Tag Archives: body

(Un/Civil Religion) The U.S. Capitol Is An Animal Being

Posted on February 5, 2021 by zjb

I’m probably imagining it, but since the January 6 insurrection when I look at still photos of the building, the material object that is the Capitol looks to me like a living creature, like some kind of animated object, an … Continue reading →

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(Trump) How Not To Hold A Bible (Habitus & Hexis)

Posted on June 2, 2020 by zjb

(h/t Jim Watts and Iconic Books and to @drnelk at Twitter) Arguably, in these United States, a good president needs to know how to handle a Bible. President Trump is not a good president. With him, the Bible has no … Continue reading →

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(Foucault) The Birth of The Clinic (Reading Notes)

Posted on April 21, 2020 by zjb

In the spirit of the day I’m including text on epidemic consciousness, medical fields, the medical gaze, death and the human. Below are more or less chapter by chapter reading-notes cribbing directly from the primary text, Foucault’s The Birth of … Continue reading →

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(Maimonides Says) Cultivate the Middle Way (Hilkhot Deot) (Coronavirus)

Posted on March 29, 2020 by zjb

At the time of a global health pandemic, where better to turn than to the Great Eagle? Hilkhot Deot is a moral-medical compendium, famous for its elaboration upon the Aristotelean mean. But that’s not the half of it. The larger … Continue reading →

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(Rashi) God’s Great Hand (Man Ray)

Posted on January 19, 2019 by zjb

[Man Ray, Hand on Lips, 1926] Most translations in English elide the anthropomorphism. “And Israel saw the great hand…”  (Ex. 14:31). According to Rashi, “hand” refers to the great power done by the hand of the Holy one Blessed be … Continue reading →

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Votive Objects & Material Religion

Posted on January 16, 2019 by zjb

Went to see “Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place” at Bard Graduate Center Gallery. I understood that I was off to look at objects, but what are votive objects? Something loosely to do with “religion.” What I … Continue reading →

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(Relic) Amos Oz (Hand)

Posted on December 30, 2018 by zjb

This photograph posted on Twitter by his daughter, Fania Oz-Salzberger, of Amos Oz’s  hand before, at, or just after the moment of his passing is both deeply touching and very odd. A frozen photographic image, it is not unlike a … Continue reading →

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(On Not Suffering) Caffeine Suppositories (Yom Kippur)

Posted on September 20, 2018 by zjb

After excruciating headaches this Yom Kippur, I appreciate that this definitely seems to be a thing. From the Forward, you  can read the article here about the use of caffeine suppositories to ease the horrible effects of withdrawal on the … Continue reading →

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(Water on Skin) Sensation (David Hockney)

Posted on February 7, 2018 by zjb

Invested in the anti-aesthetic, people committed to modern and contemporary art, including art critics, often struggle with optimism, pleasure, and beauty. In the case of David Hockney, that is to miss the point and overlook what the aritst shares with … Continue reading →

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(Palimpsest) Page & Figures (Michelangelo)

Posted on February 3, 2018 by zjb

For his unfinished sketches for studies, Michelangelo drew each figure one by one. But ultimately the figures are only as interesting as their organization on the page. For the studies, he used the same page to sketch figures next to … Continue reading →

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