writing wittgenstein’s remarks on color on carbonless copy paper

 

 

lift the top sheet

the white sheet

the original

 

a feeling of pressure

 

to expose an other

the other

a neutral

the yellow

 

a proximity

 

to bare the other other

another

the pink

 

bring the other

and the other other

nearly as close

as the white

the self

the non—

 

 

 

 

“—And remember, too that a man may go through life without his colour-blindness being noticed, until some special occasion brings it to light.”

 

 

*

 

 

The soft c in “plasticity”

 

A material lost between the compliancy of rubber and the fixed qualities of metal.

Triumphant in its agreement to be ordinary.

One that acknowledges itself as a cheap imitation of nature and human desire, relatively invisible if executed well.

 

I see myself in this material—

Recognizing the hardened nature of the plastic white world around me,

partnered with the ability to melt and vacuum-form into temporary states.

A body lost between rubber and metal,

well-executed in its capacity to go unnoticed.

 

Objects of familiarity, of habit, become near-extensions of the body.

Maybe the promise of plastic—

its ability to change shape, texture, hardness, density, resilience, color—

is meant to keep the self non-rigid.

 

Yet, its freedom to “become anything” dissolves differences,

and might eventually reduce everything to nothing;

an affirmation that exposure to differences

other than that of the self is essential.

 

 

Perhaps the suburban-grown, educated, empathetic

white female body

is plastic.