On The Humanities, Gravity And Grace, & The Table
Snippets from Anna Gát, Simone Weil, Lars Spuybroek
Ah, the Humanities
I still owe the humanities a long heartfelt thank you letter, as they prepared me for a life lived well, closely examined, re-imagined. I graduated from Humboldt University Berlin in 2018 with an MA in American Studies, and in 2015 I obtained my BA with a major in German Literature and Linguistics and a minor in English Literature. I pay my bills and rent right now with a job in a whole different field (data governance) but studying the humanities and writing papers, researching, thinking critically prepared me quite well for the variety of jobs that I have done so far since graduating.
I will always cherish the theory of art seminars, the Victorian literature classes, the salons held at the American literature professor’s home in Berlin, the poetry sessions, the long hours spent at the library writing my dissertation on the modern flâneuse in literature. The poems, the film clubs, the smell of old and new books, the freshly printed papers, the intoxicating sense of possibility. Needless to say, the years after graduating and starting a corporate career felt depressing, less nourishing and I struggled a lot, as I was missing all the ways I lived and connected with people before.
In the summer of 2020 when I joined the growing Interintellect community, my mind felt finally at home: attending and hosting salons, engaging in conversations, listening, learning, questioning. For all of us in this community and other similar ones, this life of the mind brings us meaning and connection and shows us different ways of living and being. We see and listen and are seen and listened in return.
Quo vadis?
In the past days I have started reviving The Flâneurs Project, an archive of interviews and essays on flânerie, cities, places, living well. The plan is to keep on asking questions and writing with the goal of meeting and interviewing 100+ flâneurs & building a small community. I will interview friends, and friends of friends, and strangers, with the hope of connecting people with a love for living well, beauty, aesthetics, curiosity, and discovering new cities across the world.
You can book a slot to be interviewed here.
Weekly Curation
Reading
“Human existence is so fragile a thing and exposed to such dangers that I cannot love without trembling.”
“Stars and blossoming fruit trees: Utter permanence and extreme fragility give an equal sense of eternity.”
“After all these centuries, it remains astounding to see that a word meaning favor, generosity, gratitude, enjoyment, recompense, or even literally payment can directly connote the swinging of earrings and the curling of locks of hair. But charis lies at the heart of a world that does not discriminate between actions and things: things act, and actions present themselves as things. The ancient Greeks would laugh at us with our miserable division between ethics and aesthetics. Who are we to subjectify pleasure and isolate it from gratitude and giving? Who are we to view activity as purely a means to an end? The act moves through the end, and the way of acting is itself an object, making the act something larger than intention or actuality—in fact, making it superactual, since it embodies a surplus of action, not a single deed.”
Art
Vu Hed is the artist name of Oscar de Dompablo, who lives and works in the town of Zarzalejo in the northwestern Sierra de Madrid in Spain.
Food and Wine
Ragù, Agaete, Gran Canaria Island
I visited Ragù a few weeks ago when I was in Agaete, and the food was simple - yet so delicious. The Canarian “wrinkled” potatoes with (red) mojo sauce are a must-try if you find yourself visiting these islands. Learn how to make a Canarian mojo sauce here. As for the wine, I tried the Viña Zorzal Chardonnay 2022, a young, fresh and aromatic Chardonnay from Navarra, Spain.
Places and Museums
Inspired by the Dada movement, Arman (born Armand Pierre Fernandez) created unconventional sculptures made from accumulated trash. Arman often adopted destruction as a strategy for creation: he sliced, burned, and smashed objects such as bronze statues and musical instruments, then mounted fragments on canvas, encased them in plexiglass, or presented them alone.
People and Communities
& The Table, founded by an American woman living in Amsterdam, is a community for women who want to host dinners and conversations from the intimacy of their own homes. I’m looking forward to joining Nicole’s dinner in Amsterdam in November.
Thank you for reading!
Patricia
Wow, this is incredibly relatable. The 9-5 I work can be incredibly uninspiring. Curious minds need more. I found this post reinvigorating!