My Saturday was perfectly lovely, and included a slow morning and lazy afternoon. I spent most of the day with my two dear girlfriends as we celebrated the birthday one. We had pedicures, whiskey at a fancy whiskey library, a museum trip to see the survey exhibit of Hank Willis Thomas, and French food for dinner. The exhibit was very powerful, but the one thing that I will share with everyone is the new word I learned, PUNCTUM. It's a word that is defined by French philosopher and critic Roland Barthes as that which "pricks" the viewer and can be "felt" when viewed, leaving behind an emotional wound or psychological mark.
The artist Hank Willis Thomas works in multi-media, but predominately thru the lens of a photographer. He had a series of these photos that were profoundly busy with movement and story, but he pulled out the one thing from the photo that evoked punctum for him, and zeroed in on that. It was a common thread through several different series he did, but it was a fascinating concept. Some of the photos had this crazy interactive quality where you would look at the photo, see one small image pop out that was striking, but it wasn't until you took a picture with your own camera (with the flash), that you could see in detail the blurred background of the photo and make out the entire context of the one small imagine. Brilliant really.
Anyway, I'm continuing to ponder that thought. The idea that in any photo,
or image that you see, you can find the punctum, the one thing that stands out against the rest, that leaves you with a feeling or a psychological mark.
But really, the best part of the entire day was the time with my girlfriends. It's such a gift, it's such a balm to the soul.
Signed, ME {lv}
Comments