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Saturday, February 27, 2010

When is enough enough?

And I'm not talking snow here...although I could after the third snowstorm of the month.

No, I'm talking about when is a piece done?

I remember reading that Pissarro sometimes added to a painting, continued to tweak it, even when it was hanging on a galley's wall.


I'd been thinking about how language changes.Perfectly acceptable words become "bad" or dated or just plain silly and drop out of use. After a decade or so goes by and they have dropped out of common usage, whole groups of people have no knowledge of them at all. Sometimes this is a good thing.

And, other words are added to the general public's vocabulary that are brand new. Language evolves in a way.


This is the basis of my most recent work: "Evermore: Language Evolves". I created a time machine monitored by my trusty, nosy crows into which old words pour and out of which brand new words are spewed.

I'm beginning to wonder when it will be done. Or if it already is. I am continually reminded of another word that should be added on one end of the "evolution" or another, and, like Pissarro (and that is the ONLY thing we have in common, obviously) I keep adding to this piece.

Unfortunately in so many ways, I've never ascribed to the Meis van der Rohe axiom that "less is more". Well, almost never.

6 comments:

  1. What a cool idea. I love this. I suppose it is a piece that could go on and on. A new word is being generated every day.

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  2. 2G2BT, WIU
    L8RG8R
    M (((H)))

    (http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp)

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  3. They say that the piece will talk to you and tell you what it needs. Has it spoken yet?? If not, it's probably waiting for more!

    This is simply wonderful, Diane -- if you hadn't said anything, I would have thought it was a completed masterpiece.

    Diane

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  4. I love this piece. It isn't finished until you have another one demanding your total attention.

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