A poem — Who keeps the beggar company? Unrobed or not, the incline that her shoulders take to greet her neck is intimately known by me and spurs an image in my mind that gestures her totality. Yet the impressionistic strokes of fantasy cannot compare to nature’s work.
I like the economy of phrasing and the ideas. Not sure I "get" the whole section you provided, but see why the Orthodox insist that we look "through" a physical icon to see a reality beyond it, one that can also be physical (in the case of the resurrected and ascended Jesus.) What do you think?
Thank you for reading and commenting, Latayne! Without the rest of the play as context, I would caution anyone from trying to "get" any sort of universal truth from this poem (particularly since the character who speaks these lines is anything but a model theologian). One of my favorite things about Dostoevsky is his ability to convincingly argue the opposing view. I won't say that's exactly what I was doing here, but I wanted to use the underlying point iconoclasts make without taking their stance to ots extreme. No matter how much symbolism, beauty, or verisimilitude an image contains, it will fall short of experiencing the thing itself. Even an icon as a "window into heaven" is seeing through the glass darkly. Which isn't to say that images are futile (certainly not evil), but they cannot satisfy our longing for the thing presented.
I agree. We see now in part no matter what we look at. And agree about Dostoevsky -- recently read Crime and Punishment and saw how persuasively he could depict evil!
Thank you, Nick! I’m almost down with some edits I wanted to do for the second draft. I haven’t decided how I want to release it yet—all at once or in serial form. If I do it all at once, I think i’ll make it a kindle friendly download so people won’t be forced to read it on Substack.
I've heard mixed results on the "success" of serially produced things. But of course that doesn't need to be a reason for anything. See what feels right!
I wouldn't use actual icons like that if I were you.
Believers consider a genuine icon to be not only an image of the saint, but the presence of the saint herself. It is a direct encounter with a person who is already in eternity - an opening between the world of time and that of eternity.
When you interact with an icon, you interact with a person.
Hi Maria, I appreciate you sharing this concern. I had no intention of disrespecting St Dymphna with this design, and I would never have altered a physical icon. It did not occur to me that a digital representation of an icon would carry the same weight as a genuine, physical one. I have been regularly attending an orthodox church for the past seven months or so; I will bring this up with the priest. I’m sorry if the image offended you.
I think of it more as artistic expression. Here he's posting a character's viewpoint which is not necessarily the author's point of view. Nor does the author claim that it's true. I see it like having a swastika-tattooed Edward Norton on the cover of America History X. Kind of disturbing, but in it we see the brutality of the stance the character takes.
I like the economy of phrasing and the ideas. Not sure I "get" the whole section you provided, but see why the Orthodox insist that we look "through" a physical icon to see a reality beyond it, one that can also be physical (in the case of the resurrected and ascended Jesus.) What do you think?
Thank you for reading and commenting, Latayne! Without the rest of the play as context, I would caution anyone from trying to "get" any sort of universal truth from this poem (particularly since the character who speaks these lines is anything but a model theologian). One of my favorite things about Dostoevsky is his ability to convincingly argue the opposing view. I won't say that's exactly what I was doing here, but I wanted to use the underlying point iconoclasts make without taking their stance to ots extreme. No matter how much symbolism, beauty, or verisimilitude an image contains, it will fall short of experiencing the thing itself. Even an icon as a "window into heaven" is seeing through the glass darkly. Which isn't to say that images are futile (certainly not evil), but they cannot satisfy our longing for the thing presented.
I agree. We see now in part no matter what we look at. And agree about Dostoevsky -- recently read Crime and Punishment and saw how persuasively he could depict evil!
Really like this excerpt Dan - interested in the entirety!
Thank you, Nick! I’m almost down with some edits I wanted to do for the second draft. I haven’t decided how I want to release it yet—all at once or in serial form. If I do it all at once, I think i’ll make it a kindle friendly download so people won’t be forced to read it on Substack.
I've heard mixed results on the "success" of serially produced things. But of course that doesn't need to be a reason for anything. See what feels right!
Just a comment on the illustration.
I wouldn't use actual icons like that if I were you.
Believers consider a genuine icon to be not only an image of the saint, but the presence of the saint herself. It is a direct encounter with a person who is already in eternity - an opening between the world of time and that of eternity.
When you interact with an icon, you interact with a person.
Hi Maria, I appreciate you sharing this concern. I had no intention of disrespecting St Dymphna with this design, and I would never have altered a physical icon. It did not occur to me that a digital representation of an icon would carry the same weight as a genuine, physical one. I have been regularly attending an orthodox church for the past seven months or so; I will bring this up with the priest. I’m sorry if the image offended you.
I think of it more as artistic expression. Here he's posting a character's viewpoint which is not necessarily the author's point of view. Nor does the author claim that it's true. I see it like having a swastika-tattooed Edward Norton on the cover of America History X. Kind of disturbing, but in it we see the brutality of the stance the character takes.
Really beautiful! I like the way the poem equates mental pictures with physical ones. Looking forward to the play!
Thank you, Tyler! The revealing of the play will hopefully not be too distant in the future.