Whenever [Brancusi] sensed in us apprehension or distress about our painting, he would bolster our spirits. “Take the bull by the horns, press on, never give up!” Sometimes he would elaborate: “You can’t get to the real things if you don’t repudiate the I… The more you run after fame, the more it will escape you. Turn your back on it, and you’ll be free to make the works that matter.”
(Natalie Dumitresco and Alexandre Istrati, Brancusi)
Quality… is what makes art irreplaceable. Quality is constituted by the pleasure, joy, exhilaration, delight, elation, affect, the satisfaction gotten from art. Everything that is in art; the content, the import, the tenor, the drift, the meaning, the significance… -all these things are carried by quality.
(Clement Greenberg, Homemade Esthetics, p106)
I think a poor life is lived by anyone who doesn’t regularly take time out to stand and gaze, or sit and listen, or touch, or smell, or brood, without any further end in mind, simply for the satisfaction gotten from that which is gazed at, listened to, touched, smelled, or brooded upon.
(Clement Greenberg in Modernism with a Vengeance, p76)
‘Simplicity is the whole essence of well-being.’
(Peter Matthiessen in The Snow Leopard)
Although we are always happy to assist you at the library Issue Desk, there are some very useful Self service facilities that you can take advantage of to make using the library easier for you.
Self-Issue
Our self-issue machine is situated on Level 1, just opposite the Issue Desk.
This easy-to-use machine is a quick and convenient way to borrow or renew books (but not DVDs or Videos) if you don’t want to wait in a queue at the desk.
Remember to read the instructions beside the machine carefully before using it for the first time, or just ask one of the library staff for a demo.
Self-Return
We have a book-drop box for returning items opposite the library issue desk (next to the self-issue machine). The drop box is ideal if you want to pop in to return material and don’t want to wait in a queue. If you intend to borrow more material in the same trip you are best to return the items at the desk, otherwise you might find you have reached your borrowing limit.
The book-drop box is regularly emptied thoughout the day. Any items which are deposited in it at closing time or when the library is closed will be checked-in the next day the library is open. Fines will only be charged if an item was already overdue on the day you put it in the book-drop box.
I believe art, even reduced to the simplest means, can be the vehicle for new ideas. For me, just walking can liberate the imagination. Doing simple mindless things, like watching a river flow… can free and heighten my senses.
(Richard Long in Stones and Flies, Arts Council video.)
(Anthony Caro, in Quest for the New Sculpture, by Ian Barker, 2006)
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