Page 21 - The Irony Board

Into the Mind

Splash

Water sends
A receipt
Back through air.

At first glance, this is a purely imagistic work. Whatever or
whoever throws or drops something into a body of water will be
notified of the object’s arrival by getting splashed. But the image
also works as a metaphor of the relationship between intellect and
emotion: the mind serves as output and input channels, respectively,
for emotional responses to external stimuli. The latter interpretation
rests upon the astrological association of water with feeling and air
with thought. That leads back to Gluckman: his outer nature (sun
sign) is air (Gemini); his inner nature (moon sign), water (Scorpio).
Thus the image also has a very personal, if not occult, meaning. He
does in fact perceive himself emotionally reacting (Scorpio’s
notorious and rather indiscriminate splashing of acid) to ideas with
ideas (Gemini’s compulsive communicativeness).

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