Author Archives: twotreatises

the undefinable

Posted on January 22, 2017 by twotreatises

As John Newman said with respect of definitions of communication: “The diversity and complexity of communication is such that a generally accepted definition becomes so profoundly involved that it hinders rather than helps further thought on the subject.” He proposes … Continue reading →

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sisyphean

Posted on January 21, 2017 by twotreatises

“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.” Guildenstern in Rosencrantz … Continue reading →

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on photography

Posted on December 10, 2016 by twotreatises

On Photography by Susan Sontag Humankind lingers unregenerately in Plato’s cave, still reveling, its age-old habit, in mere images of the truth. (3) In teaching us a new visual code, photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth … Continue reading →

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city as palimpsest, redux

Posted on September 7, 2016 by twotreatises

“Richard Lehan* has pointed out the impact of urban archaeology’s ‘discovery of layered cities’ – notably Heinrich Schliemann’s discoveries in Troy (1871) and Arthur Evans’ in Crete (Knossos, 1876) – upon modernist urban literature. Urban fantasy has been particularly influenced … Continue reading →

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a word for everything

Posted on May 3, 2016 by twotreatises

isovist: the volume of space visible from a given point (part of “space syntax“)

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