In 1894 Gustav Klimt was commissioned to do three paintings for the University of Vienna entitled Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence.

This is the picture he presented for Philosophy:

The philosophy professors were outraged when they saw this and refused to accept his paintings. They wanted an image showing “The triumph of light over darkness” and instead Klimt had given them this opaque ‘deliquescent triangle’ of bodies drifting about and into each other surrounded by a void. I see this as a wonderful summary of how I see philosophy and knowledge, it’s beautiful, captivating and mysterious and I feel like I am growing in some way as I explore it, but on the other hand it’s a mess, no matter how long I examine it I am not going to be able to pick up any clear and distinct forms; not only that, but the ideas and shapes I see now will change over time as I myself grow and change.

The original painting was destroyed by the retreating Nazis in the second world war, the above is a photograph (hence the black and white). This seems a pretty fitting end for the painting. Not only is knowledge this vague phenomenon, but it’s not immortal. Just as the classics were lost in the dark ages, if the Nazis had succeeded a great deal of knowledge would have been forgotten or discarded. We know of a significant number of books by Greek thinkers that have been lost, considering the impact Plato and Aristotle have had on our modern thinking, who knows how the direction of our learning would have been affected if these books had survived? In the same way it’s likely, if not inevitable, that at some point in the future a great deal of our current knowledge will be lost, and in a few billion years time it’s almost certain that all trace of humanity will be gone and all our ideas will just be floating around in Klimt’s void.

The Mall (Shopping Centres)

If the religion of our time is ‘Consumerism’, then would that not make shopping centres our new cathedrals? They certainly seem to be the most widespread buildings where people come together to “worship” (or at least support the prevailing ideology). Products have replaced the holy spirit and cooperations form the new clergy. I see socioeconomic status as the ‘presence of God’ or ‘Heaven’, the big difference being that all the fruits of Consumerism are instant and here in this life, whilst heaven is a future reward.

The Christian clergy, for much of it’s instituationalised reign, controlled the Truth by being literate in a world of general illiteracy. This allowed it to get across it’s own message without having to worry too much about the common parishoner questioning what it was saying. Consumerism has had to take a different approach, preaching a much more abstract and subconscious message that is open to widespread criticism, but which has still managed to be stunningly successful. What constitutes authentic Consumerism is shaped and controlled through commercial power, capital and education to a certain extent (marketing men are educated in the manipulation of markets and individuals).

Art, often in the form of stained glass windows, is common in cathedrals and helped the illiterate surf to learn and understand bible stories, enabling them to advance in the religion or obtain guidance on how to live via the Poor Man’s Bible. With Consumerism, the stories have spread from the cathedral and now permeate all media, but their purpose remains broadly the same. The key emotional incentive drawing people to the cathedral has changed from one of fear (of hell) to one of potential rewards (a better life), but the other sides of the coin (Heaven and, for example, fear of crime) are still important. Advertisements have become the parables of our age, and PR departments are the new disciples.

It’s unfortunate that even with the vast wealth that Consumerism commands, it has been unable to build anything even remotely as majestic as a middle-age cathedral. Ultimately the mall is a building designed for utility; a blank canvas for where individual companies can display their own short term architecture and art. It’s difficult to imagine people travelling to look at our shopping centres in hundreds of years time. If they do it will likely be from a ‘look at this stunning squandering of the Earth’s resources’ viewpoint.

Who are we worshipping here? Ourselves? That’s what the individualistic nature of Consumerism would suggest. But perhaps that’s really an illusion, perhaps we are worshiping the characters in the stories, the people in the adverts. Or are we worshipping fate and fortune? The act of purchasing could represent a prayer to Fortune, as if to say ‘I’ve bought this, now bring me what I want like you promised - to be happy and successful (or whatever) like the people in the adverts’. If this is true, then Consumerism seems to revolve around the same core idea of Christianity and many other religions: action (or worship) yields rewards.

So how does the shopping centre fare as the new cathedral? It certainly has the physical presence, but its message and purpose is obscure when compared to the direct concrete ideology of Christianity, even if it has been arguably more successful. I’ll look at some more potential candidates over the coming weeks.

It's something I've written briefly about before, but after being away and having lots of photos of my travels to look through it's a thought that has come back to me. I'm talking about photos in the snapshot sense, or perhaps in the  "holiday photos" sense, rather than the pictures you would find in a gallery. I know a lot of people really love photos, love having them about; they stick them up around their room, have photos of their friends as their PC wallpaper and use photos as a sorce of comfort and familiarity.

I can't do this. I find photographs immensely powerful, they either make me feel alienated from a situation in the past, or make me feel isolated in that past time whilst everyone else is in the present, it's like being alone on a separate but identical planet Earth stuck in that single moment. That makes it sound worse than it is, I don't think these feelings are really a bad thing, if nothing else they are powerful and refreshing, when I feel like I want an emotional "hit" so to speak I whip out the photo album (or open the photos folder on the PC) and have a browse through. I don't take many pictures myself but when I do it makes these feelings even stronger. It's not just pictures of people that make me feel this way, often landscapes can be even more powerful, especially if they are of a deserted mountain vista, or most magnificently of all if they are looking out over some expanse of water.

On the other hand a really great photo as a piece of art is one that really draws me in, that can give me the same depth of feeling (though not necessarily the same feelings) as a photo with the added weight of a personal memory attached to it. The wonderful thing about a photograph by somebody else is that can give me that powerful feeling but it's not tied to one particular time, one particular event, I can take it wherever I want, place myself into it in whatever way I wish. I personally find photography one of the most powerful art forms because of this, indeed a good chunk of my time on the Internet is spent browsing for brilliant pictures, brilliant wallpapers to fit my mood and my view on the things around me at any particular time.

What are photos? For me, either powerful relics of the past, or (good photos at least) a form of artistic expression on a par with music.

Silence,
Sound,
Serenity.

From abstract to emotion,
An idea in motion.

An image, a form,
An ocean, a storm.

A fire, a call,
A moment, a fall.

Lonely people, lonely time,
My memories which are not mine. 

The voice of god whispering in the darkness.

The power of life streaming through the body.

A time of love, a time of loss,
Now reborn; silent reform.

New memories sealed, forever frozen,
The new direction, constantly chosen.

The end,
Silence,
But the rhythm lingers on,
Rejoins the eternal one.

Back to normal next week.

"In a rare public appearance, photographer Gregory Colbert talks about the creation of his exhibit "Ashes and Snow." Colbert's work, which he calls "a 21st-century bestiary," captures the poetic beauty in our relationship to the animal kingdom. Colbert shows an 8-minute film, from the exhibit, of his epic swim with whales off the coast of the Azores."

You really need to experience these in motion to see why they are so special.

 

I'm going to be posting shorter updates until the end of May as I have a whole load of exams coming up. I'll mostly be sharing links to some of the sites and things I've found recently, just like this.

So I turned up not really knowing what to expect, I had seen the trailer and justifiably assumed it would bear little resemblance to the actual substance of the film (time travel? right.). I was blown away, this is truly the greatest film I have seen in a very long time; afterwards I felt as though a wave had washed over me, my mind buzzing and spinning with the depth of the experience, the new ideas it had awoken inside of me. The film takes the single event of a death and zooms in on it to such a point that it turns into a whole lifetime, a whole age of evolution. I can't recall any other film I have seen that has adopted this viewpoint, The Hours has a similar central theme, but doesn't delve into the pure emotion and humanity of the experience, or expand it out in the way The Fountain does.

The majestic score is provided by Mogwai and Clint Mansell (who scored Aronofsky's other two films) and really breathes a whole new dimension into the pictures. The whole film has a beautiful, rich, golden, organic feel to it which is sometimes complemented by full orchestration and at other times juxtaposed with distortion-filled electronica. Particularly of note is the final credits music which is incredibly sensitive to your feeling at the end of the movie and really pins you to your seat allowing you to meditate over the events of the film.

It is more "arty" and more directly philosophical than his other two films, and isn't going to be for everyone (as the reviews have shown), but if you come at it from the right place then it has the potential to really flourish.

The effect of music is so very much more powerful and penetrating than is that of the other arts, for these others speak only of the shadow, but music of the essence.

I am really feeling at the moment, my music, old and new, has more power to flow through me and spin me round than it has done in a long while. Music is the one art form that can take a hold of me when I least expect it, rather than requiring me to put in the effort. Other people have said what I am trying to say more eloquently:

"I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music. " George Eliot

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley

"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent."  Victor Hugo

Awesome.

I had felt recently that everything has been flat, like my senses and actions have been dulled, but now colour is flowing back into my world and everything has become beautiful and fascinating again, rather than cold and frustrating. I'm unearthing new ideas everywhere and they are flying through my mind like fireworks, hopefully this is the beginning of some new path to places I haven't been before. Perhaps though, this is just transient and I'll be back to cynicism within a few days; we'll see.

The description on the site says the following:

Through religion, philosophy, psychology, art, and architecture, RADIANCE presents light as a universal symbol of life. This film invites the viewer to see how images of light continue from ancient cultures through modern times, connecting the visions of people throughout the world. Natural images, unusual special effects, and poetic narration are woven together with musical selections to develop an evocative documentary on light, from the metaphysical to the physical

Regardless of your opinions on what she is saying, there is some truly fantastic imagery going on. Well worth a look.

The Reflecting Pool

Documentary

I had not heard of the artist before, but apparently he is pretty famous in the video art world. His exhibition is a collection of videos, most around ten minutes in length, relating to water, fire and people. They included a figure standing in front a wall of fire, and then falling into a pool of water, projected onto a 10foot high screen in a pitch black room, with roaring sound. Another one was people falling into water in slow motion, from brilliant disorientating angles.

It is one of the best exhibitions I have ever been to, really powerful, fantastically executed. I would highly recommend anyone who leaves near London getting along before it closes. He made the videos from the exhibition (along with other footage totalling four hours) to accompany a performance of Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde, which must have been an amazing show.

It’s difficult to describe the power of them, although I managed to find a video on you tube from one of his older exhibitions that I have posted below, along with some pictures of the current exhibition above.

You Tube Video
More information 
Details of the exhibition (Entry is free!)