the one where i spoke to Bethany and discovered archipeligic thinking

The key ideas from Édouard Glissant's philosophy that i found exciting can be distilled into the following interlinked concepts, which stand in opposition to "continental" or systemic thinking/ imperialism:

1. The Archipelago as Metaphor for Relation:

   • Glissant uses the archipelago (a cluster of islands) as a model for global human coexistence and understanding.

   • It represents a world built on multiplicity-in-oneness—where each "island" (person, culture, site, work of art) maintains its singularity and specific identity while simultaneously being connected to, and in relation with, the whole network of other islands.

   • This counters the "continental" model, which seeks to homogenise, reduce difference, and establish hierarchical systems or a single, imposing synthesis.

2. Poetics of Relation (La Poétique de la Relation):

   • This is Glissant's central philosophical concept. It describes a global dialogue and a new way of thinking based on the "rooted necessity of relation" to every other place in the world.

   • It is about embracing connection and circulation between disparate elements—linguistically, culturally, politically, and intellectually—without erasing the specificity of the individual parts.

   • The aim is a non-hierarchical entanglement where relations are generative and constantly evolving.

3. Creolization (Créolisation):

   • This is the outcome of the relation. It is the process of unpredictable, unceasing mixing of cultures, languages, and identities that results in something wholly new and constantly changing.

   • It's not simple blending, but a dynamic, heterogeneous, and unforeseen synthesis that resists categorization and finality.

4. The Right to Opacity (Droit à l'Opacité):

   • A crucial ethical and philosophical concept. Glissant argues that we must demand the right to be different and opaque, meaning a right not to be "understood," reduced, or absorbed into a transparent, universal system.

   • It insists that difference should be respected without requiring assimilation or complete comprehension. You can relate to an "Other" without fully penetrating or explaining their existence, which challenges Western systems that historically demand clarity and definition.

Expanding: Connecting Thought to Practice

Archipelagic thought makes me think of motherhood and personal environment/body - the sense of holding space [ooo a good title for current painting collection]

First, with Archipelagic Thought, I need to stop seeing the work as a unified "continent." I’ve been trying to get one single material or one dominant idea to tell the whole story, and it always gets bogged down. Now, I have permission to look at my canvas, my sculpture, or my installation as a network of specificities—a cluster of small, distinct islands that are constantly pushing and pulling on each other through the "sea" of my making process. I need to document the tension between these isolated elements. Goodness knows how this will look in practice.

Second, the Poetics of Relation helps with my constant struggle to connect the personal to the universal. [Motherhood!!] I need to stop thinking linearly (memory leads to material choice) and start thinking about simultaneous entanglement. The work isn't a painting of a memory; it's a painting that's in relation to a memory, which is also in relation to a historical paint technique, which is also in relation to the current lighting in the studio. All these elements are active agents, and the true painting  subject is the dynamic field of relations they create. The wires... [as in my object drawings]

These are logic stacks and linear concepts around balance and connected with wires and threads; they are physical thoughts around connection and isolation.

Finally, the Right to Opacity liberates me from the tedious requirement of over-explaining everything. My work can insist on its difference without providing a user manual. I can consciously leave parts of it mysterious, resistant, and un-translated—a texture that defies its material, a color that won't sit still. Is the true function of the work is to protect this mystery, not to solve it. My job isn't to make the art transparent, but to make its presence undeniable.

Materialising

The emerging idea is: To what extent can the art object—and the process of its making—function as an archipelago rather than a continent?

Can I use this as a subject matter deep dive?  Trees, water and roots.

' Arborescent Thinking: This is traditional, hierarchical, and linear thinking. It moves from a single root or central point, branches out in a structured way, and everything can be traced back to the origin. (Example: a classification system, a strict organizational chart).  Rhizomatic Thinking: This is a non-linear, non-hierarchical, and decentralized mode of connection. Knowledge or ideas are interconnected in ways that are unpredictable, constantly shifting, and have no fixed beginning or end. It values fluidity, multiplicity, and connections across boundaries.'  Glissant