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UNDERSTANDING BUTOH BECOMING OTHER: "And a Fresh Bloom Of the Rotting Lagoon’s Perfume"

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UNDERSTANDING BUTOH BECOMING OTHER (SERIES) "A nd a Fresh Bloom Of the Rotting Lagoon’s Perfume" WRITTEN BY ARA FIG MMXXVI --- The small rotting wooden boat rests stagnant among the dense, choking flora of the lotus lagoon—a vessel trapped between water and rot. Inside its splintered hull the chalk-painted figure lies curled in a tight fetal preservation of decay, skin crusted with a drying layer of white gofun that splits along the contours of the body with every infinitesimal shudder.  The cracks in the paste are not merely surface; they are pathways for the wet air to enter, for the fine grit of decaying plant matter to settle into the pores, for the body to begin its slow negotiation with the muck that surrounds it. The wood of the boat is water-swollen and collapsing; its ribs align with the skeletal curve of the performer trapped within it. Every breath presses the sternum against the soft, fibrous give of the rotten planks. The lower spine sinks into a thin film of b...
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UNDERSTANDING BUTOH: BECOMING OTHER-THE WHITE WHALE III The Driftwood & the Hull

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UNDERSTANDING BUTOH BECOMING OTHER THE WHITE WHALE III The Driftwood & the Hull WRITTEN BY ARA  FIG MMXXVI    The Driftwood & the Hull Spat ashore onto the jagged basalt of the coast, the form undergoes its final, agonizing translation. Stripped of pigment and softness, the skin bakes under the glaring sun until it hardens into seasoned, resinous oak and splintered timber. The ribs warp outward, and the torso collapses into a hollowed, cavernous hold that catches the spray of the crashing surf and the droppings of the swarming white seagulls wheeling above the cliff face. It is no longer a body, but a complete wreck—a shattered hull driven hard against the iron shore, holding within its scarred, empty cavities the memory of the stone stairs, the unblinking eye of the leviathan, and the permanent, crushing silence of the abyss. The relentless screech of the wheeling gulls cuts through the salt-heavy air, a chaotic chorus that beats against the bleached skeleton of ...
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