ataraxia 1

Ataraxia (Epicurus) – a state of being in balance and one with lifeworld, between what is conventionally distinguished as nature and culture. Ataraxia is fraught with the same tension that pervades the self-gathered serenity of gardens, namely the tension between order and entropy … … anxiety is not so much overcome as transfigured by the…

William Blake – post-classicist

Recently I have been posting thoughts about the current state of Classical Studies, asking: What might be done regarding the complicity of Classical Studies in ideological standpoints, including cultural chauvinism, nationalism, imperialism, colonialism? I am much taken with dramatic techniques involving focus on characters and personae, avatars and ghosts, figuration and voices: How might we…

three synchronicities – different voices

Synchronicity – meaningful coincidence, where things align or connect without there being any proximate or apparent cause. A critical technique to open space for different voices – [Link]. One In a recent online lecture for Stanford Dan-el Padilla Peralta, a Classics professor at Princeton, told of a conference he was attending in Florida on the…

a mirror and a bowl

The giant silver bowl in Rotterdam, the new collections open storage depot for Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, now has its mirror skin within which one may see all kind of wonders. Here below are Peter Delpeut (novelist), Winy Maas (architect), and Sjarel Ex (director) with thoughts on viewing the landscape/cityscape by means of a giant…