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La battuta su un pentagramma senza soluzioni di continuità.

English translation: an extemporaneous comment on a pentagram(me)


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16:19 Aug 13, 2009
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Philosophy
Italian term or phrase: La battuta su un pentagramma senza soluzioni di continuità.
Help!! Either this guy is out to lunch or I have seriously lost the plot. What on earth is he 'trying' to say??

The subject is an art exhibition based around the theme of 'time'
Here is the paragraph:
Proprio al centro della sala, laddove il tempo si pausa, ricuce una neutralità orizzontale, nello schierarsi equidistante del catalogo di oggetti combusti di Becheri, si produce, invece, la cesura. La battuta su un pentagramma senza soluzioni di continuità. Anche in questo caso, la sala non trova un tempo unitario, ma offre arresti e glissandi, irregolarità e stasi
manducci
Local time: 01:06
English translation:an extemporaneous comment on a pentagram(me)
Explanation:
magari fosse fuori come un citofono! No, è un tipico cialtrone critico/storico d'arte – specialista d'aria fritta.

Puoi tradurlo come c...o ti pare: non potresti mai batterlo nella totale mancanza di senso – voluta, studiata, elaborata e incarnita da diventare un vero modus vivendi di questi parassiti pseudointellectuali.
Selected response from:

Michael Korovkin
Local time: 01:06
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2an extemporaneous comment on a pentagram(me)
Michael Korovkin
Summary of reference entries provided
Rilettura dell'italiano
Barbara Carrara

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
an extemporaneous comment on a pentagram(me)


Explanation:
magari fosse fuori come un citofono! No, è un tipico cialtrone critico/storico d'arte – specialista d'aria fritta.

Puoi tradurlo come c...o ti pare: non potresti mai batterlo nella totale mancanza di senso – voluta, studiata, elaborata e incarnita da diventare un vero modus vivendi di questi parassiti pseudointellectuali.

Michael Korovkin
Local time: 01:06
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in RussianRussian
PRO pts in category: 24
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Being Earnest: Michael - where does the "seamless" part fit in or am I reading this wrong (senza soluzioni di continuità. THanks in advance for your kind response. I love to learn
1 hr
  -> extemporaneous=out of the temporal flux,which is but continuity,'cause all sequences are temporal; so expemporaneous is discontinuous perforce... unless you are Everett the III, of course, but that would be really getting a little bit too Earnest! :)

agree  Vittorio Preite: I agree entirely with Michael. If an art critic should explain art to the plebs, this one has missed the mark completely. A total murk. TRANSLATE IT AS YOU WISH. In poorer words he is saying that the room contains object of different styles. Good luck!
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Vittorio. They don't explain anything to anybody: this is just pure post-Mandelbaum bullshit.
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Reference comments


17 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Rilettura dell'italiano

Reference information:
Credo sia necessario "tradurre" l'italiano per tentare di capire dove vuole andare a parare il "tuo" critico:
"Se (in genere) il centro di un ambiente è il punto più neutro, in cui la prospettiva orizzontale si riequilibra, la scansione pur regolare nella disposizione delle opere di Becheri lo trasforma invece in un luogo di sospensione temporale, come se su un pentagramma non ci fosse che un'unica battuta, ripetuta all'infinito."

Il ricorso a termini musicali assiste l'autore nel descrivere l'esperienza temporale e a-temporale (pausa/sospensione): cesura (sosta lievissima che suddivide o chiude una frase musicale), battuta, pentagramma, glissandi (invariato in EN; effetti musicali=veloci scivolamenti sui suoni di una scala).
Cercherei di mantenerli anche in EN, con una resa letterale.
Mancando il verbo in italiano, personalmente legherei la frase a quella precedente.

NB: in EN pentagramma è staff (pl. staffs/staves), non pentagram. E per "battuta, misura" credo impiegherei "bar" in EN.
Per il resto, concordo appieno con i commenti di Michael.


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Note added at 20 hrs (2009-08-14 13:16:11 GMT)
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Ciao!

To me 'beat' or 'tempo' wouldn't do, simply because they define a rhythm and are very physical (or sensory, if you like). Because the author is referring to 'pausa' and 'sospensione' here, my personal impression is that he seeks to convey a more abstract idea, hence the introduction of references hinting to written music (the staff & bar).
This would also explain the author's choice of 'tempo' in the next sentence, i.e. when he shifts his attention from the page (the staff & bar) to the stage (the 'interpretation', or the exhibition). This I would translate as 'progress' or 'movement', the latter of course being more... musical.


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Note added at 21 hrs (2009-08-14 13:25:22 GMT)
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My pleasure.
Barbara

Barbara Carrara
Italy
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
Note to reference poster
Asker: This was extremely helpful and adds to the translation Michael provided, especially given what had come before (references to 'scansione ritmica' etc, your suggestion for the translation of 'battuta' makes sense - in fact, I had been thinking along the lines of 'beat' or 'tempo' ... could these also work here, do you think?? Thanks.

Asker: Yes, I see what you mean. Thanks again for your insights and time.


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  blattanzi: Esatto, la metafora parla di musica
5 hrs
  -> Già... Barbara
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