An exterritorial archaeological site I call Exsoteria refers to two opposite terms: the esoteric and the exotic. I suggest them not as oppositions, but as simultaneous conditions. The combination is a movement, a metamorphosis, and the fluidity of the eye-mind. The term exotic refers to what originated outside a particular place, system, or context, what is perceived as foreign or unusual. It is also manifested through the desirable object, the attractive, striking, or glamorous, typically by being or appearing different and out of the ordinary. The term esoteric was first used in the 16th century by Pythagoras’ students to define the philosophical circle of his followers, referring a secret teaching of knowledge belonging to a small group of people.
The Hebrew word for “shard” (רבש) shares the same roots of the word for “fragile” (ירירבש). Fragile – frangere – fragmentum – a fragment – a shard. It denotes a broken piece of a thing that highlights the fragile essence of the whole before its fracture. A window is a physical clear screen, an unseen layer that separates one space into two. Architecture helps determine those different positions of seeing. The image that is between the two realms, is the place I am after — a place where the mind cannot see, and the eyes cannot think.
Related Inspirations
