DEPICTING THE ARTIST AS


deprived of the elements of speech
in a photo, in front of a wall
the interest of formal relationships
what is the status of feelings?

the self is a site for chaos
emotions are dangerous, but a life without emotion is not a good one
anomalies of the nervous system — art based on the faculty of deceit
the style of the poser uncovers a language of posture

one catches sight of her in New York during the Great War
the opening of a risqué Paris nightclub or a clandestine Surrealist film
amateur & police photos intend to sell nothing
assemblage of art from shards

travel as an elliptical form of quest
we see Allied fighters in formation above a landscape
a life rebuilt from attic fragments
the family photo is deliberately blurred

in seeing these things we see the difficulty of seeing anything
blur & imperfection
the attentive silence as well as the pose
the inadequacy of an inattentive life

deprived of the elements of speech
low-toned & oblique, almost beyond interpretation
the hanging body of Gudrun Ensslin
nothing could be further from the truth