The Sacred?

The Sacred – or-I thought this bus was going to Bend. Lets be honest – I came to this class thinking I’d learn the basics of how to do ceramics. So, for all of you who are art majors and have extensive experience in the field of ceramics, this may seem understandable. Our discussion Tuesday helped me understand how this article was created. I do have the feeling that I’m looking at something I’m holding at arms length and wondering …just wondering. Some statements in the article are a bit…lets just say—humorous for want of a better term. Consider this from the middle of page 54: “It is not possible to explore here Bataille’s completely idiosyncratic reading of Freud. However, it is significant to note that Bataille’s reading is rigorously antithetical to Breton’s, in large part because Bataille, unlike Breton, had actually undergone psychoanalysis (from 1925-29), which played an important role in freeing him from writers block.” Psychoanalysis – Clay?? Now the mind runs wild – is that the key to understanding this article – 4 years of psychoanalysis? Wonder if electroshock therapy would speed it up? It is disconcerting to know that (page 62): “Einstein was least inclined to follow Bataille to the end.” Given the choice who do you line up with: Mr. E=MC2 or a guy who spent 4 years on the couch? Is it possible that all these little buildings on the other side of Franklin are actually filed with couches and psychoanalysts saying: “See you next week, only 3 years left.”
I feel the ‘Sacred’ as a term. It’s hard to separate the term from a lifetime of feelings that are hardwired into a person. There are the formal things that are part of society: a place of worship, a court, and marriage. Then there are the internal sacreds, the things I place value on. At the core of this are the big ones: time, health, family. This appears to fly in the face of Bataille’s ideas, possibly because I haven’t spent 4 years on the couch. Bataille is quoted as say on page 52: “the that ‘sacred’ lends itself to confusion (because of its specialization in the present context. By sacred he means what is wholly other.” I really get the feeling he is riding a different train on a different track to a station with a different group of visitors.
I find that to try and create something that reflects the ‘sacred’ in my life, and not be specific would make it impossible. No wind blows in favor of a ship with no destination.
Enough for now.