Friday 10th February 2023
Walked-with:
Essay: Rejected Knowledge. Gary Lachman. 2015 published in Magic: Documents of Contemporary Art. Jamie Sutcliffe (Ed.) co-publishers Whitechapel Gallery and MIT Press. 2021.
Draft letter from Edward James to Iris Tree September 18th, 1940?
Quote from The Gardener Who Saw God. Edward James. [ p.9. ] “The trees seemed so just, compared to the humans: the hills so much wiser than the “grown-ups”.”
Location: Brick Kiln Farm / Goosehill Camp / Blackbush
stepping up the path on the track
i pause, stop, open my mind
let the question for the walk
come in
to mind and body
stood still
i look to my left and see an arch in the hedge
underneath a pool of water
dark and reflective
like a black obsidian stone,
the bushes and branches and brambles streak across
ivy and grasses fall in
it is man-made, a brick bath,
It holds in place the rainwater that makes the mirror.
the question comes to mind
What is the nature of nature, when I look with imagination
In Edward James’s draft letter to Iris tree he discusses eastern philosophies of Avidya which states that nature is ignorance, also maya, which means illusion. This troubles him and in the letter he concludes his argument with:
“It [nature] is Divine. It is the body and blood of God”
I ask myself again, what is the nature of nature, then make a quick study in pencil and oil pastel of the sink as thoughts land.
nature as mirror, a mirror
to see nature as mirror through which we see ourselves
to liberate our stone selves
