"the ritual of production" and beauty

K,
Great last post! I checked out Tobias Putrih---cool parallel to the matchstick works by Trevor Oakes AND your stacked "munched" bookmarks! (Those look really neat, BTW!) And you make a good point about multiplicity: "...there is something about the mystery of them [editions of tiny things], and the ritual of production." There IS something especially inspiring about the mere process--the act of their making, the difficult task to focus and repeat an action, the patience required to pile pieces of sand or include minuscule detail. Is this what makes them so beautiful?

less hastily,
k

Images above: 1. a typical Indian miniature painting based in tedious traditional process, all the way down to the treating of the paper with tea before the painting begins. 2. a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks creating a sand painting. They typically work on these for 24 hours straight. It is a meditative practice stacking piece by colored piece. Once completed, they take it down ritualistically, dispersing the sand to the witnesses of the ceremony and the nearby bodies of water, thereby healing the suffering of the world. The building and destroying represents the ephemeral nature of life. Ironically, in this case, the ritual of production produces only ritual, although it is quite beautiful!