Tag: UK

Margate: Places, Spaces, Heterotopia I

We arrived in Margate the first week of April, well out of the season so it was really empty, especially in the morning.

In my course we studied the difference between images and pictures, things and objects, spaces and places; where the first item in each pair merely is, whereas the latter has some human significance or meaning.

A heterotopia, again according to Wikipedia, is a concept elaborated by philosopher Michel Foucault to describe certain cultural, institutional and discursive spaces that are somehow ‘other’: disturbing, intense, incompatible, contradictory or transforming. Heterotopias are worlds within worlds, mirroring and yet upsetting what is outside. In my limited experience of reading about heterotopia, the term is extremely elastic, not to say nebulous, in the way it’s thrown about in art criticism.

Click any image to see them all full-sized.

The Chapter House

Chapter House, Canterbury Cathedral

From the walking guide we picked up at the Cathedral:

This building, the walls of which date from the late 11th century, was named after the first item of business at the daily monastic meeting – the Prior, from his throne, would read out a chapter of the rules of St Benedict. The current governing body of the Cathedral also takes its name from this.

The superb wagon-vaulted roof of c.1400 is made from Irish oak, and its decoration is typical of late English Gothic style. The two main windows are late Victorian, and the subject matter of one is mirrored in the other…

The right-hand picture is of an angled, mirrored table presumably allowing visitors to see the ceiling better. The 2nd window mentioned above, is opposite the one shown in my picture.

Canterbury Reflections and the Abbé Suger

Canterbury Cathedral

According to Wikipedia, the Abbé Suger, “(c. 1081 – 13 January 1151) was a French abbot, statesman, and historian. He once lived at the court of Pope Calixtus II in Maguelonne, France. He later became abbot of St-Denis, and became a close confidant to King Louis VII, even becoming his regent when the king left for the Second Crusade.”

I remember learning in Art Humanities at university, that he called stained glass an analog of the virgin Mary because of the way light passing through it created something of beauty without penetrating (that is, breaking) the glass, as Mary was presumed to have been impregnated by the holy spirit.

Postcard from Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Church of England and dates back to the conversion of the King of Kent by St Augustine and his missionaries in 597 CE. Impossible to miss on the skyline around the town and hard not to want to photograph, even if one could more easily just buy postcards. Click any image to see them all full sized.

Tree Portrait, Street Canvas

Nason’s Courtyard, Canterbury High Street

I couldn’t quite get the angle I wanted for this one because of the shape of the courtyard, the elevations and the presence of lots of tourists. But, as with many other urban tree ‘portraits’ I’ve shown in the past, I was taken by the wall behind as a canvas for this solitary tree.