Bodies in Motion

Writing the Rodin scene now. I decided not to go for a direct except from Jonathan Huxley's memoirs for this one, and instead have Penny try to make a synopsis (and choice quotes) from memory. Which is also her demonstrating some of the methods of doing history, which is one of the underlying themes of this book.

Each book sort of explores some aspect of archaeology. In the London book, it was CRM; rescue archaeology done as part of commercial construction projects. In this one, it is history; how to read and interpret texts.

But there are of course other things going on in this scene. I'm still struggling to find the character of Amelia, my art fanatic and STEAM student from North Carolina. My latest take is that she is enthralled by what she calls the Creatives -- and doesn't consider herself one.

So I'm right now at the point in the scene where she is talking about the tragic romance of Rodin and Camille Claudel. And she is going into the ways they diverged as artists. And this is where I realize it needs to move beyond the dry facts of history, or the dry matter of technique.

There is a lot of conversation about both. If for no other reason, it is sort of expected by the reader that if I'm going to name-drop Rodin or Picasso, there's going to be a quick sketch of their career somewhere. Whether it is a road map for those readers without the inclination to open a search engine in the middle of the book, or just reminders for those who are already familiar with the artists in question, it is part of the game.

And the next level is getting that sense of behind the scenes. Of things you might not have learned somewhere else (or had forgotten). Satie playing piano in a bar, say. In an environment surrounded by arts and with working artists ("The Bohemians") as part of my cast, there's an expectation also of something about how it works. Paint coming in tubes, clay drying out, why Herge chose ligne claire, that sort of thing (combination of move to color, and paper shortages, but it also worked well for what he was trying to say.)

But there's yet another level beyond that. And that's the human meaning, the philosophy. Why did Rodin admire Michelangelo, what were Herge's politics. It is the balancing of these three elements that is part of the fun in writing these scenes.

Well, that and the similar balancing act of naming and describing; trying not to make it just a cloud of names of artwork (and artists), but also not letting the narrative drag too long -- especially to be avoided are descriptions of art that try to paint the entire picture. It is the two poles of the mood and theme, and the techniques and the telling details, that should get the detail.

And then there's a parkour chase.

The conclusion of the Pompidou Centre scene is Penny seeing some parkour people stunting outside the building, and learning from them about a meet at La Defense (which won't be happening for her until Part III.)

***

Outside in the rest of the world, work is still busy crazy, I did a long walk through the botanical gardens Saturday...and I've started added hypertube boosters to my hypertube station network to help me get around the map better in Satisfactory. Update 8, the migration to Unreal 5, and the new Lumen lighting model are in and look spectacular, but the interiors of some of my factories are really, really dark now...

I think I'm blown out on creative work for the day after a long morning working on Rodin. So back to game land. I've a new sulfuric acid plant to build -- because sulfur is another of those annoying resources that is never near where you want to actually use it -- and then I can work on a new battery plant and my first uranium processing facility.

I'm getting, slowly, more experimental with my building designs. Hopefully I won't end up spending a whole play session just trying out some new architectural fancy for one of those new facilities. I have to save some design brain...Tuesday I'm back to creating stuff for work in Fusion 360.