eng131 the artist of disappearance
TRANSCRIPT
ANITA DESAI’S “THE ARTIST OF
DISAPPEARANCE”
Write: Based on our discussion of foreshadowing from last class, what did you think of the second half of “The Artist of Disappearance”? Were you surprised, or did it confirm your expectations? What connections can you see between the first and second half of the story? What clues did Desai provide for how the story would unfold? Why do you think she structured the story the way she did? What effect does the structure of the story create for the reader?
FORESHADOWING
“Nature could not have created those circles within circles of perfectly identical stones in rings of pigeon shades of grey and blue and mauve, or hoisted fallen branches into sculpted shapes, or fi lled the cracks in granite and slate with what seemed to be garlands of beads and petals. It looked like a bower—but of bird, beast or man? Any one of these was barely credible” (139).
RAVI’S ART
EARTHWORKS | LAND ART | EARTH ART
ROBERT SMITHSON, SPIRAL JETTY
What similarities and diff erences do you see between these earthworks by Robert Smithson and Andy Goldsworthy, and the art created by Ravi in “The Artist of Disappearance”?
How do these visual references illuminate your understanding of Desai’s story?
What kinds of similar questions are Desai and these artists exploring about nature, environmental degradation and preservation, the commercialization of art, and the ephemerality of life?
CONNECTION BETWEEN DESAI AND EARTHWORKS ART
Why doesn’t Ravi want the fi lmmakers to document his artwork, or interview him?
Who are we supposed to sympathize with, Ravi, or the documentary fi lmmakers? How do you know? How does our emotional relationship to the characters aff ect our interpretation of the story?
Compare the fi lmmakers’ interest in documenting how the “scenery is being spoilt” (131) with Ravi’s aff ectionate, obsessive relationship with nature. What do you think Desai is trying to say about environmentalist movements? About humans’ relationship with nature?
NATURE, ENVIRONMENTALISM, AND ART
Based on this quote, what do you think Harish’s obsession with surfaces is evidence of? Spiritual enlightenment? Mental illness? OCD? A radical rejection of society? A psychic break? Regression? Something else?
Harish had gone hunting. His slow, silent walk gave him the appearance of sliding rather than walking over the surface of the roads and fi elds, rather like a snail except that his movement was not as smooth as a snail's but stumbling as if he had only recently become one and was stil l unused to the pace. Not only his eyes and his hands but even his bare feet seemed to be feeling the earth carefully, in search of an interesting surface. Once he found it, he would pause, his whole body would gently collapse across it and hours--perhaps days--would be devoted to its investigation and worship. Outside the town the land was rocky and bare and this was Harish's especial paradise, each rock having a surface of such exquisite roughness, of such perfection in shape and design, as to keep him occupied and ecstatic for weeks together.
GENERATIVE WRITING FOR MOODLE RESPONSE