As we've been reading these books and compiling our compendia, I've been thinking a lot about how artists pay tribute to and communicate with other artists who have had an influence. I suppose this comes up most notably in Summer in Baden Baden with Dostoevsky, but also to an extent in By Night in Chile with Neruda - though this is perhaps more direct criticism of an art world, than the art itself. We've certainly talked about it with Sebald and Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Walser, etc, though they are not characters so much as presences.

Our compendia functions differently as a toolbox of influential material (forgive the silly metaphor) that we use as a direct nod to the artist's work, rather than the artist him/herself. Someone reading our writing may be able to pick up on these references if they are familiar with the other artist's work, but this sort of communication with influential artists strikes me as more private or intimate.

On a personal level, this has been at the forefront of my mind as so many recordings of Prince covering other musicians' songs have been surfacing everywhere. Of course, Prince's close hold on his own work makes it difficult to share videos of his songs, but I've found something supremely profound in honoring Prince by way of Prince honoring his musical influences. We do this in a way when we read the writers who were important to the writers we admire. I freely acknowledge that an artist's death prompts us to more deliberately pay homage to them, either through the sharing of their work or the application of their work in our own art. But I see such a connection between Prince's covers (or any musician's covers) and the reasoning behind our compendia. It allows us to appreciate through further creation and perhaps, even, artistic play.

However we give a nod towards other artists, it makes me think of Sebald's discussion of time in Austerlitz - time as a wholly artificial invention, especially when thinking of it as a river or something that is linear. In covers of songs, in our compendia, in incorporating other artists purposefully in our own work, we fold together or loop time. And - this might be a stretch - perhaps that means what artworks have been created, that then prompt us to create, and that will prompt others to create, means that all that artwork is outside time.