Index

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"We know now that a text is not a line of words releasing a single ‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God) but a multi-dimensional space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture." Roland Barthes—The Death of the Author.

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:: comment :: . . . i am guilty . . .

stop the bleeding
into the frozen night
dry skin scorches
scar upon scar
the back tightens
the nerve screams

where does the pain go when it stops

"When Istanbul called to ask me to organize the biennial," he recalled, "the ruins of the World Trade Center were still smoldering. I said that I couldn't refuse precisely because of the emergency. I didn't mean the bombing. I meant the decline and failure of political discourse. Conflict is global, but so is art, and only art has the ability to synthesize understanding from discord and help us see through difference. People are starving for intellectual and spiritual stimulation, and it's right here, a world under one roof."

(nytimes:arts/ Using Art to Start a Global Conversation)

"Almost 50 years ago now, I felt compelled to write in a speech for Judge Danforth in "The Crucible": "You must understand, sir, a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time — we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God's grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it. I hope you will be one of those."

How many times do we have to indulge the same idiocies for which we must later be ashamed?

Is a lively, contentious, reflective theater beyond our reach, our imaginations? Are the powers who reign over this theater of the bottom line aware that there are some really interesting — even entertaining — things to talk about on the stage and that they ought to be encouraged? Even if at times they require more than two or four people in the cast? A new "Crucible" could not be produced on Broadway today, nor a "Death of a Salesman," either. Nor, for that matter, a "Streetcar." Too many people. Is this situation satisfactory for what purports to be the main stage of the richest country in human history? - Arthur Miller

(nytimes:arts/ Looking for a Conscience)

The ancient Egyptians postulated seven souls. Top soul, and the first to leave at the moment of death, is Ren, the Secret Name. This corresponds to my Director. He directs the film of your life from conception to death. The Secret Name is the title of your film. (William Burroughs. The Western Lands.)