mutant and nondurable
If a river is visible in its entirety,
not only will it no longer go afar
through twisting and bending,
but you might as well paint an
earthworm.1
Each picture of hatching, dust, translucence and crumbling has
a different phase and a different time.2 Moreover, each has an atmosphere
that is natural to them. Besides stages of development in the life cycle,
suitable subjects are: cobwebs, wintering, and all sensory organs.
The following are subjects suitable for the newly hatched: early spring fly
views3, early spring hymenopteran views, a drying wing in early spring,
a spiracle emerging in early spring, a spot emerging in early spring, early
spring cover of pile, chilly remains of a newly-hatched and the transformation
of a small butterfly into a silky critter; light moth views; the event of hatching
amid cobweb, the transformation of a noctuid moth into a snout moth; misty
cobweb and glowing baits, winter mosquitoes rising from a valley, dipterans
curving by a cell tissue flooded with light, light rain and light wind, or
a bumblebee descending diagonally to break the exoskeleton; shimmering
and beautiful scorpionflies, spring beetles like shining stones. These are all
subjects for the newly hatched.
Subjects for catching include: emerging figures in
a cobweb, emerging folds in a cobweb, wrapped and dull
hymenoptera, early morning chitinous shadow image,
stickiness of the silk, a detached head, bends of the
antennae and web eyes steadily receding, crumbled and
oddly shaped wing veins, dust particles moving across
a kidney spot, threads heavy at the start of predation,
strong translucence and curling, or, alternatively,
swirling translucence and curling; pausing of the particle
swirl and gathering of dipterans high above, gushing
prey and textile fibres after entanglement, the misty
end of a fly, the misty hiding place of a beetle, double
pectinate on a summer’s day, a harvestman amidst its
many legs. These are all subjects for catching.
Larval subjects include: core of hollowing out wintering
in the roots, a fly emerging from a crumbling mass, or,
alternatively, a fly emerging in chitinisation; hairy limbs
after the form has emerged, fliers landing on a harvestman,
the wrapped one emerges from a valley; a millipede brings
the enlightenment, or, alternatively, a spider beetle brings
the enlightenment; a bug and a plumed moth, or,
alternatively, a mayfly and a surprising diptera; the mist
and haze of wintering, evening pupates on the stem, the
tubular quality in the evening glow, evening flies on a plain,
the glint of distant mouthparts, a distant ichneumon fly,
a knot and an ovipositor in an ichneumon fly view, a food
plant view on a plain. These are all larval subjects.
Pupal subjects include: cold abdomen at onset of
fragmentation, heavy snowing of feet in the gloom of loss,
flurry of fibres in the spiralling gloom, an ascending insect
in purple shining dance, a light carapace descending with
its patches and membranes, four louse flies in the distant
past; haustellum after snowfall, camouflage methods
during snowfall, pupating into a sparse tissue and a fading
transverse stripe, a walk in the dust to reach the far edge,
stream of desiccation in a cocoon, or, alternatively, writhing
and ready to hatch in a cocoon, long-legged tanyptera
attracted by light, a horsefly full of questions amid weblike
patterns, a whimpering cluster of wings by its appendages.
These are all pupal subjects.
Morning subjects include: a morning of ground beetles, a morning of
aphids, a morning bee, a morning noctuid, misty and hazy buglike
colours, morning colour of wing cases, morning colour of nymphs. These
are all morning subjects. Evening subjects include: glow of the sacred in
hoverflies, glow of grey after desiccation, glow of evening in cell tissue
remains, glow of evening in distant exuviae, glow at the junctions of
veins, glow of evening in distant rear tufts, desiccation and death in the
mountains at sunset, a detailed deer fly returning to its form from all
over, a beetle arriving on the edge in the evening. These are all evening
subjects.
Fly subjects include: a pair of flies, three flies, five flies, six flies;
strangely shaped flies, aged flies, old flies clustered in layers,
strangely shaped flies in layers amid each other, a larva grown into
a magnificent fly, one beautiful fly dominating the foreground,
a green fly, an old and respected fly.
Spider subjects include: spiders of wondrous shapes, crumbled
spiders. Flies and spiders shall be used in combination with green
lacewings above the flies. Centipedes and spiders are combined with
crane flies. On windowsills, oddly shaped spider moults, for such can
be found on windowsills.
Translucent subjects include: plant cell tissue crosswise at the mouth
of wing cell tissue, differently shaped wings emerging from amid each
other, complicated mouthparts seemingly born out of cobweb, light
mosquitoes descending from above. Dust subjects include: dust
crosswise at the opening of the frame, dust appearing here and there
on cobwebs, crumbling hymenoptera spreading over dust, wriggling
light dust, mist and haze of egg cases, mist and shelter of cobwebs.
Drying subjects include: a crumbled wasp and a wounded stone
centipede, veins and scales of the remains of a peacock butterfly’s
wing, tick crumbs at the bottom of an old slide frame, a crushed
gastropod shell, a crumbled butterfly chrysalis, a misty cobweb or
egg case, distant dust and the sound of slide projector starting,
larval exuvia in the greyness of a cobweb.
Miscellaneous subjects include: mosquitoes in the dust
by a pappus, a raptor fly leaning against a bee moth
while watching particles of dust, dipterans spreading
over a dusty plane, a fungus gnat next to a hair that
crosses the wing, a leg curled. All these are
miscellaneous subjects.
A selection of example paintings4
”A wasp entertaining a tendril”
The tendril has spiralled proudly and started to spread. The
wings of the wasp are translucent sepia. Its antennae and
limbs intermingle, coming together and separating abruptly.
Some come together and disperse. It constantly changes its
shape. The tendril floats and winds itself in the air without
knowing its limits.
“Old algae and translucent limbs”
Layered fibres form a coherent group. Oddly shaped legs
turn about, sink out of sight and wind around plant parts.
Eighty-one shapes rotate in a spiral. They cannot be
controlled or named.
“The chitinous on a cobweb mountain”
The picture is composed of: spiders close and far, locations of the cobweb
mountain, limbs extending to bridges. Details stand out clearly, blood
vessels are visible. The good thoughts and beautiful views of the picture
cannot all be expressed in words. At the point where the thick thread
accumulates a variety of pieces have been placed. Some of the waist of
the large mountain is hidden from view. The spiders’ shed skins shine
without boundaries and extend down in a single belt. Grey and brown
alternate in a wondrous way. The colour values are discreet and
coordinated. It can be called a rare composition.
1. Guo Xi, The Lofty Message of Forests
and Streams, “Advice on Landscape
Painting.” From Classified Compilation
of Chinese Theories of Painting, ed. Yu
Jianhua (Beijing 1957), pp. 639–640.
2. This text is a parasitic play on the
notes of Chinese painter Guo Xi
(approximately 1000–1090), one of the
most renowned master landscape
painters of his time. The original text of
The Lofty Message of Forests and
Streams was recorded by the painter’s
son Guo Si and translated from Chinese
into Finnish by Minna Törmä
(Kustannusosakeyhtiö Taide 1999). The
parasitised texts can be found on pages
71–76 of the Finnish translation.
3. With the exception of the earthworm
in the title, all the references to
invertebrates in the text have been
added by nabbteeri.
4. The passages quoted parasitically at
the end can be found on pages 77–79 of
the book.