Dear Don and Chuck
Yesterday was Portugal's national Holliday. It celebrates the death of a
poet (a XVI century poet). Camoes wrote an epic History of Portugal in the
Homer's style based on true characters and true events centred on Vasco da
Gama's voyage to India (something that Camoes himself experienced a few
years later).
The reason that I'm telling you this is: 1. I just read your posts today
(which are very encouraging, specially Don's sincere and courageous
definition of limits for science).
2. Camoes great poem "Lusiadas" allows me to pursuit these arguments about
Beauty.
Lusiadas is built on ten "cantos" on six verse strophes with a very
complicated system of rimes. On the same book you have Portugal History
from mythical times (Lisbon was mythically founded by Ulisses: Ulissabon)
until Vasco da Gama departure to India and the story of the voyage with all
it episodes that Camoes must have eared from participants crossed with his
own experience.
Well, a poem is a device for aesthetical perception. It lies on the most
ancient aesthetical mystery: music. To build a 300 pages poem with
structural regularity requires a strong engineering power. Underlying the
word's meaning, lays an immense mathematical/geometric beauty. If you
listen to someone reading it (without knowing a word of Portuguese) you
will experience its musical beauty (before fall asleep at page 96),
something that can only be visceral. If you have erudition you can trace
style back to Homer and be at a higher level of aesthetical experience. If
you think of maritime voyages you can feel the awe and delight of being on
the sea and go back to visceral aesthetics.
Well, to cut a long story short I can call Lusiadas a Design object because
of its careful preparation and full awareness of all questions involved for
producing it. Lusiadas was built at a time when art, science and
craftsmanship weren't separated. It was a time for masterpieces. When I
spoke of density, cultural density I certainly put scientific knowledge
inside it.
Maybe Design, to be instituted, is the way of building every day
masterpieces or at least try.
Exciting times, indeed.
Thanks for your comments,
Best of luck,
Eduardo
PS: Terry came to dinner to my house last night and we discussed the
evolution of this list and some of the reasons for keep posting. Different
styles and different views are the richness of the list working for that
cultural density based on diversity.
I'll be in Paris next week for a Jury at ESAG, and due to my cyber
ignorance I will be silent for a while.
I want also to thank publicly Terry for his work with us here at IADE. It
was a very fruitful week. Surely put our horizon in better shape.
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