This quote hangs on my printer, next to one of the last pictures taken of St. Timothy Leary before he crossed over to the other side. I enjoyed
immensely the lecture by Hiro on the avante garde artistic movement so much a part of the modernist approach after the turn of the century. I
have admired Possin's art for his treatment of classical themes, but more importantly for his connection with the mystery surrounding the painting
The Arcadian Shepherds and the Pyrennes chapel of Rennes les Chateau. My own artistic interests tend more toward the Surrealists, yet
without the work of the avant garde Modernists their work would not had a chance to develop. Hiro mentioned how the African masks displayed
during the World's Fair in 1900 turned on Picasso. One of the museums, which I had the pleasure of frequenting regularly in Houston, was the
Menil. Catherine de Menil not only has a large Modernist collection, I have seen the Paul Klee and Duchamp exhibits there, but also has a large
collection of African tribal art, including masks. A friend of my companion uses a raku technique in pottery where he incorporates the use of
nails common in these African masks. Catherine de Menil was also an avid collector of Surrealist art, of which I have seen an exhibit of Max
Ernst and Rene Magritte there as well.
The mention of the phrase "furrowards and backawards" from our reading of Finnegan's Wake prompted a discussion of the form early
written languages utilized. This right to left and left to right was an adaptation of the way in which fields are plowed for planting. This is also
given as a reason behind the different ways in which cultures read and write, either leftwards or rightwards. More importantly, to my own interest
in establishing an early childhood curriculum, was the discussion of language education. I have felt for some time that education should begin
at a much younger age than the five we commonly acquiesce to, especially in regards to languages. In the discussion Charlie mentioned that it is
one thing to hear a language and even to read it, but if you really want it to take hold in the memory it must be seen. Children, as I have been
learning mimic the language used around them by watching closely the movements of the speaker's mouth, teeth and tongue. Without a visual
cue the techniques of formation are not available to the student and are thus more difficult to acquire. So know I have to write the grant…how
difficult will it be to find speakers of foreign languages capable of going back linguistically past the modern sound shift to get at ancient Greek
and Gaelic. Is it more functional to try to work on these languages which represent the evolution of language and allow access to the classics
and, transcribed but not translated, oral traditional material, or to teach for communication purposes?
More clues on Finnegan's Wake were divulged. It is so much like Paradise Lost, in that it is almost impossible to read for
comprehension without speaking it. Charlie suggested that the traditional form of narrative dissolves into texture and that reading the Wake
required us to pay attention, not only to the sonic structure - the singsong ringsound o, but that it was about texture, the feel of the words.
Synaesthesia again, like Finn. Joyce is thematically taking us back to the garden and the fall, but his language suggests an attempt to get back to
our prebabelite state, where communication crosses national language barriers and the individual becomes the universal - a state where the
action is about connectivity and not confusion. The big secret is pre/bab/elite.