[Milton-L] Kirmss Sculpture

[Horace Jeffery Hodges]

In defense of the Tibetan allusion in the Milton sculpture by Arthur Kirmss, Stan Parchin wrote:

"You know, Arthur's Tibetan articulation of Milton's tongue is PURE ARTHUR. I didn't know that, too. Isn't that the whole point? To teach the viewer something s/he didn't know?"

Jim Rovira replied:



"I'm not sure that visual symbols work that way. It seems to me that icons only work as a visual language capable of teaching if the viewers share enough context to immediately understand the symbols."

Jim, you're correct that most of us probably missed the Tibetan
allusion. I missed it -- and instead found myself reminded of that
iconic photo of Einstein sticking his tongue out:





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein_in_popular_culture




I wonder if Kirmss had this in mind as well. Also occurring to me was an image of a Maori warrior sticking his tongue out:

http://photographersdirect.com/buyers/stockphoto.asp?imageid=878924

Was Kirmss also thinking of this sort of thing? Be that as it may, I find
myself again agreeing with Feisal:

"It seems odd that readers of Milton would object to an
obscure allusion, and to its reference to a non-Western culture. Among
its many ambitions, Paradise Lost aspires to be the first epic that is truly global in scope."

We can't really fault an artist for
being obscure, especially since those of us who love and study Milton's writings also probably enjoy the layers of meaning, many of these obscure until we shine a light upon them.



For instance, I was unaware of the possibility that Milton's 'apple' was really a peach until Robert Appelbaum drew my attention to it last summer on this very list. If Robert is right, then Milton's allusion in PL 9.851 to a fruit that "downie smil'd" was truly obscure for about 300 years . . . until Robert noticed it.



So let's not peach artists for being obscure.

Jeffery Hodges
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