A Child's View Of Colour

My text is extracted fromRodney Livingstone's translation of a short essay by the German cultural historian Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). It was written between 1914-15 during a metaphysical phase before Benjamin embraced Marxism. This text emphasises theyoung person's, as opposed to the adult's, approach to colour: 'for the person who sees with a child's eyes, it marks boundaries, it is not a layer of something superimposed on matter, as it is with adults'. This work continues myinterest in art-based texts - from 'The Kiss' (1985) to my opera 'Facing Goya' (2000/02)

© Michael Nyman 2003