deliquescence

i love words.

i have for as long as i can remember.

when there isn't a word for something,

i create it and let the world figure it out,

catch on to it,

whatever it takes.

some words i like because they describe something specialized.

for example, the word

deliquesce.

its usual context is science.

but i like to apply it to ideas.

a melting,

a dissolution,

a disappearance from one context

and a reemergence in another.

i recall an article in a magazine in which musician brian eno

described his excitement at living in new york city for a while.

he described the cultural tone as being

similar to that of a medieval crossroads.

all sorts of cultural assumptions,

experiences

and expressions

were colliding and reforming

into new and unexpected combinations

that allowed for him to see familiar music

in a new light . . .

and unfamiliar music with an open ear.

i love circumstances that lend themselves to the notion of "planned accidents",

or circumstances that are generative of newness

through the incidental juxtaposition of disparate states or qualities.

this sometimes happens with people.

it sometimes happens with my photographs

(like the ones i've used to ilustrate this little piece!).

del·i·quesce (dl-kws)

intr.v. del·i·quesced, del·i·quesc·ing, del·i·quesc·es

1. a. to melt away.

b. to disappear as if by melting.

2. chemistry:

a. to dissolve and become liquid by absorbing moisture from the air.