the sequel to “reading with/and understanding”
from autograffiti@yahoogroups.com, may13, 2003
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Is the concern for a reader/interpreter’s having the “right attitude” tantamount to a so-called “primacy of the reader”?
I don’t think so.
Archive for February, 2008
Reading with Understanding
2008
02.19
02.19
a post in autograffiti, may 9, 2003
I once gave a remark:
“Read and read, until you understand.”
Rather harsh?
But it wasn’t meant to be a slight on anyone’s intelligence. Understanding (a text) is not necessarily premised on one’s intelligence. Tama ba ‘yon?
My point is that you need more than intelligence to be able to read and understand. You need a sympathetic ear, a willingness to “hear” what the other has to “say.” More than intelligence, you have to have the right attitude for a better understanding.
Hermeneuts like Schleiermacher (a hermeneut is one who specializes in the philosophy of understanding/interpretation) began with the presumption that there is always the possibility of MIS-understanding. That is why there is a need for hermeneutics (the art of interpretation).
Gadamer, following Heidegger, turned this around and said that we always already understand. All of us come from a fore-knowledge/fore-understanding of things which become the very basis of any future understanding. In other words, we all have biases and prejudices which determine the way we look at and understand anything in the world.
But lest we say, “Ah, we don’t need to make the effort to understand, anyway we always already understand,” Gadamer didn’t stop there, one’s “prejudices” (literally “pre-judgments”) is corrected by hearkening/listening to the otherness of the text.
That’s why the injunction “to read and read until one understands” is meant for all of us, especially when difficulty in understanding comes.
Reading and understanding is always meant to be a dialogue, a dialectic, a to-and-fro motion between the familiarity of our own assumptions and the strangeness of the otherness of the text.
It is definitely not masturbation.
best regards,
ian
Athena: Variations on a Theme
2008
02.14
02.14
(lovingly dedicated to friends, romans, countrymen, lovers, philosophers, philosophasters, grecophiles, ichtyophiles, insomniacs, amnesiacs, maniacs, dionysiacs, alcoholics, addicts, narcoleptics, lunatics, etc… happy valiant times!)
Athena: Variations on a Theme
I
Deep in the night
I stared into the eyes of an owl
Not finding sleep
I sought love
And tripped on wisdom instead.
II
Deep in the night
Staring into the moonlit eyes of an owl
I fought love
Sought wisdom
And caught sleep instead.
III
Deep in the night
Staring at the moonlight
With the eyes of an owl
I sought, without finding
Sleep, wisdom, love.
- ian lomongo, september 2002
The Writing on the Wall: Welcome to Autografitti
2008
02.13
02.13
This was my first post in autograffiti@yahoogroups.com. May 6, 2003.
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Hi to everyone!
Thank you for joining Autograffiti.
As mentioned in the invitations you received and the description of the homepage of this new e-group, this is meant for artists and philosophers of all stripes, colors, and kinds.
Why Autograffiti?
Err… For want of a better name? =P
As I was thinking of possible names for the group, the following came up: essais, essaying_the_self, askesis, agon (greek for contest/battle), enkrateia (self-mastery), the_crucible, autography, and others which I now forget.
Where am I coming from?
From the belief that life, philosophy, and the arts are intricately connected. Our struggles to become the good/better/best artists that we can be cannot be divorced from the effort to philosophize. Being an artist necessarily involves creation, and perhaps the greatest artwork in progress that we all have is our very lives.
Thus, you will notice that the names aforementioned are all, in one way or another, connected with the idea of creation/trial/formation of oneself.
Giving Thanks
2008
02.06
02.06
Giving Thanks
by Michael Ian Lomongo, December 2000
Incarnation — Love made flesh… Goodwill incarnated. All of us have, in one way or another, experienced the spontaneous generosity and kindness of people, even of strangers. A smile, a pat in the hand, a tap on the back, a kind word… all can go a long way in making this world a little more beautiful. Incarnation is not a one-shot event in history that we could only remember and look back at with nostalgia and envy. God is always being born… in our midst.The question is whether we take notice at all.
And when we do notice, what happens? Maybe we think of ways by which we can pay back the good deed, do our good turn. But then we realize that we can never truly repay the “love” that has been given us.
And so we give thanks.
Lost My Phone (Again)
2008
02.02
02.02
Hi mga repapips, repakols, remamims, kapuso, kapamilya, kamag-anak, katribu, kaberks, kapusod, kaputol, kapatid, kabagang, kainuman, kakwentuhan, kakulitan, kaibigan,
Watched Tanghalang Pilipino’s production of “Kudeta” last night with Athena (who’s celebrating her birthday today, as with my brother Mateo and sister Carmi and ka-neo Ebok). Guys, you should try to catch it. Last shows na bukas. Ang galing-galing ni Mario O’Hara. Of course, magaling din ang TP Actors’ Company. Last chance nyo na to.
It’s a tragicomedy. Very much like our beloved country. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Well, after watching the “a-bit-depressing” play, we went to Oarhouse in Malate with Sugus, Marj, and Tara of the TPAC. Had two beers. And then, Sugus wanted to order some burritos. There were no burritos. They had mojitos instead. He ordered one.
As it turns out, mojito’s not something you can bite. It’s something you drink. It’s something that can cause you to be drunk. It’s rum with mint (and I don’t know what else).
So, of course, since Sugus didn’t want it. I took it. Sayang e.
Well, I know for certain that the mojito was not wasted. Ako rin. I was definitely not wasted. Not fucking drunk.
Buzzed.
A manageable buzz.
Shared a taxi with Athena. She got off at her mom’s house in Mandaluyong. I proceeded to Edsa Central. Got off the taxi. Left my phone.
So there…
Please delete my number. It’s in limbo land.
best regards,
ian
“Nothing human is alien to me.”
– Seneca
Neo-Angono Artists’ Statement on “Urban Wonderland: The Turo-Turo Project”
2008
02.01
02.01
We’ll be in Intramuros tomorrow to participate in the opening activities of the NCCA for the Philippine Arts Festival. Am posting our statement on the project and its Tagalog translation.
best regards,
ian
ARTISTS’ STATEMENT on
“URBAN WONDERLAND: THE TURO-TURO PROJECT”
The Neo-Angono Artists Collective presents new spheres of visual engagement through “Urban Wonderland: The Turo-Turo Project” – a site-specific zone intervention work wherein the group collaborates with the local community and residents of Intramuros. Graduating from the original concept of a “mural,” the work aims to transform several parts of the façade/structure of a chain of stores and eateries situated across the National Commission for Culture and the Arts building on Gen. Luna St. Appropriating the theme of “Public Art” as a modern allegory, the installation work reflects the geographic mosaic of location and identities. The work would touch on some episodes of Philippine history side by side with present social realities. The jarring juxtaposition of disparate elements in the work represents issues of displacement and the blurring of boundaries while hinting at questions regarding the nature of power and the use of art as a mechanism for social change.
As a descriptive reference to the “public,” the collective’s work hopes to serve as a contemporary rhetoric, integrating art into the public realm. This would be experienced on the day of production (February 1, 2008), when the group places life-sized and free-standing images of personages and characters scattered along the front parking lot of the work’s site. As a way of examining contact zones presented as dioramas of site-responsiveness, the public is invited to interact with the free-standing images by inserting their heads through some of the figures, to be photographed and integrated into the “scene” as a vital part of the project.