Unusual Book Recommendation
I’d like to introduce the extraordinary work of (he)Art - almost impossible to describe — by a new friend.
Asemic writing, as it's called, is writing that is actually not — communicating what words cannot. A type of visual poetry...
As poet Rainer Maria Rilke confesses:
“Things aren't so tangible and sayable as people would usually have us believe; most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered.”
You can order a copy of Sam Roxas-Chua's "Echolalia in Script" directly, from Orison Books
More and more, I find that am interested in the poetry of the ineffable.
This is how I view this evocative art writing, as an expression of the unutterable …
As poet TS Eliot puts it:
Words strain
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place
Will not stay still.
Here another sample, below, and the book cover.
Happy discoveries!
Stunning! Thank you for sharing what would have been undiscovered by our eyes. I agree totally, that words are imperfect vehicles of "transportation" of our ideas and feelings, etc. Art seems to be better at this, as the "images" portrayed "speak" to us in a more universal language. There is also something "carnal" to these images you shared of the poet. It is almost like a language that resides in us that helps one "understand" these images-poems. Thanks again for the share.
Love the quotes from Rilke and Eliot, and love the way you review books. Your writing is smooth and natural, easy to read, easy to comprehend, yet bursting with insight and erudition. Not an easy accomplishment! It's one thing to read a lot, another thing to read GOOD literature, and yet another to internalize and apply what we've read. The best writers are also the best readers.
This! Intriguing, but is it abstract art filling the pages of a book, or is it writing?
And this: "most experiences are unsayable, they happen in a space that no word has ever entered.”
Just.... wow!!
And, I love how closely you listen and your discernment. As the Sufis say: He who tastes, knows
I do agree with you that the best writers are also the best readers. As with everything else, this takes time, work and, mostly, grace :)
Yes, you can say asemic writing is abstract art but, like what Eliot says of genuine poetry, it can communicate before it is understood.
To "read" artwork - that's a whole 'nother language. I'm not fluent in that one. Not even close.
I can barely grasp poetry!
So many ideas, insights, and truths sail right over my head, but I catch the occasional feather or dandelion seed. Time, work, and *grace - these are written all over you, to speak!
Written all over you - an odd way to say "It's obvious on you."
Haha, that's funny! First time I hear it & will see if I can try to use it, soon :)
Happy weekend around the bend, my friend, may it be restorative and fun ♥️