[Dialogue] wedgeblade in Apple ad

Wayne Nelson wnelson at ica-associates.ca
Wed Dec 6 14:11:52 EST 2006


I doubt the wedgeblade in either form was consciously taken from the
anarchist symbol.  That ³Circle A² symbol has a long history and deep roots.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchist_symbolism#Description > Check it
out- - you¹ll immediately see the correspondences. The associations with it,
however, would have made our early imagemakers run like stink in the other
direction.  For one, the original associations are all mystical ­
metaphysical ­ Joe steered clear of metaphysics and leaned toward ontology.
To me, it¹s coincidence that the 2 images are similar, but I wasn¹t in the
foundry when these images were shaped.

There¹s yet another form of this image. In the mid ­ late 80¹s, Ilona
Staples did a painting in which the Œwedgeblade with the circle¹ was
repeated 7 times from the left of the painting to the right. As the images
go along the painting, each wedgeblade gets lighter in colour. We have it
hanging in our office.

I have a feeling that we (probably JWM) invented the wedgeblade image. Joe
was really good at creating graphics to hold complex ideas in a single
gestalt. It very likely rose out of the combined ideas coming from the
Niebuhr brothers, Mannheim, Bultman ­ that poetry and some of the
existentialists like Sartre.   Not to mention ­ dare I say it? - Joseph
Stalin ­ in "Dialectical and Historical Materialism"
 
 ³Out of the conflict between the new productive force sand the old
relations of production, out of the new economic demands of society there
arise new social ideas; the new ideas organize and mobilize the masses; the
masses become welded into a new political army, create a new revolutionary
power, and make use of it to abolish by force the old system, of relations
of production, and firmly to establish the new system.²

You can see the image taking shape as your mind passes through these ideas.
(substitute other words for the economic imagery Stalin used)

We all know  where the wedgeblade with the circle (the Œturn¹ symbol) came
from in the early 70¹s when we were re-imaging ourselves and
self-consciously adopting a trans-establishment posture .

Where did the original come from? Some of those involved in the Faith and
Life community may recall when the wedgblade came into use.

I¹m only doing speculative back bearings and it¹s a pretty light touch. We
seem to have to do a lot of that in order to make really meaningful
connections between our historical roots and our current work and practice.


Wayne


"Carlos R. Zervigon"  wrote:

> The Song of a Man Who Has Come Through
> 
> D.H. Lawrence 1885 ­ 1930
> 
> Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me!
> A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.
> If only I let it bear me, carry me, if only it carry me!
> If only I am sensitive, subtle, oh, delicate, a winged gift!
> If only, most lovely of all, I yield myself and am borrowed
> By the fine, fine wind that takes its course through the chaos of the world
> Like a fine, an exquisite chisel, a wedge-blade inserted;
> If only I am keen and hard like the sheer tip of a wedge
> Driven by invisible blows,
> The rock will split, we shall come at the wonder, we shall find the
> Hesperides.
> 
> Oh, for the wonder that bubbles into my soul,
> I would be a good fountain, a good well-head,
> Would blur no whisper, spoil no expression.
> 
> What is the knocking?
> What is the knocking at the door in the night?
> It is somebody wants to do us harm.
> 
> No, no, it is the three strange angels.
> Admit them, admit them.2
> 
>  
> 2 Lawrence, D. H. ; Selected Poems; New York, NY, USA, Penguin Group (USA)
> Incorporated, 1959
>  
> 
> Carlos R. Zervigon, PMP
> 
> Zervigon International, Ltd.
> 
> 817 Antonine St.
> 
> New Orleans, LA  70115  USA
> 
> 504 894-9868 Mobile: 504 908-0762
> 
> carlos at zervigon.com
> 
> http://www.zervigon.com
> 
>  
> 
> 
> From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net]
> On Behalf Of John C. Montgomery
> Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:27 AM
> To: Colleague Dialogue
> Subject: Re: [Dialogue] wedgeblade in Apple ad
>  
> 
>  
> 
> think is was Bultmann's paper on faith - did not the wedgeblade image emerge
> out of the RS-1 poetry - "make me a fine wedge moving into the future" prior
> to the God lecture - I don't have the poetry at hand to get the wording right.
> 
> --
> John C. Montgomery
> 678-468-4913 
> monkeyltd at comcast.net (H)
> john.montgomery at acfb.org (O)
> 
>  
>> -------------- Original message --------------
>> From: "Marge Philbrook" <msphilbrook at gmail.com>
>> Who knows the name of the theologian who did the paper we studied with the
>> image of the "no longer and the not yet" as the role of the church?  I'll
>> like to try to find it in the archives if you know the author's name.  Marge
>> Phibrook 
>> 
>> On 12/6/06, Adam Thomson <dmtmsn at language.eclipse.co.uk> wrote:
>> 
>> From Adam Thomson, Dover England
>> 
>> My recollection says that 1972 indeed was the year of the turn symbol, and a
>> lot else besides.
>> 
>> I was fresh out of the '72 Academy and was attending one of Joe's "Room E"
>> gatherings when he laid out exactly what Wiegel referred to in his posting on
>> this. The memory is still vivid.
>> 
>> Adam 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> At 22:50 05/12/2006, you wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> The wedgeblade was the central image of the church
>> lecture in 1964--probably earlier. The turn symbol, as
>> Jim describes it came along with the turn to the
>> world--1972?
>> 
>> Doris Hahn
>> --- James Wiegel <jfwiegel at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> > Yes, it is the anarchist symbol, much more prevalent
>>> > in Europe, there have been some conversations over
>>> > the years that ICA should change its logo because of
>>> > those associations.  Technically, that one with the
>>> > wedge and the circle split in half is the "turn
>>> > symbol" which was created after the summer of 1971
>>> > in reflection on the movie "Little Big Man" and as
>>> > an attempt to state the dynamics of social change:
>>> > Pro establishment, Dis establishment (the 2 halves
>>> > of the circle) and Trans establishmen t, the wedge,
>>> > bringing together pro and dis and moving them
>>> > forward.
>>> >    
>>> >   The wedge blade was the Ecumenical Institute
>>> > symbol which old timers remember from the front of
>>> > room A on the west side and was the main teaching
>>> > image for the church lecture for the church as
>>> > social pioneer -- in that sense standing between the
>>> > no longer and the not yet, laying down your life on
>>> > behalf of all, or something like that.
>>> >    
>>> >   As my fading memory recalls, Gene Marshall's group
>>> > in Summer 71 had a hand in developing that image.
>>> > 
>>> > 
>>> > Jim Wiegel
>>> > 401 North Beverly Way   Tolleson, Arizona 85353-2401
>>> > +1  623-936-8671   jfwiegel at yahoo.com
>>> > 
>>> > Try something new and differ ent.  You will like the
>>> > results.  
>>> >                                     Fortune Cookie
>>> > 10/16/06
>>> >  
>>> > ---------------------------------
>>> > Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo!
>>> > Small Business.>
>> _______________________________________________
>>> > Dialogue mailing list
>>> > Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
>>> >
>> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net
>>> > 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Dialogue mailing list
>> Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
>> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Dialogue mailing list
> Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Dialogue mailing list
> Dialogue at wedgeblade.net
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/dialogue_wedgeblade.net


< >  < >  < >  < >  < >
Wayne Nelson - ICA Associates Inc
416-691-2316 - http://ica-associates.ca


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20061206/447963c9/attachment-0001.html 


More information about the Dialogue mailing list