Giacometti Sculptures

November 11,2007

    Viewing some Giacometti sculptures in the museum. In spite of their tiny size there's something about these figures which give the impression of towering over one. Giacometti asked a question which has always fascinated me: How is it that you can identify a person who is approaching from ten blocks down the street when that person is nothing more than a speck on your vision? If you were questioned you would not be able to distinguish a single identifying feature of that distant individual and yet you remark at once, "Here comes John Smith!!" and you will, in all likelihood, be correct. What mystery of mental perception allows this to happen?

    Giacometti somehow dealt with this question in his sculptures. Even as the works tower over you they appear to be viewed from a great distance.

Favorite poem

December 9, 2007

A favorite poem of mine by Samuel Beckett:

"I would like my love to die

and the rain to be falling on the graveyard

and on me walking the streets

mourning the first and last to love me."

I have always imagined that a great novel could be written around that poem.