{"id":443,"date":"2007-09-11T08:55:37","date_gmt":"2007-09-11T16:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/11\/bloodlust-writing-frenzy-the-bosch-chapter\/"},"modified":"2007-09-11T14:54:34","modified_gmt":"2007-09-11T22:54:34","slug":"bloodlust-writing-frenzy-the-bosch-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/11\/bloodlust-writing-frenzy-the-bosch-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloodlust Writing Frenzy: The Bosch Chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I worked for John Walker at Autodesk in late 80s and early 90s, John would occasionally get into a creative state where he\u2019d single-handedly turn out a very large and well-designed bunch of computer code in an incredibly short time\u2014for instance our Cellab program (which can find on Walker’s huge web site <\/a>or on mine <\/a>, in slightly different versions), or a “fractal forgeries” landscape generator for our Chaos <\/a>program, complete with a graphical user interface. He referred to this state of extreme focus and obsession as a \u201cbloodlust hacking frenzy.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been in that mode on my novel Hylozoic <\/em>the last couple of weeks, writing my chapter \u201cHieronymus Bosch\u2019s Apprentice.\u201d\u009d I finished the first draft of the chapter today. I\u2019ll post a couple of tastes here for today\u2019s blog entry.<\/p>\n

By the way, it really helped that I visited Bosch’s home town <\/a> this spring.<\/p>\n

Today’s illos include a couple of scans from this nice new book I got, edited by Larry Silver, Hieronymus Bosch<\/a><\/em> — although the image immediately below shows the shoes of the owner of chihuahua depicted further below, spotted where else but the Los Gatos Sunday market.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jayjay and Thuy followed Azaroth up a staircase to a sunny studio in the front of the house. As it happened, the windows gave directly onto the great triangular marketplace and its articulated hubbub. The room sounded with a hundred conversations, with vendor\u2019s cries, the scuff of shoes and the clack of hooves\u2014all this overlaid by the vile drone of an incompetently played bagpipe.<\/p>\n

A cluttered work table sat in the middle of the studio, and beyond that was Jeroen Bosch, standing before the window, brush in hand, the light falling over his shoulder onto a large, square oak panel.<\/p>\n

\u201cAha!\u201d\u009d he exclaimed. \u201cAzaroth brings fresh wonders.\u201d\u009d His face was lined and quizzical; his mouth and eyebrows were alive with the shadows of his fleeting moods. He looked to be in his mid forties.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Jayjay looked around the studio, fascinated. The work table held seashells and eggshells, drawings of cripples, a bowl of gooseberries, a peacock feather in a cloudy glass jar, and a variety of dried gourds. Upon the wall were a cow skull and a lute, also a stuffed heron and owl perched upon shelves. Two nearly completed paintings leaned against the wall, panels half the width of the big square one that Bosch was working on. The panels were easily four times Jayjay\u2019s height, each of them a mottled microcosm, brimming with incident and life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m nearly done decorating the harp,\u201d\u009d said Jeroen. \u201cBut she\u2019s locked up in the attic. She\u2019s too valuable to uncover with so many people about.\u201d\u009d He made a gesture towards the bustling marketplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t see her?\u201d\u009d said Azaroth, incredulous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The painter set down his brush and walked over to them, keeping an eye on Jayjay and Thuy. He accepted the dogfish from Azaroth, set it on his work table and propped its mouth open with a porcupine quill. \u201cHello,\u201d\u009d he said to the dogfish, making his voice thin. \u201cDo you bring a message from the King of Hell?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

Bosch was playing\u2014seeking inspiration by enacting a little scene that he might paint. To ingratiate himself, Jayjay responded as if speaking for the fish, flopping his tongue to make his words soft and slimy. \u201cThe pitchfork wants to strum the harp,\u201d\u009d he said, nothing better popping into his head. \u201cThe pitchfork is God.\u201d\u009d He reached out with is hand and waggled the fish\u2019s gelatinous brown tail.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Bosch nodded, appreciating the mummery, if not taking the words seriously. He was studying the singular objects on his table, nudging them this way and that with the tip of his delicate, ochre-stained finger\u2014as if composing a scene. \u201cWould it be heresy to say all things have souls?\u201d\u009d he said, suddenly fixing his eyes on Jayjay. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

… \u201cThe Antonite brothers nurse the victims of St. Anthony\u2019s Fire,\u201d\u009d said Jayjay. \u201cDo you know that condition is caused by a fungus in brown bread? I had an experience of it last night. I spent part of the night hallucinating in the Antonites’ courtyard.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd drinking wine,\u201d\u009d said Bosch, with a telling sniff. \u201cGluttony. The Holy Fire is caused, like any physical affliction, by sin. God abandons the sinner and the devil attacks like the wolf bringing down a wayfarer. Brown bread is the Lord\u2019s wholesome gift to the lower classes. The bread\u2019s essence is pure in and of itself.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI want to know if you\u2019ve been inspired by hallucinations from brown bread.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

\u201cWere your drinking companions painting triptychs?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n

This was leading nowhere. Studying the picture in progress, Jayjay admired Bosch\u2019s facility at turning realistically rendered objects into bizarre beasts. Here was a jug that was a horse, a tree that was a man, a ship that was a headless duck. \u201cEverything\u2019s alive,\u201d\u009d he said, returning to their common ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d\u009d said Jeroen busy with his brush again. \u201cFew understand this. I\u2019m glad we share the knowing.\u201d\u009d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I worked for John Walker at Autodesk in late 80s and early 90s, John would occasionally get into a creative state where he\u2019d single-handedly turn out a very large and well-designed bunch of computer code in an incredibly short time\u2014for instance our Cellab program (which can find on Walker’s huge web site or on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rudyrucker.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}