obscure cartographies

‘the limits of my language are the limits of my mind. all I know is what I have words for’
(ludwig wittgenstein – tractatus logico-philosophicus – kegan paul, 1922)

‘words came out of the womb of matter: and whether a man dispassionately sees the core of life or passionately sees the surface, the core and the surface are essentially the same, words making them seem different only to express appearance. if name be needed, wonder names them both: from wonder to wonder existence opens’
(witter bynner [translator] – the way of life according to lao tzu – p19, the lyrebird press, 1972 – first published, pl editions, london, 1944)

light field (kent, 2017, photographic image and chalk)

fragment 1.0 – riverwork

of rivers endlessly pouring forth, geological archives, hidden strata and the nature of revealed surfaces
of the invisible becoming visible, fogs, mists, particles and undercurrents of microscopic insistence
of substances, their interstates, exchanges at margins, synchronicities and juxtapositions
of sounding the inner depths of place, the liminal, sub-liminal and serendipitous moment
of perennial forms emerging, constellations gathering and boundless transmissions of light

instance (woods cove, california, 1995)

fragment 1.1 – methodology

in attention
and recognition of
each small thing
emerging
of subtle events arising
hidden thresholds
and unseen fields appearing
the crossing of paths
the meeting of minds
the upwell of hearts opening
the co-incidental moment arriving

antisolar spoke (sandgate, 2021)

fragment 1.3 – courage

to enter the liminal
dissolve boundaries
peer through substance
to chart the invisible
the atom-wave illusion
the star strewn emptiness
the absence of bearings
to reach unbound silences
where minute geometries
entangle and disentangle
without beginning
before cause

dark field (kent, 2017, photographic image and charcoal)

fragment 1.4 – the real

the real emerges
with each new step
richness revealed
in the constant flow
of material contact
sound, image
and the obscured
nature of objects

longing (dartmoor, 2018)

fragment 1.5 – becoming

each day we live

the hydrology of our cells
the geology of our matter
the electricity of our nerves

iron
calcium
magnesium
phosphorous

our materials borrowed
from mineral mass
beyond measure

we multiply
we manipulate

the hydrologic earth
the geologic foundation
the water we drink
the food we eat
the air we breath
without sense
of limitation

but we are becoming
always becoming

evidence #5 (red-chalk, hunstanton, norfolk, 2021)

fragment 1.2 – moksha

i gaze out
over sea-fog horizons
they unravel me
a soft sublime
permeates me
dissolves my isolation
dispelling the last vestiges
of this strange recurring dream

a sublime obscuration (big sur, california, 2019)