Picked up an oversized folio put out in 1973 reproducing a series of etching by Giovani Battista Piranesi. They depict a series of giant imaginary prisons. They are at once loose, layered, and complex, exhibiting a style not at all common in mid 18th century etching. Beyond this a quick read through the essay which begins the book shows Piranesi himself to be a somewhat tragic figure, not in any grand way, but rather in that he was unknown in his lifetime and to go a step further unfulfilled as well. You see even though these etchings of his are unmistakably beautiful Piranesi himself actually wanted to be an architect, a wish which, aside from a couple small commissions in the mid 1760’s completely eluded him. It didn’t help that the imaginary spaces he created were completely unbuildable, nor did it help that the lengthy original title of this series (which was etched in the frontispiece) was both grammatically incorrect and misspelled. Ah well, the guy might have died an unfulfilled wannabe architect but his etchings are quite something.

The Carceri etchings of Piranesi (1720-1778), who fruitfully combined in his vast work influences of Tiepolo, Bibiena and Rembrandt, have continued through two centuries to seem completely relevant and modern not merely in their formal aspects (which are prodigious), but also as unforgettable expressions of obscure and terrible psychological truths. In these works architectural fantasy strains and breaks tlie boundaries of human perception, creating a vast system ol visual frustration that seems to become co-extensive with the universe. Where do the innumerable staircases lead? What do the immense vaults support or enclose? The ambiguous structures are compounded with projecting beams, pulleys, wooden ladders, rickety catwalks and gangways, hanging ropes and chains, iron rings embedded in the walls, and, so insignificant as to be almost not there, a few faceless human figures haunting the shadows…

Click all for larger versions.

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These etchings have had an ever-changing influence on our culture since the triumph of Romanticism— Coleridge, De Quincey, Victor Hugo, Turner and Melville are but a few of the figures that have praised them and written about them. One aspect, at least, of their relevance for our own time is apparent at a glance—as Aldous Huxley comments, linking The Prisons with the writings of Kafka: “Piranesi delineates with incomparable force the metiphysical prisons whose seal is within the mind, whose walls are made of nightmare and incomprehension, whose chains are anxiety and their racks a sense of personal and even generic guilt.” But a deeper look cannot fail to find the staggering formal achievement of Piranesi, an anticipatory genius who discovered in his own work tremendous formal devices that were to remain unnoticed until, in the early years of this century, they were to alter radically the entire concept of art.

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Hope you enjoyed.

 

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It strikes me that most of we lay-folk, unversed in the “art of war” as we are, find ourselves dismayed and horrified by the goings-on in Iraq (yes, lest we forget in the fog of news on other ugliness, we’re still there) and I wondered whether there was anything I could do to help my fellow citizens better grasp the situation. After much research I was surprised to find that the Bush cadre does indeed have an exit strategy, and that the violence, strife, and chaos we see daily on our idiot boxes is not exactly what it seems. Following this brilliant strategy the Administration in fact has the broiling insurgency right where they want them. In as much I decided to take the initiative and create a handy, hands-on, illustrated handout, suitable for the White House website, social studies teachers and parents wishing to instruct the young, or indeed any lay person seeking to better understand the Bush administration’s exit strategy. See below.

I give you:

GET OUT OF IRAQ A public service handout, in which the example of a small group of seemingly pinned-down soldiers is used to illustrate the complex machinations of the administration’s war policies on the whole.

Click each Image for a larger and easier to read version.

See? Simple as that. Makes you wonder what we’ve all been so worked up about doesn’t it? Can you believe some of us actually thought these guys didn’t have a plan? That they were incompetent and dangerous?! Shows us. And just let me say, though the adorable Rummy spokes-head may say it isn’t magic it certainly is magical.

For those of you wishing to use this as a teaching tool, who would like to run through these brilliant machinations yourself, or who simply want to extend this knowledge to their neighbors and disseminate it further, I am making a downloadable pdf available which will print on a single letter-sized sheet of paper. All you need do is fold it in the middle and tape or glue the two sides together. Good luck and happy learning.

Download the pdf here.

 

 

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You walk the grid and are faced in the dark alleys, the back streets, the main drags, with those who have come before you. Looking up you see the work of their hands, the words which once enlivened their lips. Valiant signs try to hold on to the boldness of their pronouncements. They labor against the flow of time to go on advertising products and businesses long forgotten. Bent arrows point to non-existent locations. Fonts and faces of real and imagined ideals struggle against the inevitable fade; These artifacts and artifices long torn from their intended contexts, they are the blood of the hustle coagulated to stone.

Ahimsa is a religious concept which advocates non-violence and a respect for all life. Ahinsa is Sanskrit for avoidance of himsa, or injury. It is interpreted most often as meaning peace and reverence toward all sentient beings. Ahimsa is an important doctrine of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism (pdf). I think if it has made any inroads into the modern westerner’s mind they have likely been through its connection to yoga. I will not comment on the concept itself here, becuase in truth I am by no means sure of my own opinion toward the “do not swat a fly” brand of radical pacism, but rather will offer up a few images from an interesting book I picked up a long while ago called Chinese Poems and Pictures on Ahimsa by Raghu Vira, published in 1954. As for the sentiment they express, well, decide for yourself the value.

For the past two thousand years China has been in close association with some of the highest thoughts of India.

Chinese records have given 61 A.D. as the date when Ming-ti, the Emperor of China, dreamt of a golden man flying into his palace. This was interpreted by the sages of the age as Lord Buddha entering China and bringing peace and solace to the Middle Kingdom.

Since then Indian Pandits and wise men have collaborated with Chinese men of letters in transmitting scriptures and philosophies to the Chinese race in a continuous flow of translations from Sanskrit to Chinese.

Indian thought has permeated every part of Chinese life which has been enlivened in manifold ways.

In the following pages we reproduce a unique set of Chinese poems and pictures on Ahimsa. The sensitivity of the calligraphed words and the power of the simple drawings on the pages opposite are unparalleled in India. Neither the Buddhists, nor the Jainas, nor the Vaishnavas have anything similar to offer. It was left to the Chinese genius to catch the cruelty that is being perpetrated on the poor creatures, whether for food, fun or sport, wittingly or unwittingly, and to portray the same with the power and refinement of a gentle and magnanimous soul.

To The Rescue
One crab has lost its legs.
Two crabs come to its rescue,
And carry it on their sympathetic backs.
These tiny creatures have the sense
Of love and compassion.
Of this why does man not take notice?

The Bereaved mother
Even the beasts have feelings of mother an child.
A dog knows how to protect its young.
And a cow how to caress its calf,
The mother hen closely watched and protects her fledgelings.
And it is said that an eel is always precautions to ward off
The danger that may entangle its young ones.
But men, merely to gratify their tongue,
Kill and separate others’ dear ones.
All dumb creatures suffer the pinch of pain as much as men.
The only difference is that men cry with tears.

For Pity’s Sake, Look Out!
The giraffe is said to be a very kind animal.
Endowed with divine intelligence,
It neither walks on growing grasses not steps on living insects.
Oh We all ought to take notice
That when we walk, we be ever careful,
Lest, knowing or unknowing,
Tiny creatures be tramples under our feet.
By so doing we can keep our kind heart
And guiltless conscience growing.

Heedless Torture
(the victim is a dragon-fly)

Teach the children carefully,
When they are young,
To cultivate a good heart,
And harm nobody.
And when a sympathetic heart is being enlarged,
One has paved the way to the sages.

A Painful Parting
The flower has fallen from its stalk.
The sun is about to plunge into darkness.
The cry of a painful parting is heard.
It makes me feel my heart breaking.

A Harrowing Spectacle
The spectacle is too lamentable to withstand,
Viewing it one’s heart breaks.
There are no words for it,
But only tears.

Last Night’s Catch
You said it was the success of the last night!
It was merely a crime.
You should repent and confess your misdeed.
Your prime obligation is to have a good soul,
And the virtue of kindness to all.

“They Are The Eyes Of Equals”
-Turginev

Compare and observe:
Your flesh is the same as mine.
The difference lies only in name:
I am a dog and you a man,
The distinction between us is in our form.
In essence we are comrades,
We possess a common soul.

Unfortunately I can’t offer any more info on the illustrations or original author of the poems because the text included at the beginning of the post was pretty much the only info offered. Hope you enjoyed.

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