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)
fragments : : forms of mapping, the mapping of forms
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 transmissions of boundless light
fragment 1.1 – methodology
in attention
and recognition
of each small thing emerging
of subtle events arising
of hidden thresholds
and unseen fields
appearing
of paths crossing
minds meeting
hearts upwelling
of the co-incidental
moment arriving
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
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
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
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 diurnal dream
fragment 1.6 – absorption
the shadow
has no sense
of falling
the shaded
knows nothing
of the shadow
the mind exposes
silent reflections
nerve absorptions
the luminous image
a dark space shimmer
a haunted imprint