{"id":12,"date":"2010-07-13T21:31:11","date_gmt":"2010-07-14T02:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circledword.net\/?p=12"},"modified":"2010-07-17T11:48:47","modified_gmt":"2010-07-17T16:48:47","slug":"self-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/?p=12","title":{"rendered":"Self-Government"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If we think of rebellion, we usually think of it as disruptive and volatile. We think of armed rebels, teenage rebels, prisoner rebellions. Rebels work to wrest a situation out of a realm of control, for however short or long a time they can. Yet, by definition, rebellion never succeeds. It is neither revolution nor cataclysm, bringing about sudden, marked change. Rather, rebellion, as an ongoing process in time, passionately bursts out at intervals, and in between smolders beneath the surface, rather like desire.<\/p>\n

A passionate rebel certainly radiates charisma. One thinks of the iconic James Dean. Or, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Scotland’s history is marked by periods of smoldering and periods of outbursts linked to England’s attempts to increase the sphere of its authority. It was in Scotland recently where I witnessed another style of rebellion that for me holds a deeper fascination.<\/p>\n

In Glasgow at the Hunterian Gallery, one finds the reconstructed Mackintosh House, a recreation of the living space that Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh created for themselves. Standing in the peaceful atmosphere of this space, I sensed that each carefully crafted use of color and line, completely fitting to its place in the delightful ensemble, utterly defies and resists the kind of control maintained by authoritarian arrangements. How so?<\/p>\n

The effect of the rooms is a feeling of openness and rest. Here reside transparency and honesty unafraid. In contrast, as we know, hierarchy and authority rely on fear, regimentation, and operating on a “need to know” basis. In addition, each piece in the Mackintosh House reveals a loving attention to individualized details and ornament. Again, this goes against the grain of the uniformity, infatuation with speed, and utilitarian values associated with conventional authority. In sum, walking through the rooms, it was clear to me that humanity’s institutionalized rapaciousness may be defied by items and arrangements embodying grace.<\/p>\n

Encountering in the Mackintosh House the startlingly intriguing interior design elements, furniture, paintings, metal panels, and gesso panels, one encounters an art of persistent rebellion channeled into quiet and harmony. It is an art almost self-contained; while making no overt demands, it issues an invitation.<\/p>\n

In introducing a self-sponsored, immanent, creative control, Charles and Margaret Mackintosh open a space for productive work that rebels as sure as it exists. Perhaps the impulse behind their work is very like the impulse that has moved innumerable young and old people over time to bring more of the control of their lives home.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk\/collections\/art_gallery\/mac_house\/machouse_index.shtml<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we think of rebellion, we usually think of it as disruptive and volatile. We think of armed rebels, teenage rebels, prisoner rebellions. Rebels work to wrest a situation out of a realm of control, for however short or long … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,3],"class_list":["post-12","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mackintosh","tag-rebellion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circledword.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}