Monday 12
out of the darkness of the womb
into a bed, into a room:
out of a garden into a town,
and to a country, and up and down
the earth; the touch of women and men
and back into a garden again:
into a garden; into a room;
into a bed, and into a tomb;
and the darkness of the world's womb
from Soutar's 'autobiography- diaries of a dying man' pg114
The surrealists fascination with man's first home, the womb, is apparent in many of their work. Kiesler endless house was to resemble a mother's womb. The protection that man had in that house was shortly followed by a detachment and forceful rejection into the outer world where he is unprotected; adam's exile from paradise. Being exiled from that home, we are always eager for a return; not too different from Hejduk's running houses quest to return to the mother. Perhaps, this is the reason behind our fascination with dark subterranean buildings. However, for soutar, this darkness of the womb is not that different from the darkness of the tomb that is his bed.