On september 8th 2009 I wrote from Beijing “…It may be that there really is no word for blllrlrlrlllw” in Chinese? If that is really so, then one would have to take everything people say seriously in Chinese – and I am sure the Chinese, like anyone else, have heard enough bullshit to be careful with that..”
On the 26th I announced my idea for a change of mind, and set out to represent: “the thoughts that hadn’t been thought yet, and all the experiences beyond expression”
This confusion about what a bear can be, peaked yesterday, when Ulla Hvejsel, the head I used to be in, in hope of a whole new way of thinking, and an eloquent presentation of what was beyond expression, let herself represent by me – her inner bear; this bear that had somehow made a promise to be a living, conceivable example of all kinds of complicated otherwise inexplicable truths.
For some reason however, these truths turned out to be less wellspoken than she had dreamt of. But as we all know, the truth is on the inside, and since the bear is from the inside, even it’s blrvvvrrr or groaarrr cannot be ignored. Maybe the yet unthought thoughts are really to be found between the lines of such halfspoken sentences. Maybe there is tranformative power in clumsy phrasings.
The best danish translation for blllrlrlrlllw yet, was by the situationist Jørgen Nash. In 1963 he used this translation to answer a question from a reporter, regarding his involvement in the decapitation of the national symbol: the little mermaid. It goes like this:
“chi chi chi chyk bdyk chi chi chi svivi svi svi svivi svi chi chi ci svivi botji votji votji hø he votji tju tje vutji, tju thje vutji, vutji våtji tje høh, ss she svi svi svivi, svivi svi svi schouk, adtjiu adtji, svi vutje che svivi , svut ci – åhh chi!”
Another attempt at translating the whole profound meaning of the word blllrlrlrlllw was recently spoken by Jony Ive, Senior Vice president of Apple computers:
You know it’s true.. when something exceeds your ability to understand. It sort of becomes magical!
(http://www.apple.com/ipad/#video)