Cod's Eye

Cod's Eye, Towards Argentia, o/p, 24" x 24", Steven Rhude

"It is instructive to contrast this with the tendency of the Baroque to present the affects of the persons as clearly and intelligible as possible; to give them that expressione that can also be captured in concepts, for which purpose the eye is not really a useful device at all." - Georg Simmel, Rembrandt: An essay in the Philosophy of Art. [1]

The over night ferry to Argentia charts one slowly along towards the land of the cod - an ancient migration. The cod's eye providing the traveller with a window into the soul of a place for those that realise the age of enlightenment and reason still needed the eye as an agent for rational, and not vice versa. Light plays the role of an intermediary, reflecting and registering an image at the back of our ocular screen to be forwarded to our brain for distinction and definition. Opacity is quickly registered, yet transparency, (or in painting the application of numerous coloured glazes), takes a little longer, and is harder to define from a distance. As the cod's eye brings us closer, our terminus ad quem does not occur. Simmel comes to mind in a studio in Wolfville: "that the eye speaks actually means that it says more than can be said." [2]



[1], [2] Georg Simmel: Rembrandt: an Essay in the Philosophy of Art, pg 100 

Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS
http://www.stevenrhudefineart.com/

 

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