I thought I’d repeat this because writing has made it seem even truer than I thought last May–
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Don’t fauxthenticate. Don’t make a text that begs, “Believe in this, please believe in this.” Rationale is the sound of the stuffing falling out, the sound of the failure of imaginative intensity. This doesn’t build a world: it acts by being present. Whatever is in it is not rationally excused or cognitively substantiated: it is present to the viewer, it is itself.
It’s a fait accompli.
That looks like The Shrander.
I’m not so sure, Mike Mooney. I would expect the Shrander to have ribbons not tatters. A buttoned-up maroon woollen coat & a horse’s skull. A shorter figure & maybe some of the demeanour of my grannie. They certainly represent the same principle, joy at what’s inside the universe, but I think her joy is more rueful, less a force of nature. If The Spirit of the Hearth suggests anything to me, it’s the Tract itself.
Oh, indeed, I recall your description vividly. It was just something about the head. Perhaps closer to some of the *suggestions* of what she looked like, when all we were shown was a shadow (and Kearney’s fear).
I’ve always found the other version more haunting:
http://www.abcgallery.com/E/ernst/ernst47.html
I’ve ruined good drawings by trying to make the best parts work with the rest, trying to make the whole make more sense. Partly trying to avoid confounding potential buyers, and partly because I’m obsessive, and loosening up in nearly any way imaginable remains an ongoing challenge. Among others. This is probably no great surprise
I need to make a(nother) sign for the wall above my drawing table: STOP TRYING TO MAKE SENSE.
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