Wonder or Wander

[Seated Figure, Francis Bacon, 1961] [Summertime: Number 9A, Pollock, 1948] Under "Summer Time: Number 9A" (Jackson Pollock) quoted was "It wasn't until the 1970s that they detected a subtle form of order within the natural world, called fractal. Fractals consist of patterns that recur at finer and finer magnifications. A small part of the structure looks very much like the whole " (Physicist Richard Taylor) -- perhaps we may presume a systematic structure by looking the finest granularity of the ordinary. [Women and Bird in the Moonlight, Miró, 1949] Joan Miró's approach to sculpture: he collected insignificant objects such as pebbles or pieces of wood, then combined them with old tools, such as nails or broken bottles that he found by chance. He called this practice "the unlikely marriage of recognizable forms." -- unexpected yet well-suitable combination of things. Arte Povera ("Poor Art"):Plistoletto, Boetti and Fabro. This movement ...

Resistance, Rebellion and Death (1961). NY: Knopf. My inexplicable affection toward Camus reoccurred while reading Darkness Invisible. Death seems a reoccurring theme throughout his career. Understandably he was born one year before the WW I, lost his father during the war and fought under the German occupation. Thus, as McCarthy (1988) suggests, absurdity becomes a resolution in his view with religious first of all--it is man's capacity to be aware of the divine--and political connotations. Meursault's happiness is after all his domination on his body and fate. Within this context, the dividing line between murder and suicide becomes blurred. Here is some quotes from his essays or speeches. Man's greatness lies in his decision to be stronger than his condition --The Night of Truth, 8/25/1944, around the time Paris was taken back from Nazis. When that intelligence is snuffed out, the black night of dictatorship begins --Defense of Intelligence, 3/15/1945, against the new F...

Written by Uday Prakash in Hindi / translated by Jason Grunebaum This book, with a cover image which reminds me of van Gogh, came to my hand after the bilingual reading presented by the author and the translator at the University of Chicago yesterday. The author defines this novel as a love story. He is quite modest. Rahul, in the middle of storms of corruptions and the casteism, falls in love with a girl with a golden yellow parasol and changes his major to Hindi literature to get closer to her. The moment when he feels the love so intensely is described like this: the golden yellow parasol turns into a butterfly and a butterfly sitting on the tip of the parasol the parasol itself. Then, 'now the butterfly, casting a spell over the whole world, had brought Rahul's sense of his own existence under its wing.'--How beautiful graphically! While reading this novel, my mind wandered around three countries: India, the U.S. and Korea. In the spell of globalization and the casteis...

Written by Don McLean (1988) Starry starry night, paint your palette blue and grey Look out on a summer's day with eyes that know the darkness in my soul . Shadows on the hills, sketch the trees and the daffodils Catch the breeze and the winter chills, in colors on the snowy linen land Now I understand what you tried to say to me How you suffered for your sanity How you tried to set them free They would not listen They did not know how, Perhaps they'll listen now. Starry starry night, flaming flowers that brightly blaze Swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in Vincent's eyes of chine blue Colors changing hue, morning fields of amber grain Weathered faces lined in pain are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand .