reading response

I enjoyed this reading and how it explored the various types of physical existences, material and human, to examine different realities that can occur simultaneously. The combination of analyzing art to argue human understanding of physical occurrences and the idea of being removed from oneself all led the reader to a separate viewpoint; understanding relationships between the artist and the material manifestations created. What happens while we are making something? The understanding of time devoted in the moment of the creation of a work inevitably shifts as the piece later becomes the history, as we've already grown and learned from it. The build up of past work becomes the physical account of existence for the artist. The reading even states its purpose in the opening line with a statement of emptiness felt after completing a stint of work, setting off the voice from an isolated space that only re-confirms itself as it continues.

Sebald describes his relationship with the window and it's confirming of the exterior world, leading into writings of Thomas Browne, also discussing the idea of distance and knowledge. On page 19 he describes Browne's idea, " All knowledge is enveloped in darkness. What we perceive are no more than isolated lights in the abyss of ignorance, in the shadow-filled edifice of the world. We study the order of things, but we cannot grasp their innermost essence." Similar ideas of essence exist quite forcibly in the art world, where the relationships of a piece to the world, viewer, maker, etc., are boundless.

I also really enjoyed the last paragraph, where Sebald talks about Browne’s list of things that are “unspoiled by the passage of time, symbols of the indestructibility of the human soul assured by scripture.” The items are still considered material objects, which again led me to think about art in terms of the physical creation of a piece and what it means to be responsible for their manifestations.