>To indulge this shameless orientalism, I like to get tipsy before hand
>so I can swoon. It is extra-ordinarily erotic, like belly dancing. The
>line or rather my cultural-presupposed line between the sacred and the
>profane is blurred by the passion I sense from these forays into
>Islam. It really is an art trip. But it is also really a little
>crazy.
>
>Anyway, I have convinced myself, I can not enter this world with my
>reason intact, hence the alcohol. It is only available through the
>passions. This is a little surprising since Christianity holds
>absolutely no passion for me at all---unless I translate it into art,
>say Georges de la Tour, Magdalena befo
>
One of the most mind-blowing experiences of my life was visiting the
Alhambra in Grenada. I had never before been in a building that made
love to me. I remember briefly wishing that I had a joint...and then
realizing that it would have been absolutely useless as there could be
no way to further amplify the sensation of that architecture.
The only analog to it in the West was being at Chartres -- for a very different kind of ravishment.
Joanna