time warp

the circus came to town

Victor, Claire, Jean-Luc, and Diane

I can't believe its been a week since my last post. We have another day off today and I should be up in the mountains hiking but the weather is not very good so I'm just hunkering down and getting some needed rest. Lauren, my roommate and I got up at 8 to have breakfast with Diane and Victor before they left for home. It was so fantastic to have time with them. Besides being great thinkers and teachers, they are fantastic humans and fun to be around.
Since my last post, I completed two more seminars, first with Victor Vitanza http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Vitanza
The seminar was on Lyotard and called "Hesitating Thought". I felt like I learned so much. Victor is has the heart of an artist and he is able to make such amazing connections between ideas.
After Victor's class we had a seminar with the philosopher Jean Luc Nancy, a contemporary and friend of Lyotard and Derrida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_Nancy
It was another amazing three days. As we all sat spellbound, he lectured on art, mystery, the sacred, and sex among other things.
On Sunday evening, french filmmaker Claire Denis http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0219136/ screened her newest film, "White Material" for us. It is the story of a white french woman played by Isabelle Hupert who owns a coffee plantation in Africa as rebel armies of child soldiers are moving in and violence is erupting. Its a really powerful film and most of us were left speechless.
After the screening, Diane, Victor, Jean-Luc, and Claire came up to our apartment and had some wine while we talked about her film. It was amazing to sit next to an artist I have admired for so long and who's films I know so well. I think it was the first time at EGS that I really felt star struck.
We wrapped up the seminar with Nancy yesterday and he again came up for wine and answered our questions about fascism, dreams, architecture etc. with enormous generosity.
I had a great sauna after breakfast and am now getting ready to do some yoga. If the weather is clear, I will go for a run before going out to dinner with Lauren, Steve, Mariluz and Jared. The food here is dreadful and we try to get away now and then for something resembling life.
I forgot to mention that the circus was in town for a few days. It was a little surreal to see the big top with the Alps looming over it.
Tomorrow, back to class with Hubertus von Amelunxen: photography and philosophy.