Seeing Things

sublime #35

Notes on my phone from Venice:

Feathered sunbeams flickering across the vaparetto roof, a lagoon disco / shards of scattered silver threaded through the plexiglass windows when the boat turns away from the sun / how does it all look like a painting? / a place that I feel I know through other places referencing; shopping malls around the world / full moon on a canal; liquorice-black and rippled cream

fabric and stone; draped, ruffled, gathered and rouched / glass roundels in doors, holding the interiors like sugared sweets / harmonised voices warm the cold dark night / glowing glass in ripples and swirls / rain-smudged canals / a deep blue green with a white base (an odd transparency) pinkish orange, ochre and muted terracotta - faded or washed away / laundry, lots of tea towels, organised by colour

maze of streets/walkways/what constitutes ‘the way’ / every opening is a typical Venice view (based on paintings) / water moves slower than I expected and the high tide is far less violent/intrusive than I saw on tik tok / umbrellas quite impractical for fear of damaging the walls of some ancient facade / lack of cars is REFRESHING

the art of window shopping “vetrine” / moire fabrics, silk and taffeta / learning the language of hands in oil paintings / glittering pavements in unexpected colours (“coriandoli”) / layers: reflections and windows and mirrors and steps and bridges and vignettes through things and over things and seeing past and bouncing back / knots, rope, ties, fringe

dimly lit rooms and covered windows, glinting gold accents and shining lacquer - the ‘reveal’ in the dark spaces / shine / a 24 hour clock / dressing in layers and cloaked in dark colours, the contrast of leather and velvet in similar tones / piped edging / wrangling hotel umbrellas / damask designs found in peeling plaster