the universe will not be controlled by the likes of us
the title is a brilliant phrase uttered on the intertubes by AdamSelene @ theoildrum.com. this space accumulates other such short, poetic, and found-elsewhere insights into the limits of human cognition. it is a project dedicated to Wes Jackson’s vision of an “ignorance-based worldview.” a brilliant phrase uttered by his friend Wendell Barry in a letter.Archive for visual art
the painting in the header
i took a 900 pixel by 200 pixel chunk out of Caspar David Friedrich’s Mönch am Meer (monk by the sea) (1809-10), which i found at Marie’s blog At the Lighthouse. the painting in its entirety is more beautiful, and more hopeful (blue sky begins to appear.) i liked Marie’s comments on the painting:
The man in the picture looks so small in comparison to the vast sea, and of course the fact that he is a monk adds a whole extra dimension to the existential anxiety this painting inspires. The motif reminds me a great deal of the ending of Joyce’s The Dead, with the sea playing the same part as the faintly falling snow: Nature as a menacing force, something all-consuming that we cannot conquer, and thus a reminder of the terminality of our lives. Beautiful.
