Bright yellow raincoat
"Wrapped around and covering me, the raincoat represented my mother's triumph over my own will, and persistently reminded me of my dependence on her. In a fundamental way that I didn't consciously acknowledge, the coat came to represent my mother, and I loved and resented it as I loved and resented her.
[...]
My theoretical and narrative constructions in science and art are the same sort of protective gear as the impermeable coat that I once wore to primary school; they hold nature at arm's length, close enough so that I can make sense of it, but far enough so that I won't be overwhelmed."
Matthew Belmonte, The Yellow Raincoat, in Turkle, Sherry (2007) (ed), Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England, p. 72 & 74
posted by Solveigh Goett at 10:13 am
2 Comments:
Glad you enjoyed the essay. (For me it was a welcome opportunity to write about something other than the science that occupies so much of my time!) -Matthew Belmonte
Such a lovely story. I have referred to it again in a conference paper - "The more art the more science" - Narrative Interpretations of Art (and Life) - that I am presenting at the Research into Practice Conference in London (31 October 2008) . If it gets published by any chance, I'll let you know.
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