Ed Weick wrote:
>
> >
> >May I ask what Mondrian has to do with Kafka? The Kafka-[ab]world
> >is all too much with us (I've spent much of the past year in a
> >couple of the less extreme places where it is flourishing today
> >on earth).
>
> It's a long time since I read Kafka and almost equally long since I last
> viewed a Mondrian. I must admit that I'm not sure of the relationship
> either, though perhaps it is that both attempted to show us how we make
> ourselves accept the absurd and irrational as sensible and rational. The
> Mondrians I recall seeing consisted of straight lines, right angles and flat
> colours much like the land- and city-scapes we have built. Whether this
> portrays the absurd or sensible is of course a matter of judgement.
Again, I am not an expert, but I believe that, for Mondrian, these
"straight lines", etc. were an endeavor to abstract out the pure
essence of reality (somewhat like the mathematical laws of
physics).
>
> During the 1970s I spent a lot of time in the little Indian villages of
> northern Canada. Generally, the layout of these villages appears somewhat
> random but on closer inspection makes a lot of sense. For example, if the
> village is on a lake or river, it's not too difficult to get to the water.
> People who are closely related live near each other so that younger people
> can look in on the old. With the exception of one or two streets, the
> layout is not based on straight lines and right angles.
Can you imagine the extreme emotional tension which
Mondrian would probably have felt at the possibility
of introducing a non-right angle element into one of
his paintings? Most people (including probably Kafka),
could not care less.
[snip]
> I'm not sure of what this is supposed to tell us other than that what is
> absurd to one person makes perfect sense to another -- something the
> Chinese probably recognized 4,000 years ago.
I have perviously noted that, 0,400 years ago, the Chinese
may have understood the meaning of the dawning
Enlightenment in Western Europe better than most
if not all of the Europeans who were coming to bear
in their lives that process of the disciplined
perfection of knowledge.
Sophocles: "Many things are strange, but strangest of all
is man."
Heidegger interpreting Sophocles: "And the strangest
of all the strange things about man is that
he finds everything except himself more or
less strange."
But, getting back to M & K: I contend that Mondrian and
Kafka have about as much to do with each other as the
ideal of "Ye are the light of the world. A city
that is set on an hill cannot be hid" (Matt. 5:14)
has to do with Kafka's "Castle". (Although, personally,
I positively cathect Kandinsky even more than Mondrian!)
\brad mccormick
--
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua, NY 10514-3403 USA
-------------------------------------------------------
<![%THINK;[XML]]> Visit my website: http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
