or: What I gleaned from spending 5 wonderful days painting under the supervision of Liz Hough at St. Ives School of Painting, a visual report: Becoming nature — The first step has to do with immersing oneself into what is already there; walk around, sit down, feel the wind, notice the short glimpses of bright…
Category: ART
new facts –
or; facts only Lucy Ellmann can confirm: the fact that I don’t take any pride in housework, as far as I know, which isn’t very Amish of me, house-proud Hausfrau, housewife, homemaker, the fact that I come from a long line of people who took no pride in housekeeping, … the fact that when I…
Dept. of Speculation
What Rilke said: I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone. Somehow, I was sure Jenny Offill’s Dept. of Speculation would read very much like Leslie Jamison’s The Empathy Exams, a much-praised book, which I unfortunately have to admit, I really didn’t like at all. And so the Department ……
The true alchemists do not change lead into gold; they change the world into words
So much of philosophy is fiction. The William H Gass Reader (2019) William H. Gass was born in Fargo, North Dakota. He is the author of seven works of fiction, nine books of essays, and a book of conversations. Gass was a professor of philosophy at Washington University. For most of his life he lived…
Just when I thought I was finished reading theory …
… my desk is once again filled with philosophical texts. It might be hard to find a common theme in the stack of books in front of me, but I guess they all in some sense could fit on a shelf labelled “philosophy of life” – or maybe: getting old (with grace) is the least…
December
December On the fire escape, onestupid petunia still blooms,purple trumpet blowinghigh notes at the sky longafter the rest of the bandhas packed upand gone home. — Sarah Frelig
Venturing into art
ven·tur·ing: Venture noun: an undertaking involving uncertainty as to the outcome, especially a risky or dangerous one. Venture verb: to take the risk of. Venture verb (used without object): to make or embark upon a venture. Venturing into art, I have been thinking about this: What is the relationship between things I find beautiful, intriguing,…
On pain and solace
There can be no beauty without the ghost of pain held within it. Although the wind … BY IZUMI SHIKIBU – TRANSLATED BY JANE HIRSHFIELD from The Ink Dark Moon (Vintage Books, 1990)
