cocoon of the conundrum

THE WRITER'S TECHNIQUE IN THIRTEEN THESES

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:17:56 +0200

THE WRITER'S TECHNIQUE IN THIRTEEN THESES :

Anyone intending to embark on a major work should be lenient with himself and, having completed a stint, deny himself nothing that will not prejudice the next.
Talk about what you have written, by all means, but do not read from it while the work is in progress. Every gratification procured in this way will slacken your tempo. If this regime is followed, the growing desire to communicate will become in the end a motor for completion.
In your working conditions avoid everyday mediocrity. Semi-relaxation, to a background of insipid sounds, is degrading. On the other hand, accompaniment by an etude or a cacophony of voices can become as significant for work as the perceptible silence of the night. If the latter sharpens the inner ear, the former acts as a touchstone for a diction ample enough to bury even the most wayward sounds.
Avoid haphazard writing materials. A pedantic adherence to certain papers, pens, inks is beneficial. No luxury, but an abundance of these utensils is indispensable.
Let no thought pass incognito, and keep your notebook as strictly as the authorities keep their register of aliens.
Keep your pen aloof from inspiration, which it will then attract with magnetic power. The more circumspectly you delay writing down an idea, the more maturely developed it will be on surrendering itself. Speech conquers thought, but writing commands it.
Never stop writing because you have run out of ideas. Literary honour requires that one break off only at an appointed moment (a mealtime, a meeting) or at the end of the work.
Fill the lacunae of inspiration by tidily copying out what is already written. Intuition will awaken in the process.
Nulla dies sine linea [‘No day without a line’] — but there may well be weeks.
Consider no work perfect over which you have not once sat from evening to broad daylight.
Do not write the conclusion of a work in your familiar study. You would not find the necessary courage there.
Stages of composition: idea — style — writing. The value of the fair copy is that in producing it you confine attention to calligraphy. The idea kills inspiration, style fetters the idea, writing pays off style.
The work is the death mask of its conception.

Walter Benjamin’s work has been always very inspiring to me. A few weeks ago a great friend reminded me of this text, so I copied it and since then I have it with me all the time while I’m working on my master’s thesis. When work seems overwhelming, I read it and find again my peace of mind in order to keep on doing what I need to do to succeed on my project. I’m very happy and grateful for the way my research has advanced, and I’m thankful of all the sources of inspiration that help me make this happen.

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Diane Arbus, Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New...

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:38:17 +0100

Diane Arbus, Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park, New York, 1962

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Sat, 03 Nov 2012 03:23:47 +0100

I don’t know who the author is, but this work was put up...

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 02:01:00 +0100

I don’t know who the author is, but this work was put up on Place Franz Liszt in Paris, not far from where I live. I didn’t have a camera when I saw it, so I’m really happy that I’ve found this photo. Thanks to whoever uploaded it! And many thanks to the artist too, brilliant work!

No sé quién es el autor, pero esta obra fue instalada en la Place Franz Liszt en Paris, no muy lejos de donde vivo. No tenía una cámara conmigo cuando la vi, así que me alegro mucho de haber encontrado esta foto. ¡Gracias a quien sea que la haya subido! Y muchas gracias al artista también, ¡excelente trabajo!

Gil Scott-Heron. ‘The revolution will not be televised’. [live]

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:53:58 +0100

Gil Scott-Heron. ‘The revolution will not be televised’. [live]

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Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:52:33 +0100

By Andrea Dezso.

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:03:35 +0100

By Andrea Dezso.

Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird, conducted by himself.

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:31:39 +0100

Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird, conducted by himself.

M. C. Escher, Order and chaos, 1950. Stone Lithograph.

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:01:08 +0100

M. C. Escher, Order and chaos, 1950.

Stone Lithograph.

justement: Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, In 1975...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:43:41 +0100

justement:

Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect,

In 1975 Matta-Clark made a circular cut in two houses adjacent to the Centre Georges Pompidou in Les Halles. Viewed from a certain point in the street, the cut looks like a hollow cone through the building.

http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2010/11/22/conical-intersect

http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/collection/31-gordon-matta-clark-archive

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Related: http://www.abitare.it/it/architecture/hands-off-matta-clark

Francis Bacon, Three studies for the male back, 1970. Oil on...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:44:06 +0100

Francis Bacon, Three studies for the male back, 1970.

Oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5cm. Kunsthaus, Zurich.

"Le scénario de la révolution esthétique se propose de transformer le suspens esthétique des rapports..."

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:13:50 +0100

“Le scénario de la révolution esthétique se propose de transformer le suspens esthétique des rapports de domination en principe générateur d’un monde sans domination. Cette proposition oppose révolution à révolution : à la révolution politique conçue comme révolution étatique reconduisant en fait la séparation des humanités, elle oppose la révolution comme formation d’une communauté du sentir.”

- Jacques Rancière, Malaise dans l’esthétique. Paris, Editions Galilée, 2004, p. 54.

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