das Abgründige

20:10 Apr 20, 2009 

- i.e. series, if limited just to a series of work, or his complete oeuvre, if his whole body of work.

19:32 Apr 20, 2009 

@Leander 1: As to your current translation, it should be noted that Baldessari’s “Noses & Ears, Etc.” does not represent a “composition” (in fine arts, this term denotes something different anyway) or singular work, but a multitude of works grouped together to form what might be called e. g. a series, sequence, or similar. Baldessari himself calls them “Part(s)” and ascribes numbers to them, such as “Noses & Ears, Etc., Part IV”. For example, see http://www.artnet.com/galleries/Exhibitions.asp?gid=117613&c...

21:10 Apr 19, 2009 

I've no problem with prompt etc. - paraphrase might be "What do I see in these works that prompts me to ascribe to them / to the artist a preoccupation with such arcane and unfathomable questions as Whence the world and how do I capture the oh so elusive answers latent in the depths of human intuition..." - or am I still missing something?
Taking on board the previous qn on this passage, possibly I'm confusing etwas festMACHEN an etwas with etwas festSTELLEN an (= aufgrund) etwas - don't they overlap? (Woran stelle/mache ich etwas fest). I take the liberty of 'importing' the last qn into this as I wasn't able to open the Discuss area there, and it is the same passage.

18:40 Apr 19, 2009 

It certainly does seem strange to me, too, that that first sentence of the last paragraph does not belong to the previous one. I think the placement really affects our reading of who is speaking.

18:08 Apr 19, 2009 

Have you omitted sth. between "...umtreiben." and "Woran..."?

12:24 Apr 19, 2009 

that would make more sense, but I do think that there is a confusion about who is speaking. I still read it as reported speech of a kind, but I have said that elsewhere, so I won't persist. By the way, the Abgründige I would see as the deep, dark side of any human, rather than the literal abyssmal.

12:19 Apr 19, 2009 

My translation goes on .."What prompts me to ascribe brittleness and **das Abgründige** to this composition?

12:19 Apr 19, 2009 

My translation goes on .."What prompts me to ascribe brittleness and **das Abgründige** to this composition?

12:10 Apr 19, 2009 

but what does 'prompt me to ascribe' mean here? English requires you to say what you are ascribing to what, in any case? I don't agree with your translation and it seems to be taking the meaning off in the wrong direction. I say this in the spirit of goodwill with the intention of assisting.