THE GREAT WAVE — AFTER HOKUSAI
Ithaka
The wave carries the journey. The geometry is Hokusai's sea; the text, the road we wish to be long.
The hidden text
Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη, να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος, γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις. Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας, τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι, τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δεν θα βρεις, αν μέν’ η σκέψις σου υψηλή, αν εκλεκτή συγκίνησις το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει. In English, my rendering
When you set out on the journey to Ithaka, wish that the road be long, full of adventures, full of things learned. The Laistrygonians and the Cyclopes, the angry Poseidon — do not fear them; you will never meet such things on your road, as long as your thinking stays high, as long as a rare emotion touches your spirit and your body.
C. P. Cavafy, “Ithaka”, 1911 Public domain — the poet died in 1933
This is exactly what the sheet carries. The reader returns it letter for letter.
Measurements
- Words
- 52
- On the sheet
- 432 bytes
- Capacity
- 591 bytes
- Fill
- 73%
- Line length
- 1.37 m
- Data rungs
- 1,182
- Paper
- A4 · 210 × 297 mm
Prints
Archival pigment print, signed and numbered. Choose a size:
