ABSTRACT
This chapter interweaves the figure of the whirlpool with the concepts of rhythm and idea. A whirlpool is created when a flow of water comes up against an obstacle or by the meeting of two currents of water running in opposite directions. This struggle between forces becomes a new form characterized by its own rhythm. The new form attracts nearby elements into its movement. Rhythm cuts out strips of time and in doing so subjectivizes it. Furthermore, it introduces a sense of space. Only time makes it possible for the spaces which typesetters place between words to become effective in constructing the meaning of the sentence. Technically this is called ‘spacing’. The word is an addition to time and space, or rather, to duration which makes itself into space. When the turbulences of sensations and proto-emotions become rhythms, and ideas arise from the calming rhythms, proto-ideas or sensible ideas at first, and then, after words are added, concepts.
