Tuesday, September 6, 2011

sadakichi hartmann--chrysanthemum dance



"nothing remains but a flash of color, a sudden movement, the twinkling of limbs, an evanescent attitide--a momentary feast for the eye. for one moment it is all motion, joy, ectasy, delerium, there-upon merely an intangible souvenir. ... no other art is so completely dependent on momentary inspiration and influences."

sadakichi hartmann, white chrysanthemums.

Monday, September 5, 2011

robert temple--ice lens




''chinese optics is also discussed by jin quipeng, ... in his essay, jin quotes zhang hua of the jin dynasty (265-420 ad) in his book record of the investigation of things; 'cut a piece of ice into a sphere, lift it in the sun and let its shadow fall on a piece of moxa [tinder made from an artemesia related to wormwood]; the moxa will be set alight'. this is the earliest surviving record which i have found of ice being cut to make a burning-lens; later in the book we encounter a frenchman who did the same thing in the 18th century.''

robert temple, the crystal sun; section 2, chapter 2, note 13.

ice camera at youtube.