31 May 2008
27 May 2008
26 May 2008
w. g. sebald
Reading in the emergence of memory, the collection of essays and conversations by and about W. G. Sebald. Besides making me want to go back and reread the novels, I am enjoying these little gems that sparkle on the page and send me off on scouting trips (literally & figuratively) beyond the hardcovers I hold in my hands (much like the novels, actually). A few here in parataxical/paratactical, rather than hypotactical, style (yes, I had to look that up).
‘these lacunae of ignorance’
(referencing how little we know about the life of Matthias Grünewald)
[an aside: just had a conversation over lunch today about Colmar, some friends there in the mountains to the west, and the amazing Madonna of the Roses (by Martin Schongauer) and the Isenheim Altarpiece at the Musée Unterlinden (by, yes, Matthias Grünewald).]
‘there are hypotactical syntax forms in these sentences which have been abandoned by practically all writers now for reasons of convenience.’
(describing some of his writing)
[another aside: all kinds of interesting stuff to find when you go looking after this, including a discussion in a book with a mouthful of a title, Chinese Theories of Reading and Writing: A Route to Hermeneutics and Open Poetics.]
‘a product of precise and pellucid [ah, that word again] language’
(from an online entry about Sebald, describing an essay he had written)
* * *
connections
it seems to be a topic of conversation more frequently of late
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25 May 2008
24 May 2008
map & extrapolation
map – found fragments
map – extrapolation of original from found fragments
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22 May 2008
19 May 2008
18 May 2008
16 May 2008
15 May 2008
reverse hipping stones
Thinking more about hipping stones and what might be their opposite.
Hipping stones are for crossing small bodies of water while keeping your feet dry.
These ‘reverse’ hipping stones are for crossing the alley while keeping your feet wet.
The Stoneybrook alley proves to be reverse hippinable.
The action is (maybe, quite a guess here) tobi-mizu-kosaten?
addendum:
A slight alteration in the Japanese (many thanks, again, to a friend). ‘Tobi-mizu-hodou’ (jumping – water – pavement crossing) is a more correct way of phrasing the above (‘Kosaten’ implies a larger road or intersection).
also addendum:
Compiled these few bits and some additional history on a concrete wheels page.
13 May 2008
rauschenberg
Sadly, just read about the death of Robert Rauschenberg in today’s Times. A large personality of wit and charm.
I remember hearing of his ‘erased de Kooning’ while I was in school. That piece made me smile. It stuck with me (I made a small piece referencing it last year) and that off-kilter approach to things still has a strong appeal.
Rauschenberg had the ability “to see beyond what others have decided should be the limits of art.” (A nice quote from the painter Jack Tworkov)
Amen.
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11 May 2008
7 May 2008
hipping stones
From the you-learn-something-new-everyday category…
Once again out looking for something else and I came across this photo of ‘hipping stones’ on a BBC site.
(Photo © BBC Lancashire. Used with permission.)
I’ve seen this type of thing in a lot of places but never heard it referred to by this name.
A little exploring found this:
I realized I had a couple photos from last fall of just such a structure.
The photo above is early morning on the Kamogawa (Kamo River) in Kyoto showing ‘hipping stones’ [1], a man and young girl making use of same [2], successfully [3], with a watching egret [4].
I believe the egret is called ‘dai sagi’ in Japan.
I don’t know if there is a phrase for the stones, provincial or otherwise.
The Kamo proved to be hippinable.
addendum:
New day, new something learned.
Thanks to a friend I have learned the proper Japanese term for stones crossing water:
“sawa-watari-ishi” (small river-crossing-stone) [sometimes shortened to 'sawatari-(i)shi'].
The activity illustrated is “tobi-ishi-watari” (jumping-stone-cross).
Tobi-ishi (stepping stones), can also be found in gardens where they are spaced in such a way as to subtly influence movement through the space.
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