Monday, December 1, 2008

...the bubbles of certainty are constantly exploding.


I shot this video at the Oregon Zoo's polar bear area in late September 2008 during a sudden, splashy, heavy summer downpour. I'll save the clip of the polar bears for another post, but trust me when I say that they appeared to hate rain.







(O) Water always finds water (a slippery tale)



She asked her a few questions
Shuffled the cards
Laid out the deck before her
“Pick a few won’t you?”
“Ah yes,” she said, “was he a water sign?”
“Yes” was her reply
“And you?”
“Yes, water too”


“Ah, now I see …
When water meets water, you know;
It just flows,
Flows into one another
No seams, no edges, smooth without ridges
But when water meets fire
Well that’s a whole different desire
Water get heated up by fire
But water can put fire out”
With that, she could agree and had no doubt


“What you need” she said, “is a good earth sign”
“Get away from all this water and fire,
Too much drowning, too much heat
What you need is some earth for you to meet”


So the mermaid shimmied up onto the rocks
Flipping her pearlescent tail on the shore
And twinkled her pretty shells
But the sea wanted her more……….

--Unknown Girl

(Note: author of poem is listed as "Unknown Girl" in online publication, but some comments are addressed to the author, calling her "Helen." Here is her bio, etc.)


The areas of consensus shift unbelievably fast; the bubbles of certainty are constantly exploding.

--Rem Koolhaas
Dutch architect

`

12 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

Reminds me of something i read recently about Chinese mythology - that there was a popular belief that the world was created through the elements of fire in water...i forget the details sadly :(

I like the way you trace the bubbles and the camera gives the feeling of surfacing

Anonymous said...

Hi Lydia,

What an interesting clip--and what a great piece to accompany it! This poem made me think of several relationships that I have with people of various signs and how we can either flow or clash during certain situations.

I really enjoyed reading this piece.

Melinda

Unknown said...

I like the way the water in the air and the air in the water converge.
Is it the surface of air where the bubles rise or the surface of the water where the rain falls?
I know I am weird but it is not me, just my mind :)

Lydia said...

DFTP,
I'm glad you enjoyed the dive. When you mentioned the elements I wondered if you've visited one on my blogroll named Zenspace. He has written the most amazing poems about the elements. One of his lines that I love so much is:
"We live at the bottom of the sky."
That was from his piece AIR.

Melinda,
I'm glad you had fun with this post. I've wanted to use that short clip and was enchanted with the poem that seemed to fit so well. :)

Lydia said...

Buddha,
Hmmmm, now that you ask and now that I ponder your question, I must say that my sense is of the bubbles rising to meet the air. That was fun to consider. :)

Angela said...

I love this - I can very much relate to it. Your blog is beautiful and I thoroughly enjoy reading it!

Unknown said...

Great video, loved the soundtrack, although it woke up the cat. He looked at me a bit disgustedly. He is not an artiste...
Thanks for the link to A Little Red Hen. I buzzed on over to read her posting--very interesting and involved woman. Thanks:>)

Elizabeth Halt said...

I love the sound of the bubbles - though I did look for polar bears, even with your comment. :)

My sense is of the bubbles rising to meet the air too.

Carlos Lorenzo said...

The poem completely matches the water video. It creates a mood here. I like the mermaid looking for an Earth sign :)

Lydia said...

Angela,
Thank you so much for commenting about my blog. I must say that from the photo of you with your cat I'm pretty sure I'll love your blog!

Distracted,
Our new kitten, Willow, was spending her first night here when I posted this, and the soundtrack (that I liked too) was a fright! Glad you enjoyed a little red hen; she's definitely a Renaissance woman...

Elizabeth,
I love bubbles too. Sometimes I play with kids' bubbles for our cats. Our standard poodle loves them!

Carlos,
I was really tickled by that poem in relation to the clip. Glad you enjoyed it. (I'm an earth sign; RU?)

Wayfaring Wanderer said...

That image is awesome, it looks so antique! I just want to walk right into that photo.....

Lydia said...

Wayfaring Wanderer,
I'm laughing at myself because I just answered your comment here over at the latest old postcard comments section. I KNEW I'd read the comment in my Inbox and thought it was somehow lost!

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