Lately i discovered widmanstatten patterns and i got really fascinated with the notion what secrets are enclosed in meteorites and minerals. Roger caillois biology of myth and the myth of biology. The aesthetic gesture of the moulding and the transfiguration in another material, sheer porcelain, is an attempt to reproduce and grip those moments. Caillois examines patterns that are revealed by polishing sections of minerals such as agate, jasper, and onyx. Translated from the french and with an introduction by meyer barasn. Roger caillois between good of other things, it wondered about the sympathy which appears to reign between the complex shapes of the mineral world and the figures of imaginary human.
An unashamedly crossdisciplinary collection, this issue of games and culture will boast rigorous, historicised, contextualized contributions to games through the lens of the other caillois. The principle of division in roger cailloiss man, play. Henricks this article explores the contributions of roger caillois to the study of human play. The edge of surrealism is an essential introduction to the writing of french social theorist roger caillois. The writing of stones by roger caillois book 34 editions published. The initial portion of the essay focuses on caillois s scholarly career as a response to the public events and intellectual movements of his time. The edge of surrealism is an essential introduction to the writing of french social theorist roger caillois 191978. His latter interest provided us with the writing of stones, a book in which he unravels the unfathomable graphic madness etched.
Roger caillois books list of books by author roger caillois. I just found this post on the pattern people blog, about a book entitled the writing of stones. The book is a lyrical commentary on caillois s own stone collection and the patterns he finds in the stones. Roger caillois was born into a lower middle class family in reims, france on march 3, 19. The writing of stones is a fascinating meditation on the human imagination contemplating the interior of stones. This writing can be seen as a collection of short texts. Caillois s man, play, and games an appreciation and evaluation thomas s. His latter interest provided us with the writing of stones, a book in which he unravels the unfathomable graphic madness etched onto the rocks contained within the archives of geology. The writing of stones by roger caillois 1985, hardcover. His involvement with stones isnt so much on a scientific level, he more created a philosophy around the inner worlds of the stones. For man it has been necessary to create both works and tools outside of himself.
They provide moreover, taken on the spot and at a certain instant of its development, an irreversible cut made into the fabric of the universe. This book, the writing of stones, reminds me of those times and i still to this day am awe of this beautiful form nature takes in the world. Roger caillois 191978, polymath, aesthetic philosopher, historian of science, and. Cailloiss man, play, and games an appreciation and evaluation. I wonder, only in passing, whether the indelible ornamentation that man inscribes upon his own epidermis does not respond to a nostalgia for the universal internally generated coloring of corrollas, furs, shells, carapaces and wings. By cutting and framing a picture found or by elaborating the pattern in the stone, the artist admits that nature, with or without an artist, can produce shapes and colors that are works of art. Caillois 1962 and explore the scientific field of mineralogy with a study about the writing of stones french original 1975, or examines the logic of the imaginary in the phantasms and legends connected to the life of octopuses 1973. Of the two main exhibition spaces of this years venice biennale, it must be said that the giardini pavilion seemed more labyrinth than organized gallery space. In his classic work of lithic scrying, the writing of stones, roger caillois suggests that the pareidoliacs interpretation of a stone s pattern depends upon her own personal internalized database of stored images, a database defined by the cultural stock of mediated imagery forged and embellished by personal memory, emotion and psychical topography. Though he was born just before world war i started in 1914, most of. The writing of stones, univ of virginia pr 41 copy quote in strongly opposing the world of play to that of reality, and in stressing that play is essentially a side activity, the interference is drawn that any contamination by ordinary life runs the risk of corrupting and destroying its very nature. Surrealist and sociologist roger callois was known for his writings on biomimicry, especially within the insect world, pareidolia and lithic scrying. Roger caillois quotes author of man, play and games.
Roger caillois s mineral collection and writings on stone comprise a rich library of rock records, a term used here to mean not only the geologic rock record, but also records of encounters with stone broadly understood. Play and games in caillois within and beyond man, play and games. Surrealist and sociologist roger caillois was known for his writings on biomimicry, especially within the insect world, pareidolia and lithic scrying. Themes for this issue may include but are not limited to. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Reviewed by william davenport, yale university as play and games hold a fascination for players, gamesters, and spectators, so too. Roger caillois the writing of stones redefine magazine.
Though long outofprint, affordable copies sometimes show up on amazon. The writing of stones, with an introduction by marguerite yourcenar. On the problems of treating play as work abstract in man, play and games, roger caillois warns against the ra tionalisation of play by. I wanna take you with me on a path towards the light of consciousness. Ive waited about 18 years for a book like this to materialize. Roger caillois and the natural fantastic veneration. Roger caillois download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Though his subjects were diverse, caillois focused on issues crucial to modern intellectual life, and his essays offer a unique perspective on many of twentiethcentury frances most significant intellectual movements and figures. The writing of stones roger caillois introduction by marguerite yourcenar pdf. Heres a picture of a stone that seems to depict the birth of a chick. The writing of stones this expanded version of a 2007 post features images from the writing of stones by roger caillois lecriture des pierres, 1970. This expanded version of a 2007 post features images from the writing of stones by roger caillois lecriture des pierres, 1970. University press of virginia, 1985 nature 108 pages. The author, roger caillois french literary and anthologist among many things, wrote beautiful entries examining his observations of the stones relative and significant to all life and objectivity within. Wiki for collaborative studies of arts, media and humanities. A cybernetics of geology paul prudence to know the shape is to enjoy the information it embodies. Instead of a simple relation between model and copy, caillois develops another, stranger concept of mimesis that continues and extends his surrealist writing about insects and the unconscious. Here you find a great essay about his book the writing of stones lecriture des pierres, 1970 by marina warner.
In stones, as in his other writings on natural phenomena, caillois follows a conviction that human artin no way proffering exceptionalism to the speciesis but a weak branch of natures genius. I absolutely love caillois s idea of the natural fantastic. Blohm, beer, and suzuki, pebbles to computers in his classic work of lithic scrying, the writing of stones, roger caillois suggests that the pareidoliacs interpretation of a stone. Caillois, whose words accompany kennys photographs below, never tired of the way nature seemed to sketch itself onto the very core of itself, long before we dreamdebauched bipeds ever picked up a brush. There are lovely photographs throughout and these might explain the cost of the book secondhand. Caillois roger the writing of stones free download as pdf file. The reference at the very end of stones to chinese artists signing slabs of marble is an acknowledgement of how. His latter interest provided us with the writing of stones, a book in which he unravels the unfathomable graphic madness etched onto the rocks contained within the archives of. Of a meteorite he wrote that after cutting and polishing it, then there will appear and glitter. When caillois reads the writing of stones, when he pores over the whorls and swirls in an agate, he ponders the revelation of cosmic time they grant him. The writing of stones roger caillois introduction by marguerite. Caillois also studies the artists collaboration with nature in the modification of these picture stones. The images are striking, true, but its more than just a book about nature. The catastrophes elemental forces of prehuman time are inscribed on the surface of the stone.
I love how blogger lauren demith chung wove in literary quotes from the book, which tie geology with patternmaking and philosophy. Surrealist and sociologist roger caillois was known for his writings on. Caillois postwar books are based on his idea of a natural fantastic fantastique naturel, cf. My reading builds on previous analyses of caillois within game studies, sociology, and media theory to revise the methodological presuppositions built. Charlottesville, university of virginia press, 1985. See all books authored by roger caillois, including man, play and games, and pontius pilate, and more on.
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