notes

notes okay. so auftn is a character i came up with in college. I left him to his own devises quite a long time ago. Then, when I first signed online, I wanted a “name” that was not my own, because, you know… the internet is scary that way. So I chose the name “Auftn.” Now, Auftn lived in a story that was entitled “A Suburb of Grace.” Fancy that. Auftn now lives again on a web site with the title “suburb of grace.” Small world, no? Auftn the character in my old stories, however, is not the same person that Auftn here on the web site is. They’ve spent a LONG time growing apart. How do they reconcile their differences?

One of the Auftns has been going on his merry way, living a life in a world of discarded ‘literary’ characters. Then, all of the sudden, there is a ‘re-awakening’ of the character by the ‘writer.’ This has to be quite disconcerting to the original Auftn, seeing as he was going about his life quite well and on his own when suddenly there was an introduction of voice that is not what he has had for so long of a time.

In the time since the writer abandoned Auftn, he has met a good many people in this world of the literarily forgotten. Old Billy (Bacchus), Pan, Lear’s Fool, and Lilith to name a few. And then, suddenly, he has this new voice within him. A voice that talks about a lilbear, and a lot of other things that he does not have any knowledge of.

That would be disconcerting, to say the least, no?

added 08.03

at the Chicago Art Institute there are a couple of images in particular that intrigued me. The one I saw first was a daguerreotype. It looked a little bit like this.

The image is that of a youngish woman and her “father” who is holding a “letter.” There is an oval surrounding the female because hers was the part of the image that showed, the “grayed” (by me) part of the image had long been covered by the “framing.” Who was this man really? And what was the “letter,” held so prominently in his hand? And why was he covered?

Another image is actually a painting and a “scrap.” The painting is Picasso’s “Mother and Child.” The “scrap” is what was removed by him as he rethought the work of art as a whole. The “scrap” is now on display a few feet from where it had been removed. It is of a man, the “father” more than likely. It is presumed that he was holding a fish playfully over the outstretched reach of the child. Now, however, he stares at his beloveds from a distance of un canvassed wall. But at least he is now somewhat with them again.

added 07.03