Wednesday, March 3, 2021

'Kenopsia'

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a website and book created by John Koenig which defines words that don't exist in English, but it feels like they should exist

Painting by Antonio López García (b. 1936)

For example, he defines Kenopsia as "the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet—a school hallway in the evening, an unlit office on a weekend, vacant fairgrounds—an emotional afterimage that makes it seem not just empty but hyper-empty, with a total population in the negative, who are so conspicuously absent they glow like neon signs."
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3 comments:

  1. There are some videos of Garcia painting urban scenes -- such as this one -- on location over the course of several days. He's shown working on a very large canvas, perhaps four feet square. In a few of them, he is waving on-lookers out of his way, appearing somewhat irritated and impatient. He seems to have a laser-like focus. It's interesting that he sets up in busy, congested settings and then paints the scene devoid of people.

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  2. Steve Gilzow, Antonio García is known for painting the scene in several YEARS. This picture posted by Mr. Gurney took 7 years, and 20 years later after finishing it still added some brushstrokes. He is sloooooooooooow painting. In fact, Antonio lives life sloooooowly. I admire him a lot for both things.

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  3. Thank you, tayete. Good to know. It would seem “impatient” is exactly the wrong word to use here. I, too, admire those qualities.

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