The goldi remembers its lightii
The ash remembers its fireiii
The book remembers its spineiv
The barb remembers its wire
The wave remembers its phase
The void remembers its ache
The clay remembers its grave
The sand remembers its snakev
The dawnvi
The vesselvii
The shadows
The embersviii
Remember.
Anselm Kiefer’s Solaris exhibition is on now through at Nijo Castle Ninomaru Palace in Kyoto, Japan through June 22, 2025.ix
- To quote from Seventh sense for gold:
Also from Kaballistic thought are the symbolic calculations of Gematria, which are the numerical values of each word that serve as hidden connections between seemingly disparate concepts. In the case of gold “זהב” (Zahav), its value is 14 (Zayin (ז) = 7, Hei (ה) = 5, Bet (ב) = 2), which is the same as that of King David (the fair-haired one), and is also the day of the month of Nissan that Passover (Pesach) starts, which is actually coming up next week! No wonder gold is puuuuumping atm:
- To quote from Divine sparks dwell in all that’s been:
We chase the spark through storied night,
Threads of wonder, sacred light.Temple walls to stars reply:
“Our faith burns bold, it does not die.” - To quote from Après la guerre nucléaire (2023):
Beneath the radiant, glowing skies,
A silent threat does loom,
For in the heart of fire’s embrace,
We tread paths like petals bloom.Yet even in this tempest fierce,
Where futures might unwind,
There lies a hope, a thread so thin,
That binds all of mankind - Kiefer’s installation was in explicit reference to Jun’ichirō Tanizaki’s “In Praise of Shadows” (1933) from which Anselm quotes:
“And surely you have seen, in the darkness of the innermost rooms of these huge buildings, to which sunlight never penetrates, how the gold leaf of a sliding door or screen will pick up a distant glimmer from the garden, then suddenly send an ethereal glow, a faint golden light cast into the enveloping darkness, like the glow upon the horizon at sunset.”
- To quote Zohar Atkins via What kind of animal are we exactly? And where do Adam and Eve fit in? :
Had Adam and Eve eaten from the tree of knowledge for its own sake they could have remained in Eden. The reason for their Exile is that they only desired it for mimetic reasons.
For those asking how I get this. My text-based answer is Genesis 3:5. The snake says if you do it you will be LIKE god. That’s mimesis right there. It’s the promise of mimesis that precedes the Fall, not God’s proscription. וִהְיִיתֶם֙ כֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים יֹדְעֵ֖י ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃
And recall that Eve also does not hear the proscription directly from God. So motivation can’t be rebellion. I mean it can be, but that’s more of an interpolation! The literal interpretation is that she’s motivated by the snake’s argument.
- To quote from Daranno finalmente un po’ di luce (2023):
At dawn’s first light, the final day,
Fate’s cruel hand seeks to sway,
Be brave, sweet souls, as trials near,
Through the veil of unshed tears.Of persistence, perseverance, ‘neath autumn leaves,ii
In silent vows, little hearts believe,
In time’s embrace, sweet souls retrieve,
Questi scitti, quando verranno bruciati,Daranno finalmente un po’ di luce.
- To quote from a few weeks ago in Visitor verse island kintsuge:
Kintsuge is, in a matter of speaking and to paraphrase Leonard Cohen, “the crack through which the light gets in.” Because what else could light be but gold, and divine power?
- To quote (again) from the late great MP:
Incidentally, you know the joke with the two jews and the piece of dog turd ? that’s exactly “us economy” : i will eat your moderately stinky shit and call it hamburger if you eat this very runny shit and call it a slurpee. this is “economic growth” to these muppets. and the problem is insoluble, because shit drives away the food. and even when it isn’t. kid getting to choose college will predictably not go to the one that actually teaches something. by now, obviously kid is more likely to “go to college” than summon up his entire extended family and make each person eat some of his shit at a great family reunion, “because you people suck”. “no mom, i’m not holding a wedding. i’m holding a “you people suck” party, attendance is mandatory, and you will all have to delight in my excrement while telling me how just like pork and beans it tastes”. because sure as hell i’m not doing it to your dumbass excrement. i don’t suppose a generation war – in the proper, 20th century sense, with mass rapes, mass graves and concentration camps – was ever this morally necessary. forget justified, it’s not that it’s justified, it is that it’s a sine qua non mandatory requirement, just like hanging the nazis. now consider that Nero lived in very similar times, and all of a sudden you might see the lad as a very heroic figure. I’m persuaded that if I lived at that time, I would have also set Rome on fire and fiddled while it burned, also made horses senators and in general, the whole nine yards. It’s a historical necessity.
- You may remember that I fortuitously stumbled upon Kiefer’s exhibition at Palazzo Ducale in Venice in 2022, and have thought about it deeply since! Will this Nijo Castle exhibition be similarly impactful in the medium term? ↩