It is no surprise that most religions are centered around death - overcoming death and "preserving" lost ones by declaring them eternal souls or spirits.
We love to fool ourselves "beyond" death. Even in the age of modern science and medicine we try to prolong the line, no matter the cost and even pain to old and dying people.
Death is the ultimate barrier. And we should culturally, spiritually and medically face it with more dignity, wisdom and openness.
We all will die - and we shouldn’t be ignored and discarded by society nor by ourselves.
Another one of my teenage idols bites the dust: Robert Asprin - a great Fantasy writer died May 22nd 2008. Too bad no magic - which he liked so much - can resurrect him.
I loved his highly amusing Myth series as much as Thieves World. His imagination and humor was a great inspiration for me.
In the foreseeable future we will raise life expectancy further and further. It is now easy to replace many body parts and rejuvenate the body in many ways.
So maybe we can rebuild and regenerate our bodies for hundreds of years - but what about our minds?
Most people’s minds already go down the drain in their 40’s without physical “defects”. And when we live longer we need to constantly learn new stuff - you can’t play dumb grandpa if you live 200 or more years. You need to learn and adapt.
And what about the emotional strain of a long life? How much pain, idiocy and trivia can you take before you loose your will to live?
In all our cultures we have developed a stupid admiration for soldiers killed in combat. We call them Heroes - and give them medals posthumously and erect statues for them. This won’t save them - it only makes us fell better for sending them to death for some stupid cause.
Funny enough: we don’t have any nice words, medals or statues for civilians who were also killed (by soldiers) in a war. We consider them simply sad losses, collateral damage or simply numbers. No medals for them and no heroic tales about these poor people.
Militarism is a group psychosis to justify killing each other and give soldiers an incentive and reason to end a strangers life for abstract goals like nationalism, racism or simply greed of the ruling classes.
Without being cynical: but it is rather a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’ high ranking politicians get killed. Musharraf several times escaped bombs and shooters. Benazir Bhutto was not so lucky this time - although she had survived another attack just after her recent return to Pakistan.
Pakistan, India and Afghanistan - and many Middle Eastern countries are still very violent societies. As long as people are willing to kill and die for settling political scores there will be no ‘civil society’ nor ‘rule of law’.
It’s all such a shame.
This is an interview in October after the attack on her shortly after her return.
Socrates death was a tragic loss for Athenian culture - and still stands as a grave warning to all Democracies around the world: don’t kill your intellectuals, just because you don’t understand or appreciate them telling you the truth.
1. Click player below to start the music.
2. Click the image above to dive into the art.
3. Study for four minutes this great piece of art.
Athens just started it’s decline - it had lost the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. Socrates himself had fought for Athens and was a loyal patriot. But he also challenged the status quo of it’s society and wanted more progress. His ’smartass’ questions made the citizens of Athens more and more uneasy.
Plus Socrates had a large following of younger man and often met with them in more or less secret places to discuss their ideas. It didn’t help that some of Socrates biggest followers Alcibiades had betrayed Athens during the war with Sparta. So it was suggested that Socrates was corrupting Athens’ youth and he should therefore be punished. And Socrates challenged the religious believes of his times.
His trial was a huge event - he was judged by 500 of his fellow citizens. Socrates stuck to the truth, even mocked the jury and all the accusations instead of playing ‘nice’ and begging for mercy. He was found guilty 280 to 220. But he was still defiant. When his punishment was discussed he himself suggested being threat like an Olympic winner and given free meals (which was a great insult). So his death sentence had an even greater majority 360 to 140.
His execution was a sad affair - he refused to flee the city or take any chance to redeem himself.
We have seen the prosecution of smart wise man again and again in all cultures by kings, priests and mobs alike. Democracy is not a protection against acts of stupidity and uneducated destruction of brain power.
The curse of any great thinker will always be that his fellow citizens will be far behind him. The great publicity and admiration people like Einstein, Freud or Oppenheimer in their days was and is very unusual. Today’s bighead like Noam Chomsky and Richard Dawkins face very hostile opposition and ignorance. Once again the citizens of democratic states don’t like to be asked simple questions or have their religion challenged by ‘thinkers’ …
Another depiction of Icarus terrible end. His mighty wings broken. Curious and delicate sea-nymphs lament the young heroes death.
1. Click player below to start the music.
2. Click the image to dive into the art.
3. Study for six minutes this great piece of art and all the sadness.
This is one of the most iconic images of the series
For me this is the most dramatic painting in this series. It has a sleight Kitsch factor with the added sea nymphs, but they also contribute to the loss of vitality and sexuality of another brave soul lost to the gene pool.
I love Draper’s intricate painting of the wings - the biggest wings in all paintings in this collection.
Overall there is always the problem of confusing Icarus with an fallen angel. The idea of winged messengers from the gods is not an Christian invention, but we all associate the myth of fallen angels with such scenes. I have seen this painting (ab)used once in a Christian blog … ah, the pagan irony …
A young woman rapped - in her final seconds. She must be terrified, full of anger, fear, confusion - but also determination. The last few thoughts before your own death after you have been violated must be terrible.
1. Click player below to start the music (Warning: some dramatic sounds ahead).
2. Click the image to dive into the art.
3. Study for four minutes this great piece of art and all the drama.
Another rare catch of a unknow Maestro - at least to me. I couldn’t find much about Mazzanti on the Intranets apart from this tidbit (taken from here):
Mazzanti Ludovico (1686-1775)
A painter who came from a noble family of Orvieto, he belonged to the Romano-Neapolitan school of artists and carried out his early work in Rome and Orvieto. In Rome he collaborated with Nicolò Pomarancio in the church of Santa Maria Apollinare, while at Orvieto he designed the upper mosaics for the Cathedral façade (1713-1714). He executed many works at Naples, where he was based during the years 1733 -1740, and in Campania (the Abbey of Montevergine).
In 1744 he became a member of the Academy of St. Luca. When he was invited to Città di Castello he was already famous. He painted the frescoes of the original cupola of the Cathedral, designed by the architect Nicola Barbioni, which collapsed in the earthquake of 1789. Documents relating to this work are conserved in the Museum archives. All that remains are the Evangelists at the base of the cupola arches and some models held in the Cathedral Museum: a work of "truly baroque magniloquence" (V. Casale). At Città di Castello he painted two altarpieces for the "Murate" monastery (enclosed order of nuns) and other works in private houses. He also received commissions from foreign countries notably France and Poland.
This painting looks like a sequel to Guido Cagnazzi’s Lucretia - just a few seconds later. I am amazed by the perfect painting of her cloths and her skin looks so silky it’s unbelievable.
(b Mataró, 12 April 1771; d Barcelona, 7 July 1855). Spanish sculptor and teacher. He began studying at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de la Lonja in Barcelona at the age of 14, and he worked in the studio of Salvador Gurri ( fl 1756-1819), a late Baroque sculptor with Neo-classical tendencies. Campeny left the studio after he was attacked by Gurri, who, as a teacher at the Escuela (1785), continued to persecute him and threw him out. Campeny then worked in Lérida, Cervera and Montserrat. He produced his first major work, St Bruno (1795; destr. 1831), in carved polychromed wood. He also trained with Nicolás Traver and José Cabañeras, both late Baroque artists. Stylistically, Campeny began with a moderate and personal naturalism, later assimilating some of the Baroque influences from his Catalan teachers. Readmitted to the Escuela, in 1795 he won a scholarship to complete his studies in Rome, where he went in 1796 and had his own studio for 17 years. He was at the Accademia di S Luca, worked in the restoration department of the Museo Capitolino and also studied with Antonio Canova, who had a decisive influence on his work and became a close friend. In Italy he became such a pure Neo-classicist that he was called the ‘Spanish Canova’. Various works from this period are held at the Lonja in Barcelona, for example Paris (1808) and Campeny’s masterpiece the Dying Lucretia (plaster, 1803; marble, 1834). The collection also contains a statue of the Virgin as Ianua Coeli (1815), made using various hard coloured stones.
I must say I am totally enchanted by this statue: I want to rush to Lucretia and hold her in my arms to rescue or at least comfort her on her way to the afterlife.
As a Kid I only knew Evel as a toy - it was not until my late thirties until I realized that he was a real person - and a madman as well.
He is certainly not the first person to make money by TRYING to do terrible stuff. I think Harry Houdini is the first modern dare devil. But Evel pushed the media madness and marketing to new heights. Hence they toys. I see him as one of the forefathers of other acts like MTV’s Jackass or Dirty Sanchez.
He died age 69 - pretty old for someone who tried to kill himself every other week.
PS: I am sure this is the best time to sell your old Evel ware on eBay - you can make a fortune now!
PPS: Thanks to Edosan to informing me about this ad loss of another pop icon.
In the absence of mass media and the Internet in the old days it could take years or even decades before important scenes were framed and ‘archived’ for the public to see.
Word of mouth was often the only and the fastest ways to get the news. It must have been a strange time compared to our high speed lifestyles.
Just compare this ‘lonely painting’ to all the news, images, videos and dribble that has been written and broadcast about Princess Diana’s death.
No matter who much cuteness, pink and kitsch you stuff into your life - it will end. The question is: How much real substance do you want? How much effort are you willing to invest into you own life? And how much pain are you willing to endure to reach your full potential?
Sounds to harsh? Well then choose the way of modern consumerism and try to get the easy & fluffy ticket until death.
What a guy! He had magic! He had power! He had an incredible voice! He rocked the audience! Queen’s performance for Live Aid shows you all you need to know about the power that was known as Freddy Mercury:
As a sperm you already won the race with your father’s other competitors. But in the end you can only exit the game like every other player - dead.
For all the competition in life there is no real winning, no real first prize or looser. All you can do is breath, develop your potential, maybe clone yourself and raise your kids. Have fun and enjoy yourself on the way to your grave - because that’s the most you get out of it.
Being defeated in public is embarrassing. A tough thing is hard to overcome. But people love the comeback kid - but only if you are brave enough to learn from your defeat, stand up and try again.
Sometimes a forceful motivation for others to think can kill all thought process. Gentle teasing should be used at all times while dealing with humans.
Do you own pictures of dead people? Not just people you knew who have died - but people you never met, but are part of your family’s history? Our fear of death has made us produce great ancestral art, monuments, long chains of memory - to give us some reassurance that not all is lost, because of death.
Our psyche can’t cope with death - therefore we simplify it, try to make it understandable, to trick ourselves into believing that we or our loved ones continue in some way.
