Architectural Association
School of Architecture
Das Ein
Of Monsters (Lairs)
History and Theory Studies
Professor Teresa Stoppani
2022-23
“We are not given to know whether the poet who is the subject of this paper is a real person, or a fictional character constructed for the purpose of the paper. We do not know who wrote the poems that offer the skeleton for the argument, whether they were written by the author of this paper under a pseudonym, or by somebody else. We do not need to know. Because around them the author weaves a web of references that attempt to hold together, or at least to bridge between, two separate worlds and identities.
The title and the paper play on a fractured “dasein” that is not the Heideggerian “DaSein”, but is reconfigured in the broken “das ein” - the broken unique one whose fractured being enables them to see and to be other space. It seems that only poetry can give us glimpses of a some-thing some-where some-one that we cannot attain otherwise, that is, without the help of das ein.
The author attempts to grasp, with a rich support of references and literature, that space that only poetry, words, the space of the page and the utterance can access.
(James Patrick Sullivan (Sulley) is the protagonist of the Disney/Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc.”
Teresa Stoppani
This essay tries to grasp the enigmatic concept of the Neutral and its disruptive energy, a realm that exists beyond the boundaries of conventional understanding. During the nationwide lockdown in London, a period of great uncertainty, the author explores the deed of doing and being nothing
We are introduced to a protagonist who is held within this realm in which he transforms into a destructive character that challenges the paradigms of order and organization. His poems describe his puzzling condition by delving into narratives that examine the complexities of identity, creativity and the limitations of language and representation. Later on, he grapples with the realization that his once-celebrated poetic creations were ultimately empty and devoid of substance. This revelation propels the protagonist on a journey to confront the monster that marked him with indistinction, leading to the adoption of new qualities and engagement in customary rituals. However, attempts to capture the essence of the Neutral and convey experiences through conventional semiotics prove futile. Frustrations and doubts intensify as the protagonist finds himself trapped in an eternal loop of torment and labour, producing qualities but never being acknowledged as qualified. As he undergoes symbolic amputation and adopts false identity, attempts are made to escape the monster’s control and foster growth. This path leads closer to disintegration, raising profound questions about the nature of transformation and the pursuit of qualities.
Not too long ago I found a monster.
At the time I did not know what it was. The realization came to me now as I am writing this essay. It Is hard to spot; it has no form. I only saw its affect.
I witnessed what it did to my friend.
It shapeshifts, only veils itself in uncertainty, I cannot call it ugly, disgusting, abnormal, grotesque, it does not resemble an animal. Definitions, orders, structures do not apply to it. They crumble from its power.
It houses where the atmosphere is still and stagnant, this is where it awaits its victim. Its shear force is felt only through the persons mind it infiltrates. When it intrudes, it causes crippling turmoil and commotion.
It does not possess people in the paranormal ways that are often portrayed in media
Like a parasite, it formulates inside the imprisoned individuals mind.
It materializes from doubt, regret and time.
Through whispers of persuasion and condemnation it takes control of the poor soul’s actions and behaviour. How does one protect themselves from it? I don’t know. But I have a slight understanding of how it operates and entraps individuals.
It manoeuvres in an architectural way. It creates a space. Actually…it creates multiple spaces. How many I do not know but it forms them around the individuals it encounters. The materials it uses to fashion these spaces are nothingness, emptiness, silence and eternity. Individuals enter these spaces on a daily basis. To many they are harmless, some wallow in them, some use them for respite, while others briefly pass through, all totally oblivious to the potential dangers the space allures. Particularly the “busy” ones, you know them, the unconscious, unavailable individuals conditioned to constantly chase stimulation and action.
It is only the unfortunate ones that are captured by the monster. The unlucky individuals who it holds captive for seemingly endless spells of endured agony and desolation.
(Why some and not others, Again I do not know.)
One can say that the space is neither good nor bad, it seems as though it all depends on the monster lingering inside of it. Why it picks certain individuals for its devious schemes but spares others, seems arbitrary
My friend, Sully was chosen by the monster, it ambushed him whilst he was resting in its space. It was two years ago.
Whilst being held captive he did not draw much attention to himself, mostly blending in with the background. Consumed by thoughts.
Certain individuals suffering the same fate, so I have been told, appear more turbulent: Always in motion, pre-occupied with endless distractions and relentless activities. Never coming to a halt or taking a moment of solitude. It almost seems as if the monster sentenced them to an eternity of futile efforts.
Some take substances to numb down the anguish of being held captive, which I learnt works only briefly and is counterproductive as the monster grows more powerful fuelled by the regret the individual feels when recovering from the substance they have consumed. There is a common belief that some people are able to withstand the monster’s advances through embracing/tolerating its influence and co-existing in harmony.
While little is known about the monster, there are extensive speculations on the space it provides. Heidegger refers to it as “Langeweile” (German for boredom)
German Lange “Long,” + weile “while” time “long while.” Time passes slowly when visiting this space. He considers this space an honest/true space. A space of reflection and enlightenment, where humans can truly be themselves. A space where the illusions and misperceptions of meaning are stripped away, and the actual form of “being,” [he calls it “Dasein” (German existence/presence) German Da “There,” + sein “to be” or “being there.”] can be felt/is revealed. He also believes it is the place where the human was taught productivity. In fact, it is only through the act of doing that a person can exit this space.1 Barthes believes that time is imperative to the monster’s space. By measuring the individuals seeming duration of a(n) (futile)activity and taking into account the pleasure/displeasure it feels doing it, reveals an individual’s attitude on life. Life is therefore evaluated through conscious lived time This would mean that by increasing the individual’s duration spent in the monster’s space simultaneously increases its contempt towards life.2 According to Schopenhauer. The monster’s space is life in its essence, actuality. It is evident that an individual’s life in all its purity, has no purpose. It is mere a continuation of worthless existence. Therefore, it relies upon each individual to fill/satisfy/satiate their life with purpose or reside in endless misery 3 He shares this notion with Kirkegaard, who includes that the human’s principle task is the permanent search for relief/distraction from their own life. The perceived nothingness that the space provides is a stimulus for action, which adds mind to the before mentioned “busy” individuals.
Kierkegaard makes the distinction that not all distraction is good, positive, no matter how purposeful the individual may view/regard it. He stresses that the space motivates a lot of dubious, immoral and painful activity.4 Unlike the others, Kirkegaard draws attention to an evilness present in the space. He does not address the monster directly but acknowledges an attribute distinct to it.
1 Martin Heidegger, The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, 1929-1930, trans. W. McNeil & N.Walker, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995)
2 Roland Barthes & Rosalind Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, (The MIT Press 2005) Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021, p. 7
3 Wendell O’Brien, Boredom: A History of Western Philosophical Perspectives, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, https://iep.utm.edu/, accessed 6 December 2021
4 Wendell O’Brien, Boredom: A History of Western Philosophical Perspectives, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, https://iep.utm.edu/, accessed 6 December 2021
Not much is known of the monster. It captured my friend. It put him in a state where the only thing he had left was his name. In an attempt to restore himself he wrote poetry. In his poems he describes his state and the space. Each metaphor, expression adding to the monster’s presence. Its reality recorded, proven, carried in his words. His poetry showed me the space where I found the monster.
Floorboards
Surface splinters
Fill in the cracks
Core torn apart
Neutered grain
Broken sisters
Withered lilacs
I break their hearts
I feel no shame5
Laying on the ground observing the floorboards, Sully’s physical interpretation of enduring the monster’s space. It’s silence holding intrusive thoughts, which formulate from regret.
“Neutered,”its subjective “Neuter” (the third term between the genders).6 Old French from Latin neuter “neither,”from ne- “not” + uter “either” or “the Neutral.” Neither here nor there, Krauss states that “neutralization explains the action of sublation, annihilation or the transcendence of difference”.7 Difference represents two poles opposing each other. In this case the neutral is the death of opposition. Without opposition or distinctions objects cannot be defined Undefined, he is nothing. It is his indistinction that erases him from any connection, quality he possessed.
5 James P. Sullivan, Floorboards, 2018 (London: Unpublished 2021)
6 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 4
7 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 5
Its reality recorded, proven, carried in his words. His poetry showed me the space where I found the monster.
Floorboards
Surface splinters
Fill in the cracks
Not much is known of the monster. It captured my friend. It put him in a state where the only thing he had left was his name. In an attempt to restore himself he wrote poetry. In his poems he describes his state and the space. Each metaphor, expression adding to the monster’s presence. Its reality recorded, proven, carried in his words. His poetry showed me the space where I found the monster.
Core torn apart
Neutered grain
Broken sisters
Floorboards
Withered lilacs
I break their hearts
Surface splinters
I feel no shame5
Fill in the cracks
Core torn apart
Neutered grain
Broken sisters
Withered lilacs
Laying on the ground observing the floorboards, Sully’s physical interpretation of enduring the monster’s space. It’s silence holding intrusive thoughts, which formulate from regret.
I break their hearts
I feel no shame5
“Neutered,”its subjective “Neuter” (the third term between the genders).6
Old French from Latin neuter “neither,”from ne- “not” + uter “either” or “the Neutral.”
Neither here nor there, Krauss states that “neutralization explains the action of sublation, annihilation or the transcendence of difference”.7 Difference represents two poles opposing each other. In this case the neutral is the death of opposition. Without opposition or distinctions objects cannot be defined Undefined, he is nothing. It is his indistinction that erases him from any connection, quality he possessed.
Laying on the ground observing the floorboards, Sully’s physical interpretation of enduring the monster’s space. It’s silence holding intrusive thoughts, which formulate from regret.
“Neutered,”its subjective “Neuter” (the third term between the genders).6 Old French from Latin neuter “neither,”from ne- “not” + uter “either” or “the Neutral.” Neither here nor there, Krauss states that “neutralization explains the action of sublation, annihilation or the transcendence of difference”.7 Difference represents two poles opposing each other. In this case the neutral is the death of opposition. Without opposition or distinctions objects cannot be defined. Undefined, he is nothing. It is his indistinction that erases him from any connection, quality he possessed.
5 James P. Sullivan, Floorboards, 2018 (London: Unpublished 2021)
6 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 4
7 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 5
5 James P. Sullivan, Floorboards, 2018 (London: Unpublished 2021)
6 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 4
7 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 5
Postscript
Synthetic human with no prescription And no sympathies of any description Disposition cover me With anaesthetizing recovery
I am Lazarus of Bethany
I’m stillborn still born endlessly8
In his neutral state he expresses his urge for gaining back a quality, characteristics. The neutral is not marked by distinct characteristics. Barthes highlights the unmarked disposition of the neutral with a quote by Lao-tzu: "I am as if colourless ... neutral who has not yet felt his first emotion, as if without project and without goal."9
At first one might take the neutral as a peaceful, non-threatening, unproblematic outlook. One could compare it to a new-born’s perspective. A re-birth, starting life unmarked, untouched, excited by the infinite alternatives of discovery, exploration, and the prospect to grow and acquire qualities. Barthes theory is that it should not be underestimated.
“Colourless” as Lao-tzu describes. The distinction between colourful and colourless is the “ultimate opposition,” 10 so much so that it would upset/disorganize any form of arrangement.
Vladimir Lossky, who adds: "The difference between the colorless and the colourful surpasses everything that distinguishes two surfaces of different colors"11 So, the colourless is left out of the principles of organization. Unmarked.
Sully’s neutrality makes him incapable of fitting into any social order. His indistinction leaves him in total isolation. Scared of being alone, alienated he disguises himself.
8 James P. Sullivan, Postscript, 2018 (London: Unpublished 2021)
9 Barthes & Krauss, quote: Lao-tzu in: From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 9
10 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 12
11 Vladimir Lossky, Lossky, Theologie negative et Connaissance de Dieu chez Maitre Eckhart (Paris: Vrin 1960) p. 261
Sun King
The divine right
Of planetary systems
The Sun King reigns
His temporal kingdom
A nameless face
A fleeting memory Entropy, his enemy12
‘Sun King’ is Louis XIV of France, who took the sun as his symbol and was revered for his extravagance and elegance This is Sully’s disguise during day to day life, covering himself with colour and affirmation. ‘Entropy’ is used as an analogy for this ‘disguise’ being impermanent as it gives way to feelings of insecurity and ‘imposter syndrome’ leading to chaotic, impulsive and self-destructive behaviour.
Barthes on his efforts of delineation, recognizing the neutral being nothing and everything simultaneously:
Thus we see that in the end the ultimate opposition, the one that both fascinates and is the most difficult to think about to the extent that it self-destructs in its very statement is that between distinction and indistinction, and this is what is at stake in the Neutral, the reason the Neutral is difficult, provocative, scandalous: because it implies a thought of the indistinct, the temptation of the ultimate (or paradigm: that of the distinct and the indistinct.)13 12 James
Voices
Echoes in a dream
Ringing like church bells
Almost as though it seems
They fill out my shell
A nebulous of voices
A choir in my mind
I need to own my choices
To return to humankind14
On its own the space is silent, but the silence causes thoughts to travel through it at rapid speeds in multiple directions. These thoughts carry chaos and commotion through noise of regret and self-criticism. They circle around Sully until it becomes too loud, too overwhelming. He branded his face with a knife. To feel, to see if he was still real.
A distraction from this passive, sedated space. It is so intolerable Sully rather suffers in pain, than be in a state of nothingness. “The thought of the Neutral is in fact a borderline on the edge of language, on the edge of color,”15
The neutral forces Sully to the edge of manners.
An unstable manner shifting up and down between mislead personality, distorted ego, unstable personal affiliations, disconnected from reality and intense reactions. Affected by all of this he chooses to self-harm trying to escape from the isolation of the neutral and back into the for him perceived ordinary.16 Life starved of determination leads to madness.
14 James P. Sullivan, Voices, 2019 (London: Unpublished 2021)
15 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 12
Sunset
Came down crashing
But not a sound
I feel them staring
The flies, the hounds
Fluorescent signs
Of retrospect
Echoes of reason
They reflect
The Sun King set
And took his prize
His charm, his luck
His wit, his pride
An empty shell
Is what remains
A childish husk
With shit for brains17
Caught in the monster’s space, feeling emptiness. The neutral as it is, nothingness, our restricted language unable to define. Undecided, uncertain, ambivalent these are the adjectives that are so often assigned to it. Harmless words, as though there is no monstrosity. Have they never witnessed the potential dangers the space holds, its destruction? Maybe they have, and are now terrified so they give it weird names such as Boredom, Langeweile, Dasein… free it from its monstrosity by giving value to it. An attempt to making an alliance, bringing it onto the side of ordinary. The attempts at defining the space are paradoxical. As pinning the neutral to an adjective means to kill it together with its essence of being all and nothing simultaneously. It would disintegrate with its definition/predication.18 I too am guilty of this, desperately trying to describe Sully’s space through the little vocabulary I own. This is why they stare, the ones sensing Sully’s absence of distinction are left wordless. Wordless through the absent ability of drawing substance from nothing. How does one address nothingness? While language can be concrete (when chosen to be spoken truthfully),19 the stares are based on hidden meaning, as it is not about what is said, rather about what is not said. Understanding would mean decoding/speculating a multitude of signs.
17 James P. Sullivan, Sunset, 2019 (London: Unpublished 2021)
18 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 13
19 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 5
I see distance in your eyes
For past you have in surplus
Now they only soliloquize
As they’ve outlived their purpose
You look into the Sun
There’s emptiness in the moonlight
But what’s learned can’t be undone
There’s no reprieve in hindsight
The road to Damascus hears no plea
And by the wayside you resign
Just know that I see what you see
And your terror is mine20
One defines the expression in his eyes as a third term.21 A true language It may have no words; it is not concrete or objective. It is deeply subjective, but it comes from an honest place. It originated in life’s purest aggregate (nothing) formed by desolation. His invention comes from an acceptance/aspiration to be neutral. Barthes believes that: “In each quality there is an element of anger, of suffering and furor, since each quality suffers from its isolation, its limitation and tries to overflow, to be united with other qualities."22 Sully is trying to enforce a change, something that will elevate him from his current state. This is done by adding a quality. A quality that will be patent to his existence. The qualitas, a subject heavily studied and referenced by Böhme. In which he states that in the beginning every object is of the same essence, there are no distinctions. As if driven by a natural urge of individuality, description, nomination objects then compliment their fates/existence with qualities. These are forged from their struggles, intensity and hardship.23 This can be connected to what Heidegger meant when he spoke about the state of pure existence. The position acts as mediator for change. It births a cause and activity, an outcome of prosperity, discourse or creation. It is Sully’s urge for a congenial body that births value. With time he develops his third term further into poetry. His poetry involves terms/expressions built from his experience as the monster’s captive and the pain of his indistinction. Through combining his language and the linguistic approach of metaphors and catachresis (limping metaphors) he learned to delineate the neutral whilst preserving its disorder of being. "To speak not through adjectives but through metaphors, that's what poets do.”24
20 James P. Sullivan, Ode, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)
21 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 16
22 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 14, 15
23 Jakob Böhme, Signtature of All Things, Jacobboehmeonline, signature.40111933.pdf, accessed 8 December 2021
24 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 19
Barthes further explains:
This Neutral remains conflictual, sensitive to the struggle of angry forces that stand against each other: the overcoming of the conflictual doesn't occur through suspension, abstention, abolition of the paradigm, but through invention of a third term: complex term and not zero, neutral term.25
Sully’s quality is established through description, reflection, expression of his conflictual condition. He overcame his indistinction through his newly found purpose. His predicament is that in order for him to formulate the content of his poetry (the resource of his quality/character) he must remain in an endless loop of torment and miserable existence. Suffering became the trait of his distinction/purpose; he is now branded by it Coming back to Schopenhauer who says that purpose is created to distract from one’s worthless existence. Sully’s condition is the opposite as his purpose is based on the concentration, attention and reflection of agony, confliction and worthless human circumstance.
Waves
It’s only pain
Nothing to gain Nothing to lose
It’s outlived its use.
It’s a sense that comes and goes in motion
Like the returning tide of a crashing ocean
A reminder of my human fragility
A puzzle beyond my inept ability
The answer behind a barbed wire fence
The key I lost in past tense
I try and try to find the solution
Regardless of its involution
And every time I fail disgraced
Another piece becomes misplaced
Eventually I’m sure to find
That there’s not enough pieces to repair my mind26
25 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 16
26 James P. Sullivan, Waves, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)
Waves
Barthes further explains:
It’s only pain
Nothing to gain
Nothing to lose
It’s outlived its use.
This Neutral remains conflictual, sensitive to the struggle of angry forces that stand against each other: the overcoming of the conflictual doesn't occur through suspension, abstention, abolition of the paradigm, but through invention of a third term: complex term and not zero, neutral term.25
It’s a sense that comes and goes in motion
Like the returning tide of a crashing ocean
A reminder of my human fragility
A puzzle beyond my inept ability
The answer behind a barbed wire fence
The key I lost in past tense
I try and try to find the solution
Regardless of its involution
And every time I fail disgraced
Sully’s quality is established through description, reflection, expression of his conflictual condition He overcame his indistinction through his newly found purpose His predicament is that in order for him to formulate the content of his poetry (the resource of his quality/character) he must remain in an endless loop of torment and miserable existence. Suffering became the trait of his distinction/purpose; he is now branded by it. Coming back to Schopenhauer who says that purpose is created to distract from one’s worthless existence. Sully’s condition is the opposite as his purpose is based on the concentration, attention and reflection of agony, confliction and worthless human circumstance.
Another piece becomes misplaced
Eventually I’m sure to find
That there’s not enough pieces to repair my mind26
25 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 16
Waves
26 James P. Sullivan, Waves, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)
It’s only pain
Nothing to gain Nothing to lose
It’s outlived its use.
It’s a sense that comes and goes in motion
Like the returning tide of a crashing ocean
A reminder of my human fragility
A puzzle beyond my inept ability
The answer behind a barbed wire fence
The key I lost in past tense
I try and try to find the solution
Regardless of its involution
And every time I fail disgraced
Another piece becomes misplaced
Eventually I’m sure to find
That there’s not enough pieces to repair my mind26
25 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 16
26 James P. Sullivan, Waves, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)
The door of the monster’s space is unlocked. Sully’s purpose freed him from the monster’s grasp, but he will not have realized as the same purpose drove him into a new cycle of madness caused by a now constant identification/embrace of his own suffering He is stuck in a loop of self-reflection for he must suffer to formulate purpose (poetry). It feels as if he is still under the monster’s spell. His indistinction no longer exists, he traded it for a value, for a quality. Yet there is no pleasure as the state he is in now is no different than the state of neutral.
Boehme proves through German etymology that the words suffering, and resource both derive from the word quality. “Quality,” German Qualität, Quelle “resource,” whilst Boeheme and Barthes point out that “Quelle” stands for “spring, surging force, soaring fountain”27 I choose its presently more frequent meaning “source, resource.” But also, Qual- “suffering,” The etymology proves that in each quality there lies a potential value(resource), yet it is complemented by suffering.28
27 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p. 14
28 Barthes & Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021 p.14
Fool’s Gold
The fool’s gold is buried with his shovel
Fool’s Gold
You feed him yarns but the act is mutual
He feeds you his through a gastric funnel
The fool’s gold is buried with his shovel
And you both smile and laugh as is custom in this ritual
You feed him yarns but the act is mutual
He feeds you his through a gastric funnel
He sought to write a diary entry
And you both smile and laugh as is custom in this ritual
To contemplate his plight
And although the pen was not empty
He sought to write a diary entry
It still refused to write
To contemplate his plight
And although the pen was not empty
The pen began to speak discordant
It still refused to write
Or so perhaps he thought
The source of the words is not important
The pen began to speak discordant
Just the ruin that they brought
Or so perhaps he thought
The source of the words is not important
“A ramshackle mind
Just the ruin that they brought
Both inferior and vindictive. One might look at you
“A ramshackle mind
And think that lunacy was addictive.
Both inferior and vindictive. One might look at you
And think that lunacy was addictive.
Though I’d savour every moment of your deserved slow demise, What I want most of all
Is to burrow through your eyes
And to live within your head
Though I’d savour every moment of your deserved slow demise, What I want most of all
So I can take a front row seat
Is to burrow through your eyes
And to live within your head
So I can take a front row seat
To watch you try, fail, Rinse and repeat.”
To watch you try, fail, Rinse and repeat.”
He branded the words on his mask of masks
To fertilise his growth
He branded the words on his mask of masks
To compensate for what he lacks
He made a solemn oath
To fertilise his growth
He took his foolish meagre mind
To compensate for what he lacks
He made a solemn oath
And performed an amputation
Now his lifeless corpse may find
He took his foolish meagre mind
It can only change through disintegration29
And performed an amputation
Now his lifeless corpse may find
It can only change through disintegration29
The fool’s gold is buried with his shovel
You feed him yarns but the act is mutual
He feeds you his through a gastric funnel
The fool’s gold is buried with his shovel
And you both smile and laugh as is custom in this ritual30
You feed him yarns but the act is mutual
He feeds you his through a gastric funnel
And you both smile and laugh as is custom in this ritual30
We come to a point where Sully comes to terms with his associated, produced quality. Exposing himself as the fool that persuaded himself and others into believing he holds value through his distinct agony. Whilst knowing all along that the main ingredient of his creation was blank/void/empty/, rendering the outcome as downright worthless.
We come to a point where Sully comes to terms with his associated, produced quality. Exposing himself as the fool that persuaded himself and others into believing he holds value through his distinct agony. Whilst knowing all along that the main ingredient of his creation was blank/void/empty/, rendering the outcome as downright worthless.
This being Sully’s final poem, he concludes/establishes that he no longer wants to be associated with the beforementioned circumstance and qualities derived from it. He buries these together with the shovel to prevent himself and anyone else from unearthing them ever again. In an attempt to escape the monster’s realm, he coats himself with traits of substance and imitates customary rituals and signs e.g. facetiousness to form a connection with a well-defined member of social collective. In this instance the gastric funnel is used to translate Sully’s third/neutral terms into conventional semiotics that are coherent/comprehensible to the congenial body.
Unfortunately, the translations filtered through proved to be ineffective in transmitting the severity and concrete meaning of Sully’s predicament. Signs/impressions/indications of truth and urgency obscured by futile expressions such as humour and sarcasm/irony, which made any intended reactions of compassion or assistance unlikely.
This being Sully’s final poem, he concludes/establishes that he no longer wants to be associated with the beforementioned circumstance and qualities derived from it. He buries these together with the shovel to prevent himself and anyone else from unearthing them ever again. In an attempt to escape the monster’s realm, he coats himself with traits of substance and imitates customary rituals and signs e.g. facetiousness to form a connection with a well-defined member of social collective. In this instance the gastric funnel is used to translate Sully’s third/neutral terms into conventional semiotics that are coherent/comprehensible to the congenial body. Unfortunately, the translations filtered through proved to be ineffective in transmitting the severity and concrete meaning of Sully’s predicament. Signs/impressions/indications of truth and urgency obscured by futile expressions such as humour and sarcasm/irony, which made any intended reactions of compassion or assistance unlikely.
30 James P. Sullivan, Poetry: Fool’s Gold, in: Das ein, Paris Horstmann, 2021 (London), 1st StanzaHe sought to write a diary entry
To contemplate his plight
And although the pen was not empty
It still refused to write31
This process stresses Sully’s effort to illustrate and reflect on the neutral state in ordinary fashion. His efforts of gathering a little coherence/overview/understanding through recording and organizing his thoughts conclude a wordless/blank sheet of paper. Blank through the incapability to capture nothingness through shared language. The Neutral’s signs and essence impossible to decode through adjectives and therefore placing it at the edge of (pathetic) language. Barthes states that the Neutral escapes definition and the paradigm/patterns in semiotics that generate understanding through comparison and confrontation of opposite terms.32
The pen unwilling to write proves that Sully is still in his non predicable state and leads to the realisation that the acquired affirmation (profit) through production of predicated substances (e.g. poems) was only temporary. The turnover came to an end when he labelled his generated qualities as worthless and buried the ones not yet consumed. We learn there is a clear distinction between acquiring qualities and being qualified.
The pen began to speak discordant Or so perhaps he thought
The source of the words is not important
Just the ruin that they brought33
At last the pen begins to speak (not write). It turns on its physical possessor. Uttering the conflictions inside Sully’s mind harshly into actuality. Remembering the pen’s previous unwillingness to write and relating it to its present and unusual choice of expression:
Thus approached (rather than defined), the Neutral becomes a field of investigation to define forms of knowledge, affects and communication that are not based on the choice between mutually defeating opposites for the production of meaning. The Neutral aims instead to occupy precisely the space in between where tensions are played out and traces of the opposites suggest or indeed produce the possibility of the many 34
Silence has absolute quality and the oppositional capability to counter patterns of speech. Therefore, silence too is prohibited from use in the neutral state as it confirms to follow the paradigmatic indication of opposition.
Instead the Neutral remains in a strong state of activity and expression. An expression affected by its in-between space of friction and tension. A space comprised of all and nothing simultaneously. The traces of opposites insinuate a disturbed environment of many outcomes, harnessed by various constraints, cancellations and irregularities and if conveyed, only tentatively. The Neutral is instantly forced to generate a solitary, unique methodology of representation, hence the very unpredictable and singular art of expression. Unable to be included in patterns of knowledge work the Neutral stands on its own, broken apart from the structure of its origin. As Sully mentions in his poem: For the Neutral the source/origin is of no importance, the Neutral might have traits and traces that indicate a predecessor, yet it behaves truly autonomous.
In Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics (2018) Chapter 6 Dust, Teresa Stoppani writes on dust as mediator and guide for transformations of form in architecture and the city. The chapter deals with systems of order and disorder of architectural remains and how dust establishes these during/after disintegration. But what I am particularly interested in is Stoppani’s emphasis on the fragment and any connections it might have with the ruins of Sully’s circumstance:
The fragment forgets the whole as the system of relations it was in, but it remembers its own being incomplete, unwhole. It preserves its itness. Such ‘forgetful memory’, the partial amnesia of the fragment, preserves its capacity to instigate, produce, invent new relationships.35
33 Sullivan, poetry: Fool’s Gold, in: Das ein, Paris Horstmann, 2020 (London), 3rd Stanza
34 Teresa Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 17
35 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 151
In many ways the fragment reminds us of the Neutral. Particularly in its formation and as carrier of shared qualities and behaviours towards systems of relationships, arrangements/delineations. This is unusual as both are evidently incomparable in essence. Their singularity unable to fit into the paradigm of organization. Prompts the assumption they are one and the same.
Regarding the origin of the words, another interpretation might be Sully’s realization that he as author is unnoticed. While his circumstance, shining through the poetry gains traction/impressions/attention from listeners, the same audience remains indifferent towards its creator. This furthermore fuels Sully’s contempt towards his circumstance. Coming back to his poems generating value/quality but Sully himself not deemed qualified. It is purely the signals of suffering that are deemed as a spectacle to others. The source along with the work’s author are void.
The ruin relates back to Barthes belief that time in the monster’s space is felt slowly and intensely. Without purpose Sully is confronted continuously with his own existence/Dasein, his conscious perception of time duration is significantly slower in comparison to someone that is distracted by futile activities. Due to Sully’s distorted evaluation of time he relies on alternative methods of measurement. The passing of time and its effects on the environment and relevant person are manifested through/evident (in)the disintegration of an object into a subsequent aggregate (dust). The transformation the object undergoes (object –> fragment –> Dust) is the physical manifestation of Sully’s mental condition, which is influenced/affected by time/duration spent in the Neutral’s space. With each passing moment Sully loses reference of his prior self.
“A ramshackle mind
Both inferior and vindictive. One might look at you
And think that lunacy was addictive. Though I’d savour every moment of your deserved slow demise, What I want most of all
Is to burrow through your eyes
And to live within your head
So I can take a front row seat
To watch you try, fail, Rinse and repeat.”36
With the help of Barthes, I previously established Sully’s condition (life seized of determination) as borderline, on the edge of language, edge of madness.37 This stanza indicates Sully’s dealing with aspects of the Neutrals conflictual energy. As Stoppani put it: “The Neutral – my Neutral – can refer to intense, strong, unprecedented states. “To outplay the paradigm” is an ardent, burning activity.”38 The Neutral rebels against the paradigms of order by providing an environment of disorder, tension and friction.
Barthes is fascinated by the space of that ‘friction’ and by the fact that a trace of the other, the ‘unchosen pole’ remains in speech. In the end, nothing is clearly black or white, and tensions remain in this opposition.39
Sully remains conflictual, his self-criticism and frustrations echo his irritability towards angry forces clashing with each other inside this space. The anger, torment and destructive character define the Boehmian quality.40 Aggression, suffering feed into the quality and offer a momentary relief from the conflictual condition. Sully’s poetry originated from this anger and torment. “The Neutral has ‘active, productive features and it introduces different ways of operation that sacrifice oppositional meaning for other ways of knowing.”41 To preserve this activity, the neutral employs a “destructive character.” This character is vital in maintaining a strong active value throughout challenging the revolving sequences of disturbed uncertainty. The uncertainty is the unintentional release of forces during conversion of energy into work/production. Similar to entropy, it is disorder in the Neutral space. But a degree of disorder does not mean confusion, imprecision or indifference. On the contrary it is testimony to the power/passion and commitment that counteracts difference and provides inventive innovation in a project.
36 Sullivan, poetry: Fool’s Gold, in: Das ein, Paris Horstmann, 2020 (London), 4th Stanza
37 Horstmann, Essay: Das ein, 2021 (London)
38 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 18
39 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 17
40 Jakob Boehme, De Signatura Rerum, 1621
41 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 19
Barthes’s work on (around, through) the Neutral performs what I would call a paradigmatic operation: it offers a series of paradigms, more than examples but not quite prescriptions or rules, to produce a non-oppositional form of knowledge.42
The “destructive character” is described by Stoppani as something without free will and disposition. It works perpetually tactless and does not revolve around the creation or destruction of an object, rather on the incessantness of the process.43 There is also the theory that the character suffers from amnesia and forgot its origin. It is probable that it started working with a purpose but dropped its motive when it lost its memory. And/But just kept on working.
its ‘project’ is an activity, the making of a process as an opening of possibilities rather than definitions of an object. Even the void that the destructive character makes is not defined, nor is it created for the purpose of remaining so.44
One might question the Neutrals overall play. Is the main objective to always avoid or challenge opposites without resolution? If so, for how long and is there an outcome? Is it purely to cause disruption through stalling organization? Or is it to permanently facilitate a process in its in-between space? A strenuous and powerful activity, never-ending, providing endless possibilities but never coming to conclusion.45 Where will it go? Will it come to an end? And most importantly, what will it do to Sully?
Whatever it is, Sully is frustrated and discouraged by the absurdity of remaining in an eternal loop of torment/miserable existence, made to work for qualities. But never be acknowledged as qualified. He is transparent about his efforts/production not leading to outcome as he is situated in an infinite space of process, short of evaluation or verdict. This could hint at him knowing the possible danger of becoming a “destructive character” (a fool tricked by the monster into eternal/futile labour) and losing himself in the monster’s space. It is the doubt and this epiphany/realization that made him quit writing and plan his escape from the neutral space.
42 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 20
43 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 153
44 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 153
45 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 18
He branded the words on his mask of masks
To fertilise his growth
To compensate for add to what he lacks
He made a solemn oath
He took his foolish meagre mind
And performed an amputation
Now his lifeless corpse may find
It can only change through disintegration46
Branded words on mask of masks. Masks represent quality. The masks are forged from the characteristics/qualities released from Sully’s poetry. He produces these. The masks are a disguise/false identity with temporary definition/quality. Simulating someone with a purpose, with colour and affirmation. Following the monster’s orders: The final mask is branded with the “destructive characters” name and the mask befits this character’s face. This might just be the transition from Sully to the “destructive character.”
Caused by Sully’s before mentioned epiphany. He attempts to divertfrom the monster’s plot and change his own destiny (Sully plans a revolution). Sully modifies his approach from compensating what he lacks, to adding to it. Sully speaks of a lack (–) the instinctual reaction is to add (+) something that satiates this lack. In this case compensation (compensating/counteracting = exerting opposite force towards deficiency = restoring oneself through addition=filling the void with something to make it smaller) follows a process of addition, specifically the addition of characteristics/qualities. Over the course of the essay we have witnessed these additions as counterproductive. Ensuing Sully took the preconceived notion that to truly enforce a change the equation had to be improved [through replacing the addition (+) with a subtraction (–)]. Confusingly subtracting (–) suggests adding (+) to Sully’s lack (–). The subtraction does not restore/fill the deficiency/void but contrarily adds to its size/expands it. Instead of repairing his defect condition, he decides to destroy it further by removing/subtracting/eradicating more of himself. [(–) + (–) = –] Systems of mathematics claim the sum of two negatives is always a negative. [(–) + (–) = +] Considering dialectical laws, a double negative equals a positive force. Regardless of result, the process is total devolution/regression. Sully believes that dealing with his situation in a disruptive manner leads to unforeseen circumstances, possibly resulting in his escape. To escape from the monster’s grasp is to physically remove oneself piece by piece.
Following, disguised as the “disruptive character” Sully performs the amputation on himself. The amputation reflects an acceptance and tolerance of his condition. Willing to cross the threshold of resistance and embrace the neutral state in its true form. A state of zero. Every trace of distinction is cut out to cause a total transformation of self. Soon in the process only the indistinction is left, which supposedly is deemed a distinction in itself. Shortly it too is removed by the “destructive character,” along with its monstrosity. In the end all that is left are an agglomeration of fragments. Fragments of unlike aggregates and materiality. One fragment quite distinctive in form resembling that of a human body now a hollow shell. The other formless and refer to the disintegration of a former presence. Tiny parts and particles make up the ensemble implying that this something had been destroyed, broken,
disassembled, cut, stripped of its essence and every fundamental feature and quality removed, torn apart, dissolved or undone.47
Through living with the monster Sully figured out that by dedicating himself to the Neutral, and devoting his energy towards his destruction (the revolution) he will instigate a change/process of transformation/makeover and end up with an outcome of multiple scenarios/countless possibilities. These are met through regressing into a fragment (brreaking into several fragments). As mentioned before by Stopanni: The fragment is no longer bound to the systems of relations of his former presence. It no longer remembers its previous state and therefore lost all connection to the Neutral space and the monster that held it. In essence it escaped the shackles of its captor/monster. But it probably has no recollection of this. Stoppani previously revealed that: Because it lost its former affiliations, it’s a fragment of a previous whole. Most of its previous life forgotten, it is left with one memory that grounds awareness. It knows of its incompleteness. So, it actively seeks out (new) connections, relationships and engages freely in establishing (new) possibilities for (new) non-original recombinations.48The transition from whole to fragment is a reincarnation: “ a re-birth, re-starting life unmarked, untouched, excited by the infinite alternatives of discovery, exploration, and the prospect to grow and acquire qualities.”49The re-born, precarious fragment is able to fit into any configuration through material formation and influence its own classification through its re-arrangement: “a fuzzy line, whose edges are always and constantly redefined in both time and in the rules of their aggregation.”50
Sully’s disintegration into an agglomeration of fragments promises a multitude of combinations/sequences/paradigms. Some of the fragments might re-assemble themselves into something defined, something with new substance/predication. A newly formed body/corpus able to make an alliance and be accepted back into principles of organization. Was the Neutral after all just a pre-revolutionary rebel? A moment of resistance before things fall back into order?51 Admittingly not all of Sully’s fragments follow aforementioned patterns of integration and accord. A part of the agglomeration remains tightly knit at the edge of the paradigm. Coherent but of rebellious/unsettling nature. Like the Neutral, this group of outlaws is overwhelming and disrupts anything that is tidy, organised, controlled. It has become somewhat of a monster itself, with the disturbing ability to cover individuals with boredom and obsolescence.52 It keeps these in forgotten spaces to decay. Funnily enough there is speculation it does these things inadvertently.
47 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 145
48 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 151
49 Horstmann, Essay: Das ein, 2021 (London)
50 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 144
51 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 2 Paradigm 18
52 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 145
Now that the pack has shed its skin (Sully’s former shell), it gathers in the atmosphere and spreads amongst the boroughs of Sully’s former city, London city. In the exposed quarters it forms dark clouds and coats the cities concealed corners and underbelly (Unlundun). London shares a history with this monster and has resisted it on several occasions. The most significant battle was in 1956 when the city triumphed over the monster’s predecessor named The Great Smog. The Great Smog was diminished by the capital with implementation of a Clean Air Act. It had caused havoc since 1952. With the times the city’s threshold for such monsters has fallen. Smaller groups of rebels that penetrate interior spaces of the city are now sucked in and compartmentalised by Dyson vacuums.53 The containment of the not to be contained.
The one fragment, the hollow, distinctive one, uses its human form to begin a less strenuous relationship with the city. It wanders the city serenely in its shell. Later moved into a townhouse east of the capital. The body started working as a chef, cook actually as passion/devotion was not involved. Work purely to sustain. Still in search of a purpose/endeavour. Then it finds itself a girl. A girl that falls in love and captures the fragment with laudatory adjectives. The compliments = complement. The previously hollow shell now filled with predication. The missing monstrosity replaced with project and with goal = with will to possess. To accommodate to the loving subject’s needs. Her presence makes (new) Sully hold quality.
The neutral position acts as mediator for change. It births a cause and activity, an outcome of prosperity, discourse or creation. Sully achieves this first through expression and semiotics. Through re-arranging/re-combining his words and with the help of linguistic approaches such as metaphors and catachresis (limping metaphors) he learns to delineate the neutral whilst preserving its disorder of being. Creating new content/meaning through assemblage and recombination. Later on, he uses this process in a literal/radical/extreme manner through transformation of himself/his condition and placing himself into a new paradigm.
53 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 165 - 166
fragment with laudatory adjectives. The compliments = complement. The previously hollow shell now filled with predication. The missing monstrosity replaced with project and with goal = with will to possess. To accommodate to the loving subject’s needs. Her presence makes (new) Sully hold quality.
The neutral position acts as mediator for change. It births a cause and activity, an outcome of prosperity, discourse or creation. Sully achieves this first through expression and semiotics. Through re-arranging/re-combining his words and with the help of linguistic approaches such as metaphors and catachresis (limping metaphors) he learns to delineate the neutral whilst preserving its disorder of being. Creating new content/meaning through assemblage and recombination. Later on, he uses this process in a literal/radical/extreme manner through transformation of himself/his condition and placing himself into a new paradigm.
Now that the pack has shed its skin (Sully’s former shell), it gathers in the atmosphere and spreads amongst the boroughs of Sully’s former city, London city. In the exposed quarters it forms dark clouds and coats the cities concealed corners and underbelly (Unlundun). London shares a history with this monster and has resisted it on several occasions. The most significant battle was in 1956 when the city triumphed over the monster’s predecessor named The Great Smog. The Great Smog was diminished by the capital with implementation of a Clean Air Act. It had caused havoc since 1952. With the times the city’s threshold for such monsters has fallen. Smaller groups of rebels that penetrate interior spaces of the city are now sucked in and compartmentalised by Dyson vacuums.53 The containment of the not to be contained.
The one fragment, the hollow, distinctive one, uses its human form to begin a less strenuous relationship with the city. It wanders the city serenely in its shell. Later moved into a townhouse east of the capital. The body started working as a chef, cook actually as passion/devotion was not involved. Work purely to sustain. Still in search of a purpose/endeavour. Then it finds itself a girl. A girl that falls in love and captures the fragment with laudatory adjectives. The compliments = complement. The previously hollow shell now filled with predication. The missing monstrosity replaced with project and with goal = with will to possess. To accommodate to the loving subject’s needs. Her presence makes (new) Sully hold quality.
The neutral position acts as mediator for change. It births a cause and activity, an outcome of prosperity, discourse or creation. Sully achieves this first through expression and semiotics. Through re-arranging/re-combining his words and with the help of linguistic approaches such as metaphors and catachresis (limping metaphors) he learns to delineate the neutral whilst preserving its disorder of being. Creating new content/meaning through assemblage and recombination. Later on, he uses this process in a literal/radical/extreme manner through transformation of himself/his condition and placing himself into a new paradigm.
53 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 165 - 166
53 Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, 2018 (Abingdon), Chapter 6 Dust 165 - 166
In conclusion the essay offers us a multi-faceted examination of the Neutral and its impact on our understanding of identity, creativity, and language. It reminds us that the pursuit of qualities and the confines of the established paradigms can often lead to emptiness and a loss of substance. The journey of the protagonist through the Neutral serves as potent metaphor for the challenges faced by creators as they navigate the complexities of their own creative processes. The destructive character within the Neutral challenges our notions of order and structure, and its perpetual activity disrupts established norms. However, Sully’s experience also cautions against losing oneself in the pursuit of qualities and the relentless cycle of process without resolution. Ultimately, the exploration of the Neutral invites us to reflect on our own struggles with identity, meaning, and the limitations of language. It encourages us to confront the void, embrace uncertainties, and forge our own paths amidst the chaos and beauty of the Neutral. Through his poems, we are reminded of the power of art and expression to capture the ineffable and illuminate the profound depths of our existence. In the end, this essay challenges us to re-evaluate our preconceptions, transcend, conventional boundaries and embrace the transformative potential of the Neutral. They remind us that in the pursuit of truth and understanding, we must be willing to confront the emptiness and complexities of our own narratives, for it is within those liminal spaces that the most profound discoveries often lie.
Bibliography
Jakob Böhme, Signtature of All Things, Jacobboehmeonline, signature.40111933.pdf, accessed 8 December 2021
Martin Heidegger, The Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics, 1929-1930, trans. W. McNeil & N.Walker, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995)
Roland Barthes & Rosalind Krauss, From the Neutral: Session of March 11, 1978, (The MIT Press 2005) Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3397640, accessed 7 December 2021
Vladimir Lossky, Lossky, Theologie negative et Connaissance de Dieu chez Maitre Eckhart (Paris: Vrin 1960)
Wendell O’Brien, Boredom: A History of Western Philosophical Perspectives, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, https://iep.utm.edu/, accessed 6 December 2021
Teresa Stoppani, Unorthodox ways to think the city: representations, constructions, dynamics, (Abingdon: Routledge 2018)
Image
Boo’s Door, The Disney Wiki, https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Door, accessed 6 December 2021
Poetry
James P. Sullivan, Floorboards, 2018 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Postscript, 2018 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Sun King, 2019 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Voices, 2019 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Sunset, 2019 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Ode, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Waves, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)
James P. Sullivan, Fool’s Gold, 2020 (London: Unpublished 2021)