The lost chatter of men, the
exteriority of written &
figurative elements—very
few persons write a good
letter. In this split & drifting
space, strange bonds are knit.
Two garrulous mutes use
elegant language, yet use it
easily. A word can take the
place of an object if the paren-
thesis is avoided. Neatness is
important. The measure of
the “iron horse” is how many
missives it drags behind. No
mass, no name, form without
volume. Word & object are
deployed in two different
dimensions. Emptiness undoes
the space. Verbal lightning
flashes come naturally to a child.
Sources:
This Is Not a Pipe, by Michel Foucault
The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette (1860), by Florence Hartley
