Shadows (textures 3)

Do shadows have any volume? Can we touch them? If we approach them, do we hear any noise coming from the obscurity? Do we realize how they play with the afternoon light in distant corners of the house?

“Me maravilla comprobar hasta qué punto los japoneses han sabido dilucidar los misterios de la sombra y con cuánto ingenio han sabido utilizar los juegos de sombra y luz. Y todo eso sin buscar particularmente ningún efecto determinado. En una palabra, sin más medios que la simple madera y las paredes desnudas, se ha dispuesto un espacio recoleto donde los rayos luminosos que consiguen penetrar hasta allí, engendran aquí y allá recovecos vagamente oscuros. Sin embargo, al contemplar las tinieblas ocultas tras la viga superior, en torno a un jarrón de flores, bajo un anaquel, y aún sabiendo que sólo son sombras insignificantes, experimentamos el sentimiento de que el aire en esos lugares encierra una espesura de silencio, que en esa oscuridad reina una serenidad eternamente inalterable.”

Junichiro Tanizaki, Elogio de las sombras, Madrid, Siruela, 2007.

Photo: Tea house silhouette, Kyoto, 2007 © Tavallai

Taste (textures 2)

Does food taste differently depending on the material the plates we serve it in is made of? Can you distinguish between soup presented in regular porcelain and the same soup served in Japanese lacquered bowls? According to Tanizaki, there is a remarkable difference, not to speak of the visual and the heat-preserving qualities of the Japanese lacquerware itself, its sonic properties, the feeling of its surface in the palm of one´s hand, and its evocative power.

“Una vajilla de cerámica no es nada desdeñable, es cierto, pero a las cerámicas les faltan las cualidades de sombra y de profundidad de las lacas. Son pesadas y frías al tacto; permeables al calor, no sirven para los alimentos calientes; además, el menor golpe les saca un ruido seco, mientras que las lacas, suaves y ligeras al tacto, no lastiman el oído. Cuando sostengo en el hueco de mi mano un cuenco de sopa, nada me resulta más agradable que la sensación de pesadez líquida, de vívida tibieza que experimenta mi palma. Es una impresión análoga a la que produce al tacto la carne elástica de un recién nacido.

Todas éstas buenas razones para explicar por qué se sigue sirviendo hoy en día la sopa en un cuenco de laca, pues un recipiente de cerámica está muy lejos de dar satisfacciones comparables. Y sobre todo porque, en cuanto levantas la tapa el líquido encerrado en cerámica te revela inmediatamente su cuerpo y color. En cambio, desde que destapas un cuenco de laca hasta que te lo llevas a la boca, experimentas el placer de contemplar en sus profundidades oscuras un líquido cuyo color apenas se distingue del color del continente y que se estanca, silencioso, en el fondo. Imposible discernir la naturaleza de lo que hay en las tinieblas del cuenco, pero tu mano percibe una oscilación fluida, una ligera exudación que cubre los bordes del cuenco y que dice que hay un vapor y el perfume que exhala dicho vapor ofrece un sutil anticipo del sabor del líquido antes de que te llene la boca.”

Junichiro Tanizaki, Elogio de las sombras, Madrid, Siruela, 2007.

Photo: Yakan=kettle, Nakakoma, Japan, 2007 © nam2_7676

Touch (textures 1)

The surface of Chinese or Japanese paper… caress it with your fingertips, touch it smoothly. Then squeeze it, listen to it. Get it close to your ear… It is crunchy and moist at the same time… This is the first of a three-post series on textures, an issue the Japanese author Junichiro Tanizaki reflects on in his essay In Praise of Shadows (In´ei Raisan, 1953), here in an excerpt from the Spanish edition.

“Dicen que el papel es un invento de los chinos; sin embargo, lo único que nos inspira el papel de Occidente es la impresión de estar ante un material estrictamente utilitario, mientras que sólo hay que ver la textura de un papel de China o de Japón para sentir un calorcillo que nos reconforta el corazón. A igual blancura, la de un papel de Occidente difiere por naturaleza de la de un hosho o un papel blanco de China. Los rayos luminosos parecen rebotar en la superficie del papel occidental, mientras que la del hosho o del papel de China, similar a la aterciopelada superficie de la primera nieve, los absorbe blandamente. Además, nuestros papeles, agradables al tacto, se pliegan y se arrugan sin ruido. Su contacto es suave y ligeramente húmedo como el de la hoja de un árbol.”

Junichiro Tanizaki, Elogio de las sombras, Madrid, Siruela, 2007.

Photo: Silver Japanese paper, 2007 © Karaku

Désir

Parfois les rêves se realisent. Alors, faites attention à vos désirs cachées…

“Le rêve de Meaume est celui-ci: Il est à dormir dans sa mansarde de Bruges (dans le logement que Jean Heemkers lui a accordé au-dessus de son appartement, au troisième étage de la maison sur le canal). Son sexe se dresse brusquement au-dessus de son ventre. La lumière blanche, épaisse, torride du soleil ruiselle autour du buste nu d´une jeune femme blonde au long cou. La lumière déborde tous les contours de son corps, rongeant les silhouettes de ses joues et de ses seins. C´est Nanni Veet Jakobsz. Elle penche la tête. Elle s´assied sur lui. Elle le plonge en elle d´un coup. Il jouit.”

Pascal Quignard, Terrasse à Rome, Paris, Éditions Gallimard, 2000.

Photo: Valerie and Gotscho Embracing, Paris, 1999 © Nan Goldin

The Queen of Park Slope

“He called her the B.P.M. The initials stood for the Beautiful Perfect Mother, and not only had he never spoken a word to her, he didn´t even know her name. She lived in a brownstone on a block midway between his apartment and Harry´s bookstore, and every morning on his way to breakfast he would see her sitting on the front stoop of her building with her two young children, waiting for the yellow bus to arrive and take them to school. She was remarkably attractive, Tom said, with long black hair and luminous green eyes, but what stirred him most about her was the way she held and touched her children. He had never seen maternal love expressed so eloquently or simply, with more tenderness or outright joy.”

Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies, London, Faber and Faber, 2005.

Photo: Woman talking on the phone, New York, 2007 © Loudsoul

Stradi di acqua

In this passage, a contemporary inhabitant of Venice describes the organic urban design of his hometown, the location of the main entrance to each house in relation to the canals and alleys, and the convoluted shapes and chronological order in which bridges and streets were layed down.

“Oggi a Venezia si cammina molto di più. In origine I palazzi e le case a ridosso dei canali sono stati orientati con la facciata rivolta verso l´acqua, l´ingresso principale e l´approdo per le barche. Sulle calli si approno gli ingressi secondari: di Venezia oggi noi usiamo soprattutto il retro: la città ci volta le spalle, ci mostra la schiena, ci prende per il sedere

Lo vedi anche dai ponti: molti sono sbilenchi, come se le isole si fossero spostate slittando in due direzioni opposte. I ponti sono costruiti in diagonale: le fiancate di mattoni o in ferro battuto fanno torsioni acrobatiche. Le rampe di gradini sembrano colate do lava indurita che si è fatta strada su pendii laterali, bizzarri. Alcuni lo dichiarano fin dal nome: ponte Storto. Ciò significa che molto spesso le calli che sfociano sulle due rive del canale non sono state allineate per essere unite da un ponte: erano semplicemente sbocchi sull´acqua dove accostare le barche per salire a bordo o scendere a terra, per caricare e scaricare merci. In altre parole, prima sono venute le case, e fra le case le calli, disposte secondo leggi proprie; I ponti sono stati fatti dopo: sono I ponti che si sono dovuti adeguare alle sfasature fra le calli quasi dirimpettaie, ma non perfettamente in asse da una riva all´altra dei rii.”

Tiziano Scarpa, Venezia è un pesce. Una guida, Feltrinelli Editore, Milano, 2000.

Photo: Grandness (Venice at dawn, 2008) © Imapix

Josephine and the Jewish people

Much has been speculated about the origins and meaning of Franz Kafka´s story Josefine die Sängerin oder das Volk der Mäuser [Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk], which he should have written between March and April, 1924, and which ended up being published as part of his Ein Hungerkünster. Vier Geschichten [A Hunger Artist] (Berlin, Die Schmiede, 1924). This is Kafka reaching the heights of symbolic literature. A people we know nothing about is in deep love with the singing -actually whistling- of the fragile and delicate Josephine, whom they collectively take care of; in turn, she showers them with her unparalleled but easily broken voice, which has the power of congregating the people at once whenever it is heard, the masses flocking to her from wherever it finds them. In a very kafkian game of paradoxes and ceaseless contradictions in which nothing appears to be what it seems, they admit there is nothing special in the way Josephine sings -actually, whistles-, and she is depicted as authoritarian and whimsical; the people is fascinated by her and, at the same time, not really taking her persona seriously. However, the main contradiction consists in that they are certain about being necessary for her survival and, concurrently, she is convinced that without her presence and her art the people would have perished long time ago.

What is Kafka trying to tell us? Which people is he talking about? Who is Josephine? Unfortunately, these questions are bound to remain unanswered, but there have been some attempts at interpreting this magnetic and strange fable. Some have linked it to Kafka´s larynx disease of his final years, caused by the tuberculosis that ultimately killed him. Some others see in the singing character a portrait of Josephine Beauharnais, Napoleon´s wife. Still others associate the story with Eduard Mörike´s poem about a singer named Josephine, who once performed in front of a popular assembly with a pitch voice resembling a whistle. After re-reading the tale, I am inclined to agree with the critic and scholar Juan José del Solar (Franz Kafka, Obras Completas, vol. III, J. J. Solar, ed., Barcelona, Galaxia Gutenberg, 2003, p. 1048) when he brings up as plausible the hypothesis of Kafka having been inspired by the Jewish-Palestine Puah Ben-Tovin -an Hebrew expert who taught language and religion in several Jewish and Zionist associations in Prague by means of choral singing- to describe the condition of the Jewish people, in particular the Jewish peoples of Eastern Europe during the interwar years. Indeed, the allusions to the hard working nature of the Jews, to their appalling living circumstances, the Jewish communities finding themselves apart from each other, and their members harassed and persecuted in the hostile and convulsed European world of the beginning of the Twentieth Century -facts also masterfully described by another giant of Jewish and universal literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer, in Love and Exile (New York, Doubleday, 1984), his memories of early childhood in Poland- make such a possibility an inescapable one.

Photo: Andy Warhol, Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century: Franz Kafka, 1987 © Museum Medzilaborce

Undeniable glamour

It seemed the whole city would melt amidst the heat wave. However, she never sweated. Not a single bead. That summer, she got used to walk in her apartment wearing only her high heels, which she previously kept in the fridge all day long. That was one of her michievous rituals. One night, she was approaching the window to watch the fireworks when the telephone rang. “Hi… I made up my mind”. The voice sounded distant. “Do you want me to go?”. “Yes”, she said, and hung up. Then she reached for her cocktail and calmly turned on the stereo.

Watermelon Martini recipe:

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz melon liqueur
1 oz citrus vodka
1 1/2 oz fresh watermelon juice

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint, and serve.

And here is a short danceable list for those frequent moments of glamorous mood:

01. Soulphiction - Angela (original mix) · State of Euphoria (Sonar Kollective, 2006)
02. Carmen McRae - How long has this been going on (MJ Cole mix) · Verve Remixed (Verve, 2002)
03. Bebel Gilberto - Tanto tempo (Peter Kruder mix) · Tanto Tempo Remixes (Six Degrees, 2001)
04. AWA Band - Timba (12”) (Tiefschwarz club mix) · Timba (Defected, 2000)
05. Mary J. Blige - Just fine (12”) (Jovonn mix) · Disrespectful / Just Fine (White, 2008)

Photo: 5 ninth club, Meatpacking District, New York, 2007 © Loudsoul

A double-edged Olympic sword

As a part of a diplomatic offensive this week, the Chinese government has criticized American human rights record, poverty and racial divides, after the American Department of State only mildly critiziced Chinese human rights abuses, and even erased the country from the list of the serious human rights abuses, to the outrage of international human rights NGO´s. China´s protest constitutes a shameful and hypocritical move, since China´s performance in these fields is among the worst in the planet. The offensive tries to counteract Western condemnation of Chinese human rights abuses just before the Olympic Games in Beijing. China has staked enormously in the gigantic public relations operation the Games amount to, whose aim is to show the world how far has China reached in its quest for development. However, the idea Chinese officials have in mind when thinking about development may have nothing to do with the image it conjures up for the Westerner, since the latter includes not only living conditions but also freedom and respect for individuals, whereas the former just points to a kind of competition to attain material and technological goals. In other words, it is all about national pride, a very Asian concept, by the way.

The Olympic Games should have never been granted to China, probably the most serious human rights violator in the world. Once the appropriate international bodies took the decision, the only action left for democratic governments and peoples is to actively boycott them. And for the boycott to be really effective, it should be a widespread Western decision, regardless the Chinese reaction to it. During the Cold War, the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games Western boycott did not lead us to the Third World War; if anything, it contributed to the Soviet regime´s collapse. Moreover, China needs Western markets desperatedly, so here we have a powerful tool to exert influence on the country. And to those claiming we should not mix sports with politics, let us note an event such as the Olympic Games is one of the best examples of global politics nowadays. Besides, the political nature of the Games is officially recorgnized by the Chinese government, which rightly weighted the huge opportunities to improve its international image the gathering offered. However, when betting on the Games, Chinese officials seemed oblivious to the fact that in our globalized world, they are a double-edged sword. Therefore, a big-scale fiasco would project a multiplied image of incompetence, corruption and, ultimately, backwardness. That would imply losing face, again, a very important concept in Asian cultures.

It is this multiplier effect we need to take advantage of to expose China´s abusive public policies towards its own citizens, raise awareness about its immoral international behaviour -i.e.: its role in the Darfur crisis-, and show our solidarity with Chinese dissidents and human rights activists. No one is denying China its right to economic and social development, but the Free World -a Cold War expression which is nevertheless relevant today, unfortunately- should send a clear message: if the Chinese government wants its country to be accepted as a major actor in the international community, it should respect life, freedom, and human rights.

Read on:

Human Rights Watch last report on China´s abuses on Beijing´s migrant construction workers.

On China´s disastrous environmental record.

On China´s international public relations setbacks as a consecuence of the Olympic Games exposure.

On Chinese officials defending China´s stand in Darfur and criticizing the Olympics tie-in.

Photo: Woman holding a dog, Beijing, 2007 © Nataliebehring

Loathing counterfactuals

The hatred flowing around in the Spanish blogsphere is astonishing. Deceiving myself, I prefer not to take it as a good proxy of the animosity prevalent in society at large.

The current Spanish Socialist Party government -towards which I have no particular sympathy- seems to be guilty of any trouble happening in this country. This belief leads some people to make nonsensical counterfactual statements, namely, that last Friday´s terrorist attack would have not happened if Prime Minister Zapatero had not been in power. In other words, that he is to blame for the murder.

These ignominious words tell a great deal about he who uttered them, and would deserve no comment. However, many seem to believe this plain lie, which usually comes along with claims that the ETA terrorists and Mr. Zapatero have the same political agenda; therefore, they are political allies. Therefore, if Mr. Zapatero and his dreadful government were not in power terror in Spain would vanish. Therefore, Mr. Zapatero is to blame for any terrorist attack.

To be sure, the current government should have never attempted to negotiate any surrender with these killers, since it sent the wrong message both to terrorists and citizens. The Spanish democracy will defeat them enforcing the law, chasing them, and putting them in jail. Period. But, to be fair, past conservative governments should have not atempted to do so either. The socialists never criticized any Popular Party government for those ‘talks’, neither blamed on them ETA victims of the time. Above all, the Socialist Party never used counter-terror policy as a tool for opposition strategy.

The Socialist government committed many mistakes in its counter-terror policy approach, and then more. But the Popular Party performance as opposition these four years conjured up an image of authoritarianism and extreme intolerance. It did not start when they lost the elections in 2004 because of their ill-managed information approach to the islamic terrorist attacks of those days (i.e.: lying to the citizens), a ‘failure’ they seem they never accepted; it is something running deep inside them and inside some of the social forces they actually represent. It is the idea that political power belongs to them, and to them only, so that lossing it signals an odd event that must be explained by external factors such as conspiracies and weird alliances between terrorists and democratic adversaries.

I am not to approve the Socialist Party populism as of late, or its huge conceit. I have got scores of differences with what the current Socialist Party stands for, but the classist, intolerant, conservative and ultimately authoritarian air of the current Popular Party and, worst still, of many of its followers, their loathing towards anything smelling as ‘leftist’ -a ‘totum revolutum’ in which they seem to randomly mix disparaged elements, from respect to pluralism to gender equality and secularism- really makes me sick. Above all, I cannot understand why so many individuals, with no alleged relation to a political party, display so much hatred against millions of their fellow citizens and the politicians apparently representing them.

It is quite unlikely there will ever be a Spanish liberal party -deserving that name, that is, defender of markets, individual rights and responsabilities, and limited governments, but also secular, progressive, pluralistic and unprejudiced- with a relevant constituency and real chances of arriving to power, and the reason is twofold: the current electoral system prevents its emergence, and the conservative (with both left and right leanings), resentful, vindictive and polarized nature of the Spanish people makes it a nearly impossible task.

P. S.: By the way, the Financial Times editorial comment on March 2 captured well what I think of both Spanish main parties.

Addenda: More on the subject: two cents of common sense, as it is usually the case with Soledad Gallego-Díaz.

Photo: Don’t you be yelling at me, 2005 © Mareen Fischinger

Next Page »