Carianne Mack has supplied me with documentation on a show she will be involved in soon that organizes it’s art around the sublime. This is very nice because in BL we’re currently involved in Blake, Wordsworth, and Keats. What would the sublime have to do with the idea of the spritual and the physical, as these two have come to influence us in the course (this is, of course, a question for the students and me to to think about) in terms of the real matter of Blake’s work?

As I was walking among the fires of hell, delighted with the enjoyments of Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity.

From Blake’s Marriage

The sublime, I would argue, runs counter to questions. The sublime happens; can it slowly wash over the eyes and into the mind? I’ve read a few poems this past year that deal with the notion of the size and mystery of the world and have struggled with the imagery myself in a few stories. I’d like to see more.

In the vision, the speaker survives the fires and already the imagery of history becomes a template for play.

More play, more play.

In an upper right circle, the eye wanders into Old Sage, circles slowly looking for something (maybe an anchor). There’s a knot there and several versions or variations on it. The painting is a verb and it doesn’t end.