August 10, 2005

Sing Sing

Borges Class-

Each man chose a passage to read from and make drawings about- B related the idea of reading the translation in the original language to Islam- reading the Koran in Arabic- but I didn’t feel I could dispute his claim because it really inspired him- and he also said that it really got him thinking in an abstract way- which is interesting because he is the one who works in abstraction – and said that it felt like it was his best means of escape because he did all the other stuff for pay – bartering- and its interesting the way the guys look at his work- and really have a lot of respect for it-

- But in terms of the photograph- B coincidentally had invented a story that paralleled mine in a great way- My lady gave up a child for adoption because she had some nervous problems and B found his photograph in the mail room and realized that this child had been given up for adoption because he read a letter that was written by a parent- I made the parallel to sing sing in the 20s – and warden lawes who had made these major reforms- she was writing to an inmate who had worked in the print room with Charles Chapin- world famous newsman- and Chapin did him a favor by printing an ad for a pen pal in the paper for him. She was the one person who had responded. He hadn’t spoken in 8 years- prior to Warden Lawes taking over as warden of Sing Sing.

S really seemed to delve in and try to grapple with the question of absurdity and he also was the one person who talked about Death of the Author which we should read for next time. He said it was the first time that he’d ever tried to make a drawing after reading something.

J said he wasn’t able to do the drawings because of all the deadlines he had- which is understandable. I just hope it wasn’t because he was not interested. He seems a little bit detatched. But he is kind of like a celebrity artist there.