View allAll Photos Tagged IDEALISM
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
Situated on the corner of Washington and Second Streets and within one block of the Obion County Courthouse and City Hall, the Post Office building is an excellent interpretation of Georgian Revival with classical details. When first built in 1913, the Post Office was rectangular and contained one story, basement and mezzanine. Due to the increasing need for additional space to accommodate expanding postal operations, a wing was added and workroom enlarged in 1965. Originally completed under the supervision of Supervising Architect, James Knox Taylor, who served from 1897 to 1912, and constructed by George W. Stiles Construction Company, the Union City, Tennessee Post Office is significant in several respects. Architecturally and most noteably, the building illustrates how Mr. Taylor, who subscribed to classical styles of architecture for government buildings, incorporated the details and idealism of contemporary national trends into local prominence. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1984.
~All the information above was taken from the original documents submitted to have this building listed on the NRHP:
npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/84003671
Image was taken during my trek to photograph all 95 county courthouses across my home state of Tennessee...now revisiting in order that the courthouses were photographed!
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D5200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the link below:
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
“Soyez réalistes, demandez l’impossible”
Resistance in Toronto - September 2008.
Inspired by protest in Paris - May 1968.
Sage advice from a new generation? Or naïve platitudes from a 19 year old politics and media studies student who, when done with annoying me by being condescending, will end up annoying me by working in corporate banking, their past idealism only dimly remembered when an old favourite song comes on their giant 4x4's radio during the morning commute? You decide.
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
Following the French Revolution and the destruction of the old monarchy’s symbols of power, Napoleon’s empire turned to figures such as chinned to create an art expressing its ambition. Josephine’s novel dress echoes the Renaissance: symbols of the new regime - an eagle with a thunderbolt, stars and bees - reference the distant past. On her tiara, figures of Fame hold Napoleon’s portrait. Notably, Chinard sensitively conveys the empress’s individuality and rejects bland idealism.
I wanted to do a sort of concept that was like a reverse phoenix.
Definition of a phoenix:
phoe·nix:
a mythical bird of great beauty fabled to live 500 or 600 years in the Arabian wilderness, to burn itself on a funeral pyre, and to rise from its ashes in the freshness of youth and live through another cycle of years: often an emblem of immortality or of reborn idealism or hope.
The concept here is a phoenix that does not represent hope or reborn idealism, but rather death and destruction.
I'm experimenting with concept and color here, so let me know how you feel about it. :]
Finally I was able to make my first piece this year in this frosty and windy morning. Hell yeah! The mutant character has taken from one of my childhood’s favourite movies, ’Total Recall’.
Shout out to Fuga (PSF), Idealism and Daniel O’Brien (Mendicity Institution Centre)!
ARCH ENEMY – You Will Know My Name
Neuschwanstein Castle was commenced by the Bavarian King Ludwig II in 1869 and never completed. He saw it as a monument to medieval culture and kingship, which he revered and wanted to imitate. Built and furnished in medieval styles but equipped with what at the time was the latest technology, it is the most famous work of historicism and the embodiment of German idealism.
Head of Aleph, 2009. At the exhibition "What’s the matter with Idealism?" of Scottish artist Charles Avery. GEM museum of contemporary art The Hague.
With weather reminiscent of Birmingham, England, the suburban Kansas City junction of Birmingham was HOPPING on this afternoon that I visited. What it lacked in photographic idealism, it more than made up in mood.
Here, Kaw River Railroad's 112 Job has pulled up to the junction after finishing its work in Liberty, and was waiting on this eastbound BNSF coal train to clear up in front of it. The coal train is running on the ex-CB&Q Brookfield Sub, and about the cross the ex-RI/MILW at grade.
The Kearney Branch (at left) is also an ex-Q property that WATCO leased from the BNSF back in 2005.
Without art, there is no idealism. Without idealism, there is no integrity. Without integrity, there is nothing but production.”
Raymond Chandler.
Where I Lived and What I Lived For
“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived...”
Where I Lived and What I Lived For is a photo essay inspired by Henry David Thoreau's writings on self-reliance and moral idealism. The work is an exploration of intentional communities in the UK and focuses on the sense of place as well as the people who dwell in each community and their personal ideologies.
The work is intended to convey the positive nature of intentional community and the normality and domesticity of an otherwise unseen world.
... i am thinking of putting together a photo zine of all of the photographs i took at one of the communities i visited that i didn't use for my exhibition along with transcripts of audio recordings i made and a few extra things, maybe something hand made tooo :) having just graduated as a bachelor of arts one of the few things i am sure of is that i'm not interested in taking photographs as a "job", i'm not particularly good at it and i equally don't care, it feels GOOD
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
Following the French Revolution and the destruction of the old monarchy’s symbols of power, Napoleon’s empire turned to figures such as chinned to create an art expressing its ambition. Josephine’s novel dress echoes the Renaissance: symbols of the new regime - an eagle with a thunderbolt, stars and bees - reference the distant past. On her tiara, figures of Fame hold Napoleon’s portrait. Notably, Chinard sensitively conveys the empress’s individuality and rejects bland idealism.
Thursday May 21st 1998
Well I eventually found a place to sleep last night. I slept outside next to the Jeep at some secluded campground that the desk clerk at a local motel told me about. I got there late, way past dark and there was nobody around to check me in or whatever they do at c-grounds. I woke up at 6:30am to the sun rising and birds chirping - I guess I was supposed to pay in the morning but instead I just packed up and left (I knocked on the door and nobody was around - I at least tried). Whoops. Anyway, saved me $15 bucks.
I drove all day today from Virginia into Tennessee. I got to watch the sunrise over the Shenandoah this morning - damn it was beautiful…blues, pinks, reds and yellows. I went to WalMart (can’t get away from that damn store) and bought a cheap tent to use. After driving and driving for a few hours, seeing an elderly man wet himself in a restroom and watching two Virginia back country boys duke it out at a rest-stop - I crossed over the Tennessee state line. I traveled through Knoxville and decided to stop around 5:00 at a KOA in Crossville Tenn. due to the fact that I had hardly had any sleep last night on my gravel and granite bed. Anyway, I talked to mom on the phone and everything is going good back in old Cold Spring. I keep wondering what Butch and J. are up to? Butch gave me a picture of himself and J. before I left - I just found it a couple of minutes ago. Mom told Dave about my little run in with the black bears yesterday - I can only imagine how pissed at me he is.
I guess it’s time to go and test my new tent. I’ve been trying to estimate how long I can do this vagabond thing - one minute I am ready to go home- the next I’m ready to stay out all summer. I guess only time, money and my emotional strength will tell.
____________________
You, who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked,
The one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why,
If they told you,
You will cry,
So just look at them & sigh
And know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears
That your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth, before they can die.
Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell,
Will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked,
The one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why,
If they told you,
You will cry,
So just look at them & sigh
And know they love you.
CSN
____________________
It's so hard to read the naiveness and idealism in these old writings. But it's begun and I intend to follow it through. I laugh at how much doubt I had early on - and how ill prepared I was for life on the road.
____________________
If your wondering what the heck this is all about, go here.
To keep track of progress on a map - here.
This fort is famous as the home of Padmini, the heroine Rajput Rani ( Queen ) who comitted Sati ( burned themselves to death ) with all of the women folk in the fort after the Rajput men were defeated in battle by the invading Moghul hordes coming from the West, deemed a more honourable fate than submission. Other Rajput forts were rather more subtle in their approach to the might of the Moghuls coming from Afghanistan and Western Persia and either capitulated ( uncommon for the Kshatriya ( farmers who turn to warriors ) caste Rajputs ) or married Hindu Princesses to Moghul Princes to faciliate a peaceful transition. Chittor is pretty unique in Rajasthan for its defiance and protection of Hindu idealism.
35mm Fujichrome scan
Copyright 2013 Ian P Watkinson - All rights reserved
" Un homme qui n'a pas peur de regarder l'enfant qu'il a été, et de lui demander s'il est fier de ce qu'il est devenu. Un homme qui croit encore à une certaine forme d'idéalisme. Je suis un rêveur. Et il en faut des comme moi, pour maintenir un peu d'illusion au milieu des êtres comme vous. "
" A man who isn't afraid to look at the child he once was and ask him if he's proud of the man he's become. A man who still believes in a certain form of idealism. I'm a dreamer. And we need people like me to maintain a little bit of illusion amidst people like you. "
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Quick ballpoint pen sketch on paper. I have hundreds of small
ballpoint pen sketches like that. I'll scan some more shortly...
PS: Some cool & affordable gift ideas (5/12) for Christmas!!
_____________________________________________________
For more information about my works: info@benheine.com
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"We have a literacy above 90 per cent of the population. We have radio, television, movies, a newspaper a day for everybody. But instead of giving us the best of past and present literature and music, these media of communication, supplemented by advertising, fill the minds of men with the cheapest trash, lacking in any sense of reality, with sadistic phantasies which a halfway cultured person would be embarrassed to entertain even once in a while. But while the mind of everybody, young and old, is thus poisoned, we go on blissfully to see to it that no “immorality” occurs on the screen. Any suggestion that the government should finance the production of movies and radio programs which would enlighten and improve the minds of our people would be met again with indignation and accusations in the name of freedom and idealism.
We have reduced the average working hours to about half what they were one hundred years ago. We today have more free time available than our forefathers dared to dream of. But what has happened? We do not know how to use the newly gained free time; we try to kill the time we have saved, and are glad when another day is over… Society as a whole may be lacking in sanity."
The legendary actor Han Seok-gyu (Han Suk-kyu) portrays Romantic Dr. Kim Sabu (“romantic” is actually used in the sense of humanism/idealism).
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
El museo ICO, propone un recorrido cronológico por la obra del insigne arquitecto madrileño, que revitalizó la arquitectura de la segunda mitad del siglo XX en España.
Fernando Higueras, entendía que la arquitectura, debía promover la armonía entre el hábitat humano y su entorno natural, un precursor de la sostenibilidad. Una de sus obras más representativas, “La Corona de Espinas.”
El simbolismo del edificio, su carácter, el sistema constructivo, la belleza y complejidad de sus espacios, el idealismo, la armonía y la perfección del mismo, hacen de él una de las obras más significativas de la Arquitectura Española.
Para ver más de este edificio ir a mi video
The ICO museum offers a chronological tour of the work of the famous Madrid architect, who revitalized the architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Spain.
Fernando Higueras, understood that architecture, should promote harmony between the human habitat and its natural environment, a precursor of sustainability. One of his most representative works, "The Crown of Thorns."
The symbolism of the building, its character, the constructive system, the beauty and complexity of its spaces, the idealism, harmony and perfection of it, make it one of the most significant works of Spanish architecture.
To see more of this building go to my video
Warning
You are free to comment or not, my photograph, but if you do,
please do not attach any of those big and ugly logos, because I'll probably send it to the trash. All the best. agustin ruiz
Week 14 - Hippies
One of the things I admire most about the idealism of the Hippie movement is the conection towards nature, the enhance of the qualities and beauty of mother earth.
This is my take on it, the beauty, movement and awe of mother nature.
Simple, as the simplistic hippie lifestyle.
Follow me on Facebook , Tumblr , DeviantArt
The Battle of Crete in 1941 is ingrained deep in the hearts of everyone on this beautiful island, and no more so than in the villages, where local people put up a heroic resistance against the German invaders.
Here, just outside the Preveli Monastery high above the Mediterranean in southern Crete, is a handsome memorial which commemorates the crucial life-saving role the local community, together with the abbot and monks, played during the war – the religious order organising shelter and evacuation for hundreds of British, Australian and New Zealand troops, even though they faced the death penalty for doing so.
The monks were led by Abbot Agathaggelos Laggouvardos, now a legend and depicted here with his rifle; alongside him is an Allied British serviceman. A nearby noticeboard in Greek and English declares, “This monument stands for ideology, memory and communication of friendship and peace. Dedicated to the resistance of our people dedicated to all the countries who believe and fight for the idealism of democracy and freedom”.
Lest we forget.
Montjuïc - Barcelona (Spain).
Sant Jordi (Josep Llimona i Bruguera, 1924)
Optical illusion: the statue is really on a pedestal some meters beyond the hedge.
Ilusión óptica: la estatua está realmente sobre un pedestal varios metros más allá del seto.
ENGLISH
Llimona is the greatest Art Nouveau (Modernista) Catalonian sculptor.
Born in Barcelona in the year 1864. He was trained in the Llotja of Barcelona, in the atelier of Venanci and Agapit Vallmitjana brothers and also under the mastering of Rosend Nobas.
In 1880 he won the "Fortuny pension" (an award granted by the Barcelona City Council in memory of the great Catalonian painter Marià Fortuny, to help artists to improve his capabilities) and went to Rome. During his stay in Italy, he received the influence of the Florentine Renaissance sculpture and carried out two obligatory works: Roman Patrician and Ramon Berenguer el Gran.
His style is characterized by a naturalistic idealism and by the flavor of the picturesqueness.
Read more: www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AS002.htm
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CASTELLANO
Llimona es el mas gran escultor modernista catalán.
Nacido en Barcelona en el año 1864. Formado en la Llotja de Barcelona y el taller de los hermanos Venanci y Agapit Vallmitjana y con Rosend Nobas.
En 1880 ganó la pensión Fortuny y fue a Roma. Durante su estancia en Italia, recibió la influencia de la escultura renacentista florentina y realizó dos trabajos obligatorios, Patricio romano y Ramon Berenguer el Grande.
Su estilo se caracteriza por un idealismo naturalista y por el gusto del pintoresquismo.
Leer más: www.gaudiallgaudi.com/ES002.htm
i've been away for a while. had house guests for three weeks, then a party, and finally, i have my own place for a night. i have been looking forward to having a bit of space in which to swing my arms about for too long.
aka "Pastoral With a Couple near a Fountain" The scene was inspired by the theatrical characters of the immensely popular pantomimes of Boucher's friend, Charles-Simon Favart. At the Opéra Comique, where Boucher was both set designer and a keen member of the audience, Favart’s musical dramas combined the Arcadian idealism and aristocratic sensibilities of pastoral poetry with the rustic, sentimental characters of popular theatre. Here we see a recreation of scene VI of Favart’s pantomime 'Les Vendanges de Tempé (The Harvest in the Vale of Tempé)', first produced in 1745, where the amorous Little Shepherd feeds grapes to the heroine, Lisette. The watching shepherd to the right is taken from a Rembrandt etching.
It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously.
H. L. Mencken
[Please take the time to read this reflection. In memory of Walter Benjamin.]
As we end this series looking at life in death at the Melbourne General Cemetery, I have focused on three impressive statues. In my previous photograph "Precious Angel" I mentioned one Jewish genius. In this one I wish to discuss another, Walter Benjamin (1892-1940).
Early in the series I showed you some memories of Shoah (the Holocaust), in which 6 million Jews were put to death in a singularly evil genocide. In history, what meaning is left to life after this event?
The great Italian writer and Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi (1919-1987) was so haunted by it all he took his own life in Turin. Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) also a Jewish scholar, is regarded by many as a prophet of post-modernism, and strongly anti-foundationalist (i.e. there is no ultimate ground of meaning), and yet late in his career he took a distinctly mystical turn as he tried to recapture a sense of purpose in the face of loss. For those scholars among you, try reading John Caputo's "The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida: Religion without Religion" (Indiana University Press, 1997).
But back to Walter Benjamin. "(He) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mysticism, Benjamin made enduring and influential contributions to aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and historical materialism." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin
Benjamin's collection of essays, "Illuminations" had an immediate impression on me when I discovered them in 1990. I was moved immediately by his phenomenological piece called, "Unpacking my Library". But there was more, much more. You see Benjamin was a marked man as soon as the Nazis rolled into Paris. His scholarship was well known in Germany, and was the very antithesis of Nazi doctrine itself. In January 1940 he wrote his seminal "Theses on the Philosophy of History". On June 13 he and his sister escaped to Lourdes as the Nazi tanks rolled into the city. Sure enough, they raided his Parisian flat, but he was gone.
In August he was able to obtain a US visa as a refugee and had plans of travelling to neutral Portugal, and at Lisbon to embark for the safety of America (yes, the movie "Casablanca" was based on facts). The Gestapo were everywhere. When Benjamin arrived in the Catalonian town of Portbou (then controlled by Francoist Spain), he was stopped by the border police. Orders were made to return all refugees to France, and Benjamin knew this would mean into the hands of the Gestapo. Benjamin killed himself with an overdose of morphine tablets on the night of September 26, 1940. His brother Georg was killed at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in 1942. The details are numbing. How could rational humanity be reduced to such barbarism?
So what did Walter Benjamin make of this development as the world marched headlong into an abyss? Well, let's just focus on his "Ninth Thesis of History" as Benjamin struggles with the notion of Progress and the ensuing chaos:
"A (Paul) Klee painting named Angelus Novus shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress."
You can see immediately where my inspiration came from for this photograph. The Angelus Novus is the angel of history who surveys the wreckage we leave behind, as Paradise after Paradise is lost. Even the missing left hand of this statue seems to have a very distinct meaning: The angel of history is himself injured by the catastrophe we leave behind us. If faith means anything at all after Auschwitz, then it must be because God also partakes of the universal suffering. All our neat conceptual images of God must go, and we are left with nothing but sheer Faith on which to rest our hopes. But the German mystic and priest Meister Eckhart was saying this in the early 14th century.
Another Jewish philosopher who fled the Nazis, Ernst Bloch (1885-1977), believed this and it formed the basis of his great work, "The Principle of Hope". In turn the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann (b.1926), made it the basis of his entire theological work. For Moltmann the meaning of history lies in a "Crucified God". But far from being an end, this is the true beginning of an eternal hope that lies beyond the vicissitudes of a failed universe. The death of Death is the beginning of New Life.
Should we believe the authorities? Should we believe in the vaccine? Should we believe we are safe if we follow safety protocols? Have we entered a neo-idealism period that challenges our belief system?
After lots of retouching and color correction, I have finally photo that I adore. Inspired by my favorite musical, Pippin, this is based (quite literally) of the main character Pippin's idealism and desire to find his own in the world expressed in the song "Corner of the Sky"
This is also my entry for concept collaboration for this month!
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