Dennis Hollingsworth

Asociaci?n de Numeros

These are alternativess for the announcement for my upcoming show at Galerie Miguel Marcos in Barcelona. The title came from the archives of this weblog, a practice I have maintained for several years now.

I love hyperlinked indexical titles.

Miguel's graphic designer wanted to show me the variations of her design for approval, and it was the right moment to air some thoughts I have had about it.

She wrote:

Hola Dennis,

Soy la dise?adora de la Galer?a Miguel Marcos. Tal como me pide Miguel, te env?o las propuestas para la tarjeta de tu pr?xima exposici?n para ver que te parecen.

Un cordial saludo y feliz 2008!

My reply:

Hola In?s:

?Y una feliz 2008 a ti!
And a happy new year to you!

Pienso que el primer dise?o es el mejor. El t?tulo se toma de mi weblog que documente una zambullida de la noche en Tossa de Mar
I think that the first design is the best. The title is taken from my weblog that documents a night dive at Tossa de Mar.

Tengo dos pensamientos:
I have two thoughts:

-quiz?s el t?tulo debe estar en espa?ol:
-perhaps the title should be in spanish:

03:11 Una Huelga de Rel?mpago Muy Agradable

-Quisiera que 03:11 reflejara la ?poca del v?deo en el blogpost y no de marcha la 11, el bombardeo infame del tren en Madrid. ?Ideas?
-I would like 03:11 to reflect the time of the video in the blogpost and not March 11, the infamous train bombing in Madrid. Any ideas?

-Si el tiempo es una problema, podemos utilizar el t?tulo original sin problema.
If time is an issue, we can use the original title with no problem.

-Dennis

Googling 03:11 to see how many hits associates those numbers with the infamous dates, a Wikipedia entry was the top of the search of 100 hits, the only one that I could see in a quick scan of the list. The Wikipedia entry has around 52 identifications of that date in history. I then searched for 05:11 to see if May 11 would have a similar product but there was no result.

Strange, how some dates accrue significance while others do not.

I might be over-thinking this issue. But while the terrible bombing was like a lightning strike, it was not very nice at all. But was this or any terror bombing something of nature, like a flash of lightning? Only with some strain could one make such an assertion... or if it is, it is something one would want to change or temper or otherwise avoid. Is there the element of danger common to all elements in this discussion: lightning, night swimming at sea, the flash of a samurai sword... backpacks of C-4 on a train seat? With a beat of hesitation, the answer must be "yes", but then the danger levels swing wildly from one to the other.

Could insisting upon the significance of the numbers as a time marker in a video in a blogpost fortify the integrity of signification and intended meaning of this snippet of information that was transformed into a title for a show of paintings? Probably, yes. Would it help dislocate any ambient attachment of significance to the infamous March 11? This, I don't know. Would I want to do this? Yes... maybe... unless I was doing harm to Spanish historical memory. Would I want to glean any patina of horrible glamour from such an association? Hell no. Could I run with it and shrug off errant associations? Probably. (This very blog entry will help me do this. Glory be to blogs in the highest.)

I guess I could call the show "Tres Minutos y Once Segundos: Una Huelga de Rel?mpago Muy Agradable" but what a ungainly title that would be!

Posted by Dennis at December 31, 2007 12:23 PM