Forty-Two

NEVER MISS A GOOD CHANCE TO SHUT UP
REFUSE TO NARRATE
BORED BY PLOT
INFORMED BY ABSENCES
WHAT IS LEFT OUT, SCRATCHED OUT
PROGRESS BY: REPETITION REVISION ERASURE

— Janet Malcolm, Forty-One False Starts

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Essence in the Shadow

 

The camera is made up of what we might think of as three distinct parts(mediums, even): the lens, the shutter and the light-sensitive surface. When theories privilege the lens it is usually in relation to the depiction of space and the conventions of realism determined by linear perspective and optics. Here we are in the realm of resemblance and iconicity, where the origins and the essence of photography are located in the /camera obscura/. When the shutter is invoked it is in relation to time and and duration, and photography’s origins and essence are located in the desire for arrested vision. When the light-sensitive surface is invoked it is usually in relation to the question of contact and touch, locating origin and essence in the shadow or trace.

— David Campany, A Handful of Dust

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My Inner Landscape

INNER LANDSCAPE: Camera is always pointed at a subject, always. Occasionally one of camera’s photographs points away from the subject, toward the mind, or the heart, or the imagination. Confronted by a question, suddenly faced with only part of a circle sketched, I must do something. Reject? Too easy. Answer the question from my own resources, where else? Close the circle from the features of my inner landscape. I relate, take part, participate when I close the circle of joy. Image and I are united, joyous.

— Minor White

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Die Mehrheit hat immer nur Unglück gebracht

Nicht weil sie die Mehrheit ist, ist sie zeitgemäß, dachte ich, wie geglaubt wird und aus diesem Glauben gehandelt wird, sehr oft zum Nachteil ihrer Zeit, auch eine oder die Minderheit kann zeitgemäß sein und sehr oft viel zeitgemäßer als die Mehrheit und ist es fast immer, auch ein Einzelner kann zeitgemäßer als die Mehrheit sein und im Grunde ist er sehr oft der Zeitgemäßeste. Die Mehrheit hat immer nur Unglück gebracht, dachte ich, auch heute verdanken wir unser Unglück, wenn es ein solches ist, der Mehrheit. Die Minderheit oder auch nur der Einzelne werden ja gerade deshalb von der Mehrheit erdrückt, weil sie viel zeitgemäßer handeln als die Mehrheit. Die zeitgemäßen Gedanken sind immer unzeitgemäß, dachte ich.

— Thomas Bernhard, Auslöschung

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In this Colony

Amsterdam, August 2021

 

Colony

A cry for help, a hint of anaesthesia
The sound from broken homes
We used to always meet here
As he lays asleep, she takes him in her arms
Some things i have to do, but i don’t mean you harm
A worried parent’s glance, a kiss, a last goodbye
Hands him the bag she packed, the tears she tries to hide
A cruel wind that blows down to our lunacy
And leaves him standing cold here in this colony
I can’t see why all these confrontations
I can’t see why all these dislocations
No family life, this makes me feel uneasy
Stood alone here in this colony
In this colony, in this colony, in this colony, in this colony
Dear god in his wisdom took you by the hand
God in his wisdom made you understand
God in his wisdom took you by the hand
God in his wisdom made you understand
God in his wisdom took you by the hand
God in his wisdom made you understand
God in his wisdom took you by the hand
God in his wisdom made you understand
In this colony, in this colony, in this colony, in this colony
– Ian Curtis/Joy Division
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