Finally, in this series of four posts on the field, here’s a painting of my own from 2005, painted during a period of strong interest in the noumenal field.
Ron Dowd
Field Painting 2005 (40 x 40 cm)
The poem (from 2003), that “fits” with this painting, is called vision:
a cambered green
fringed by dark treesfield of luminous shoots
delicate, massedbright spring growth
lit from the soilsignal low and mute
a swathe of soft light radiating
Last year during a trip to Italy I visited the Santuario di San Francesco at Monteluco (on the hill-top near Spoleto) and had a strong experience once more of the primacy of the noumenal field, in the form of the courtyard of the Sanctuary. Here is that courtyard:
In this case the field was the extent of the courtyard – and the perception was, as Berger states it (see Part 2):
The field that you are standing before appears to have the same proportions as your own life.
This life had a simplicity about it – I had the strong impression of how unseen hands cherished this courtyard (no one was around); that it had been cared for for many years (the Sanctuary was established in the 13th century, although monks have inhabited the caves in this area since the 5th century) and that the greatest respect that could be, and was, paid it was regular sweeping with a simple broom.
On the Field, Part 3 of 4: Richard Long
On the Field, Part 2 of 4: John Berger
On the Field, Part 1 of 4: Robert Duncan
