There And Not Here. Chronicles Of Art And Loss - Timothy Mathews

Each of these pieces came to life because of being arrested by an artwork, stopped in my tracks and rooted to the floor, and being impelled to write about it. They were moments of certainty but not suddenness: part of being overwhelmed is not knowing why, trying to find out why-for better or worse. Writing turned into chronicling these long moments. Long moments of loss as well, and trauma. Chronicles began to accumulate, finding a place that doesn't immediately emerge: a meeting of something made, someone writing, someone listening. I was looking for ways to breathe within those distances. Maybe loss, and grief, can fashion a community without imposing it. Maybe. There and Not Here: Chronicles of Art and Loss is a collection of poetic essays written in response to works of art. These range from film, novels and installations, and include Pedro Almodovar, William Kentridge, and Barbara Hepworth, as well as William Shakespeare and Diego Velasquez. The book explores strength of feeling, especially grief, as a path to communication, to an understanding of what unites and divides, and ultimately offers its own path to a constellation of engagements with life.