Tuesday 15 November 2011

The Poetics of Space - Gaston Bachelard

 


'Too much space smothers us much more than if there were not enough.' (Bachelard, 1994 p221)               The void - empty space, space to be filled, is space smothering
How can I use space in the layout of my text
Do I need to consider the way space effects emotions, I want the layout of my pages to be evocative of what is being talked about
If I have a section of text where Edward or another character feels smother could I use more space around the words
'Intimate space loses its clarity, while exterior space loses its void, void being the raw material of possibility of being. We are banished from the realm of possibility.'
(Bachelard, 1994 p218)
The void holds the possibilities of being, without the void there are no possibilities to be.
Is Edward banished from the realm of possibility? Where is his journey taking him? To the void? Away from the void?
If he is dead does the void exist?
As he goes up and discovered each plain which in itself is a void does it no longer exist as a void?
What is the void and how can it be explored as a concept in narrative? So through exploring the void through narrative I am filling the void with narrative
If the void is possibilities I am exploring one possible way of filling the void. By choosing one ‘possibility’ do all other possible ways of filling the void cease to exist?
Am I extinguishing the possibilities by choosing one
Narrative has to be linear, therefore certain possibilities are no longer viable. But strands of narrative could sill be explored creating new voids So by extinguishing one void countless new voids are made
If void = possibility then when void is filled/explored - through that unmeasurable new possibilities arise
'...that the daydreamer transports the dreamer outside the immediate world to a world that bears the mark of infinity.' (Bachelard, 1994 p183)
Is Edward moving outside of the immediate world into infinity (the plains)?
Possible start to story - Edward thinking/dreaming by himself beginning of his journey
Him becoming enlightened is in his mind, enlightenment is a spiritual/mental change therefore his is (^ quote) through his journey of enlightenment he is being transported outside the world/ to infinity
The plains themselves show him becoming more enlightened - as he is being physically transported through the plains his state of mind is also moving
Is Edward dying?
As he becomes enlightened he is dying - if you want to know the meaning of life you have to die.
'The world is large but in us it is deep as the sea' (Bachelard, 1994 p183)
The imagination - using the example of the depth of the sea - endless? So the world becomes endless
Physically the depth of the sea = infinity
The sea = imagination/infinity = endless possibilities = the void
Nautical tales links to the sea, links to ^
Once he sets sail from stonehaven, he is always on the sea whenever he is on the plain he is still on the sea.
Because of the links in the story to Edward and the sea he is....
Existing within a void, existing within enlightenment
Enlightenment is void
The void is not knowing the meaning of your life?
'As soon as we become motionless, we are elsewhere; we are dreaming in a world that is immense. Indeed, immensity is the movement of the motionless man.' (Bachelard, 1994 p184)
Immensity is the movement of the motionless man.
Immensity = infinite possibilities = void
Is Edward motionless - his moving through the plains is him dying so is he already dead therefore motionless?
As he’s going through the plains the physical movement means that his mind is growing.
A motionless man has infinite possibilities
A moving man would be taking the possibilities therefore the void is filled.
The void is the void?
Circular theory - balance
Simultaneous equations, to find out the unknown you use the constants (the things that are know)
 Bachelard, G (1994) The Poetics Of Space. Boston. Beacon Press.

Thursday 5 May 2011

Plan


Day 0 (Doesn’t exist = void)
Name: Edward Magpie,
(When people are unsure about something, have a void in their knowledge, they turn to religion/ superstitions, one of them being how many magpies they have seen and the amount corresponds to an amount of, or lack of, luck)
Age: 47
(An age that feels incomplete)
Day 1
·      Breakfast – boiled egg and dippers (Dipping into a life that never was), pouched fish 
Breakfast made by my wife, Rose Magpie.
·      Get the Stultifera Navis ready to sail.
·      Leave St Nicolas Island.
·      Make sure bad superstitions don’t effect the voyage
o   Silver coin under masthead ensures safe voyage.
o   Pouring wine on deck; a liberation to the Gods.
The Crew
Tim the Cat – Good luck Black cat
Robin (Casso – Latin for void) (Sounds like Robinson Crusoe)– First Mate, expert fisherman, if there was something to be caught he’d catch it, birds, fish, women.
(Peacock – the feathers are meant to be connected with luck) (le Vent – French for ‘the wind – the wind is a void never actually seen only seen through the movement of other things) – Artist, surgeon, net weaver, expert in knot tying, has very nimble fingers.
Gulley (the void between two large land masses) Cooper– Ships Cook, ‘Gulley’s Galley’, he decided that unlike his forefathers he wasn’t interested in the making of barrels but what was contained within them, thus becoming the size and shape of one.
Christopher (St Christopher – patron saint of long journeys) Crowe – lives in The Crowe’s Nest, plays guitar, a quiet, reserved man but with the eyesight unmatched by any man I’ve known. 
Dolphins (mad whales) seen, meant to be souls of dead sailers
Day 2
Still got void in him, If only rose was allowed on deck
Caught: Mallet headed shark (illustration)
Day 4
Caught: Hoofed manatee (illustration)
Day 11
Tale of how islands are grown.
Caught: Crabs (illustration)
Day 13
Caught: Seeeinhorn (Illustration)
Day 20
Explain storm (cat licking fur a certain way makes the weather change according to superstition) and then Stay on Jasconius, giant whale (illustration) ; thinking it’s an island.
The Tale of Larus Island
Day 27
Go to Larus Island to stock up on food and fresh water, I do hate the taste of distilled sea water, no matter how much you get rid of the salt something always stays, Cooper always said that’s the thing that makes fish into leviathans.
Day 29

Day 38
To stop cabin fever, Play a game of Ship, Captain, and Crew, also known as Ship of Fools,
Day 41
Go past the Bermuda triangle (illustration of eye – all seeing eye) Tell the tale of Atlas and Atlantis


Day 44
Caught: Bearded Whale
Day 47
Catch first sight of the Chimera (lion, snake, horned animal) (Main illustration)
Day 60
Try and catch the Chimera after chasing
Day 77
Catching the Chimera. Casso and I fought with the behemoth.

Fin

Thursday 24 March 2011

Maps and Sea Monsters

When looking into 16th century maps of the world there seems to be a lot of weird sea monsters dotted around the place. One reason for this could be that it is like a diary of where the crew have been and where they saw each monster. Another reason could be that when they were making the map they put the monsters where they hadn't explored and was unaware of what was there, therefore the monsters were a symbol for the void of the world.

The Sublime

The sublime - possibly the sea and the sublime

  • Longinus, writing in the classical historical tradition says that the sublime implies that man can, in emotions and in language, transcend the limits of the human condition.
  • Kant says that sublimity does not reside in anything of nature, but only in our mind, insofar as we can become conscious that we are superior to nature within, and therefore also to nature without us (so far as it influences us)

Artist Research - 'In the belly of a Shark - The Gallows' - Dan Mumford

Dan Mumford - Gallows - 'In The Belly Of A Shark' - This images shows the power of the sea, with the sea taking over everything it touches. The void swallowing everything up.

Artist Research - 'Leviathan LP - Mastodon' - Paul Romano

Paul Romano - Mastodon - Leviathan LP (2004) - To me this is this image shows the sublime, with religion/gods, beautiful patterns.

Artist Research - 'Dominion' - Angela Cockayne


 Pen Arts - Dominion [what does this mean?- A territory or sphere of influence or control; a realm.] Angela Cockayne

Wednesday 23 March 2011

In the Beginning

I want the Stultifera Navis (Ship of Fools), the name of the vessel the crew is sailing on, to set sail from St Nicholas Island.

This is because for as long as I can remember i've always wanted to not only explore the island but live there. Also because of this the island itself is a void.

Thursday 3 March 2011

Void?

Using literature - how entities emerge from nothing.  Almost like a feeling of paranoia that is something bigger, more limitless.  that's the idea of the void, and the scale of the limitless.

Working out a way to figure out the mass of the earth - the size of black holes.  When we try to desribe something



    Monday 7 February 2011

    References

    Benchley, P., (1975) Jaws. 2nd ed. London: Pan Books Ltd.

    Melville, H., (1957) Moby Dick. 2nd ed. London: WM. Collins Sons and Co Ltd.

    http://www.strangescience.net/stsea2.htm

    http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/patten/sublime.html 

    http://www.angelacockayne.co.uk/

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dominion

    http://www.workhardened.com/project/92/Mastodon/Leviathan%20LP

    http://www.dan-mumford.com/index.php?id=38

    http://www.plymouthdata.info/Drake'sIsland.htm

    http://pacificoffshorerigging.com/nautical_superstitions.htm

    http://caribbean-pirates.com/nautical_superstitions.php

    http://mymemory.translated.net/t/English/French/dust%20in%20the%20wind



    http://monsters.monstrous.com/story_chimera_.htm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasconius

    http://tikimachine.blogspot.com/2010/06/ketos.html

    http://www.theoi.com/Ther/Karkinos.html

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa/cells/cells3.shtml

    http://www.rhymes.org.uk/the_lion_and_the_unicorn.htm

    http://ireland.mysteriousworld.com/History/Christianity/Saints/Brendan/Voyage/Voyage-10-Jasconius.asp

    Thursday 20 January 2011

    Harvard Referencing Task


    “From the beginning of time man has been involved with the sea. Fishing, hunting and a natural curiosity to explore has led man to the great oceans, where huge sea-monsters, the Leviathans, were seen. “
                                                                                                            (Andrews, 1972 p3)
    This book goes in depth describing such things as Sea Monsters, early oceanography and the deep oceans. All these topics, as well as others, I’m interested in, seeing as though all this information will be used in my ‘void’ project for a believe the sea is the biggest void just below space/the universe.
    “The oceans are on average two and a half miles deep, and some parts are nearly seven miles deep”
                                                                                                             (Andrews, 1972 p4)

    Reference 
    Andrews, K., (1972) Beneath the Oceans. 2nd ed. London: Macdonald & Co Ltd.

    whatcha mean, what's a zine? summary


    This book shows how to make small time comics and what can go inside them. There is also advice and instructions from over twenty creators on how to make lots of different styles of zines/ comics. The layout of the whole book is very easy to follow and is in a comic style with lots of illustrations to demonstrate and liven up the information.