I have just finished a new series of drawings which place Edward Lear’s nonsense word “runcible” within various disparate visual contexts. Check them out on my website here…

http://matt-lee.com/index.php?/select-projects/runcible/

“Runcible” is a nonsense word invented by Edward Lear in 1871. As with all neologisms, Lear’s “runcible” has no prior etymological history which can be traced. When Lear uses this word it forms a semantic gap within the poetry which can never be satisfactorily resolved by the reader – Though the word seems to suggest a meaning, we have no idea what. The nonsensicality of this word is further compounded when used by Lear through various texts as an adjective to describe disparate nouns…a runcible spoon, raven, cat, wall, hat and goose.

This ongoing series explores Lear’s “runcible” through a variety of disparate situations, scenarios, possible and impossible visual contexts. Through this continual process of contextual shifting the word suggests a multitude of meanings which conflict or contradict. The word “runcible” becomes an enigmatic mark which cannot be categorized or defined – “runcible” means both this and that and neither this nor that. The result is nonsense.

posted by admin at 5:26 am & filed under Drawings |