N. 46/47 Palomar : voyeur, voyant, visionnaire - ViceVersaMag

René Akstinas
Pa 1 om
The following inter-view was conducted by Mr. Primrose Alimony with a blind person who
chose to remain anonymous...
ALIMONY - The exploratory sensual world
is the one of the artist. But for those of us
who write we are essentially an aberration
for no words exist in nature, only sounds.
And for those of us who paint, we are
even worse off: nature exceeds our capacities
both in form and colour. What do
you think of that?
BLIND - It would make a great deal more
sense if you asked me if I was married or have
caviar on my tie.
ALIMONY - Agreed. Then what is the
meaning of art?
BLIND - For me?
ALIMONY - Yes. Go ahead, I'll adjust the
volume while you talk.
BLIND - In my case, art can only be the juxtaposition
of sound with purpose. Or in the
case of sculpture, form with fidelity. The loss
of sight is not really replaced because it is
amplified instead. Darkness is my light if you
follow. My world deals with the abstract in a
sensual way however and that's something
you have a harder time doing.
ALIMONY - Then do you think you are
superior in some ways?
BLIND -Yes, of course.
ALIMONY - Let me ask you a different sort
of question then. What does the word
'perspective' mean to you?
BLIND - It means you. My perception of you.
ALIMONY - But if you touch an object can
you sense "perspective", know which
angle it's facing?
Bi INI) - Not really. But I know it's always facing
the "unnamed."
ALIMONY - Pardon?
BLIND - 1 have the feeling that this imaginaryobject
you're talking about is facing an
unknown direction. How many directions
are there? Probably, an infinite amount. And
how do you measure its distance? Where do
you draw the line? Is it facing the wall or is
the wall facing it and what about the distance
beyond the wall? How far is it away from
things beyond the wall? And those things are
in different positions so how do you know
which way it is facing? You fix its position by
your sight while I fix it in relation to my
mind and my desire to know it.
ALIMONY - Coffee?
BLIND -Yes, please.Three sugars.
ALIMONY -YOU know how to count?
BUND -Yes.
ALIMONY - And how do you do that?
BLIND - Through feeling. Primrose. I practise
every day as a matter of fact. I learned it
through a waitress in New York.
ALIMONY - Interesting. Tell me about it.
BLIND - It's like counting grains of sand
except that I use pennies. She placed ten pennies
in my hand until I got to know its
weight, and then twenty, thirty and so forth.
If you place twenty five pennies in my hand
I'll immediately know there are not twenty
NUMÉRO 46-47 • VICE VERSA 1 7