Hasso Krull says the idea of fossil love changed how he sees cities

Poet and essayist Hasso Krull told ERR’s cultural programme Delta that the idea of “fossil love” was startling to him. The concept, discussed in a book by philosopher Emanuele Coccia, holds that cities and their complex urban structures were built because of love.

Krull has brought his poetry to the stage at Theatrum with saxophonist Uku Gross in a concert-performance titled The Geometry of Love. The production brings Krull’s poems together with three distinct musical works.

Krull said people today tend to measure love and other things arithmetically, or more precisely, algorithmically, sorting individual preferences into categories. Geometry offers a different approach, he said, pointing to Baruch Spinoza’s geometrically structured ethics. Spinoza wrote about love, but focused more on striving and desire, which Krull described as closely connected to love. Spinoza also understood love as a kind of tingling, he added.

Krull said he chose poems for the performance in response to renewed interest in how love is understood. Coccia’s book Treatise on Modern Love treats love as an institution on which society is based, he said. That idea extends beyond romantic relationships to strong bonds and feelings that bring people together, motivate them and help communities and societies function, Krull explained.

In the book, Coccia also describes “fossil love” through cities and urban construction. Krull said the concept suggests that buildings, streets and other parts of urban structures were created because of love: without it, people would not have undertaken such demanding work.

Gross will perform Jacob TV’s speech-based work The Garden of Love, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s In Freundschaft and Colin Stetson’s The Love It Took to Leave You. Krull said the pieces are challenging and require considerable virtuosity.

Krull described himself as a music enthusiast who listens for many hours a day, including while working. Although he does not play an instrument or read music, he said performing alongside a saxophone feels natural. He particularly likes it when poetry and music sit alongside one another rather than overlap.