I'm supposed to be a teacher-
I'm supposed to be able to mentor my students through this horror-
I'm supposed to be fair minded and caring-
I'm supposed to be above the feeling of nausea sweeping over me- of the rage-
I'm supposed to see and be watchful for the good that can be realized from this pain.
I'm supposed to lie
To the reality to the depth of hate beneath the veneer of progress surrounding us
I'm supposed to lie
To my disgust-my anger-my weariness to a hellish past that has ever been present
I'm supposed to lie
About my fear for my students
I'm supposed to lie
Never show the anger. The anger never
The fear never
I'm supposed to lie
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Cosmetic Vessel Phoenician 700-650 BC Found in Italy Tridacna squamosa shell carved with a human head on the apex and two incised winged sphinxes in a register on the edge of the inner side; lotus buds and flowers in the space above the sphinxes with a band of hatched or plain triangles framed by parallel lines defining the inner edge of the field; assembled from fragments; the shell served as a container for cosmetics. Source: British Museum
Friday, November 14, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
The Black Madonna of Częstochowa
The Black Madonna of Częstochowa
Artist Unknown
Wax and tempera on wood. approx. 300-1000 A.D.(restoration attempts in 1400s prevent precise date)
4’ 0” x 2’ 8” x 0’ 1” (1.22 m x 82 cm x 3 cm)
Jasna Gorna Monastery, Częstochowa, Poland.
The origins, artist, and date of this particular piece are hotly contested, but none can deny its importance. According to legend, this piece was discovered by St. Helena and taken to Constantinople, where it resided from the 3rd to 8th century, after which it was taken away from religious and political turmoil and hidden in the wilds of Poland, where it resides to this day.
It is considered by the Catholic faith to be one of the holiest relics in Europe:
The Polish nation attributes its very existence to the help of the Virgin of Czestochowa. The veneration of the picture of the Madonna is the expression of the Polish nation’s faith and gratitude. …the safety of the shrine of Czestochowa is identified with the very safety and independence of the whole nation.
[x]
Although many legends also attribute the Virgin’s darkened skin to smoke from fires of various wars and invasions (the Hussites stormed the monastery in 1430, causing the two slashes to her cheek), there is no evidence that this is the case. The encaustic method used to paint the image resisted any attempts to paint over it. Restoration attempts to paint over the Virgin with lighter skin failed. In subsequent copies, the Virgin’s skin tone is always faithfully replicated.
Reproductions of the Black Madonna have had far-reaching influences in both Voudoun and Santería, and has strong ties with Erzulie. It is said that in 1791, she appeared before devout Haitians and urged them to kill the French, resulting in the Haitian Revolution and independ
Artist Unknown
Wax and tempera on wood. approx. 300-1000 A.D.(restoration attempts in 1400s prevent precise date)
4’ 0” x 2’ 8” x 0’ 1” (1.22 m x 82 cm x 3 cm)
Jasna Gorna Monastery, Częstochowa, Poland.
The origins, artist, and date of this particular piece are hotly contested, but none can deny its importance. According to legend, this piece was discovered by St. Helena and taken to Constantinople, where it resided from the 3rd to 8th century, after which it was taken away from religious and political turmoil and hidden in the wilds of Poland, where it resides to this day.
It is considered by the Catholic faith to be one of the holiest relics in Europe:
The Polish nation attributes its very existence to the help of the Virgin of Czestochowa. The veneration of the picture of the Madonna is the expression of the Polish nation’s faith and gratitude. …the safety of the shrine of Czestochowa is identified with the very safety and independence of the whole nation.
[x]
Although many legends also attribute the Virgin’s darkened skin to smoke from fires of various wars and invasions (the Hussites stormed the monastery in 1430, causing the two slashes to her cheek), there is no evidence that this is the case. The encaustic method used to paint the image resisted any attempts to paint over it. Restoration attempts to paint over the Virgin with lighter skin failed. In subsequent copies, the Virgin’s skin tone is always faithfully replicated.
Reproductions of the Black Madonna have had far-reaching influences in both Voudoun and Santería, and has strong ties with Erzulie. It is said that in 1791, she appeared before devout Haitians and urged them to kill the French, resulting in the Haitian Revolution and independ
Jean Baudrillard on Post Modernity
Postmodernity is said to be a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality, in which the traditionally valued qualities of depth, coherence, meaning, originality, and authenticity are evacuated or dissolved amid the random swirl of empty signals.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
— Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot Le Fou, 1965
"Velázquez, past the age of 50,
no longer painted specific objects.
He drifted around things
like the air, like twilight,
catching unawares in the shimmering
shadows the nuances of color
that he transformed into the invisible
core of his silent symphony.
Henceforth, he captured only
those mysterious interpenetrations
that united shape and tone
by means of a secret
but unceasing progression
that no convulsion or cataclysm
could interrupt or impede.
no longer painted specific objects.
He drifted around things
like the air, like twilight,
catching unawares in the shimmering
shadows the nuances of color
that he transformed into the invisible
core of his silent symphony.
Henceforth, he captured only
those mysterious interpenetrations
that united shape and tone
by means of a secret
but unceasing progression
that no convulsion or cataclysm
could interrupt or impede.
Space reigns supreme.
It’s as if some ethereal wave
skimming over surfaces
soaked up their visible emanations
to shape them and give them form
and then spread them
like a perfume,
like an echo of themselves,
like some imperceptible dust,
over every surrounding surface.
The world he lived in
was a sad one:
A degenerate king,
sickly infantes,
idiots, dwarfs, cripples,
clownish freaks
dressed as princes
whose job it was
to laugh at themselves
and amuse a court
that lived outside the law,
caught in a web
of etiquette, plots and lies,
bound by the confessional
and their own remorse.”
It’s as if some ethereal wave
skimming over surfaces
soaked up their visible emanations
to shape them and give them form
and then spread them
like a perfume,
like an echo of themselves,
like some imperceptible dust,
over every surrounding surface.
The world he lived in
was a sad one:
A degenerate king,
sickly infantes,
idiots, dwarfs, cripples,
clownish freaks
dressed as princes
whose job it was
to laugh at themselves
and amuse a court
that lived outside the law,
caught in a web
of etiquette, plots and lies,
bound by the confessional
and their own remorse.”
Martin Scorsese: Where is cinema going? Is it disappearing,
reinventing itself for a better rebirth, or is it going through a
transformation period?
Takeshi Kitano: I can say that a certain cinema I know is not disappearing. In this case, as long as I film what I want to see, this cinema will continue to exist. Cinema is definitely going in different directions and ranges over many areas, from purely commercial to artistic films.
I know very well that there are many “throw-away” films on the market today. When I say a “throw-away” I mean that it stays with the viewer’s spirit less than one day. I imagine that there is a little theory in the light-up throw-away [as in throw-away lighter]. A number of years have passed in which the light-up throw-away [as in throw-away lighter] has considerably increased, but this does not have the quality, say, of a Dunhill lighter.
The proliferation of throw-away films has not changed the quality of cinema as we understand it.
Martin Scorsese: Are you inspired by cinema of the past?
Takeshi Kitano: I can honestly say, that I am not the type, that is inspired by other filmmakers. I learn instead by errors made in my past works.
Martin Scorsese: What pushes you to make films?
Takeshi Kitano: I consider films to be like toys. I find nothing more pleasurable than making a film.
Martin Scorsese: Has the battle to portray cinema as an art won in all aspects? What has it brought? What remains lacking?
Takeshi Kitano: In general, yes. My films are artistic in the sense that I don’t make them to please everyone. The moment one makes a film to please the masses, is the moment he stops being artistic and become commercial. I believe that my films are not commercial, and in this sense they are artistic. What else is to be gained? To continue producing films that I want to see.
Martin Scorsese: If there was a moment, even a revelry, that defines cinema for you, what would it be?
Takeshi Kitano: Cinema is an inexplicable enigma or an insoluble enigma. I create the enigma that the public can resolve in the manner it chooses.
Takeshi Kitano: I can say that a certain cinema I know is not disappearing. In this case, as long as I film what I want to see, this cinema will continue to exist. Cinema is definitely going in different directions and ranges over many areas, from purely commercial to artistic films.
I know very well that there are many “throw-away” films on the market today. When I say a “throw-away” I mean that it stays with the viewer’s spirit less than one day. I imagine that there is a little theory in the light-up throw-away [as in throw-away lighter]. A number of years have passed in which the light-up throw-away [as in throw-away lighter] has considerably increased, but this does not have the quality, say, of a Dunhill lighter.
The proliferation of throw-away films has not changed the quality of cinema as we understand it.
Martin Scorsese: Are you inspired by cinema of the past?
Takeshi Kitano: I can honestly say, that I am not the type, that is inspired by other filmmakers. I learn instead by errors made in my past works.
Martin Scorsese: What pushes you to make films?
Takeshi Kitano: I consider films to be like toys. I find nothing more pleasurable than making a film.
Martin Scorsese: Has the battle to portray cinema as an art won in all aspects? What has it brought? What remains lacking?
Takeshi Kitano: In general, yes. My films are artistic in the sense that I don’t make them to please everyone. The moment one makes a film to please the masses, is the moment he stops being artistic and become commercial. I believe that my films are not commercial, and in this sense they are artistic. What else is to be gained? To continue producing films that I want to see.
Martin Scorsese: If there was a moment, even a revelry, that defines cinema for you, what would it be?
Takeshi Kitano: Cinema is an inexplicable enigma or an insoluble enigma. I create the enigma that the public can resolve in the manner it chooses.
Being attracted to a woman has always been thrilling AND terrifying. But the primal fear and thrill I felt as a young man on first realizing what wanting a woman felt like- a roilling in fear and elation hadn't coursed through my veins like that until last year when i saw "Audition" for the first time.Blood. Flesh.Lust.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Saturday, November 1, 2014
“I’m a Christian not because of the resurrection …
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Michael Hussar |
From Before They Pass Away, by Jimmy Nelson.
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| Read an Antiquities Dissertation years ago on techniques athletes used to secure and protect their genitals during the original Olympics... |
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