My cousin Marie, not Vinny, sent me this photo a bit ago and I was
immediately struck by the thoughts and associations that came to mind as I was
looking at it. My initial impression was that it was a somber, moody and
evocative photo that had the potential for being the backdrop to a thousand
stories. What also sprung to mind was all of the Japanese period ghost/horror
stories like KWAIDEN, GHOST OF YOTSUYA, UGETSU MONOGATARI and of course the Japanese
Macbeth, THRONE OF BLOOD. However, the more I looked, the more I saw an enso, a
natural enso (shinzen-enso) and I keep coming back to that image and the myriad
of aphorism that accompany them. There is a resounding totality to the enso and
as more images and thoughts emerge, the easier it is to draw a correlation
between moon and a simple circle of ink. In reality I think it is easy to see
the moon as an enso, just look at the number of calligraphers who reference the
moon when depicting them, it is as natural to do so as the moon and its variety
of manifestations have touched man since the beginning of time. In particular,
there is a favorite enso and calligraphy that is brushed along side;
"Is it a cake? A dumpling?
The ring around a bucket?
What does it represent? Tell Me!"
Nakahara Nantembo (1839-1925)
.JPG)