Balinese Temple
A dearth of things to blog about recently. Still, there're some more photos from Bali to show ...
Balinese temples are completely unlike the Hindu temples here: the entrances comprise this strange open "arch", which isn't really, as can been seen from the photo. The eye and the mind imply an arch, perhaps because that's what a mind conditioned by looking at cathedrals and the temples of Angkor expects when looking at a temple entrances. It would more accurately be described as ... well, doorposts, or flanking pillars, or something, but I keep thinking: arches.
The power of ingrained experience, I suppose. Neural pathways that are so well-worn that they draw your thoughts down them automatically, like a canal channels water.
I liked this strange ... well, here we go again, because for want of the correct term, I'm going to say "monolith". I'm probably wrong, since I don't know squat about Balinese architecture, but that's what it seems like to me. There's something impressive about it, and I like the way it stands out against the sky. Its purpose eludes me, but with religious architecture, one doesn't talk about purpose, or utility, but meaning and significance. Which elude me as well, in this case. What I can say is that it does an awfully good job of drawing the eye upwards, which is probably one of the things it was intended to do.
Balinese temples are completely unlike the Hindu temples here: the entrances comprise this strange open "arch", which isn't really, as can been seen from the photo. The eye and the mind imply an arch, perhaps because that's what a mind conditioned by looking at cathedrals and the temples of Angkor expects when looking at a temple entrances. It would more accurately be described as ... well, doorposts, or flanking pillars, or something, but I keep thinking: arches.
The power of ingrained experience, I suppose. Neural pathways that are so well-worn that they draw your thoughts down them automatically, like a canal channels water.
I liked this strange ... well, here we go again, because for want of the correct term, I'm going to say "monolith". I'm probably wrong, since I don't know squat about Balinese architecture, but that's what it seems like to me. There's something impressive about it, and I like the way it stands out against the sky. Its purpose eludes me, but with religious architecture, one doesn't talk about purpose, or utility, but meaning and significance. Which elude me as well, in this case. What I can say is that it does an awfully good job of drawing the eye upwards, which is probably one of the things it was intended to do.
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