In the sign to hear 聞
you see an ear 耳
beneath the gate 門
According to this sign, to hear means to stand on the threshold like an ear
The sound is blocking the gate, but it is also the medium connecting this side of the gate with the other side. One must hear it, then it will no longer impede one’s vision YOKO TAWADA*
In this text Tawada speaks about about translating poetry. I am curious about Tawada’s idea about an entity that exists between the vehicular languages, a threshold where the aural and visual aspects of poetry dwell.
Taking this idea from Tawada’s text, Beneath the gate informs current studio practice, where there is a preoccupation with the fluidity of subject||object positions. Installations are performative, where objects are imagined as protagonists in encounters with the viewer. Made and ready-mades combine and are presented in sequences where objects, sounds or gestures are given as repetitions. These repetitions and forms bear a close affinity to language or text in structure and rhythm, where rhythm is the conjuror of subjective memory.
more on my blog here {*~^}
*http://www.thewhitereview.org/features/celan-reads-japanese/
julforrester 