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writingonthemoon · 5 years

Text

Old Clothes Part 4

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3

Word Count: ≈ 2116

Warnings: Mentions of death, murder, fear of failure

Author's Note: Okay, so I accidentally started previously that Odette first Burned when she was nine. That was incorrect as she was much younger. Also, this isn’t exactly what I wanted for this part, but I think it sets up my plans for the next part nicely.

Old clothes are always a little strange. Someone once loved them—cherished them—and now they’re nothing more than a mask. The quality vanishes with the donation bin. Dresses for the rich are now for the poor and those for the poor are falling to pieces. Those stitched by mothers have a different energy about them. The love that holds the fabric together never quite fades and it always remains soft, even after the countless storms and attacks of nature. The items warmed your soul whenever they were held and the rush of emotions was overwhelming in the most brilliant way possible. My sister missed the opportunity for that feeling.

My mother used to make my clothes for me. She would buy the fabrics and spend an entire Sunday making me a new outfit. They were my favourite things in all the world. We only kept one when we first left. It was the one I was wearing, but it wasn't the same when it was handed down to Clara. Ashes had woven their way into the seams and the smell of fire lingered no matter what we would do. The warmth of love carried the burning of a fire. Delicate lace that lined the edges were rough with hardened emotions.

I sighed and motioned for my audience to sit down. Jack and Davey pulled chairs out from my table, still staying quite close. Albert grabbed a seat for Crutchie and himself, while Buttons plopped himself on the ground with his legs crossed. "Before I say anything else, you have to promise you won't tell anyone. Not a soul. I shouldn't be telling you any of this since it puts more people than just me in danger, but I think you deserve to know. Promise." I made eye contact with every one of them and they all nodded in reply. "Great. Fantastic. Brilliant." I ran my hand through my hair once again.

"I was born in London, I believe, in 1791. My father's name is—was James and my mother's name was Lilijah. At least, that's what their names were while I was growing up. The Burn existed long before I was born, probably back when the first monarchies began. It was never meant to be a way of life. The Burn... it was always a safety procedure, a cautionary plan if you will.

"Say everything goes wrong. You're being framed for murder or are being chased by the police or mafia or it's anything else that's basically the end of the world for you. Well, in my family, that's the end of the world for whomever you were. Then, you are reborn, so to speak.

"It's simple enough, really. Everything you once owned, your clothes, books, anything that could identify you, would be taken out to an empty space. There, you set a match to it, lighting everything ablaze and erasing all evidence of you ever existing. It worked exceptionally well when I was little since towns and cities were so spread out and people just died suddenly, but people would notice if you just disappeared since there were so few people living in the area. Today, it's easy to vanish, but harder to locate a burn spot.

"Once the ashes lay at your feet, you build yourself again. New name, new place, new story. Of course, this plan wasn't meant for frequent use. So you have to get creative sometimes. I can't even tell you how many people I've become. My name is Odette Davenport, though. It's the one thing I've always known. I don't know my birthday, where I'm truly from, how I prefer my tea or if I even like tea. At this point, Odette is just another character I'm to play before I move on from this place."

My gaze met the ground as I paused, not knowing how to go on. Two of these boys were related to me. They have a right to know, but should they? Who knew how many times Clara and Elijah had Burned before settling down and washing the ash from their nailbeds. Did they even share the family shame with anyone or was it the secret that killed them? No, they should know. They should know why.

Jesse. No, he's not Jesse. Jesse is gone now, he doesn't matter. This one does. He's different, better than Jesse. In his eyes, I'm a person. A real person who feels the same as others do and thinks the same thoughts. I'm just older, suffering a long-lasting curse, just as he is. His leg was the poison that was crawling through his body and killing him slowly. The water rushed through my veins, stripping away any sign of illness or death, keeping me alive. How I wished I could switch with him, feel sickness and pain and worry about mortality instead of harbouring the fear of my past coming up behind me and pushing me over the edge, only to fall forever.

Jack and Davey must think I'm insane with my tale. That or they're calling into question what they knew about life and the universe. Perhaps it was both at once. The two need not be here, listening to my woes, yet they sit in anticipation, awaiting my next breath. But why? This has no consequence upon their lives. I’m merely a single person in a list of thousands that they’ve met just in a day. Compared to the years they would exist, it’s an interaction that means most nothing. Yet they are content with sitting and giving me their attention as if I were the Queen during a time of war. An odd comparison since my actions would lead me down a far less noble path where I would abdicate the throne and flee the country.

"I was four when I first Burned. I had accidentally stolen food and my parents feared the worst. We weren't living in a town known for forgiveness. We packed up in the middle of the night, brought everything out to the field. I still feel the scorching heat on my face sometimes, when I’m at my lowest. The smell of burning memories in one you never think you'll know, but you’ll never forget it either. We kept very few things from my first life. My grandmother's ring," I held up my hand to show off the flat gold front with worn initials carved into the front, "some money, the clothes we were wearing, and our names." There was a small gasp from Buttons and Albert. The family trait for worry and fear of failure seemed to run deeper than I thought.

"My brother Elijah Burned when he was five and Clara was only one at the time. Once again, it was all my fault. My mind escaped me and I wandered to follow it. I was only ten and they shouldn’t have blamed me for what I came across." I huffed and shook my head, clearing the daunting image from my brain, "It was a body, what I found. I...They thought I killed him. Me, a ten-year-old, killed a fully grown man. I was going to be arrested, put on death row, for something I didn’t do. So we Burned. After that, it became frequent. The five of us carried matches on our person just in case we had to leave in a hurry. We no longer controlled the burn. It controlled us."

"Wait, you was four when youse did this?" I nodded to Jack, confirming the answer he knew, "But you was just a kid! That ain’t right!"

"I lived in different times, Jack. Very different times. I was British in America not eight years after the War for Independence. They would do anything to get rid of us. It was like we were a plague when we wanted out of England the same way they did." I glanced out the dingy window, seeing the onset twilight, "Oh god, I best be going." I pushed myself off the table I was perched on, "Thank you for the supplies to fix myself up and I guess for listening to part of my life story." My mouth met the cheeks of each boy in thanks, something I had picked up in my travels. I started backing out of the room when Crutchie’s face caught my eye. He was crestfallen, the corners of his mouth turning down as he sighed and kicked lightly at the ground. I couldn't just leave like this. Not after what I had told them all. But I needed to. "Do one of you think you could walk me to my hotel? It is quite dark and I don’t want to be in any danger."

Before anyone could respond, Jack stepped forward, "I'll take ya. I know dese streets betta than anyone else." He led me out the Lodging House as I waved at the boys in a final goodbye. I uttered the address of my temporary arrangements and we stalked the streets in silence, becoming long shadows that extend for miles around sharp corners. I watched Jack more than the path ahead of me, trying to piece together the mystery I wanted to know. He and Davey... what was it about them?

"You know, if ya wanna look at me, starin' like that ain't too covert."

"Davey," Jack's posture straightened and I could tell his breaths were shallowing, "there's something about him you like, isn't there. More than just a friend perhaps."

"I don't know what youse talkin' 'bout. Dave is one a my best friends," I saw the slight fall in his expression, turning to sadness and bitterness, "Why would there be anything else to 'im that I like? It's not like I'll just listen to him go on hours 'bout nothin'. And it ain't his pretty eyes or soft hair or anything. Definitely not." He shook his head and met my gaze, a pleading look on his face. Nobody could know. Even if Jack couldn't help himself when it came to talking about his counterpart, no one could know.

"Definitely not." I winked at him and we chuckled. A quiet followed afterwards until Jack broke the invisible barrier

"You ain't gonna leave us, right? Not yet?"

I stared him dead in the eye, ready to avoid making the real decision, "Of course not. There’s still so much you all don't know yet."

"Great. I think Al and Buttons really enjoy having you here. Crutch too. He doesn't trust many too much. There's only a few of us he’s real close to. Somethin' about you is different. I could see it in his face. I think he really likes ya." I blushed at the thought of Crutchie liking me. It wasn't a concept that was foreign to me, but I didn't expect it from this boy after hearing I was immortal.

The middle-class building loomed above us, beckoning me towards the room I had booked, "I guess this is me." I shrugged and thanked Jack for walking me. he stole a hug before running back into the night. My fingers found my hair as I entered the building, climbing the stairs. The room I had booked was tiny, a single bed crammed against the wall and a trunk placed at the end. A window was across from the door, leading to the fire escape, and there was a cracked mirror mounted by a closet that would fit only a child.

My fingers found their way around the room, collecting my things as my mind ran around the world, searching for a place to run to. The checklist was losing empty boxes and the panic inside me wasn't reflected on the outside. This was normal. My footsteps were almost nonexistent as I floated out of the room and to the empty bathroom shared by all the guests on my floor. The lock flicked shut at my will and I carefully stacked my items within the confines of the bathtub. I opened the window to filter the air into the black night.

But the boys. I couldn't do this to them. My family. Crutchie. It wasn't fair that I was leaving them in the dark, no idea of the end or middle of the story. then again, life was never fair either. Certainly not this one. The moment I started this, it went downhill. I studied the pile across from me, spinning the historic ring around my finger. My hand found the box in my pocket. A snap of the wrist later and my face was illuminated with the soft glow of the burning match. Ashes were always the beginning, but what was the end?

#ooo cliffhanger #old clothes

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gslocksmiths894 · 4 years

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newyorktheater · 4 years

Text

Kristine Nielsen

Aidan Quinn

“The Young Man from Atlanta,” about an aging couple whose only son has died young, is the wrong play by Horton Foote to revive –- it’s dated, and overrated — but one can guess why the Signature theater and director Michael Wilson have picked it over other Foote plays that would be a better fit for 2019.

It was one of the plays that Signature premiered as part of its season devoted to the playwright in 1995, when it won for Foote, at age 79, the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. The play was restaged on Broadway two years later, and though it ran for only 84 performances, it marked the playwright’s return there after an absence of 43 years.

“A Young Man From Atlanta,” in other words, revived the theatrical reputation of a prolific playwright who had become primarily known as a screenwriter: He had won Academy Awards for both “To Kill A Mockingbird” with Gregory Peck and “Tender Mercies” with Robert Duval.

But over the previous half century, Foote had written more than 50 plays. Director Michael Wilson took a new look at nine of them, all of which were set in the fictional town of Harrison, Texas, based on Foote’s birthplace of Wharton, Texas, and inspired by the story of Foote’s father. Foote died in 2009 ten days short of his 93rd birthday, and nine months before Wilson mounted “The Orphans Home Cycle,” a chronological ordering of those nine plays so that they traced 28 years in the life of one man and his extended family, which I just included in my list of the top 10 plays of the decade.

In these plays, his characters soldier on through their sorrows without much fuss, just as the playwright depicts their everyday struggles with an engaging simplicity, which under the surface contains a deep well of feeling.

Wilson has gone on to direct two more of Foote’s plays on Broadway, Dividing the Estate, and The Trip To Bountiful, starring a transcendent Cicely Tyson. It makes sense that he would want to try his hand at the one that won the Pulitzer. Wilson employs many of the same design team as he did in the Foote plays he directed, but the effect is not the same.

Some of the characters from the “The Orphans Home Cycle” are in “The Young Man From Atlanta,” now older and living in Houston. Will Kidder (Aidan Quinn) is now 64 years old and, as the play begins, he is a self-confident executive in a wholesale grocery company where he’s worked for four decades. Yet his conversation with a younger colleague soon veers to the death of his son, Bill. At the age of 37, Bill drowned on a business trip to Florida, when he walked into a lake. “Everyone has their theories…I’m a realist. He committed suicide. Why, I don’t know.”

Shortly afterward, Will’s boss enters his office to fire him, saying apologetically that the company’s in trouble and the position needs a younger man.

Will tries to put a positive spin on what’s happened, telling himself he’ll start his own business.

At home, Lily Dale (Kristine Nielsen) doesn’t even pretend to be on top of things. She was a composer and a pianist, and has neither written nor played a note since her son died.

There are a half dozen other characters in “The Young Man from Atlanta,” mostly in scenes that feel slow-moving and tangential. (I need to say here that I don’t blame the actors, many of whom – Kristine Nielsen, Aidan Quinn, Jon Orsini, Stephen Payne — I’ve seen give far more memorable performances in other productions.) But the most important of these characters doesn’t have any scenes at all. The title character never appears on stage.

The man, named Randy, was Bill’s “roommate” in Atlanta, ten years his junior. Will doesn’t like him; he says during the funeral the young man “got hysterical and cried more than my wife.” There are other such unmistakable clues. A former maid of the family (standout Pat Bowie) pays a visit; the sole purpose of this scene seems to be to talk about what a terrific five-year-old Bill was – that he was “pretty” and didn’t like baseball, although Will kept on trying to interest his son in the game.

So, Bill was gay, and he committed suicide. The only facts really open to question are: Did the young man from Atlanta take advantage of Bill, and is he doing so now with Lily Dale, who’s been seeing him secretly without telling Will and giving him gifts of money?

No characters utter a single word (even in euphemism) about homosexuality, a silence that of course would probably be characteristic of a conservative (explicitly Republican) couple in Houston in 1950. But I struggle to detect anything in the play that sufficiently separates Foote’s attitudes in 1995 from his characters’ in 1950. To the characters, homosexuality cannot be discussed, and homosexuals are invisible. But the playwright keeps both off the stage as well.

And then, the gay man has apparently committed suicide – a hoary plot line for a drama first produced some 30 years after Stonewall! Way back in 1968, “The Boys in the Band” made fun of just such a lazy, hateful fate that was near-universally imposed on fictional homosexuals.

Now, each of these unenlightened elements in the play separately might be defended as artistic choices in keeping with Foote’s frequent approach of keeping feelings unspoken. I understand that the play bears a superficial resemblance Death of A Salesman – that Will Kidder like Willy Loman has chosen self-delusion in pursuit of the American Dream, and defined success in ways that destroy the soul. I’d also hate to be one of those critics who seem to see every work of art through the fixed lens of their personal (and often self-righteous) political worldview. But there are so many other plays by Horton Foote that are so lovely, so affecting, and don’t feel as if they are written with the same prejudices and limitations of the time and place in which they are set.

The Young Man from Atlanta

Written by Horton Foote. Directed by Michael Wilson.

Scenic design by Jeff Cowie, costume design by Van Broughton Ramsey, lighting design by David Lander, sound design and original music by John Gromada

Devon Abner as Ted Cleveland Jr., Dan Bittner as Tom Jackson, Pat Bowie as Etta Doris, Harriet D. Foy as Clara, Kristine Nielsen as Lily Dale, Jon Orsini as Carson, Stephen Payne as Pete Davenport, and Aidan Quinn as Will Kidder.

Running time: 2 hours and 5 minutes, including one intermission

Tickets: $35-$55

The Young Man from Atlanta is on stage through December 15, 2019

The Young Man From Atlanta Review: Not The Best Foote Forward “The Young Man from Atlanta,” about an aging couple whose only son has died young, is the wrong play by Horton Foote to revive –- it’s dated, and overrated -- but one can guess why the Signature theater and director Michael Wilson have picked it over other Foote plays that would be a better fit for 2019.

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kacydeneen · 5 years

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Historic Power Outages Continue in California

The second round of PG&E's planned power shutoffs have begun in the East Bay, South Bay and Santa Cruz and the process will continue through midnight, the utility confirmed.

Several communities in Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Alameda Counties are reporting outages at this time.

2 Dead in Attack Targeting German Synagogue on Yom Kippur

The unprecedented planned power outages are due to high fire danger, with PG&E closely monitoring weather conditions to decide on whether to push forward with shutting off power in other parts of the region.

California Faces Historic Power Outage Due to Fire Danger

For 1st Time, Joe Biden Calls for Trump to Be Impeached

The utility started just after midnight to proactively turn off power to roughly 800,000 customers in parts of several Bay Area counties and across much of Northern and Central California amid windy and dry conditions, which create extreme fire danger.

View PG&E's live outage map

Enter your address and search PG&E's map to see if your area will be impacted

PG&E's public safety power shutoff event resources

List of Bay Area school closures due to power shutoffs

DC Votes to Rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day

PG&E said it plans to turn off power in three phases -- the first went into effect around 12 a.m. Wednesday, cutting off power to roughly 513,000 customers across Northern California, including areas of Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

Officials with the utility said late Wednesday they were able to re-energize 44,000 customers after the initial round of outages. PG&E anticipated about 60,000 to 80,000 more customers could get their power back later in the evening.

The second phase, which originally was scheduled to begin around 12 p.m. Wednesday, was delayed due to changes in the weather forecast.

PG&E's second round of shutoffs is now estimated for late Wednesday and is expected to impact about 250,000 customers across Northern and Central California, including customers in the following Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara.

A third phase of shutoffs is being considered for about 42,000 customers across PG&E's southernmost service areas.

The shutoffs mark the most sweeping effort in state history to prevent wildfires caused by windblown power lines. The move comes after two years of catastrophic fires sent PG&E into bankruptcy and forced it to take more aggressive steps to prevent blazes.

Deliberate outages like these could become the new normal in an era in which scientists say climate change is leading to fiercer blazes and longer fire seasons.

In the Bay Area, some 278,000 customers across eight counties are expected to lose power during the shutoffs, which could potentially last for several days, according to PG&E.

San Francisco is the only county in the nine-county Bay Area where power will not be affected.

The planned outages have prompted many schools and colleges in the Bay Area to cancel classes. See a full list of school closures here.

There were concerns that the power outages would force Caltrans to close the Caldecott and Tom Lantos (Devil's Slide) Tunnels, but both will remain open. Crews brought in temporary generators to power the Caldecott Tunnel and rerouted power to keep the Tom Lantos Tunnels open.

In anticipation of the shutoff, Sonoma County and Santa Clara County have declared a local emergency in response.

The city of Morgan Hill will enforce a curfew Wednesday through Thursday in areas impacted by the shutoff.

"This curfew is for the safety of the community to reduce the opportunity of crime," the city of Morgan Hill said in a Facebook post.

The county-by-county breakdown below shows how many Bay Area customers are expected to be impacted by the shutoffs:

Alameda County: 32,680 customers in Oakland, Castro Valley, Fremont, Union City, Berkeley, Hayward, San Leandro, Sunol, Pleasanton, Livermore.

Contra Costa County: 51,310 customers in San Ramon, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Pinole, Richmond, Kensington, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Berkeley, Canyon, San Pablo, Pittsburg, Rodeo, Concord, Albany, Antioch, Martinez.

Marin County: 9,855 customers in Bolinas, Fairfax, Mill Valley, Muir Beach, Olema, Sausalito, Stinson Beach.

Napa County: 32,124 customers in Napa, Saint Helena, Calistoga, Angwin, Pope Valley, Rutherford, Oakville, Deer Park, Lake Berryessa, Yountville, American Canyon.

San Mateo County: 14,766 customers in Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Woodside, Moss Beach, Montara, Portola Valley, Pescadero, La Honda, Redwood City, San Gregorio, Loma Mar, San Mateo, Menlo Park, Emerald Hills, Pacifica, Princeton, Davenport, Palo Alto.

Santa Clara County: 38,250 customers in San Jose, Morgan Hill, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Redwood Estates, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Coyote, Gilroy, Mount Hamilton, Palo Alto, Holy City.

Solano County: 32,863 customers in Fairfield, Vacaville, Suisun City, Vallejo, Dixon.

Sonoma County: 66,289 customers in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Petaluma, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Glen Ellen, Penngrove, Geyserville, Kenwood, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Annapolis, Stewarts Point, Cotati, Cazadero, Guerneville, Larkfield, El Verano, Boyes Hot Springs, Fulton, Bodega Bay.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. Historic Power Outages Continue in California published first on Miami News

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nextstepelectric · 5 years

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danielpowell · 4 years

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Archive 81 Playlist Master List

[UPDATED as of September 11th, 2023]

Trying to make playlists for all of the cast of Archive 81 and these are what I have so far! Feel free to come suggest tracks for them and also characters I haven’t gotten to yet. If you have enough for the ‘side’ characters, please throw those at me too.

These are all very much a work in progress and subject to change.

Character Playlists:

Daniel Powell

Tanya Molova

Mark/Dromen

Mr. Davenport

Melody Pendras

Alexa Kesslen-Pendras

Tamara Morris

Jesse Lewis

Joshua and Victor

Jacob the Rat

Samuel

The Visser Historical Society

Gladys

Craig Simmons

Chris

Gregory Baim

Carlos Rolando

Iris Vos

Ratty

LMG

Chad

Timothy

Beth

The Messenger

The Choir

Green Woman

Suit

Clara

Lou

Andrew Martine

Kevin

Benjamin

RLR Productions

The Gardener

Professor Vandemeer

The Curator

The Representative

Cassandra Wall

The Boatwoman

The Golden Age Ensemble

Christine Anderson

Nicholas Waters

Michael Waters

Aleister

Kathy Quinn

Hunter

Penelope Winthrop

Jerome

Jeanette Jefferys

Violet Vos

Payphone

Static Man

Cindy Johannson

Busby the Beekeeper

Ms. Patricia Roland

The Irons Crew

Thomas

Morgan the Clerk

The Trucker

Dr. Persimmons

Miscellaneous:

Songs to Cry About Dan to

What it says on the tin- a mix of songs I listened to while thinking of Dan and started crying about it. Can’t guarantee results but if you are down for some good cries, be my guest! Shuffle-friendly.

Songs to Fall in Love With Your Muse to

A mix of 80s/90s queer-coded (to me anyway) love songs that remind me of Jacob Lester (pre-Rat) from season 1. I just love some 80s and 90s songs, my dudes. Shuffle-friendly.

Songs to Ominously Warn Your Bandmates With

An assorted mix of garage band-esque tracks. Loosely inspired by the band practice tape from season 3. Shuffle-friendly.

Instrumental Tracks to Contemplate Your Humanity Over

A mix of ambient tracks that made me feel like I was walking through the City or holed up in a bunker in the middle of the woods or performing rituals or- just general ambient A81 energy tracks. Shuffle-friendly.

Dan’s Music Library

I’ve seen a lot of people’s take on what constitutes a ‘hipster’ music taste and I’m a picky mofo so here’s my take on Dan’s music taste based on what he has been stated to listen to in the actual show- it’s awful and I’m sorry not sorry. Shuffle-friendly.

Train Loneliness

This is straight up just a mix of songs about trains/subways. I love train sounds and the sound design in these is super fun. It’s in here because the Train Loneliness tape is my favorite and yes, I do cry about it daily. Shuffle-friendly.

And Everything Turned Out Alright

If you didn’t know, I’m obsessed with post-s3 Dan and Clara being roommates; so this is a little playlist I made inspired by that concept. I hope it makes you as emotional as it does for me. Best played in order.

Press Your Face to Mine

[REDACTED INFORMATION]

You’re Not Too Bad Looking Yourself, Mate

A DanLou playlist cause if no one else is gonna steer the ship, it might as well be me. Shuffle-friendly.

I Don’t Have Much Time

Season three flavored Dan playlist. A lot of instrumental and ambient tracks. Best played in order.

95.6QRSKLB22ROBBRX29900339UOBK2RNJKLSOKV49BQ42069NNNNNNEVIOJR The Wolf

A Left of the Dial playlist. Based on the idea of a weird radio station. Experimental tracks with a healthy helping of metal and a sprinkle of odd picks that just fit to me. Best played in order.

Tea With My Marimo

An ambient/instrumental playlist based off the idea of a post-s2 Caroline recovering and growing plants. Shuffle-friendly.

Math Rock Roomies

A math rock mix for Dan and Clara, because I think their music connection extends there. Shuffle-friendly.

Aboard the Irons

A watery mix for the Irons ship- mostly ambient/instrumental but a few lyrical tracks thrown into it as well. Shuffle-friendly.

Ritual Radio

A weird mix that contains either instructions or strange items- mostly dream pop or psychedelic tracks. Loosely inspired by tapes from the archives, Michael Waters’ ritual tapes, or radio segments from Left of the Dial. Shuffle-friendly.

Chassis in the Flowerbeds

A atmospheric/ambient playlist based off of Melody and Alexa’s community garden home from season 2. Based around the idea of an eldritch garden that can grow audio-producing objects. Best played in order.

Not Built, Found

A season 2 playlist. Based on the idea of getting a tour of the Outpost and the people that currently occupy it. I reused some bits from previous playlists to help set the scene. Best played in order.

Have you ever tasted blood? Yyyeeessss : )

A bizarre and vaguely horrific Rat mix. Based on a cursed video of Gr*mes that radiated such Rat energy I could not resist making a mix based on it. Shuffle-friendly.

Cycles of Blood and Death and Exploitation

An edgy mix full of sex and violence. Really a thinly veiled excuse to put as much NIN on a playlist as I possibly could. Suggest skipping this one if not an adult or s*x-repulsed. Shuffle-friendly.

Why Did You Date Me?

An aromantic Dan playlist. I stand by this headcanon and I don’t care what anyone else says I know I’m right. Best played in order.

Boombox Fuckboy

A mix that is entirely comprised of titles that contain audio equipment, instruments, and music storage. Shuffle-friendly.

Score One for Films

A movie score mix. I have shit taste in films and I’m giving that trait to Dan. Shuffle-friendly.

Peppermint Mochas and Patch Cords

A modular synthesis mix. It’s just tracks that utilize modules. Shuffle-friendly.

Static Man Just Air Drums Into the Void

A percussive mix. Based on Static Man’s void riffing. Ordered but shuffle-friendly.

The City is Still a Part of Me

A post-s3 playlist where Dan can still pick up radio frequencies. Lot of sample usage. Best played in order.

And They Were Shipmates

A ChrisLou mix because I think the t4t bi lovers deserve a ship playlist. Mostly sailing and ocean-related tracks. Kind of summery as well. Shuffle-friendly.

What Drives You

Another exploration of post-s3 Dan but this time canon-compliant. I had a blast figuring this one out and I recommend giving it a listen to experience what it has to offer. Best played in order.

Scary Numbers and Work Friends

What's that ? Another Dan playlist ? Pffft what I don't- this is a Severance (Apple TV) AU playlist where Dan takes on a role similar to Helly. It's composed primarily of plunderphonics because I love the genre to bits. Best played in order.

Something Beautiful and New

A mix focusing on the City. It's supposed to convey the sensation of visiting a vast, unknown world with vague familiarity. Mostly trip hop, ambient, and vaporwave, with adjacent genres. Best played in order.

Eldritch Urbex

Another mix focusing on the City. This one is for the residents of it. Wide range of genres. Partner playlist is the one above. Best played in order.

Messenger Devotee

A mix focusing on the Messenger. Mostly plunderphonics, vaporwave, and trip hop. Heavy sample usage. Best played in order.

Songs From the Archive

Dumping grounds for any tracks I feel might work for a playlist or just have A81 vibes. Shuffle-friendly.

#archive 81 #a81 #melvis jams #songs from the archive

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s4g2world · 3 years

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Why Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Such A Popular Discussion Topic

Search engine optimization is one of the most discussed and controversial topics on the internet today. Also, it is one of the most misunderstood topics.

In its basic form, search engine optimization (SEO) is act of altering a web site so that it does well in the organic, crawler-based listings of search engines.

Now even this quick to the point definition of search engine optimization (SEO) can lead to spirited debates about the meaning and purpose of SEO.

So the question maybe asked, why is SEO such a popular and controversial topic that causes so much debate within the SEO community and the general internet population particularly website owners? In my humble opinion there are 6 reasons why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has the popularity that it currently enjoys.

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Currently on the internet, the largest resource for targeted website traffic on a continuous bases are search engines. On a yearly bases stats show that around 75% - 80% of all purchases made by individuals on the internet originally started as a result of a search at a search engine and the vast majority of people who visit websites usually come via way of a search engine. Numbers so dominate cannot be ignored even by the biggest opponents of search engine optimization. Moreover, because SEO is focused on optimizing websites for ranking success related to search engines, it is only natural that people would be interested in the field and practice of search engine optimization (SEO).

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With the dominant role that search engines play on the internet and the fact that the success of search engines depend on the ability to provide accurate and reliable search results to its visitors, successful search engines tend to develop an informal relationship with the SEO industry.

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enlodemas · 7 years

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Dar las cosas: de la (im)posibilidad de la naturaleza muerta

Irene Artigas Albarelli

(Publicado en Circulaciones: Trayectorias del texto literario. Adriana de Teresa Ochoa (coord). México: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, UNAM/ Bonilla Artigas Editores, 2010. pp. 171-186. ISBN 978-607-7588-05-4 )

El término “naturaleza muerta”, en sus variaciones en francés, italiano, portugués y español se acuñó a principios del siglo XVIII para nombrar a las composiciones pictóricas de flores, frutas, vasos, platos, armas, libros, instrumentos musicales, curiosidades exóticas y “cualquier otro tipo de objeto inanimado”. Bryson (1990) apunta que los cuadros de este género representan todo aquello que se relaciona con la mesa, con los interiores domésticos, con los actos primordiales de comer y beber, con los artefactos que rodean al sujeto en su espacio doméstico, con el mundo cotidiano de la rutina y la repetición. El término que se usa en inglés y las lenguas germánicas proviene del holandés stilleven, con el cual se intentaba diferenciar a este tipo de pinturas de las que utilizaban modelos (leven) que se movían (Davenport 1998: 3-4). Según Bryson (1990), las primeras naturalezas muertas modernas, esto es, aquellas en las que los objetos son el centro de la composición y no el fondo de otro tema principal, datan de principios del siglo XVII. La transición hasta la representación de las cosas solas fue muy paulatina y en el espacio que sigue intentaré explicar por qué.

Comenzaré refiriéndome a las xenia, representaciones de fruta, pan, canastas con flores, conchas y pescado que se encuentran en diversas obras antiguas como la Historia natural de Plinio, las Imágenes de Filóstrato, los murales de Pompeya, y en algunos fragmentos de Platón y Vetruvio. Bryson (1990) argumenta que, debido a su semejanza con las representaciones a las que estamos acostumbrados, este tipo de obras se estudian como si fueran naturalezas muertas y, con ello, se les hace perder su especificidad. Sugiere que, a pesar de que lo que nos queda son fragmentos incompletos de ciertas formas de representación, es importante intentar reconstruir los significados que tenían para quienes las hacían y las veían, qué valor se les daba, sus implicaciones simbólicas y la carga semántica que poseían (17). Hacer lo anterior nos ayudará a marcar ciertos elementos que quiero analizar en las representaciones de objetos a las que estamos acostumbrados.

Bryson rastrea el uso del término “xenia” en las Imágenes de Filóstrato y De architectura de Vetruvio y sostiene que se refiere a los alimentos que se daban a los invitados a una casa. El primer día se les invitaba a una cena y durante los siguientes se les enviaban verduras, huevos, fruta y otros productos. Xenos es el término griego para “huésped” y es significativo identificar que, como en español, se utilizaba para denominar tanto al dueño de la casa como al que estaba de visita. Así, los higos, las cerezas, la leche y los quesos descritos por Filóstrato en su Xenia I son alimentos que se ofrecen al invitado como parte de una ceremonia que suponía darle un lugar en la casa:

“This particular form of hospitality is precise about the boundaries that demarcate social distance: the stranger is welcomed and absorbed into the household through the gift of food, yet at the same time the gift creates a sort of satellite household within the house, so that strangers eat their own food separately prepared, in a separate space of their own. A certain emotional generosity surrounds the provisions sent by the host. [In the case of Xenia 1] They are raw, not cooked and the freedom given to prepare the foodstuffs separately marks a respect for the stranger’s needs, for sustenance but also for autonomy and a measure of independent existence within the oikos [the household]: this is the difference between such provisions and, say, a banquet.” [1](23)

Bryson piensa que la reversibilidad del término xenos señala exactamente el proceso que se espera de la hospitalidad modelo, en la cual la relación de dependencia entre el señor de la casa y el invitado se borra y en su lugar se obtiene una suspensión ficticia de las relaciones sociales reales de rango y patronazgo. La esencia de la reversibilidad de la hospitalidad es declarar que la asimetría entre los huéspedes, la distancia social entre distintas regiones y comunidades, las diferencias entre culturas estéticas se borren o se vuelvan irrelevantes. Los sencillos alimentos que se ofrecen en esta descripción de Filóstrato, en los platos y en los muros de las habitaciones de las casas de Pompeya, intentan borrar el desequilibrio producido por la generosidad del dueño de la casa, que simula ser la generosidad de la naturaleza.

Las Imágenes de Filóstrato y los murales de Pompeya nos ayudan a entender los valores asignados a la hospitalidad y el esfuerzo por borrar (aunque sea en ficción) las diferencias debidas a que ésta se da y se recibe. En su famoso “Ensayo sobre el don”, Mauss sostiene que los dones no son nunca gratuitos y que suponen siempre un intercambio recíproco. El objeto dado debe ser devuelto; pareciera tratarse de un préstamo impregnado de “mecanismos espirituales” que comprometen el honor tanto del que da como del que recibe. En un acto casi mágico, las diferencias entre lo material y lo espiritual se borran porque pareciera que en el objeto que se da hay una parte de la persona que regala. Por lo tanto la reciprocidad, el contra don, es necesaria y, por eso, en el caso de la hospitalidad se da por sentado que uno tambi��n será invitado en la casa del otro.

Aunque, como hemos visto, en el caso de las xenia la presencia del intercambio recíproco entre los huéspedes es muy clara, resulta difícil entender las naturalezas muertas a las que estamos acostumbrados en estos términos. Sin embargo, si revisamos los posibles orígenes del género moderno (los retratos de hombres poderosos y algunas escenas religiosas o históricas en las cuales los objetos representados ocupan sólo una parte de la representación) podremos rastrear la manera en la cual incluso en las cosas representadas en las naturalezas muertas se encuentran residuos de esta creencia de que en los objetos siempre queda algo de la persona que las posee.

El retrato es, como apunta Lomas (1997), la ficción de un yo autónomo con atributos como permanencia, identidad y sustancialidad. La historia del género nos muestra cómo su definición ha dependido de estos y otros valores: los retratos han buscado desde una semejanza naturalista con el individuo retratado hasta enfatizar características ideales o la inscripción en una genealogía. Según Woodall (1997), el arte occidental privilegió el retrato naturalista, esto es, el que presenta “a physiognomic likeness which is seen to refer to the identity of the living or once-living person depicted” [2](1). Pero, como argumenta Schneider (1994), hubo momentos, por ejemplo la Edad Media temprana, en los cuales “the actual appearance of a living prince was […] less important than the political and social institution within whose tradition he wished, or demanded, to be seen” [3](13). Schneider se refiere a las imágenes en monedas que no muestran al rey o gobernante del lugar, sino algún emperador romano con el cual éste se identificaba y quería que se le relacionara. La posición y la jerarquía social podían también representarse en escudos de armas o gracias a objetos que añadían características específicas a la figura humana representada. De esta manera, durante el siglo XVI, los retratos no sólo incluyeron al retratado, sino mesas y sillas de maderas finas y ricamente talladas, telas de brocado, sofisticados cascos y pañuelos de encaje.

Otro tipo de pinturas que han sido consideradas como lo orígenes del género de la naturaleza muerta son obras como las que pintaron Aertsen (1552) y Velázquez (1619-1620) sobre el tema de Cristo en casa de Marta y María. En el primer cuadro, la escena que le da título ocupa aproximadamente una cuarta parte del lado izquierdo de la tabla, mientras que lo que resta de la pintura nos muestra diferentes alimentos en primer plano, entre otros, una enorme pierna de cordero (alusión a Cristo), un clavel ensartado en un extraño montón de levadura (la flor como el símbolo de la encarnación de Cristo y la masa como la representación de un estado de transubstanciación). Las cosas son símbolos que dan claves para completar el significado de la escena. Según Stoichita (1993), estos objetos son la alegoría del misterio de la encarnación, de la relación entre palabra y carne a la cual la cita en la chimenea al fondo del cuadro también alude: Lucas 10, (“María ha escogido la mejor parte”, le dice Jesús a Marta.) Ésta es la escena que se presenta en la imagen del nivel más lejano. La alegoría sólo funciona si se articula la relación entre la escena sagrada del fondo y la aparentemente profana representación de los objetos en otro plano, en otro cuarto.

Por su parte, la disposición de la escena en el cuadro de Velázquez parecería un reflejo especular de Aertsen. En el segundo plano a la derecha se puede identificar a Cristo en casa de Marta y María; el resto del cuadro muestra dos figuras al lado de una mesa con cuatro peces, dos huevos, ajos, un almirez, una jarra de barro y unos pimientos. Stoichita (1993) compara los cuadros en los siguientes términos:

“Si en Aersten, los objetos de la naturaleza muerta se superponían en el hueco de una habitación, que coincidía con el marco de una segunda imagen, en Velázquez el marco de la imagen insertada destaca con nitidez sobre la pared del último plano. El corte es tan evidente que de repente dudamos si nos hallamos ante un vano real en la pared o frente a una pintura […] la imagen del segundo plano puede interpretarse como una ventana, o bien como un cuadro.” (21).

Entonces, parecería que la escena principal realmente es la del primer plano. La de la cocina, con las dos figuras que se relacionan de forma tan extraña y nos invitan a ver la escena religiosa. La mesa y sus objetos ocupan un lugar muy distinto a los de los alimentos en el cuadro de Aersten. Y sin embargo, no están completamente solos.

Otro cuadro que puede ayudar a explicarnos el proceso de representación de los objetos por sí mismos es el retrato que Memling hizo hacia 1480-1490 de un joven. En el reverso del mismo pintó un Florero sobre una mesa. Parece que el retrato era una de las hojas de un díptico que incluía también la imagen de la Virgen María: “cuando el díptico estaba cerrado, el retrato y la Virgen resultaban invisibles y la imagen de esta hornacina con el florero era todo cuanto se ofrecía a los ojos del espectador” (Stoichita 1993, 30). Otros dípticos y trípticos jugaban con la misma idea de hacer invisible el motivo central a representar, y es interesante subrayar que existen varios en los cuales el objeto que se pinta en la parte de atrás es una calavera. Estos objetos son el reverso de la imagen representada, no sólo literal sino figurativamente hablando.

Sin embargo, todavía estamos muy lejos de que los cuadros muestren las cosas solas y mi argumento es que ese paso fue muy lento en parte porque, de la misma forma en que pensamos que en las cosas que regalamos se va una parte nuestra, nos cuesta mucho entender el mundo sin la presencia humana. Bryson sostiene algo similar cuando establece que, “Removal of the human body is the founding move of still life, but this foundation would be precarious if all that were needed to destroy it were the body’s physical return: the disappearance of the human subject might represent only a provisional state of affairs if the body is just round around the corner, and likely to re-enter the field of vision at any moment”[4] (61). Los ejemplos que presentaré a continuación muestran este proceso en el cual la presencia humana abandona el mundo. Así que comenzaré con este “estado provisional” mencionado por Bryson: las naturalezas muertas en las cuales el cuerpo humano está a la vuelta de la esquina, cuando su desaparición no es total y es un fantasma que ronda las cosas representadas.

Consideremos, por ejemplo algunos de los cuadros de van Gogh. Los supuestamente claros límites entre el retrato y la naturaleza muerta se atraviesan. Sus pinturas de sillas, zapatos y libros son retratos del pintor o de sus dueños, receptáculos de historias personales. En “Naturaleza muerta con Biblia”, el pesado libro central puede leerse en términos del padre de van Gogh, un ministro protestante, y de su propio pasado como misionero en Bélgica. Para Meyer Shapiro, el libro se encuentra abierto junto a:

“the marginal presence of the small paperback volume of Zola’s La Joie de Vivre (a modest statement of van Gogh’s contrasted alternative to the great massive Bible and [its] exposed text), [with the contrast] he acknowledges his respect for his deceased minister father and alludes to his own Christian past, but also affirms his devotion to the secular lessons of his admired living author[5] (Shapiro, 1994, 149).

Algo similar ocurre en los dos cuadros de sillas que van Gogh pintó mientras vivía con Gauguin en Arles, en 1888. Las sillas presentan la manera en la cual el pintor se percibía a sí mismo en oposición a Gauguin: su silla es sencilla, sin pretensiones –de madera simple sobre un piso de barro–. Según David Brooks (1996-2008), al distorsionar la perspectiva del piso y la pata de la silla, “van Gogh imposed his own personality upon the work, stressing the subjectivity of his view. The pipe, handkerchief and tobacco give a focus to the picture in both narrative and pictorial terms, providing a note of neutral white at the center of the interplay of cool and warm hues” [6](2). En contraposición, la silla de Gauguin es de madera oscura y fina; se encuentra sobre una colorida alfombra y las cosas sobre el asiento –unas velas y un libro– reflejan actividades más complejas que las que se pintaron en la silla de van Gogh:

“Throughout his life van Gogh preferred the company of poorer working people over those of an aristocratic background […] Gauguin’s chair is far more lavish and ornate. Arguably van Gogh perceived himself much more in the vein of the hard working peasants he painted so often, and a far less a worldly […]bon vivant such as Gauguin[7] “(3).

Podríamos decir que las cosas pintadas en estas naturalezas muertas son retratos simbólicos de sus dueños. Con los símbolos personales que construye, con su distorsión de la perspectiva y selección de colores, van Gogh nos obliga a buscar un propietario, un usuario, un individuo específico.

Rosemary Lloyd, en su libro Shimmering in a Transformed Light. Writing the Still Life, identifica algunas naturalezas muertas en las que el artista se hace un autorretrato. Uno de sus ejemplos es el poema “La Pipe” (1857), de Baudelaire (1975-1976):

“La Pipe

Je suis la pipe d'un auteur;

On voit, à contempler ma mine

D'Abyssinienne ou de Cafrine,

Que mon maître est un grand fumeur.

Quand il est comblé de douleur,

Je fume comme la chaumine

Où se prépare la cuisine

Pour le retour du laboureur.

J'enlace et je berce son âme

Dans le réseau mobile et bleu

Qui monte de ma bouche en feu,

Et je roule un puissant dictame

Qui charme son coeur et guérit

De ses fatigues son esprit.”

Según Lloyd, en el poema es la pipa la que habla o, más bien, es el poeta transformado en pipa y en poema:

“one could maintain that what speaks here is the poem, a poem whose only function then would be to rock the master’s soul, inducing an intoxication that is utterly different from that of the intoxicants offered by the artificial paradises, those of wine, hashish, or opium. As matchmaker bringing together the individual and his pleasure, the pipe also links the mouth to the external world, serving as a conduit for the poet’s exhalation just as the poem itself does. Just as the poet wraps the reader in the web of his works, so the pipe, with its powerful herb, wraps the poet in its smoke[8] (101).

Con este ejemplo quiero enfatizar que no es sólo que la pipa, el objeto, se vuelva símbolo de su dueño o de lo qué éste hace, sino que en él podemos observar temas y procesos semióticos característicos de la naturaleza muerta. Algunos de ellos son el cuestionamiento de las relaciones que establecemos con las cosas que se encuentran en nuestro espacio más cercano, más personal, y que solemos pasar por alto; el ilusionismo que nos lleva a la identificación de diferentes niveles de realidad (recordemos cómo en el cuadro de Velázquez, la escena religiosa parecía ser una ventana o un cuadro) y autorreferencia; y la retórica asociada al género, gracias a la cual se intenta llegar a cierta verdad ontológica que pareciera estar más allá de los alcances del lenguaje.

Pensemos en estos términos lo que acabamos de mencionar sobre el poema de Baudelaire. La cercanía establecida entre el hombre y su pipa, este objeto personal y rutinario, se hace explícita. El ilusionismo de tener diferentes niveles de representación también es evidente si seguimos el argumento de Lloyd: la pipa que habla (la prosopopeya como una de las figuras retóricas comunes en la naturaleza muerta), el poeta fumando, exhalando un poema que nos envuelve como lectores y nos obliga a pensar que el lenguaje está en primer plano, como aquello que cubre, esconde y disminuye el dolor del poeta.

Pensemos también en uno de los últimos poemas de Joseph Brodsky (1996), “At the City Dump in Nantucket” (1995-1996), en el cual la referencia a la fotografía de unas gaviotas escarbando la basura junto a un libro que se deshoja constituye un memento mori (otro de los temas comunes en la naturaleza muerta), la predicción de la muerte del poeta y el regreso a un pasado perdido en el exilio.

“En el basurero de la ciudad de Nantucket”[9]

a Stephen White

Lo perecedero devora lo perecedero a plena luz del día,

moribundo a su vez a finales de noviembre;

las gaviotas, hurgando la basura, intentan sobrepasar

a la nieve, o por lo menos retrasarla.

El temerario alfabeto primordial, atacando por doquier

el muro de oxígeno, constituye un prefacio

para la anarquía del desperdicio:

en el principio fue un chillido.

En sus ws tartamudeantes se lee no tanto el hambre

sino la lascivia de garras con forma de coma por

lo que las sobrevive, o también por el sobrevuelo de una página

arrancada del grueso del volumen

mientras las tazas de un loco anemómetro giran

como en una descompuesta ceremonia de té, y el Atlántico

enfrenta, inexorable en su oleaje,

el pronóstico de oscuridad. (117).

El poema y sus referencias a un mundo que se descompone, aparentemente sin la presencia humana, se vuelve una alegoría de la vida de un poeta ruso, exilado de su tierra y su lengua.

Veamos ahora un ejemplo en el cual la presencia humana parece haberse desvanecido de la representación de las cosas. Consideremos la ecfrasis de Rafael Alberti llamada “Zurbarán”, en la que las sencillas cosas representadas (algunos cacharros, copas y platos) parecen estar cargados de cualidades que normalmente no atribuímos a ellas: son una ruta hacia la salvación, tanto del pintor (que intentaba hacer que quien viera el cuadro realmente “viera”) y el poeta (quien, con la re-creación de algunas pinturas en un libro intenta recuperar el país, el orden y la armonía perdidos en la guerra y el exilio):

“Ora el plato, y la jarra, de sencilla,

humildemente persevera muda,

y el orden que descansa en la vajilla

se reposa en la luz que la desnuda.

Todo el callado refectorio reza

una oración que exalta la certeza.”

Esta estrofa se centra en los objetos representados en la pintura: son cosas que normalmente pasamos por alto porque parecerían no ser importantes y sólo por eso se vuelven algo extraño, no familiar:

“by detaining attention in this humble milieu, by imprisoning the eye in this dungeon-like space, attention itself gains the power to transfigure the commonplace, and it is regarded by being given objects in which it may find a fascination commensurate with its own discovered strengths.”[10] (Bryson, 64).

En el poema, la prosopopeya, al establecer que la vajilla se ha vuelto capaz de conocer el mundo, consigue la defamiliarización. Se trata de una figura que es más que un simple adorno, es “a means of taking hold of things which appear startingly uncontrollable and independent”[11]. La personificación ha sido relacionada con fuerzas que pueden desafiar a la figura de los dioses (como la Fortaleza y la Fuerza, en el “Prometeo encadenado”, de Esquilo), o con el deseo de poder y automatismo de figuras míticas (como en la descripción de la guerra que hacen Ariosto o Spenser en sus Mutabilitie Cantos) (Preminger, 1993). Me parece que esta es la forma en la cual aparece la personificación en el poema de Alberti; como sostiene Tipton (1997):

“[this stanza] continuing the notion of cognizant objects, attributes piety to the tableware, thinking thus to account for the strong sense of spirituality this painting gives its viewer. [12]”(215)

Para acabar, veamos un ejemplo tomado de To the Lighthouse, de Virginia Woolf (1981), en el cual podemos distinguir el proceso completo de la presencia humana abandonando las cosas. Es necesario que recordemos que los pasajes citados fueron tomados de la segunda parte de la novela, “Time Passes”, cuando el faro está solo y, en consecuencia, la narrativa no puede provenir de la perspectiva de ninguno de los personajes de las otras dos secciones de la novela:

“So with the house empty and the doors locked and the mattresses rolled round, those stray airs, advance guards of great armies, blustered in, brushed bare boards, nibbled and fanned, met nothing in bedroom or drawing-room that wholly resisted them but only hangings that flapped, wood that creaked, the bare legs of tables, saucepans and china already furred, tarnished, cracked. What people had shed and left –a pair of shoes, a shooting cap, some faded skirts and coats in wardrobes– those alone kept the human shape and in the emptiness indicated how once they were filled and animated; how once hands were busy with hooks and buttons; how once the looking-glass had held a face; had held a world hollowed out in which a figure turned, a hand flashed, the door opened, in came children rushing and tumbling; and went out again. Now, day after day, light turned, like a flower reflected in water, its sharp image on the wall opposite. Only the shadows of the trees, flourishing in the wind, made obeisance on the wall, and for a moment darkened the pool in which light reflected itself; or birds flying, made a soft spot flutter slowly across the bedroom floor. [13]”(128-129)

Las cosas que la gente utilizó todavía poseen la forma de sus dueños, como si su presencia no pudiera borrarse y su huella contara la historia de sus acciones. Pero incluso estos rastros desaparecerán. Sería terriblemente arrogante suponer que nada existiría sin nosotros. Pero, al mismo tiempo, es imposible conocer el mundo sin proyectarnos en él. ¿O es posible?

Y ésta es la posibilidad que Woolf crea: gracias a la imagen de un rayo de luz que toca todo lo que se encuentra en una habitación abandonada, la escritora, como Stewart sostiene:

“creates a phenomenological vision, unmediated by a subject, in which the lighthouse beam substitutes for eye and brain. Images of ‘fumbling airs’ (as those from the beginning of the quoted paragraph) convey a pervading sense of anthropomorphic consciousness. […] This “random light” [at the end of the paragraph] exposes but does not absorb, illuminates but does not observe. It is an empty dehumanized focus. Existence is reduced to a nonhuman essence that cannot be thought or seen. Metaphorically, however, the ghostly light does constitute an unseeing eye that reveals an “invisible world” “[14](383-384).

Sólo añadiré que la metáfora del rayo de luz como el sustituto “sin ojos ni facciones” de una conciencia consigue lo mismo que la prosopopeya hacía en el poema de Alberti: la “naturaleza muerta” completa, en donde las cosas se encuentran finalmente abandonadas y sin ninguna presencia humana a la vuelta de la esquina:

“Loveliness and stillness clasped hand in the bedroom, and among the shrouded jugs and sheeted chairs even the prying of the wind, and the soft nose of the clammy sea airs, rubbing, snuffling, iterating, and reiterating their questions –‘Will you fade? Will you perish?’– scarcely disturbed the peace, the indifference, the air of pure integrity, as if the question they asked scarcely needed that they should answer: we remain. […] Nothing it seemed could break that image, corrupt that innocence, or disturb the swaying mantle of silence which, week after week, in the empty room, wove into itself the falling cries of birds, ships hooting, the drone and hum of the fields, a dog’s bark, a man’s shout, and folded them round the house in silence.[15] (p.129).”

En su texto “Dar el tiempo” (1995), Derrida sostiene que el don puro es imposible porque tendría que ser el que estuviera al margen de la oposición dar y recibir, más allá de cualquier razonamiento de cálculo. El don puro, inmotivado, desinteresado, no espera una respuesta. El que regala debe ser anónimo para no obtener ningún beneficio por el acto de dar, ni siquiera debe saber que está dando algo. El que recibe tampoco debe saber que lo hace para evitar sentir que debe algo a alguien. El regalo genuino sería uno en el cual ni el yo ni el otro tienen obligaciones ni quejas entre sí. No debe suponer el reconocimiento de haber recibido un regalo ni de que se está haciendo un buen acto, por lo cual, en realidad, el don puro es una imposibilidad:

“El don, como el acontecimiento, como acontecimiento, debe seguir siendo imprevisible pero seguir siéndolo sin (res)guardarse. Debe dejar que lo estructure la aleatoriedad: debe parecer suertudo, en cualquier caso, debe ser vivido como tal, aprehendido como el correlato intencional de una percepción absolutamente sorprendida de encontrarse con lo que percibe, más allá de su horizonte de anticipación: lo cual parece ya fenomenológicamente imposible. “(122)

Y, sin embargo, la exigencia de un altruismo absoluto no puede evitarse y, como nunca puede completarse, la condición de posibilidad del regalo se encuentra inextricablemente asociada a su imposibilidad:

“El acontecimiento y el don, el acontecimiento como don, el don como acontecimiento, deben ser irruptivos, inmotivados –por ejemplo, desinteresados–. Al ser decisivos, deben desgarrar la trama, interrumpir la continuidad de un relato que, no obstante, requieren, deben perturbar el orden de las causalidades: en un instante. Deben, en un instante, de una sola vez, establecer una relación entre la ventura, el azar, la aleatoriedad, la tukhé y la libertad de la jugada de dados, el golpe de don del donador o de la donadora.” (122)

Hemos visto que la naturaleza muerta pura parecería funcionar de una manera similar: ¿cómo representar las cosas por sí solas, sin nadie que parezca estar ahí viéndolas y representándolas?, ¿cómo presentar cosas que no remitan a una historia anterior de uso, de fabricación, de posesión? Existen posibles respuestas: con una ficción como la de la xenia en la cual el huésped da un regalo que simula no ser de él; como la de la metáfora de la luz a modo de un ojo que no ve y revela un mundo imposible; como la de la personificación que hace orar a una jarra. Con la ventura de una ráfaga de viento que toca las cosas, la libertad de una canasta de fruta, el azar del golpe de la luz en el polvo o la fortuna de objetos piadosos se cuestionan la (im)posibilidad de dar las cosas.

Bibliografía

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BAUDELAIRE, Charles. 1975-76. OEuvres complétes. Pléiade, Ed. C. Pichois. 2 vols. Paris:: Galimard. ASÏ ES: YA LA CORREGI.

BRYSON, Norman. 1990. Looking at the Overlooked. Four Essays on Still Life Painting. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

BRODSKY, Joseph (1996) “At the City Dump in Nantucket”, en So Forth. Poems. New York: The Noonday Press/ Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p.117

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[1] Esta forma particular de hospitalidad precisa con claridad los límites que conforman la distancia social: al extraño se le da la bienvenida y se le absorbe en el hogar gracias al don de la comida; sin embargo, el don crea una especie de hogar satélite al interior de la casa para que los extraños puedan comer alimentos que se preparan de forma separada y en un espacio propio, también aparte. Las provisiones que envía el huésped están rodeadas de una especie de generosidad emocional. (En el caso de Xenia I) están crudas, no cocinadas, y la libertad que se da para preparar estos alimentos independientemente muestra el respeto que se tiene frente a las necesidades de subsistencia del extraño, además de frente a su autonomía y existencia independiente en el oikos (hogar): ésta es la diferencia entre este tipo de provisiones y, digamos, un banquete. (La traducción es de la autora).

[2] Una semejanza fisionómica que se considera se refiere a la identidad de la persona (viva o muerta) representada.

[3] La apariencia real de un príncipe vivo era […] menos importante que la institución social o política en la cual quería, o exigía, ser considerado.

[4] Eliminar la figura humana es el paso fundacional de la naturaleza muerta, pero esta fundamentación sería precaria si todo lo que se necesitara para destruirla fuera regresar físicamente el cuerpo: la desaparición del sujeto humano puede ser sólo un estado provisional si el cuerpo se encuentra a la vuelta de la esquina y, en cualquier momento, puede regresar al campo de la visión.

[5] la presencia marginal de una pequeña edición en pasta blanda de La Joie de Vivre de Balzac (una declaración modesta de la alternativa que van Gogh contrasta a la enorme Biblia y el texto expuesto en el volumen), [con el contraste] reconoce el respeto que siente por su padre muerto, que era ministro, y alude a su propio pasado cristiano, pero también afirma la devoción que tiene por el autor vivo al que admira

[6] van Gogh impuso su propia personalidad en su obra, acentuando la subjetividad de su perspectiva. La pipa, el pañuelo y el tabaco le dan foco al cuadro en términos narrativos y pictóricos, y le proporcionan una nota de blanco neutro en el centro del juego que se establece entre pigmentos fríos y cálidos.

[7] A lo largo de su vida, van Gogh prefirió la compañía de gente trabajadora más pobre en vez de aquélla con una historia más aritstocrática […] La silla de Gauguin es más lujosa y ornamentada. Se puede argumentar que van Gogh se percibía a sí mismo mucho más como los trabajadores campesinos que pintó tantas veces, y mucho menos como un […] bon vivant mundano como Gauguin.

[8] Se puede decir que es el poema el que habla, un poema cuya única función es mecer el alma de su dueño, provocando una intoxicación totalmente distinta a la de los tóxicos que ofrecen los paraísos artificiales, el vino, el hashish o el opio. Al casar al individuo con su placer, la pipa también une la boca con el mundo externo y es el conducto de la exhalación del poeta, como el mismo poema. Al igual que el poeta envuelve al lector en la red de sus obras, la pipa, con su poderosa hierba, envuelve en huma al poeta.

[9] La traducción es mía.

[10] al detener la atención en este humilde entorno, al aprisionar al ojo en este espacio semejante a un calabozo, la atención obtiene el poder de transfigurar lo común; el resultado es la presencia de objetos en los que se puede encontrar una fascinación proporcional a la de las fotalezas descubiertas.

[11] una forma de enfrentarse a cosas que parecen de pronto incontrolables e independientes.

[12] Esta estrofa, al continuar con la noción de objetos que conocen el mundo, atribuye piedad a los cacharros, y con ello da cuenta del fuerte sentido de espiritualidad que la pintura proporciona a quien la observa.

[13] Así que, con la casa vacía y las puertas cerradas y los colchones enrollados, esos aires sueltos, guardias de avanzada de grandes ejércitos, bravuconeaban, se frotaban contra los estantes vacíos, mordisqueaban y abanicaban, no encontraban nada en la recámara ni el estudio que se les resistiera totalmente, sólo colgantes que aleteaban, madera que crujía, las desnudas patas de las mesas, sartenes y vajillas ahora sucios, deslustrados, despostillados. Lo que la gente derramó y dejó –un par de zapatos, una gorra de cacería, faldas y abrigos desteñidos en armarios—sólo ellos conservaban la forma humana y en el vacío indicaban cómo alguna vez fueron llenados y animados; cómo alguna vez el espejo sostuvo un rostro; sostuvo un mundo ahuecado en el cual una figura se volvió, una mano apareció, la puerta se abrió y entraron niños corriendo y trompicando, y salieron otra vez. Ahora, día tras día, la luz volteó, como una flor reflejada en el agua, su aguda imagen en la pared de enfrente.

[14] crea una visión fenomenológica, no mediada por sujeto alguno, en la cual un rayo de luz sustituye al ojo y el cerebro. Las imágenes de “aires que se revuelven” (como las del inicio del párrafo citado) proporcionan un sentido pervasivo de conciencia antropomórfica […] Esta “luz azarosa” [ al final del párrafo] expone sin absorber, ilumina sin observar. Es un foco vacío y deshumanizado. La existencia se reduce a una esencia no humana que no puede pensarse ni observarse. De forma metafórica, la luz fantasmal se erige como un ojo que no observa y que revela un “mundo invisible”.

[15] El encanto y la quietud se daban la mano en la recámara, y entre las jarras envueltas y las sillas cubiertas con sábanas, la intromisión del viento y la suave nariz de los bochornosos aires marinos, rozando, resoplando, diciendo y repitiendo sus preguntas – ¿Desaparecerán? ¿Perecerán? – apenas perturbaban la paz, la indiferencia, el aire de integridad pura, como si la pregunta que formulaban apenas necesitara una respuesta: permanecemos […] Nada podía romper la imagen, corromper la inocencia o perturbar el bamboleante manto de silencio que, semana tras semana, en la habitación vacía, tejía hacia sí los gritos descendentes de los pájaros, los barcos tocando sus sirenas, el sonsonete y el zumbido de los campos, el ladrido de un perro, el grito de un hombre, y los envolvía en torno a la casa en silencio.

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