Long-term readers of this blog might remember that I have a recurring “thing” about the story of Faust. After a lay-off suddenly I find that I’m re-engaging with this ancient story. Aside from its philosophical (or perhaps even its theological) interest, I imagine that it ought to have a distinctly visual point of focus. It has been very frustrating over the years, however, that I have consistently failed to identify a specifically visual language in terms of which I might engage with it.
For reasons I can’t explain I found myself over the past couple of days taking up this material again. I’ve begun by re-reading Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus in the hope that I might begin to engage with it visually, and not just intellectually. There is, at the moment, no clear way ahead, but as I made myself a cup of tea in the middle of the afternoon I began to wonder whether a metaphor might be helpful.
When I was in secondary school we all had to take part in the army cadet force. Little of this has remained with me that has had any relevance to my life since then, with the exception of the skill of map-reading, and the task of getting about the house in the dark so as not to disturb by sleeping wife by putting on the lights. The third thing is the notion of “night vision”. Your eyes, it seems, behave differently as the light is reduced. Apparently, in reduced visibility it is possible to gain a better impression of something by directing your vision a little to one side of it. (Don’t ask me why.) Perhaps I could imply an artistic equivalent of this, and instead of staring unproductively at something which interests me (in this case, Faust) I should begin to play with some off-centre images and ideas. Faust is obsessed (in Marlowe’s play) with books. Now: is there something there to explore? It’s a thought!
Let’s fantasise for a moment. By coincidence at the moment I’m trying to reduce the huge number of books I have accumulated during my career. At one time these were the means by which I made my living, but now they just seem to be becoming a burden. Am I trying to break free from the burden of old books? The first thing Mephistopheles does, in making a bargain with Faust, is to give him a load of books! Does my clear-out offer an image of salvation? Well …. there’s something to be going on with.