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the mystical brow

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Art Neuendorffer

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Sep 8, 2004, 6:02:46 PM9/8/04
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           Moby Dick - Melville  CHAPTER 79
 
<<Human or animal, the mystical brow is as that great golden
    seal affixed by the German Emperors to their decrees.
 
         It signifies- "God: done this day by my hand."
 
 But in most creatures, nay in man himself, VERy often the brow
is but a mere strip of alpine land lying along the snow line. Few
are the foreheads which like SHAKESPEARE's or Melancthon's rise
so high, and descend so low, that the eyes themselves seem clear,
eternal, tideless mountain lakes; and above them in the forehead's
wrinkles, you seem to track the antlered thoughts descending there
to drink, as the Highland hunters track the snow prints of the deer.
But in the great Sperm WHALE, this high and mighty god-like dignity
inherent in the brow is so immensely amplified, that gazing on it,
in that full front view, you feel the Deity and the dread powers
more forcibly than in beholding any other object in living nature.
 
Champollion deciphered the wrinkled granite hieroglyphics. But there
is no Champollion to decipher the Egypt of EVERy man's and EVERy
being's face. Physiognomy, like EVERy other human science, is but
a passing fable. If then, Sir William Jones, who read in thirty
languages, could not read the simplest peasant's face in its
profounder and more subtle meanings, how may unlettered Ishmael
 hope to read the awful Chaldee of the Sperm WHALE's brow?
 
   I but put that brow before you. READ IT IF YOU CAN.>>
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                  READ IF THOV CANST,
           WHOM ENVIOVS DEATH HATH PLAST WITH
             IN THIS MONVMENT SHAKSPEARE:
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                      SIRACH 22:
 A slothful man is compared to the filth of a DUNGHILL:
    EVERy man that takes it up WILL SHAKE his hand...
   ...as TIMBER girt and bound together in a building
              cannot be loosed with SHAKING:
      so the heart that is stablished by advised counsel
     shall fear at no time. A heart settled upon a thought of
understanding is as a fair PLAISTERING on the WALL of a gallery.
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   The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon   by Washington Irving
      
http://www.online-literature.com/irving/geoffrey crayon/26/
 
I had come to Stratford on a poetical pilgrimage. My first visit was to
the house where Shakespeare was born, and where, according to tradition,
he was brought up to his father's CRAFT of wool-combing. It is a small
mean-looking edifice of wood & PLASTER, a TRUE nestling-place of genius,
 which seems to delight in hatching its offspring in by-corners.
 
The WALLs of its squalid chambers are coVEREd with names & inscriptions
in EVERy language by pilgrims of all nations, ranks, and conditions,
from the prince to the peasant, and present a simple but striking
instance of  the spontaneous and uniVERsal homage of mankind
 to the great poet of NATURE.
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http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefsalexamenos.htm
 
This crude GRAFFITI cartoon from the early second century, may be the
oldest depiction of Christ. Scratched onto a PLASTER WALL, it depicts
a donkey headed man on a crucifix. Next to him is a figure with
a raised arm, ostensibly the butt of the joke. The Greek caption
reads "Alexamen[OS SEBET]e theon"  (Alexamenos worships his god.)
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 CALIBAN:   I must obey: his art is of such power,
           It would control my dam's god, SETEBOS,
                and make a VASSAL of him.
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   The English "The Hystorie of HAMBLET" was adapted from
   the "AM-LETH" story of Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus.
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        "MA-LETH" (a haven)
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http://www.holiday-malta.com/resort/malta/village/valletta/harbourofvalletta.htm
 
<<At one time or other the traders of yesteryear- the Pheonicians and
the Carthagenians, the Romans and the Saracens, the Normans, the Normans
and the Aragonese, the hospitalier Knights, Napoleon and Nelson- have
used Malta's Harbours. It was the Pheonicians who gave the island
the name MALETH (a haven), which was later corrupted by the Greeks
 into MELITA (honey), from which the modern name of Malta derives.
 
 When Emperor Charles V offered Malta to the Knights of St. John in
1526, the island came into the limelight as a possible place where the
Knights could re- establish themselves permanently after the loss of
Rhodes, the island of Roses, in 1522. An eight-man commission
was dispatched to Malta to report on the nature of the island. The
commissioners reported : "The island of Malta is only one continued
rock of soft sand stone.the surface of the rock is stony, unfit to
produce corn.except for a few springs in the middle of the island, there
is no running water. wood is scarce. but. there are several ports or
capes and places that form a sort of bays and coves in which ships may
anchor; there are two spacious and very good harbours in the island ,
capable of receiving the largest fleet. The convenience of so many
ports, so convenient for the armada of the Order, make us be of the
opinion that the Emperors proposals ought not to be rejected."
 
 The order`s fleet was based in the Roman port of Cittavecchia.
In October 1530 the Knights entered Maltas main harbour on board
the great carrack Santa Anna - the first ever ARMOUR-plated vessel
 under the command of Sir William Weston, who had commanded the
Santa Maria as the Order pulled out of Rhodes eight years before.
 
   A landmark on the Grand Harbour basin is the vedette
 on Senglea Point bearing the figures of AN EAR & AN EYE -
  symbols of the hearkening ear and the watchful oculus.
 
       During his second visit to Malta in 1811
 Lord Byron carved his name among the GRAFFITI on one of the
  terraces of Lazzaretto. A landmark on Valletta itself, as
 seen from Marsamxett Harbour side, is St. Pauls`s Anglican
   Cathedral with its smart, elegant behind the bastions.>>
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     GRAFFITI
     GRIFFAIT: (French) SCRATCHED
     FAIR GIFT
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            SONNET 87
 
1. Farewell thou art too dear for my possessing,
2. And like enough thou know'st thy estimate,
3. The Charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
4. My bonds in thee are all determinate.
5. For how do I hold thee but by thy granting?
6. And for that riches where is my deserving?
7. The cause of this FAIR GIFT in me is wanting,
8. And so my patent back again is swerving.
9. Thy self thou gavest, thy own worth then not knowing,
10. Or me to whom thou gav'st it else mistaking;
11. So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
12. Comes home again, on better judgement making.
13.    Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter,
14.    In sleep a King, but waking no such matter
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         Thomas Dekker (1570-1632).
 The Shoemaker's Holiday.  Act III Scene IV
 
Enter RALPH, lame
 
  HODGE.  What, fellow Ralph? Mistress, look here, Jane's husband!
      Why, how now, lame? Hans, make much of him, he's a brother
          of our trade, a good workman, and a tall soldier. 
 
  HANS.  You be welcome, broder. 
 
  MARG.  Perdy, I knew him not. How dost thou, good Ralph?
                I am glad to see thee well. 
 
  RALPH.  I would to God you saw me, dame, as well
        As when I went from London into France. 
 
  MARG.  Trust me, I am sorry, Ralph, to see thee impotent. Lord,
how the wars have made him sunburnt! The left leg is not well;
 'twas a FAIR GIFT of God the infirmity took not hold a little higher,
      considering thou camest from France; but let that pass. 
 
  RALPH.  I am glad to see you well, and I rejoice
          To hear that God hath blest my master so
          Since my departure. 
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GRAFFITI art (From Wikipedia)
 
<<GRAFFITI originally was the term used for inscriptions, figure
drawings, etc., found on the WALLs of ancient sepulchers or ruins, as in
the Catacombs, or at Pompeii. But has evolved to include any decorations
inscribed on rocks or WALLs that are considered to be vandalism.
However, some people consider GRAFFITI, or some GRAFFITI,
 an art form; this is usually denoted as urban Aerosol Art.
 
The practices of GRAFFITI and of considering GRAFFITI as art
are generally related to a sub-culture that rebels against extant
 societal authorities, or against authority as such.
 
GRAFFITI art is considered one of the four elements of Hip Hop. GRAFFITI
tagging existed in Philadelphia in the 1960's, pioneered by Cornbread
and Cool Earl. Another Philadelphia product, Top Cat, later exported the
characteristic Philly style of script (tall, slender lettering with
platforms at the bottom) to NYC where it gained populariy as "Broadway
Elegant". It wasn't until it reached popularity in the New York City
subway system that it took on an extravagant artistic role, expanding
from tags to full-blown "pieces". One of the originators of New York
GRAFFITI was TAKI 183; a foot messenger who would tag his nickname
around New York streets that he daily frequented en route. A
Greek-American, Taki was his nickname, diminutive for Demetrius, he took
the 183 from his address. After being showcased in the NY Times, the
"tag" (stylized signature) was being mimicked by hundreds of urban youth
within months. It should be noted that there were other writers active
in NYC before Taki, but he brought the most attention to the movement.
With the innovation of art, and the craving to gain the widest audience,
attempts by taggers were made. What developed was a strict adherence to
spraypaint, sampling foreign calligraphy, and the much anticipated mural
(that usually covered an entire subway car). The artist was born, called
a "writer," and so were groups of associated artists, called "crews".
The movement spread to the streets, returned to the railroads where
tagging was popularized by Hobos, spread nationwide with the aid of
media and Rap music; thus, being yet mimicked again worldwide.
 
Because they share similar spaces and media, GRAFFITI art is often
confused with gang GRAFFITI. There are differences in both form and
intent. The purpose of GRAFFITI art is self-expression and creativity,
and may involve highly stylized letter forms drawn with markers, or
cryptic and colorful spray paint murals on WALLs, buildings, and even
freight trains. GRAFFITI artists strive to improve their art, which is
constantly changing and progressing. The purpose of gang GRAFFITI,
on the other hand, is to mark territorial boundaries, and is therefore
limited to a gang's neighborhood; it does not presuppose artistic intent.
 
GRAFFITI is subject to different societal pressures from
popularly-recognized art forms, since GRAFFITI appears on WALLs,
freeways, buildings, trains or any accessible surfaces that are not
owned by, or under the control of the person who applies the GRAFFITI.
So GRAFFITI incorporates elements rarely seen elsewhere. Spray paint and
broad permanent markers are commonly used, and the organizational
structure of the art is sometimes influenced by the need to apply the
art quickly before it is noticed by authorities. In an effort to reduce
vandalism, many cities have designated WALLs or areas exclusively for
use by GRAFFITI artists. This discourages petty vandalism yet encourages
artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being
caught or arrested.
 
In the early 1980s, the combination of a booming art market and a
renewed interest in painting resulted in the rise of a few GRAFFITI
artists to art-star status. Jean-Michel Basquiat, a former street-artist
known by his "Samo" tag, and Keith Haring, a professionally-trained
artist who adopted a GRAFFITI style, were two of the most widely
recognized GRAFFITI artists.
 
More recently GRAFFITI art has resurfaced in a far more overtly
politicized form in the subvertising and culture jamming movements and
practitioners such as Alexander Brener. Other GRAFFITI artists like
Banksy are more ironic in their use of political imagery, who recently
accepted a commission from Greenpeace and offers pieces for sale.
 
Note: GRAFFITI is the plural of GRAFFITO,
 but the singular form is rarely heard.
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Art Neuendorffer
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