A bit more than three months ago, I built the first entoptic form with Lego bricks to entertain my beloved (“Blessing, Curse,” March 6, 2014). Another one was soon to follow, only to be followed by yet another. The size of a small book, this variant of my paintings has given me an ever-greater joy. By now, all the other Lego toys from my beloved’s apartment have disappeared, but there are eight entoptic forms in their place. The toys. There were six of them when I returned to Zagreb, but I added two more to the collection the last few days. I would add many more if only I could, but there are no Lego bricks left to play with. Those that remain are not sufficient for a proper entoptic form, that is. And so I am thinking about buying a few more boxes with Lego bricks. There are three problems with my wish, though. First, there are too many toys with entoptic forms already. I would need battens similar to those I use for my paintings to properly display my new toys. They could cover whole walls, too. Second, there could be no end to the play. Given the way my mind works, I would need truckloads of Lego bricks. Soon enough, my beloved’s apartment would become too small to display them all on their battens. We would have to move to a much bigger place. In the end, even an ample palace would be too small for us. And third, with untold entoptic forms around me, I would leave our new abode never again. I would keep playing day and night. Having stopped sleeping, I would also stop eating. Surrounded by my toys, I would eventually shrivel up and die…

Addendum I (June 24, 2014)

Against my better judgment, yesterday I bought two boxes of Lego bricks. They were huge, too. So far, we have bought three boxes of two-hundred and ninety-five bricks each, but each new box contains six-hundred and fifty bricks. To my delight, there were some white and black bricks in it. They make the connection with my paintings so much more palpable. At any rate, I made one toy before my beloved returned home yesterday afternoon. It looked exactly like a painting of mine, and she loved it. Before we went to sleep, I made four more. I could not stop making them, either. My beloved just watched me make one after another with a wry smile on her face. After she left this morning, I made four new ones before I took my morning shower. Everything I could not make so far came to the fore: meanders, spirals, arrays of parallel lines… There are three or four more toys to make with as many entoptic forms on them, but that will be it. There will be no more boxes, I promise. I go nuts when I get a new batch of Lego bricks to play with, and my beloved is my witness. I simply cannot stop myself.

Addendum II (June 25, 2014)

By the time my beloved returned from her office yesterday afternoon, there were nine new toys awaiting her. I was surprised to have stretched the available Lego bricks so far, but I made no less than fourteen of them since the day before. But the bricks were gone, and that was the only reason why I did not make even more toys while I was at it. All together, there are twenty-two entoptic forms at present. Arrayed on the floor of my beloved’s apartment, they are quite a sight. If I want to make a new one, though, I will have to take an old one apart. No more boxes, that is. And no more feverish days like the last two. Phew!

Addendum III (July 4, 2014)

With twenty-two toys on hand, it is nigh impossible to display them all in my beloved’s apartment. And so they are stacked one behind another in three long rows. Sitting on a glass table, the three rows are reshuffled a few times a day. The combination of entopic forms on display is thus always new. Sort of, for my beloved is quite partial to black, white, and red. But even I am surprised by some of the combinations I have come up with. Yellow and blue are quite to my liking lately. And so are yellow and green. My preference for the oldest “colors” on record is perhaps exaggerated (“Black, White, and Red,” September 27, 1998). Still, I am quite happy that such thoughts have not come my way before I finished painting my boards. Black, white, and red they remain for all eternity.