Saturday, November 26, 2022

A Literary Translation of a Visual Image

On Friday March 27th 2015 I went to Brussels in the afternoon to visit the Magritte Museum. Before entering the section that actually displayed the artwork there was a notice posted about photography being prohibited, which was a bit disappointing. Oh, and no bags were allowed so I had to stuff my passport, iPod, iPhone, all my cash, the apartment keys, and the pouch with my ID and insurance cards in my pockets and stash my backpack in a locker. Annoying. Instead of letting it dampen my spirits I decided to thoroughly document my experience while viewing my fave Magritte painting in words rather than take a quick snapshot and move on. Here's what I wrote in my iPhone's notes while standing in the corner of the museum across from one of the most stunning paintings ever created.

Black Magic, 1945
Level 2
Chevron patterned wood floor in oak
black walls and ceiling
quiet whistling of the AC
room is cool in temp
can overhear the couple's audio guide
overhead lights - track lighting
people are respectfully quiet like at the Vietnam Memorial
in orange carved into the black walls are writings in French:
 - La grande force de défense, c'est l'amour qui engage les amants dans un monde enchanté fait exactement à leur mesure et qui est défendu admirablement par l'isolement.
(This is on the two-two sketch wall.)
 - Tout ce que je suis de l'espoir que je mets dans l'amour c'est qu'il n'appartient qu'à une femme de lui donner une réalité.
(On the three sketch wall across from Black Magic.)
the room is virtually odourless - if I had to describe its smell I wld say it is clean. I imagine it is what Napoleon LeNez's room smelled like in that ep of Pushing Daisies 

a man with Reverend Jim hair sneaks a photo of Black Magic
the painting overwhelms all the other works in the room and draws people to it
later one man blatantly takes a very close shot - both get away scott-free as there are no guards in sight

Black Magic:
The piece is blue - vibrant - warm skin - dark dull brown frame, which is perfect, as no one really notices it - the painting features the ideal female figure - she is listless - calm. The essence of serenity. She is the reason I am here. I can almost feel the cold of the stone beneath her right palm - her fingers gently and instinctively curl around it - she has exceptional posture - the sea in the distance

on the wall left of Black Magic is The Pebble:
a woman - pale ginger coloured hair with black chiffon bow and white pearl necklace - licks her right shoulder innocently or seductively - you be the judge - white tiles with blue caulk - the ocean and breaking waves behind her - the shore at the very bottom - she is nude from the pubic bone up - with a tangerine coloured sarong hiding her thighs - her left hand gently cups her left breast - erect nipples - left thumb just touching her left nipple

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