Thoughts on Beauty

THE HEART OF A POETIC IDEA

I attended an interesting lecture the other night, on the philosophy of repetition. As repetition is one of the foundational principles of design, and the lecture was at CCA, I expected visual stimulation. It was not that type of lecture. What I got instead was a rich, dense lexicon.  

Now, I readily admit to being a little sleepy and the lecture a bit long. Yet lovely bits of language filtered through the periphery of my brain, as I sketched and quietly listened.  

Most notably I heard  “...the heart of a poetic idea, in a space which it determines.”  (by Deleuze/from Difference and Repetition)

I love this phrase “the heart of a poetic idea, in a space which it determines” because its such a great description of our Art/Work as Landscape Architects.  If beauty is a poetic ideal and landscape design is the creation of space determined by this ideal, then we are able to compose deeply meaningful spaces, based on this poetic premise.

Also heard...

•The word repetition derives from Latin, meaning to seek again, which I find very cool. The idea that we are continuously repeating our efforts to find meaning in our lives.

•Kirkeguard saw the experience of repetition as recollection and that all knowledge is a recollection, a way of knowing.   

•We repeat those things that delight us and make us happy, if even and only for a moment.  We repeat that which brings us pleasure - or those things that we hope will make us happy.  

•The belief that time passing produces meaning, through memory and therefore the passing of time has purpose.  

•There is ambiguity in the dissonance between our everyday life and our unconscious, dream life.  Ultimately we aspire to those things that represent our higher ideal - the life we believe we are destined to live.

*the world is repetitive in a cyclical fashion (think seasons, dust to dust, etc.)

• Repetition as reflection, a replaying 

All in all, my big take away is this thought of a poetic idea determining space. This will be great fun to explore in our designs going forward.

-Vera Gates