On one level we all know this stuff already—-it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story.

- David Foster Wallace

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

echopraxia (compulsive repetition of actions by someone else)

echolalia (compulsive repetition of words spoken by someone else)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

maybe someone else might be yourself in a certain frame of mind

possibly more consideration of mirroring and synchronized behaviors

swimming, dancing, mugging, mirroring, modeling after, staying in synch, some dancing, marching, square dancing, contra-dancing (fear of), in unison, saying out loud the same words with a significant number of other people, congregating, & harmonizing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Errol Morris provides all this: (but I’m breaking it up into pieces)

In “A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive” (1843), John Stuart Mill quotes Thomas Hobbes (from “De Corpore,” 1655).

“A Name,” says Hobbes,

“is a word taken at pleasure to serve for a mark,

which may raise in our mind a thought

like to some thought we had before, and

which being pronounced to others, may be to them a sign

of what thought the speaker had before in his mind.”

~~~

…… a name is a mark that allows us to recall a former thought

……what do we do about

the endless beliefs and associations that piggyback on names? What role do they play? What purpose do they serve?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and then there are also those instances when one word blocks another word, one word puts a wall up between you and other words you know are there but you can’t see them or find them until that word that is standing in the way dissolves or disappears or becomes see-through enough to no longer be hiding that other word

whether this is an interference or a fortuitous additional

context, which often is the medium in which tone shows its hand,

will tell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

it might be a worthwhile experiment to consider:

never saying and, even more difficult,, trying not to think: this reminds me of……aiming one’s recognitions elsewhere

or more probably, more likely to be able to be set upon: only saying and only thinking: this reminds me of,

this might be another way to consider this human habit, to practice it so fervently it transmogrifies beyond its usual results (and it will not be always grotesque)

(aside: Sherwood Anderson’s WINESBURG, OHIO begins with and continues with and ends with some defining characteristics ofgrotesque: something along the lines of: when any human chooses to believe one thing and one thing only, what she believes and she herself, become grotesque)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

why when one thing later in a poem (or prose) reminds us of something from the same poem, only earlier (a motif is coming into being, either a motif of sound or a motif of words or a motif of associational images and/or ideas…….a sequence of thoughts)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

why this kind of action can be a convincing means by which to keep my attention on what’s inside a poem instead of being reminded of something/anything that is outside the poem, even if the former is not always preferable to the latter

(I know, I know it is funny and odd and speculative to say that a poem has an inside and an outside); let’s say it does in this less than infinitely dimensional way, a pause, a scratch, a missed beat, a skip, a rhythmical stir, another sort of tangent, a tangent of another kind) (a temporary stay, an artificial pretending anything can be stopped) (for the sake of at least a lull in thinking’s continuing)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

even if the latter is not always preferable to the former

~~~~~~~~

any instance of something repeated in a poem or prose marks a split second use of our traditional time consciousness register: remembering

when recognition ignites: anything repeated– memory recalls its appearance

prior to its subsequent appearance, this helps encourage me to feel as if my

mind is engaged with what I’m reading, while working in one of the tens of

thousands of ways minds do, in this case, any mind’s recognition via an act

of memory (or recall)

~~~~~~~~~~~

maybe we couldn’t have a single next thought were we unable to practice acts of recall, maybe music would be unintelligible to us…..

(and we do have an almost sub-sub conscious recall of what any word is saying, it would be a much more sluggish world did we not)

~~~~~~~~~~~

when does a digression cease to be a digression and what sort of chain reaction seems involved in this

(see Fischli & Weiss: THE WAY THINGS GO) (in which very little is randomly arranged)

~~~~~~~~~~~

random arrangements?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

very popular contemporary use of pivot,

it puts a positive spin on a change in one’s anticipated course of direction, because it is sport derived there is a more gaming strategic hint in its

delivery & reception, direction and suggestion

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m asked to say something about turns and swerves in poetry. Pivots will work out with other nuances implied in each case…..one has to see how things play out, what comes along, who takes up what is up, and to where does she take it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

change my mind, and a changing mind’s turning, twists, skips, bumps, pauses, rushes, directions, and course of action

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bisociated

a word that’s offered (by Arthur Koestler by way of Jeremy Millar), is

bisociated which I guess suggests there can be permutations to that word as needed, trisociated, octosociated, quasociated, omnisociated, which refer to what happens when a spectator’s mind is understood to be actively, freely, involved:

while his intellect is capable of swiftly oscillating from one matrix to the other and back his emotions are incapable of following these acrobatic turns; they are spilled in the gutters of laughter as soup is spilled on a rocking ship

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

◊

________________________________________________

Dara Wier is the author of eleven books of poetry, including Selected Poems, Remnants of Hannah, Reverse Rapture, and Hat on a Pond. She teaches in the University of Massachusetts MFA Program for Poets and Writers. Her awards include the Poetry Center and Archives Book of the Year Award, a Pushcart Prize, the American Poetry Review’s Jerome Shestack Prize, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. She edits Factory Hollow Press. Visit her author page at Wave Books or read an interview.

IT'S MY DECISION (35)

Added on June 13, 2012 by Guy Pettit.

“Kon Tiki” by Jared White

IT'S MY DECISION (34)

Added on June 12, 2012 by Guy Pettit.

untitled poem by Christopher Cheney

Soundtrack to a Mind: Brent Cunningham

Added on June 11, 2012 by Guy Pettit.

A mind describes its soundtrack and you listen in.

IT'S MY DECISION (33)

Added on May 29, 2012 by Guy Pettit.

"a book of names for Joseph Bradshaw" by Ian Dreiblatt

INSIDE UNDIVIDED (12)

Added on May 18, 2012 by Guy Pettit.

a series of fragments & notes about Chance, Fate, and Context by Dara Wier

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verifiable.

For I had placed myself behind my own back, refusing to see myself. (St. Augustine)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Actual.

based on a true story

based on the true life story of

what is it about wanting to know if it really really happened

what does saying it really happened do to our sense of what we are experiencing

that makes it different from believing that what we are experiencing is made up

why do we want to know if something is made up rather than known about and transmitted or transferred or transformed via artistic means

why do we want to know where something comes from

why do we want to know something’s origins

why do we want to know where someone comes from

why is origin significant

what does origin tell us about how we feel about something

how does, when it does, the fact that origin is significant alter our experience of any given piece of art

(or anything for that matter, we want to know the source of our food, we feel it matters from where what we eat comes) (at one time the more exotic something was the more desirable it was, not so much any more, (see mirable…..see wonder cabinets…..see marvels…..see esoteric collections…..the more rare it is the more desirable it is) (think of someone you know who is allergic to anything that he registers as popular)

how does knowing something’s origins affect how we think about what happens to something during transportation

If art comes from human’s desires to know something, almost anything, then when and how does art’s origins play into what we take away from any artistic experience

why are there and surely have always been artists whose stated intentions are to rough us up, make us raw, (presumably because being raw implies being vulnerable or being “open” or being……..what…………..raw as an artistic metaphor was used a lot a long time ago, e.g. the raw and the cooked, Dionysian and Apollonian, or unadulterated, unmediated, (found?) (found and re-located?), untouched, virgin wilderness, experiencing something under the impression that one is the first one there, why then we say we discovered……..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

maybe origin is the beginning of tone and how something is meant and what is meant is taken

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just read: (a) The brain dislikes unique vantage points and (b) prefers generic ones.

I don’t know if I believe that. I don’t know that my experience would lead me to that conclusion.

Unless I take this to mean because the brain tends to prefer generic vantage points, being aware that this inclination leads to a dulled, robotic, mindless, circumscribed awareness of existence should caution me to seek unique vantage points in order to stimulate my otherwise lulled brain.

I don’t know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is this true?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

from V.S. Ramachandran’s THE TELL-TALE BRAIN (Norton, 2011):

………….one of the most important laws in aesthetic perception: the abhorrence of coincidences……….

….to use a phrase introduced by Horace Barlow—-”a suspicious coincidence” …….And your brain always tries to find a plausible alternate, generic interpretation to avoid the coincidence.

(click image for the Kanizsa Triangle)

Kanizsa Triangle –

…………..the illusory triangle described by Italian psychologist Gaetano Kanizsa. There really isn’t a triangle. It’s just three Pac-Man-like figures facing one another. But you perceive an opaque white triangle whose three corners partially occlude three black circular discs. Your brain says (in effect), “What’s the likelihood that these three Pac-Men are lined up exactly like this simply by chance? It’s too much of a suspicious coincidence. A more plausible explanation is that it depicts an opaque white triangle occluding three black discs.” ……..you can almost hallucinate the edges of the triangle……..in this case your visual system has found a way of explaining the coincidence (eliminating it, you might say) by coming up with an interpretation that feels good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you think about Andy Kaufman? Or more truly, how does thinking about Andy Kaufman make you feel?

What do you think about Donald Judd or more truly how does thinking while seeing Donald Judd’s work make you feel?

What do you think about Frances Stark? Or more truly how does reading what Frances Stark thinks about make you feel?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(and possibly worth considering might be this: some of us want other’s ways of thinking and ideas to mix, mingle and possibly alter ways of thinking our private personal brain knows, practices, does and possibly will do while there are others of us who wish to keep contained and unaltered what we perceive to be our personal private brain space in its state of equilibrium one wishes to maintain, on another hand either of these two alternatives can be active in a single human mind’s variously perennial necessities or inclinations)

(is one thing about emotions that an emotion can not sustain itself, an emotion always turns into another emotion, an emotion’s duration is limited to that emotion’s peak’s sustainability until exhaustion or extinction, if only we each had a privately-set, customized, emotion detector, ready to relay to us calibrations, sequences, predictions, warnings, etc., based on your previous history, extreme joy of this magnitude inevitably changes into sustained sorrow bordering on despair; but despair wears thin eventually giving way to sliver and hints of hope, which will prevail mildly followed by extreme registers of the deepest doubts over-lapped somewhat by intermittent regrets only to be interrupted by sudden awe, and so on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I am not a comic, I have never told a joke…The comedian’s promise is that he will go out there and make you laugh with him…My only promise is that I will try to entertain you as best I can. I can manipulate people’s reactions. There are different kinds of laughter. Gut laughter is where you don’t have a choice, you’ve got to laugh. Gut laughter doesn’t come from the intellect. And it’s much harder for me to evoke now, because I’m known. They say, ‘Oh wow, Andy Kaufman, he’s a really funny guy.’ But I’m not trying to be funny. I just want to play with their heads.” Andy Kaufman (1949-1984)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This could become a gimmick or an honest articulation of the workings of the mind, which derives from a comment written in the margin of a used copy of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s 1955 novel The Voyeur. Stark transcribed the annotated page of this find into a drawing in 1995.” ART IN AMERICA, Nancy Princenthal, 2011)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

how ordinary inspires extraordinary

how what’s there can inspire what’s not there

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONCERNS OF CONNOISSEURS

BEING IRREPLACABLE

The Gates of the LYCEUM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can only be a foreigner in a language other than your own, Jean-Pierre says in “Poto and Cabengo” 1980 non-fiction film about twin girls in California who had made news for speaking a language they have invented, always an option—-

for twins, lovers, friends, gangs, schools, cliques, bands, clubs, anything that can be named as something unified within something else, it is either within something that it is against and apart from, or it is within something it is singular with, or it is without notice yet still severely limited by its defining collective adherence (and sometimes enforcement) to a set of ways of seeing, saying and having the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See THE SILENT TWINS about twins who communicate with only one another until adolescence and then they become arsonists….a book by Marjorie Wallace, followed by a documentary, early 1980s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as in a distillation of didacticism

(as in utopian writing, etc.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

part of a modernist tradition of innovation by distillation

a few notes from a set of lectures by Kirk Varnedoe (PICTURES OF NOTHING)

initiating the long tradition within modern art of the subversive joke, of anti-art—art that deconstructs and disengages the category of art itself

We often characterize what is new by its abandonment of the things that we know. That is why we have the horseless carriage and the wireless phone.

a residue of the Dada tradition, turning art into a joke, negating the work of art by turning it into a performance, so that the work itself hardly mattered.

because it is not an optical style of painting, it is an actual optical experience. It points toward uncertainty, as opposed to anything essential or concrete. One does not know what is concave or convex, present or absent, tangible or intangible. [in in this case a discussion of west coast minimalist aesthetic or anti-aesthetic] [where-in] purification and reduction lead to a loss of certainty, a kind of ambiguity and disorientation that is exactly the opposite of [someone's] assertive engagement with weight and physicality, with a standard foot-on-the-ground experience.

….. Duchamp‘s anti-art utilized the arbitrary as a demoralizing device, whereas Cage uses chance and the arbitrary as a device of revelation and the marvelous. Cage’s 4’33″transforms negation into acceptance

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

whether that’s so or not is not yet something to be determined, at least not by me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the same contemplative power of the void

♣

________________________________________________