The quote from Caeiro--“the only inner meaning of things / Is that they have no inner meaning at all”.--reminds me of a Buddhist one: "Things are not what they appear to be / Nor are they otherwise."
I find it difficult to say precisely how these two ideas dovetail together, the difficulty of which may be one point of Irma Blank's work, but want to say that it is we, in our search for meaning, that impart meaning to things. Only human beings do this. Otherwise, their is no "meaning" as such in the universe apart from how we observe it, and through the observation, impart meaning (or none) to the things we observe. (This is a fundamental aspect of consciousness explored in Buddhism, such as symbolically represented in The Wheel of Yamantaka, though not in the sense of meaning per se.)
Breaking down language, we see that words are entirely constructed for the sake of impartiing meaning or communication, but on the other hand words are just shapes and lines (or sounds) which, devoid of an understanding of the language, become no more than that.
Standing before this particular void or abyss, I think one can see a kind of freedom in the inherent lack of meaning in things. We create it; it does not exist inherently, perhaps even in ourselves, and yet we still have been given (through divine grace? God only knows.) the capacity to create it. Nor do we have to take it all so seriously! (But we can too ... if we want to.)
The edge is a fascinating place to be, Joana. Terrifying, yes, but also wonderous. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I guess what scared me at the time was the fact that Irma was letting go in many ways, first by accepting that her path was personal as was her culture and her love of it, and secondly that she wasn't communicating to us what books were crucial despite our asking. Of course, I can find out, and someone will for sure, as her daughter has all her books and certainly knows what her mother read. But it was the importance of us not knowing as curators working on her first important solo exhibitions touring Europe that struck me as so formidable. I would have been yapping about my references as I just did in my text! She passed on a method and forewent the opportunity to lecture her audience about Important Literature. Perhaps being German and born in 1934 and growing up in Nazi Germany shows you how irrelevant culture is when you're cruel and bigoted...
Moreover, it also resonated with my own experience: how do you impart the meaning of things that were so powerful to you in a language that is not as familiar to your children as it is to you? The French literature, the Portuguese poetry, the Spanish cinema... And yet, you have to trust the process of, as you say, us humans needing to create meaning wherever you are. My kids may not have Flaubert but they have the Brontë sisters, or their own references that I don't even know.
Hmm, I think I understand. It’s true what you say about our kids (and everyone’s kids) having their own references. This is clear to me in the sense that my son’s language ability in Chinese has and will continue to grow far beyond my own. I try to keep up, but just by virtue of his growing up in this culture so different from my own, he is growing up with a very different set of cultural reference points. This is to say nothing of how different this time is from my own as my time was different from my parents (born in the early 40s).
I share what I can with him of the things that meant something to me, but I also have to let him find his own meaning for himself. I think it’s more important for him to understand that we take joy in different things and to give each other space for that, but then be able to come together to enjoy what we both enjoy (like pizza or Taskmaster!).
I appreciate Irma’s reticence to worry about references; the fact is there can be so many and that most are imbedded so deeply into us that it would be either impossible or a waste of time to pull each and every one of them out of a work or a lifetime’s worth of it. On the other hand, the reference points do provide … tangible ways of connecting with others on a more personal level. And yet again, can’t we connect with each other without them because the most fundamental reference point is our humanity? Not yet, but maybe one day. 🙏
You lake such good points. I guess a good reference is one that comes at the right time and not as “Obligatory Culture”. My kids do read what I write or see my shows and I’m sure Irma herself will be far more resonant with them than my favourite book at 15! Who cares? At the end of the day, we create meaning all the time in order to connect through our humanity with art, but also with Taskmaster (pizza not being my thing😆).
Pizza’s not your thing?! 🤔 Hmm … ah, well, to each their own, as they say. However, if my son had said such a thing, i might’ve had to disown him. 😆 See you round the ‘stacks, Joana!
The quote from Caeiro--“the only inner meaning of things / Is that they have no inner meaning at all”.--reminds me of a Buddhist one: "Things are not what they appear to be / Nor are they otherwise."
I find it difficult to say precisely how these two ideas dovetail together, the difficulty of which may be one point of Irma Blank's work, but want to say that it is we, in our search for meaning, that impart meaning to things. Only human beings do this. Otherwise, their is no "meaning" as such in the universe apart from how we observe it, and through the observation, impart meaning (or none) to the things we observe. (This is a fundamental aspect of consciousness explored in Buddhism, such as symbolically represented in The Wheel of Yamantaka, though not in the sense of meaning per se.)
Breaking down language, we see that words are entirely constructed for the sake of impartiing meaning or communication, but on the other hand words are just shapes and lines (or sounds) which, devoid of an understanding of the language, become no more than that.
Standing before this particular void or abyss, I think one can see a kind of freedom in the inherent lack of meaning in things. We create it; it does not exist inherently, perhaps even in ourselves, and yet we still have been given (through divine grace? God only knows.) the capacity to create it. Nor do we have to take it all so seriously! (But we can too ... if we want to.)
The edge is a fascinating place to be, Joana. Terrifying, yes, but also wonderous. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I guess what scared me at the time was the fact that Irma was letting go in many ways, first by accepting that her path was personal as was her culture and her love of it, and secondly that she wasn't communicating to us what books were crucial despite our asking. Of course, I can find out, and someone will for sure, as her daughter has all her books and certainly knows what her mother read. But it was the importance of us not knowing as curators working on her first important solo exhibitions touring Europe that struck me as so formidable. I would have been yapping about my references as I just did in my text! She passed on a method and forewent the opportunity to lecture her audience about Important Literature. Perhaps being German and born in 1934 and growing up in Nazi Germany shows you how irrelevant culture is when you're cruel and bigoted...
Moreover, it also resonated with my own experience: how do you impart the meaning of things that were so powerful to you in a language that is not as familiar to your children as it is to you? The French literature, the Portuguese poetry, the Spanish cinema... And yet, you have to trust the process of, as you say, us humans needing to create meaning wherever you are. My kids may not have Flaubert but they have the Brontë sisters, or their own references that I don't even know.
Hmm, I think I understand. It’s true what you say about our kids (and everyone’s kids) having their own references. This is clear to me in the sense that my son’s language ability in Chinese has and will continue to grow far beyond my own. I try to keep up, but just by virtue of his growing up in this culture so different from my own, he is growing up with a very different set of cultural reference points. This is to say nothing of how different this time is from my own as my time was different from my parents (born in the early 40s).
I share what I can with him of the things that meant something to me, but I also have to let him find his own meaning for himself. I think it’s more important for him to understand that we take joy in different things and to give each other space for that, but then be able to come together to enjoy what we both enjoy (like pizza or Taskmaster!).
I appreciate Irma’s reticence to worry about references; the fact is there can be so many and that most are imbedded so deeply into us that it would be either impossible or a waste of time to pull each and every one of them out of a work or a lifetime’s worth of it. On the other hand, the reference points do provide … tangible ways of connecting with others on a more personal level. And yet again, can’t we connect with each other without them because the most fundamental reference point is our humanity? Not yet, but maybe one day. 🙏
You lake such good points. I guess a good reference is one that comes at the right time and not as “Obligatory Culture”. My kids do read what I write or see my shows and I’m sure Irma herself will be far more resonant with them than my favourite book at 15! Who cares? At the end of the day, we create meaning all the time in order to connect through our humanity with art, but also with Taskmaster (pizza not being my thing😆).
And perhaps one day without art - because we’ll live it.
Pizza’s not your thing?! 🤔 Hmm … ah, well, to each their own, as they say. However, if my son had said such a thing, i might’ve had to disown him. 😆 See you round the ‘stacks, Joana!