, uh, at the end.
And -- And then, the next shelf was for black metal, uh, through the whole Norwegian scene, like Mayhem and Burzum, through the un-black and then the not-really-black-but-sorta-fits, like Cradle of Filth.
 

And -- Oh, do -- Um, do you want me to keep going? The-There's Raunchy Power --
Joe : No, that's perfect.
Gordon : Raunchy Power?
Joe : Most people just alphabetise.
[Chuckles]
Gordon : You sure this was your brother's collection?
Katie : Uh-huh.
Joe : Okay, one final thing -- How would you list a website about "barks"?
Katie : Depends if you mean dog noise, tree layer, root beer -- that's Barq's with a "q" -- or boat.
[Laughs]
Gordon : Wait. "B-Bark" is a boat?
Katie : Mm-hmm. Uh, technically, it's a sailing ship with three or more masts.
Gordon : Huh. We don't even know the answer to our own trick question.
Joe : Dr. Katie Herman, you are officially hired as Comet's Chief Ontologist.
Katie : Perfect. [Laughs] 


Halt and Catch Fire 

Tonya and Nancy : Season 4 Ep 4

   


Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
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 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


    

24 August 2021

interface

 
Halt and Catch Fire S2 Ep9  
Bosworth: What's that?
Cameron: 
Oh, this is...our next interface.
See these quick link boxes?
They'll kick users right over to their favorite area.
I've already started coding it.


Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
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 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


     

20 August 2021

re. putting erasure under erasure ) and still they come


Sous rature is a strategic philosophical device originally developed by Martin Heidegger. Usually translated as 'under erasure', it involves the crossing out of a word within a text, but allowing it to remain legible and in place. Used extensively by Jacques Derrida, it signifies that a word is "inadequate yet necessary";[1] that a particular signifier is not wholly suitable for the concept it represents, but must be used as the constraints of our language offer nothing better.

In the philosophy of deconstructionsous rature has been described as the typographical expression that seeks to identify sites within texts where key terms and concepts may be paradoxical or self-undermining, rendering their meaning undecidable.[2][3] To extend this notion, deconstruction and the practice of sous rature also seek to demonstrate that meaning is derived from difference, not by reference to a pre-existing notion or freestanding idea.[4]

- Wikipedia

Iconoclasm (from Greekεἰκώνeikṓn, 'figure, icon' + κλάωkláō, 'to break')[i] is the social belief in the importance of the destruction of icons and other images or monuments, most frequently for religious or political reasons. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be figuratively applied to any individual who challenges "cherished beliefs or venerated institutions on the grounds that they are erroneous or pernicious."[4]

Conversely, one who reveres or venerates religious images is called (by iconoclasts) an iconolater; in a Byzantine context, such a person is called an iconodule or iconophile.[5] Iconoclasm does not generally encompass the destruction of the images of a specific ruler after his or her death or overthrow, a practice better known as damnatio memoriae.

- Wikipedia

Cultural Revolution : With the Circular of May 16, 1966, Mao Zedong launched the political struggle against his enemies which he called 'monsters and demons', that is, all those who opposed the control of the Party and the Communist ideology: intellectuals, the rich, landowners, counter-revolutionaries and followers of the various religions. After the editorial in the People's Daily on June 1, "Sweep away all the monsters and demons", the Red Guards launched a violent campaign by arresting and persecuting all members of these categories.


Name and Shame  
This was followed by the campaign to eradicate the 'Four Olds', old traditions, old customs, old culture and and old ideas and ideal reiterated in the Red Guards mass demonstration in Tiananmen Square on August 18, celebrated with the full support of Mao Zedong. From then on, the Red Guards stepped up their attacks: 
the followers of religions become one of their main targets.

Cancellation print : Following completion of the edition the plate, stone or stencil is defaced so it cannot be identically printed again. Lithographic stones are usually ground down; silkscreen stencils are cleaned for reuse of the screen. Etching plates and wood and lino cut blocks can be scored from corner to corner, or have holes drilled in them, an impression is then made and this is called a ‘cancellation print’.
Why this lot today? Yesterday, this proof of cancellation etching plate and print were auctioned in Melbourne. It set us off and running...


Lot 3096 

LIONEL LINDSAY, NORMAN 1918, I) ETCHING, PROOF IMPRESSION, 20.5 X 15CM, II) ORIGINAL ETCHING PLATE (SCORED), 21 X 14.5CM
NOTE: THE ORIGINAL ETCHING PLATE WAS SCORED UPON COMPLETION OF THE EDITION AND THIS PROOF ETCHING WAS PRODUCED BY THE ARTIST AS EVIDENCE TO CONFIRM ITS DEFACEMENT
Estimate $600-800
Sold for $600


TAR and not TAR  
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A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something...
  
LOGOS/HA HA


   

19 August 2021

Four Standard Stoppages : Duchamp · Sales · Howard


Three Standard Stoppages
or
Tinned Chance: Trois stoppages etalon


Marcel Duchamp

Original Version: 1913-14, Paris
The Museum of Modern Art
Katherine S. Dreier Bequest, 1953
complex construction of multiple parts inside wood box
129.2 x 28 x 23 cm


7.30 (ABCTV yesterday, 2021.08.18

John Howard, former PM of Australia : 
"... so on that criterion, the mission, whatever may be said of it, has not been a failure."    

Leigh Sales : 
"Well, if you look, though, broadly at what the War on Terror achieved : Iraq, disaster; Afghanistan, disaster; terrorism morphed and changed; and we have seen more terrorist attacks around the world, regardless of where they originated from; we’ve seen home grown terror motivated by the ideologies of ISIS and so on. The War on Terror was supposed to make the world a safer place and again, by that yardstick, the War on Terror was a failure, wasn't it?"   

John Howard : 
"Well, you’re changing the yardstick."

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
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 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


   

18 August 2021

An appreciation : Celebrating the 40 Year Anniversary of Lama Yeshe at The Great Stupa


In December 2000, I showed my father the site of the Great Stupa to-be. We stood at one of its four entrances, in front of us the hill cleared of bush and levelled. Three vast circular trenches had been dug for the footings, no building had yet begun. I described to him the antecedent Great Stupa in Tibet and the immediate plan for this site.

New to such things in Buddhism, but having supported and followed the completion (1895-1977) of the Sacred Heart Cathedral on the hill overlooking Bendigo, and wherein he had married my mother, he considered what was before him and said: "So, they're going to make a masterpiece out of nothing." 

In this 40th anniversary video, Ian Green re-tells the story of Lama Yeshe visiting the site of the now Great Stupa of Universal Compassion outside Bendigo, central Victoria. In 1981 Lama Yeshe traveled from Tibet to Australia and met with Ian Green and Garrey Foulkes and laid down his master plan for the entire site.

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


 

13 August 2021

TAR ( rhymes with ...


Oh, the grand old Duke of York
He had ten thousand men;
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
And he marched them down again...


Oh, young motorist of our town,
as your birthday sun didst set,
You drove down one side of the street,
And you drove back up the other (wind assisted)

When they were up, they were up,
And when they were down, they were down,
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down.
click to enlarge  
Theatre of the Automobiles of Regard  
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 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


   

08 August 2021

Saut de retour du vide (Paris-Tokyo)


Theatre of the Athletes of Regard  
        detail
        A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
        someone looks at something...
  
        LOGOS/HA HA


    

06 August 2021

act + react [ act + react (( act + react {{{


Faith Kipyegon of Kenya has just won the Women's 1500m gold medal with a new Olympic record of 3:53.11
at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We witnessed this on a commercial television app, a sub-screen on our computer desktop screen.

Faith Kipyegon then collected a Kenyan flag from her supporters in the stadium. Olympic television media showed us this.

Then, she knelt low upon the track and covered herself with the flag. Watching here as she appeared to disappear there, it seemed like a magic trick. So unexpected. Would a flight of black doves emerge?

The television camera continued to record and the Media Centre editor decided to stay with this scene as a stills photographer rushed in. Five times, we clicked command + shift + 3 

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
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 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


   

04 August 2021

The Getting of Wis(r)dom


We recently referenced Philip Brophy's MeMO report on his own Golden Ticket tour of the NGV Chocolate Factory.

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
NGV Triennial 2020 installation view of Refik Anadol (designer); Refik Anadol Studio, Los Angeles (design studio) Quantum memories 2020. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Proposed acquisition with funds donated by Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund and Barry Janes and Paul Cross, 2020 © Refik Anadol. 
Photo: Tom Ross

Many current TV advertisements are also about reviewing the wisdom of our views. Here's Wayne, looking as if at his own bee-bearded bonce, wondering if he can smash and grab some easy money, honey.

Theatre of the Advertisements of Regard   
Voice-over Man advises :

Wayne, Wayne, Wayne ... careful there, big fella.
Sure, there’s a part of you thinking, 'Free honey’.
But we want to talk to the other part, your smart part.
It knows that checking your credit score without affecting it
is a good decision. Easy now...
Chorus sings : wis(e)r

So, why is Wayne now looking at the back of his hammer-become-screen-device? Because he is still required to act stupid; because it is we who are fixed on that screen (and this screen) to the wisr owl logo.

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


   

02 August 2021

il n'y a pas de hors-texte


there is no outside-text

- Jacques Derrida, De la grammatologie (1967)
                                 Of Grammatology (transl G. Spivak, 1976)


 FIAPCE (-1977-)  
 Hakuin (1686-1769)  
Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA


     

01 August 2021

La Grande Bouffe < blow-out


Philip Brophy in this weekend's MeMO review :

          Everyone simply loved it. State politicians stood in front of it (like every moron in Melbourne) to have their photo taken. The NGV website has a short promo discussing its curatorial purchase and placement. But do you think I could find anyone anywhere to critically engage with this work, short of reprising the NGV’s sound-bytes or Anadol’s own assertions? Am I second-guessing that most MeMO readers saw it, hated it and can’t bring themselves to even remember it? Maybe therein lies the core of the problem: how screen culture’s increasing leakage of totemic and monumental art commissions constitutes a critical drowning-out of discursive engagement.

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
NGV Triennial 2020 installation view of Refik Anadol (designer); Refik Anadol Studio, Los Angeles (design studio) Quantum memories 2020. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Proposed acquisition with funds donated by Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund and Barry Janes and Paul Cross, 2020 © Refik Anadol. 
Photo: Tom Ross

As above, so below :

     TARist
     projection-space
     words


 Yosa Buson (1716-1784) ink paper scroll digital reproduction regard

Theatre of the Actors of Regard  
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
  
 LOGOS/HA HA