the space in between

getting it

a venn diagram i've been (a)musing over the past couple of days.

it's probably troubling (and telling) that i can't quite commit myself to one sphere. do i fall then into merely "confused?"

probably.

via my friend burke.

homophonic misunderstandings

(phone call)

me: so my new web address is: http://punctum.typepad.com

friend: punkdom?

me: yes, punctum.

friend: well, that's surprising.

me: yeah, i was happy it wasn't taken.

(beat)

friend: how do you spell it?

me: p-u-n-c-t-u-m. punctum. do you not know what i'm talking about?

friend: oh. i thought you said "punkdom". and i couldn't imagine you choosing that, because you're so not...

me: roland barthes! camera lucida! the part of the image that punctures, punctuates, interupts! detail! clever, i was coyly referencing! not punkdom!

friend: that makes much more sense. i was confused.

read more about studium and punctum here, or buy the book. but here are excerpts of the most salient points:

The studium is that very wide field of unconcerned desire, of various interest, of inconsequential taste: I like/I don't like. The studium is the order of liking, not of loving; it mobilizes a half-desire, a demi-volition; it is the same sort of vague, slippery, irresponsible interest one takes in the people, the entertainments, the books, the clothes one finds "all right."

...The second element will break (or punctuate) the studium. A Latin word exists to designate this wound, this prick, this mark made by a pointed instrument: the word suits me all the better in that it also refers to the notion of punctuation, and because the photographs I am speaking of are in effect punctuated, sometimes even speckled with these sensitive points; precisely, these marks, these wounds are so many points. This second element which will disturb the studium I shall therefore call punctum; for punctum is also: sting, speck, cut, little hole--and also a cast of the dice. A photograph's punctum is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me).

--roland barthes, camera lucida

so there you have it. a large cornerstone of my personal aesthetic, a bit of french critical theory, and the knowledge that i am an insatiable, nostalgic sap. but god i do love me some roland barthes.

introductions and such

i've been a lurker and a watcher for a couple of years now, reading and learning from other people's posts, musings and rants. and i've yearned to be part of the fray for some time, and yet the seemingly draining task of learning software programs, scripting languages, etc had always deterred me from setting up an online home. it was just a time allotment of learning i could not dream of having for some time. and then typepad came along (or, more precisely, i came along to typepad). and in the space of a few days, here i am. welcome here.

and where is here?

here is a place where i come to articulate more fully things i want to think on more, things i want to remember having thought. i have several spheres of thought that, like a child of multiple divorces, all warrant definite visitation time from me. photograpy; how to make a space in yourself and in the world for art; a smattering of critical theory; tea and tea culture (yes, really. more on that later); aesthetics--and lately, specifically, eastern aesthetics; art and art history of all sorts from cave paintings to andy warhol and beyond; the things my friends teach me; writing and lastly, the various cultural erratta that permeates all of our lives and sometimes, if it's very good, sticks somewhere in the subconscious and rolls around awhile, getting mused over.

oh, and food. yes food and cookery and making my home smell like the dinner everyone in smelling distance wishes they were having. food magazines are my shelter porn and weird, hard-to-find ingredients like pomegranate molasses or smoked paprika and exotic cheeses turn me on like...well, like good food should. simply salivating.

i am a photographer trying to emerge with a definition for such that relates to me.

i am someone who is trying to get better at everything that seems to matter to me: writing, image making, thinking, being a better friend and person.

more structure, and much much more discipline.

i've already put up a few photo albums on the sidebar that i'll write more about later. and i'll be adding to this site and linking and typelisting away soon.

happy to be here.