The Liminal Issue

Rhythmic tears

by Mimi Garcia

Tears spill between each eyelid,
as I long for the feel of my
feet
on dry land.

But how can I explain it to you
who are still
and absent,
watching and calculating the rhythm of every drop that falls
from my eyes.
Dancing between the rhythm
of my eyes as they close, and
singing to stop listening
to the rumble of my fall
because the pain resembles a rumble in your heart.

Meanwhile all I hear,
is a solfeggio in C major,
dancing to the pulse of my heartbeat,
losing the balance between each corner
of your smile;

I can see the sorrow in my eyes
the passing of the years
the accumulated pain;

the hurt, the guilt, the burden;

breaking my skin
spiraling the weight on my temple.

But love me,
love me because even though my drops make noise,
and hurt,
they are honest love,
They are honest.

FURY by Francis Bacon

The Limitations of the
Figure: Francis Bacon

by George Williams

Witnessing Francis Bacon’s Fury (1944), Kierkegaard through Dostoevsky to Sartre and
the violence of this grotesque figure Beauvoir, as they revealed the ways in which
consuming bloody roses stamped itself upon my values and even human reality itself are incapable
memory. That this writhing wreck of a creature of achieving final unity and as such condemned to
could masticate such delicate beauty, the canvas varying degrees of anxiety. For Sartre in particular,
oozes a profane terror. Yet its form is eerily this anxiety and lack of unity lies within his
human, with pallid skin stretched across bony existentialist diagnosis of human reality as being-
limbs, a thrashing fanged jaw and a single ear, for-itself. Unlike the non-conscious matter of
a twisted growth for it to hear the shuffles of its being-in-itself, being-for-itself is that nothingness
viewers and threaten to turn its carnal outburst that allows for consciousness and freedom
toward them. Such is the bestial nature of so many through its nihilation of the being-in-itself.
of Bacon’s works that create shambling horrors Through this nihilation, through this nothingness
which, though they first present themselves a that is consciousness, a distance is created which
circus spectacle, soon reveal themselves our own provides space for the distinction of subject and
reflections – and perhaps more honest reflections object and the transcendent horizons of freedom.
than those given in a mirror.
Bound into this condition as conscious being-
This is the figurative art of Bacon and one for-itself is the inextricable anxiety of never
interpretation of his corpus proffered by the achieving the self-identity of being-in-itself.
Royal Academy’s Francis Bacon: Man and Being-for-itself retains a “fundamental project” of
Beast. Progressing from room to room, across founding itself as being-in-itself, yet is barred by
the gargled cries of Three Studies of Figures at its very nature as a nothingness to never achieve
the Base of a Crucifixion (1944), past the tortured such a static self-coincidence. Being-for-itself
shrieks of Study After Velazquez’s Portrait of can only strive towards the identity of being-in-
Pope Innocent X (1953), through the jungle of itself, and indeed it cannot help but continue this
Bacon’s studies of chimps [Study for Chimpanzee Sisyphean task, ever seeking out identities it can
(1957)], and into the arena of Study for Bull Fight never be, always wracked with the anxiety of a
No.1 (1969), always surrounded by the twisted freedom that is incapable of the satisfaction of
visages of his portraits [e.g. Self-Portrait (1969)]: stasis. So too does the figurative work of Bacon
what unified all these pieces was a terror, disgust remain bound to representation, to the realm of
and morbid curiosity – but only within the scope identity and discernible form and content, while
of the human and animal forms. This fear is utterly devastating these subjects in their certainty
born of the possibilities of the human that defies of self. Bacon carves up the face that meant to
civilisation and mutates in lurid tones towards found Levinas’ ethics and manifests the primal
beast or abomination, but it does not go so far as scream that lies latent within the stomach and
the anxiety of representation itself. genitalia. The subject is thrown into chaos, but is
not completely unbound from identity. The figure
It's in this thrust of Bacon’s work that I find his remains, even if mutated or wild, and a bestial
fundamentally existential commitments. His spirit so often reigns – the world of representation
work, and indeed all figurative art, challenges is preserved even if its contents are confused.
the bounds of the body, decentres the subject and
perverts traditional forms of representation – one It’s this fundamental commitment to the figure
need only think of the twisted figures of Picasso or and hence to representation, which he treats in an
the lunar spectres of Giacometti. I take precisely existential fashion, that distances Bacon from the
that to be the product of existential thought from sublime art of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko.

In works such as Vir Heroicus Sublimis (1951), all define themselves as good in relation to the evil
sense of figure and representation has been washed birds of prey that feed upon them - this is identity
away. We are presented only with intensities: in opposition. While on the other hand, the birds
sterile yet foreboding blocks of red scored by of prey simply affirm themselves as manifestly
Newman’s quintessential ‘zips’ (or its Gestalt good - they require no oppositional category in
counterpart). There appears no story to read, no order to define themselves as good, they simply
character to identify, but a total engagement with act and affirm their virtue.
affect. The sheer scale of the painting (2.42m by
5.42m) overwhelms the spectator, bending them Given this exegesis of opposition and difference, I
to submission before the power of its sublime would claim that Bacon is a liminal artist. Bacon,
presencet. as with Picasso and Giacometti, is successful in
decentering the human subject: one cannot look
This is the sublime that Newman raises in his upon any of his works and retain a firm sense of
essay The Sublime is Now and which Lyotard self. Such figurative art wracks the human spirit
particularly delves into in his collection of with the animal, a chaotic horror or mutated
essays The Inhuman. For the latter, the sublime human form. Bacon defies strict identity and thus
principally alludes to something which cannot be departs from stable categories of oppositional
shown or presented. Unlike the beautiful, which thinking that would seek the absolute identity
derives from a harmony between image and of the subject (either through itself or through
concept through intelligible scenes, the sublime is reciprocal recognition with others). Bacon
an extreme tension born of the indeterminacy of cannot, however, take us beyond this point or
pleasure and pain, or indeed a pleasure that comes to the real possibility of conceiving difference,
from pain. Sublime art inspires us with terror in of thinking difference: he remains bound to the
the face of nothingness – that something might not figure and shackled to representation – even if the
happen – while not so overwhelmingly as a close representation is of a decentred subject. Bacon’s
encounter with death might. The sublime eludes art is capable of alluding to difference, pointing
intelligibility, standing outside of any categories towards that which cannot be presented, but it
that might seek to make sense of it. One may cannot present the unpresentable in the fashion of
well exercise a great deal of effort in attempting Newman or Rothko.
to assert order upon a Rothko such as Black on
Maroon (1959), but such feeble attempts miss In this way, Bacon’s art is doomed to liminality,
the very thrust of the work. Sublime art creates condemned to the existential purgatory
surprising, strange and shocking combinations (quintessentially presented in Sartre’s Being and
that have given up the imitation of models. Nothingness and No Exit). He rejects the unity of
oppositional thinking while never abandoning this
In abandoning all representation, sublime art project entirely, and is thus never able to think in
attempts to bear witness to the inexpressible; it terms of difference. Whether this is a criticism or not
presents the unpresentable. This unpresentable depends entirely upon one’s outlook of the possibility
found in sublime art is that element not defined of thinking difference without opposition. I take it
in terms of opposition or representation: it is that the works of Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault,
difference in itself. Following Lyotard, sublime art Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jacques Derrida show us
as innovated by avant-garde movements presents that we should not give up on the project of thinking
difference in ways that do not rely on oppositional difference in a world predominated by oppositional
categories such as figures, representation or categories and quantifications of knowledge. In
imitation, but rather present difference through that case, Bacon’s work appears trapped in the
the power of sublime affect. Sublime art escapes liminal: it points the way to that which cannot be
the failures of difference in identity (i.e. A is A expressed in oppositional terms while remaining
in virtue of not being B) and asserts difference in held back by the memory of the unity found in his
itself (i.e. that which does not require the other figurative commitments. Only through a complete
for its identity, or indeed that which defies the abandonment of representation and the figure
need for identity at all). To deploy an illustrative would art have a chance of invoking the sublime
example used by Nietzsche in Genealogy of and hence of forging a path to differential ways of
Morals I 13 which mirrors this distinction, lambs thinking.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Julio Meyer Ziff

THE SYMBOLIC
ANTHROPOLOGIST

AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERTO DE LA TORRE

by The Editors

Roberto de la Torre’s photography is striking.
His images are filled with people wearing
ancestral costumes. They seem to invoke deities
long forgotten yet still vital, buzzing with
primordial elements. But we were not only
interested in the beauty of De la Torre’s work, we
were drawn by his anthropological, documentary
approach. The series in question, Microcosmos,
is focused on rites and those who perform them.
Most of the masked figures in his images are from
Galicia, Spain – also de la Torre’s home region, he
currently lives in Vigo. He is interested by Magic,
rituals, and religion.

The images in Microsmos, to us, were steeped in
the in-betweenness this issue seeks to explore.
Liminality is transition, flux, the ambiguity
inherent in rites of passage, a quality De la Torre
captures through his portraits with warmth and
respect. His subjects remain clothed, proudly
bearing their dress, rather than becoming subjects
of study.

Phi found his approach fascinating, and as quickly
as computers could allow reached out to de la
Torre across the channel and several mountains to
ask him a few questions.

How did your interest in photography develop?

I got started in photography as a means of physical
expression at 19. I was always an autodidact and I
would photograph my environment and quotidian
scenes. With time my interests converged on
documentary photography and I evolved as
a photographer when I received more formal
anthropological training.

Which photographers or artists have inspired your
work?

Different authors have inspired me in different
stages but I’ve always tried to develop a distinct
vision and interpretation to approaches in the same
field. I have had very marked influences at a visual
level by Stanley Kubrick.

Who are your subjects? Are they strangers? How
do you approach them?

Before photographing the masked rituals I
always make sure to understand the meaning of
each subject, their local origins or connections
to common elements in a broader spectrum. The
people that wear the costumes always collaborate

and stand proudly before my camera. Afterwards I
try to befriend and establish a closeness with them.
I am honoured to count on their help.

When and why did an interest arise in you to
portray these rituals?

I began by photographing christian cult-rites
of a pagan origin: cults that have adapted to the
Christian religion but that existed long before
it. The masked figures also form a part of these
ancestral cults and they expanded my work
between the profane and the sacred, awakening a
lot of interest for that reason.

Do you think there are subjects or themes that
should not be photographed?

I think they should be much more respected than
they are, in my opinion, it’s not about a touristic
consumerist element or attraction. Sometimes it’s
about how they are treated as costumes or objects
worthy of a good photograph. They ought to be
photographed with care given their ritualistic and
sacred meaning. I have certainly photographed
some cults that would, nowadays, be quite polemic
in terms of their eschatology and contact with
animals.

Are your photographs stories you choose to create
or real moments you choose to capture?

All of my photographs are real moments, even
if the scene, the background, and the pose are
premeditated, I procure to make a photo in its
geographically corresponding location and in the
time of year that a certain masked figure makes
their appearance, closing in this way the sacred
time-space circle it corresponds to.

What do these rituals mean?

These rituals are sacred acts performed by powerful
beings, the masked ones, who are officiants of
a very ancient religion, without texts or known
doctrines, linked to the earth and to nature. The
masked one interacts between us and the gods to
procure fertility for the earth, short winters, and
bring forth the spring, a change of cycle. Human
beings interpret nature and their environment
creating a Microcosm to explain themselves and
give meaning to seasonal changes that are alien to
their wishes and contingent on divine will.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Roberto De La Torre

PHOTOGRAPHY by Roberto De La Torre

What does composition mean to you?

In composition I want the subject to be the
protagonist, to have a rotund presence. I like to
photograph them in a hieratic posture with a neutral
background but one that is nonetheless related to
the physical space in which the mask appears.

What does liminality mean to you?

Liminality refers to the intermediate space
between the sacred and the profane, the place
where connection and interaction with the gods
happens. A space where not anyone can enter. The
guide, the officiant or the shaman has to transform
themselves, to become a subject that transcends
beyond the human being underneath the mask and
dress. The masked person with their attributes and
movements, the sound of the clothes and their form
of acting manages to move in the liminal space
between two worlds.


Would you consider monochrome portraits or do
you find colour essential?

In my work I generally use colour or black and white
in function of what I want to tell. In Microcosmos
I opted for colour because of the importance of the
elements and attributes of the dress where colour
has a ritual and symbolic significance.

How would you recommend undertaking projects
in symbolic anthropology?

I recommend you do your research before starting a
project, investigating and studying the meaning or
the interpretation one has of myths and ceremonies:
Field-work, interviews and contrasts with past
projects. Once this is done, clearly defining the
strands of the work and striving to develop in
parallel many options to not bet on only one
argumentative stance, only when the project begins
to have certain weight and maturity you’ll find the
road in one of those strands and you will be able to
leave the others behind to get a more solid result.

Photos courtsey of the artist. Follow Roberto de la
Torre on Instagram @rober.delatorre, he assures
us he has many things in store.



PHOTOGRAPHY by Roberto De La Torre

19°23'47.0"N 99°14'16.7"W

by Alex Cat

Nostalgia, a funny feeling, nil forgotten –
Nostalgia in a liminal place, of a liminal space
Why I drive by your house, park my car
Under the jacaranda, where you held me
Telling me the history of some ancient war
Nostalgia, free, below her lilac tree
Nostalgia about riding in your car,
Blasting “You, Me & The Bourgeoise” –
I keep driving, I don’t care how far.
Nostalgia, as you see,
I keep picking that scar.

PHOTOGRAPHY by Maria Payro

PHOTOGRAPHY by Çağrı Ertem

EDITOR IN CHIEF
Chiara Zucchelli

SENIOR EDITORS
Ariel De La Garza Davidoff
Laura Empson

PROSE EDITORS
Ayna Li Taira
Maria Payro

Julie Uszpolewicz

POETRY EDITORS
Francesca Caselli
Antonia Kattos

VISUAL EDITOR
Gamel Oki