Visibility: Graphics

For this Graphics example I was really limiting myself to entries that contained text in some way. When I first great Graphic Design: The New Basics, I was really drawn to this creation and I even used it an as example for our exam on this book.

Surface Manipulation The textural physicality of these type studies artfully reflects the active processes featured in the words. The crisscrossing lines of an artist’s cutting board resemble an urban street grid.

It really irritates me that the author says that the cutting board resembles an urban street grid (not sure where she was going with that one). Regardless, this piece really does bring life to the creative process. Just as I believe that the pen is the emblem if a writer is trying to bring life to words, I believe that the EX-ACTO knife would be the emblem for an artist who is trying to bring life into a design project such as this. My sister is an architect so when she was in college she would make many miniature sized models of buildings. Wielding her EX-ACTO knife she would cut the balsa wood into various different shapes and sizes and there would be a decent amount of spray painting involved with her projects. Looking at this project it is easy for me to image the artist in his/her creative process. This is something we should strive for as writers: we want a reader to be transplanted into our vision so that they can experience it for themselves; we want to achieve the quality of visibility.

Quickness: Emblem

At first I thought that I would want my emblem for quickness to be the ring with a precious stone from the story of Charlemagne. But then I remembered that Calvino said that in many stories that have the quality of “Quickness,” there is often a magical object that is endowed with particular qualities and usually has some sort of symbolism. Then I realized that my analogy to Hermione’s Time Turner was a perfect example! It’s a necklace that would otherwise be mundane if it weren’t endowed with special magical qualities!

Hermione’s necklace is in the form of an hourglass and it has the following engraving: “I mark the hours every one nor have I yet outrun the sun. My use and value unto you are gauged by what you have to do.” I tried to logic out a connection for the motto to quickness but I couldn’t really come up with one that wasn’t a bit of a stretch. So I’ll settle for it to be the emblem.

I think the Time Turner is a really good emblem for quickness because it has the ability to make time an ally instead of something to be conquered. Hermione was able to handle her heavy course load with the help of time. I think it’s a more modern adaptation of an emblem than Calvino’s emblem for quickness: the horse.

Quickness: Calvino’s Quality

In order to explain the quality of Quickness, Calvino tells the story of Charlemagne written by Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly:

“Late in life the emperor Charlemagne fell in love with a German girl. The barons at his court were extremely worried when they saw that the sovereign, wholly taken up with his amorous passion and unmindful of his regal dignity, was neglecting the affairs of state. When. the girl suddenly died, the courtiers were greatly relieved – but not for long, because Charlemagne’s love did not die with her. The emperor had the embalmed body carried to his bedchamber, where he refused to be parted from it. The Archbishop turpin, alarmed by this macabre passion, suspected an enchantment and insisted on examining the corpse. Hidden under the girl’s dead tongue he found a ring with a precious stone set in it. As soon as the rung was in turpin’s hands, Charlemagne fell passionately in love with the archbishop and hurriedly had the girl buried. In order to escape the embarrassing situation, Turpin flung the ring into Lake Constance. Charlemagne thereupon fell in love with the lake and would not leave its shores” (Calvino, 31).

Calvino uses this story as an example because it was very well written. Many writers have attempted to re-write this same story (Paris, Petrarch, Errizzo) and they have not been up to par because they are lacking in “Quickness.” They do not have the same speed and the chain of events is not as cohesive. Quickness is the ability of a writer to control the speed of a story. As in Charlemagne’s story, one second and a thousand years can pass by with equal quickness and allure. A master of Quickness is able to make time an ally.

Additionally, quickness in writing has a rapidity and rhythm on the page ; the pronunciation can create a tempo. Calvino uses the art of poetry as an example. Read aloud, poetry changes our perspective of how language can be used. Some poems almost sound like a song when you read them out loud. When a good poem is read, you get the sense that the diction was carefully chosen. Writing with the quality of Quickness should have the same effect. Each word should be so well chosen that it is unalterable. Writing should have rapidity but not so much that the substance suffers. This is when Calvino introduces his own personal motto and emblem which coincides with Quickness:

Festina Lente (Hurry Slowly) is the motto that accompanies this emblem. It means that when working one should strive for haste, not speed. Speed sacrifices quality, haste embodies diligence. One should work and create works in which there is no sense of time passing. Quickness is defined by this motto and emblem.

Lightness: Calvino’s Quality

Before writing this section, I found it helpful to first re-read Calvino’s section on Lightness. This was a lot more time intensive than I anticipated so I may just read over my detailed notes before I approach writing a post for the other qualities.

According to Calvino, Lightness is best explained in opposition to heaviness. He explains that he is often concerned with subtracting weight from stories and language. In order to further define the quality, Calvino uses the myth of Perseus.

Perseus was a Greek hero that killed the Gorgon named Medusa. At birth, Medusa is described as being ravishingly beautiful. However, when Athena discovered Poseidon raping Medusa in her temple, she transformed Medusa’s hair into serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn onlookers to stone. In order to kill Medusa, Perseus was able to see Medusa through the reflection in his mirrored shield; he beheaded her without looking directly at her.

This story relates to the quality of lightness because it is inherently tied to perspective. Just as Perseus had to gain a different or unique perspective in order to kill Medusa, we must look at things from a different perspective in order to work towards lightness.

Calvino also uses the story of Guido Cavalcanti by Boccaccio. Guido is surrounded by foes in a graveyard and things begin to look rather sinister. He cleverly escapes his enemies by leaping over a grave. This reference to Cavalcanti is significant because of the reference to mortality with the “graveyard” setting, but also because Cavalcanti was able to reevaluate the situation and find a solution that was very simple and effective.

For me, the most explicit definition of Lightness within this memo was outlined through the use of the following quote from Paul Valery:

This quote roughly translates: “One must be light like the bird, and not like the feather.” I really liked this quote (mostly because I speak French) but because it nicely put things in perspective. Professor Ulmer said that it was common for some students to immediately choose the feather as an emblem for Lightness. This quote explains why the feather would not be appropriate; lightness is only in effect if the subject has a use. For example, something that conveys Calvino’s Lightness would be functional, like a bird, and not like the feather which is only a part of the whole. A feather without a bird is useless, but a bird without a single feather can still function. This got me thinking about Calvino’s concept of thoughtful lightness as opposed to frivolous lightness. A feather would be an example of something that is frivolously light; it simply isn’t heavy. However, a bird (like the one pictured above) is something that is thoughtfully light. There is a well thought out purpose.