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Swim Duck- Blooms thoughts on water as he fills a kettle

Swim Duck (Qingdao still) Niamh Cunningham 2019

James Joyce included numerous lists in various parts of his book Ulysses.  Some of these lists were not meaningful but this list on water qualities is rich and diverse as it is poetic. It’s quite an intense moment of thought while filling a kettle (in the Chapter Ithaca ) , everything is magnified and heightened.

Swim Duck : Bloom’s thoughts when filling a kettle
(5 mins) . Artist : Niamh Cunningham


YouKu Link:

http://player.youku.com/embed/XNDE2MDY0OTcwMA==

Swim Duck (Taipei undersurface outdoor still ) Niamh Cunningham 2019


Swim Duck ..its healing virtues 18 secs Niamh Cunningham 2019

YouKu Link:

http://player.youku.com/embed/XNDE2MDY4MjA2NA==

I aligned these thoughts with underwater filming and above water surface filming of different outdoor waterways and swimming pools.  The idea of swimming in thought is used in Chinese “shényóu”  and so I think this is both  relatable from a Chinese perspective and particularly relevant to Joyce’s writings.

Swim Duck ..pool refractions clip 11 secs Niamh Cunningham 2019

YouKu Link:

http://player.youku.com/embed/XNDE2MDY2ODAwNA==

Swim Duck (cataracts, whirlpools , maelstroms.. still) Niamh Cunningham 2019

…its unplumbed profundity in the Sundam trench of the Pacific exceeding 8000 fathoms: the restlessness of its waves and surface particles visiting in turn all points of its seaboard: the independence of its units: the variability of states of sea: its hydrostatic quiescence in calm: its hydrokinetic turgidity in neap and spring tides: its subsidence after devastation………..

Ithaca chapter 17 Ulysses by James Joyce

technical support ：Zhou Jian 

subtitles  taken from the book  Ulysses by James Joyce by publishers:

Chinese subtitles: Jiangsu Phoenix Literature Publishing House

Translators:  Xiao Qian and Wen Jieru

English subtitles : Phoenix Publishing Media Co., Ltd. Yilin Publishing House