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------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date: Thu, 4 Dec 1997 08:54:19 -0500 To: Ira Lightman <[log in to unmask]> Cc: britpo <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: artists reading poetry From: Fiona Templeton <[log in to unmask]> Reply-to: Fiona Templeton <[log in to unmask]> > Madeleine Hirsch, a >geomorphologist, with whom the discussions on the nature of observation and >its relation to the observed were very exciting. And the works that came >out of the series were exciting and surprising. Does the emergence of a "third issue" assume that (the works of) the collaborators begin from an antithetical stance (to restate Karlien`s question)? Paint-matter v. word-ideality? Into the painted word, or the worded paint? Or must the visual artist`s work suffer a first, secret translation into discourse, before the word-artist translates into poetry? The fact that the exciting and surprising works emerged from "discussions" with the geomorphologist might suggest that scientific discourse is conducive to (a particular kind of) aestheticisation, because it`s already discursive - but what about abstract art, "aesthetic" but not discursive? What I`m also asking is, is the dialectic (always) the appropriate model for a relationship which offers as much or more opportunity for utterly missing the other`s point (while still, potentially, allowing the invention of the exciting, the surprising) as it does opportunities for mutually satisfying synthesis? > The getting-it reaction, >though annoying to a writer, is I suppose from the visual art habit of >seeing whole - it's an interesting question what visual art resists that >response. If anyone can think of anything I'd be curious - can't think >myself now before running to work. I would suggest that all interesting visual work resists that response. But then last week I saw a lecture by Andrew Benjamin on Gerhard Richter`s abstract paintings - urbane, Olympian, unflappable and, bloody hell, utterly missing the targets. Great slides, but. robin %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%