Form

In discussions with my students, I am struck by how we may have only a partial understanding of form. Most often, students regard form in art as simply "shape". I may be wrong about this-(if so I have been operating under a faulty assumption for nearly forty years,) but I regard form as so much more.
It is the mass and volume- the space that something takes up, as well as its outline. In the most satisfying of instances, this form will emerge from the nothingness of the shadow, the surface or the smoke (sfumato) of a painting-
But form may also be the capsule that enables meaning to operate temporally, carrying it through time- in a continual cycle of tension, compression, extension and expression.
Yesterday, a baby girl was born in a small village in India. She has two faces. It is said that the villagers regard her has the reincarnation of a Hindu Goddess. Happy Birthday, little one.

Form

A new year arrives and with it- more questions, fewer answers.

I was reading Richard Rodriguez' essay "the God of the Desert" in Harper's, while I was away. In it he says,

"There are people in every age who come early or late to a sense of the futility of the world. ,.....the approach of eternity is implacable."

A conversation with a colleague about the nature of form and its resulting influence on reality yields new material for thought- even curiosity is a form of desire- even the impulse to know what lies beyond the boundaries is full of value judgement- the calculation of hope being the least of it.

A sense of humor is the most reliable weapon in defense against despair.