drawer of water, watercarrier

 Katherine Franco

Who, in their right mind, doesn’t seek a painterly post-verbal catechism? Who doesn’t aim to be a waterlover, drawer of water, watercarrier, returning to the range? Who doesn’t dream of water carriers—articulated by water? Who doesn’t love the independence of its units? Who paints? Who tries to paint—all parallactic? Who doesn’t long for water, in water, without water, but water all the same? Who doesn’t long for its democratic equality and constancy to its nature in seeking its own level? (1) Who tries to seek the same? Who doesn’t long to save the same? Who doesn’t long for an object-oriented ontology? (Who would dare say it?) In what world, does blue not demand every ontology? 

Clarify: the Joycean project is one of parallax. Parallax: the effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions. (2) Parallax: to see it from both sides / now (Mitchell (3)). To paint toward a question. To lend water to Joyce’s waters. To paint, from / to / in words, from / to / in blue. To bloom for Bloom. To know a bloom is what happens if the surface of the paper dries unevenly (4). To dream of Joycean waters and do something about it. To shore oneself up in blue.

Footnotes

1. All italics from James Joyce’s “Ithaca” chapter in Ulysses

2.  “parallax.” Oxford Dictionary of English.

3. Mitchell, Joni. “Both Sides Now.” Clouds, A&M, 1969, Track 10.

4.  “Watercolor Blooms.” Watercolor Affair. https://watercoloraffair.com/watercolor-blooms-turning-mistakes-into-success/#:~:text=Blooms%20will%20happen%20if%20the,that%20you%20need%20to%20observe.