Philosophy is really a homesickness; it is an urge to be at home everywhere.

George Lukacs

It Only Blooms!

For the past three month I have been working intensely on this project. The idea of doing something around this Søren Kierkegaard quote started last summer, but up until now it has been resting in the pile of unrealized ideas. 
The book shows a blooming process through photographs, seasonal and of the singular flower. Along side is a love story, which is related to the emotional seasons of love. The book can be read from both sides, one side telling the story of him the other of her. The photographs has been taken a bit everywhere but most of them doing the past month. The realization of the book (printing, binding etc.) took me a couple of weeks work in the workshop.
This book project is my first, but it is safe to say it wont be my last.

-“I only spent and hour on it”; “I have not seen it since”. –“All right,” I say: “let us leave those examples. Show me something which does represent you entirely, something by which you are happy to be measured.” And then I say, “What do you consider the most beautiful aspect of your work? Is it this quality or that quality? Is it its gracious style, its subject-matter, your discovery of the material, you judgment, you erudition?” For I normally find that men are as wrong in judging their own work as other people’s, not simply because their emotions are involved but because they lack the ability to understand it and analyze it. The work itself, by its own momentum and fortune, can favor the author beyond his own understanding and research; it can run ahead of him.

Michel De Montaigne

From Quote To Project!

A little less than a year ago I started reading "Kjærlighedens Gjerninger" (Works on Love) By Søren Kierkegaard. 
I came across this quote which has been been stuck in my mind since then. I wanted to develop a project based on it as I wanted to share its truth and beauty with others.
Ever since I have been trying to figure out what would be the best way of getting across this message, and lately I have devoted most of my time to finishing this project, which I soon will be able to share with the rest of the world. 
First here is the quote in the original danish version and after my personal English translation for those who don't speak Danish.  

"Men hvert træ kjendes på sin egen frugt, saaledes ogsaa Kjerligheden på dens egne, og den kjerlighed, om hvilken Christendommen taler, paa dens egen frugt: at den har Evigheden sandhed I sig. Al anden Kjerlighed, hvad enten den, menneskeligt talt, tidlig afblomstre og forandres, eller den elskeligt bevarer sig I timelighedens aarstid: den er dog forgængelig, den blomstre kun. Dette er just det skrøbelige og det vemodige ved den, hvad enten den blomstrer en time eller 70 Aar, den blomstre kun; men den kristelige kjerlighed er evig. Derfor vil ingen, hvis han forstaar sig selv, vil falde paa at besynge den. Thi hvad digteren skal besynge maa have det vemod, som er hans eget Livs Gaade: maa blomstrer, og hvad der blomstrer det forgaaer, man hvad der er kan ikke besynges det maa troes og maa leves."

"But every tree is recognized by its own fruit, thus as well love on its own, and this love, on which Christianity speaks, on its own fruit: that it has the truth of eternity within. Every other love, whether it humanly speaking, early withers or changes, or it is lovingly retained in the temporal season; it is but perishable, it only blooms. This is just its fragility and sadness, whether it blooms for an hour or 70 years, it only blooms; but the Christian love is eternal. Therefore no one will, if he understands himself, think of praising it. For what the poet must praise must contain this pathos, which is the riddle of his own life: will bloom, and what blooms must vanish, but what is cannot be praised it must be believed and must be lived"

Desire is unhappiness without an end!

Jean-Luc Nancy

Truth is indifferent to difference!

Alain Badiou

These Things I Know For Sure!

At present moment I am researching for an essay on Andrea Zittel and I found this list of hers that I thought I would share. I am not sure I agree with all. However sometimes I feel it is useful to look at how other people define their world in order to think about how you define your own.

Maybe we would all benefit from making a similar list.

These Things I Know For Sure:

1:It is a human trait to want to organize things into categories. Inventing categories creates an illusion that there is an overriding rationale in the way that the world works.

2:Surfaces that are "easy to clean" also shows more dirt. In reality a surface that camouflages dirt is much more practical than one that is easy to clean.

3:Maintenance takes time and energy that can sometimes impede other forms of progress such as leaning new things.

4:Al materials ultimately deteriorate and show some sign of wear. It is therefore important to create designs that will look better after years of distress.

5:A perfect filing system can sometimes decrease efficiency. For instance, when letters and bills are filed away too quickly, it is easy to forget to respond to them.

6:Many "progressive" designs actually hark back towards a lost idea of nature or a more "original form"

7:Ambiguity in visual design ultimately leads to a greater variety of functions than design that are functionally fixed.

8:No matter how many options there are, it is human nature to always narrow things down to two polar, yet inextricably linked choices.

9:The creation of rules is more creative than the destruction of them. Creating demands a higher level of reasoning and draws connections between cause and effect. The best rules are never stable or permanent, but evolve naturally according to context or need.

10: What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom, but rather living in a set of limitations that we have created and prescribed ourselves. 

11:Things that we think are liberating can ultimately become restrictive, and things that we initially think are controlling can sometimes give us a sense of comfort and security.

12:Ideas seems to gestate best in a void-when that void is filled, it is more difficult to access them. In our consumption-driven society, almost all voids are filled, blocking from moments of greater clarity and creativity. Things that block voids are called "avoids".

13:Sometimes when you can't change a situation, you just have to change the way you think about the situation.

14:People are most happy when they are moving forward towards something not quite yet attained. (I also wonder if this extends to the physical motion in space. I believe that I am happier when I am in a plane or a car because I am moving towards an identifiable and attained goal)

Andrea Zittel 2005

There is always a struggle to advance a new way of seeing things because customary ways and preconceptions about it stand in the way. The situation is similar to learning a foreign language: Forgetting you mother tongue is the chief difficulty.

J. Glenn Gray Introducing - (Martin Heidegger - Was Heißt Denken)

You will know a good artist for his generosity to other artists!

This is a quote from one of my new course leaders. I will remember this going forward!