July 31, 2017

Saturday. A day of preparations and trail, as the discs and sound system for the ‘Double Blind’ track moved towards completion. I anticipate that minor adjustments will need to be made during the process of composition. However, the composition cannot begin without first ensuring that the the textual materials are at my fingertips (quite literally), and their means of manipulations, optimised. In the weeks to come, I shall develop a command over my means. But none of these preparations guarantee that anything worthwhile will ensue:

Today. 8.30 am: Admin update, followed by a review of Saturday’s efforts. 9.00 am: There are other endeavours related to ‘The Talking Bible’ project that must now go forward. But, before that, the narratives in Circle A needed to be harmonised, where appropriate. That’s to say, I need to address together those accounts of healing in the gospels that, while either subtly or sometimes substantially unlike one to the other, nevertheless refer to the same event as seen and recorded from contrasting perspectives. For example, Matt. 20.29–34, Mark 10.46-52, and Luke 18. 35–43, some scholars believe, all refer to the same incident. The ‘Double-Blind’ track, as it’s presently conceived, cross-references Matt. 20.29–34 and Matt. 9. 27–31. Both texts come from the same gospel and different periods and places in Christ’s ministry. While not referring to the same event, the two accounts have several commonalities: The narratives involve a pair of blind men who together call on Christ for mercy, using the appellation ‘O Lord, Son of David!’. But the distinctions far outweigh the similarities. Nevertheless, commentators have argued, they are essentially the same narrative, and also, a restatement of the healing of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10.46–52).

Since I couldn’t lay all this out in my head, the connections and conjunctions (possible, debatable, and actual) between the texts had to be objectified:

In the process, a further possible compositional idea was generated, based around the blinding of Saul by Christ and the healing Paul by Ananias (Acts 9.1–12, 20.6–13). The structural relations between the texts is getting clearer.

1.30 pm: After lunch, I reopened the files on the ‘Bible & Sound’ conference – which is the scholarly and broader backdrop of The Aural Bible series. (Sometimes, in its absence, it’s necessary to create a context for the work oneself.) I made good progress with the concept text. Mid afternoon, the conference banner received attention. Once the graphic style of a project begins to emerge, the rest of the endeavour feels more real and doable. This, of course, is entirely illusory:

6.10 pm: Off to the Vicarage to serve on a vicar appointment committee at the parish Rectory. This has been a long time in coming. On my return home, the ochre sunlight scorched the upper stories of buildings and warmed the stratified grey clouds that churned and tore themselves apart far above:

8.15 pm: To dinner and to work again. Having designed the banner (provisionally), I put together a conference logo based on the same elements:

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