Coming In from the Cold …

 

 

Travelling like a cloud above Alpine countries and snow-clad peaks and forgetting to come back …

The Frozen Canals in Göteborg (Gothenburg) in the Kingdom of Sweden & the Bitterly Cold weather in the UK didn’t dampen my spirits …

It was fun trekking on the iced canals with Vassil Simittchiev’s Prometheus and the birds.As for the weather in UK,it was ideal for winter people like me.

Still alive & well,but excessively busy and grappling with a whole slew of emails. Sigh … When off line for a while,I’m finding it hard to catch up.Even so,I’ll do my very best to start Slowly Moving through the WordPress Gears and fight Time,which is my constant nemesis.

Well,time to move Planet ? lol

l should live on Titan,the largest Moon of Saturn,where a Day is the same as the time it takes for the Moon to orbit around Saturn.It’s about 15 days, 22 hours, and 41 minutes.It’d be great,time would never manage to overtake me …

 

Time to be back to reality … Exploring Göteborg in the cold,a wonderful RiverCity by the Sea.It was a nice travel experience as I’d never seen iced canals in my life.

The marble facade of the hotel was “cold” too,the glass reflections frozen …

But,it was warm and cozy indoors;its iconic structure looked like a huge theatrical stage …

A hot cup of “fika” along with some cinnamon Kanelbullar was more than enough before going for a skate …

Göteborg (Gothenburg),Sweden’s second largest city,had some appeal despite the Siberian temperatures.Beautiful neoclassical mansions in the old town,and canals that embrace its largest part and give it bracing vitality and energy.

A visit to the Museum of Göteborg by the iced canal was just the ticket,it was freezing cold outside.Many and interesting all the exhibits.An old telephone device and a Morse key-Morse telegraph caught immediately my attention.

Wonderful old Transmitters & Receivers!How Times Change!

From Semaphores & Telegraphs in the Inter-Net Age ….

I waved to you with a red Göteborg flag and transmitted messages by telegraph,but your reception stations were disconnected due to bad weather conditions ..

Now,that the Inter-Net has invaded our lives,and our cell phone is an extention of our hand,the world is smaller and more connected.Bill Gates says that the Internet is becoming the Town Square for the Global Village of tomorrow.Everything lives on line now.Technological progress frees and then enslaves us ; it’s an unruly tool for helping humans and for destroying them at the same time.Artificial Intelligence develops at the speed of light,it makes me feel that we are very close to an entirely Synthetic Human.Are we any closer to such a life of freedom and bliss?Are we eventually served or enslaved?I find Nassim Taleb’s words truly wise :

“The difference between technology and slavery is that slaves are fully aware that they are not free.”

Will the Human Spirit prevail over Technology ?

How much I like Steve Jobs’ words :

” I would Trade all of my Technology for an afternoon with Socrates.” …

I was waving to you again and again holding a pennant from Haga,Gothenburg’s oldest district,but you didn’t notice … You were Busy Blogging …

 

 

 

I abandoned my attempts to communicate with you through Semaphores and went on to meet Prometheus.I had fixed an appointment with the Titan,days ago.

 

Looking for the “Promethean Spark” on Ice …

What is this black figure doing by the frozen canal ?
Is he the Pyrphoros Titan,the Fire-Bringer,who holds the fire in his hand?

It must be Προμηθεύς (Prometheus) ,a Titan of Greek mythology,who stole fire from the Gods on Mount Olympus & brought it as a gift to mortals,marking the birth of human Culture & the beginning of Civilization with a rebellion against the Unjust Power in order to overthrow the system … His name means “Forethinker,a really meaningful Theophoric name.He became a figure who represented human striving and the quest for scientific knowledge.

Myths & Legends keep inspiring Artists & the World of Change.Throughout the early stages of human existence,men spent their days in a constant fearful awareness of the inevitable.They lived naked,hungry,cold and uneducated.

Prometheus felt this was wrong and asked the Gods on Olympus to do something about it.They refused,claiming mortals would come closer to the Gods,if allowed to cultivate imagination and creativity.Although he could not save them from death,he desired to instill hope for a bright future and possibilities for growth and development during their years on earth.He snuck up Mount Olympus,took fire from the hearth of the gods by stealth,hid the spark in a fennel stalk and ran down the mountain to teach humans the use of fire.Man’s doom was replaced with Light,Hope,Warmth,and Ambition.His gift enabled humans to prolong life and to improve its quality.It was just a tiny spark that lifted humanity to a higher level through imagination & creativity,which were activities exclusively for the Gods.

Darwin considered Fire as the greatest Discovery made by Humanity.

Today,the term “Promethean” refers to events or people of great Creativity,Selflessness,Intellect & Boldness.

PS:The symbolic torch,run from city to city & through each continent before the commencement of the Olympic Games,is in honour of the “Promethean” Gift.

I went closer and met him by the frozen canal,he was not Young and Handsome any longer.He told me a story,not the well known from Greek mythology and how he was Bound … Here,he had another role to play …

 

Prometheus’ ” Protest Art … “

“Prometheus” statue in Götheborg,by Vassil Simittchiev

Why this Flabby,Aged body with the Triangular Pyramid head ?

Artists have the liberty to express their opposition to all the powerholders and get their messages across through artworks that create reaction for the degradation of the human condition over time,stir emotions and cry out for the future of humanity and for the necessary change …

Here’s V.Simittchiev’s answer to GM’s (query editor) Isolde Berner some years ago :

“The work can symbolize that we are no longer Human.It is today’s Prometheus and there is no triangle without a pyramid of concrete he has over his head.

Titan Prometheus is not young and beautiful anymore,it’s an aged body – the human world has aged.The pyramid itself is also a human symbol,depending on how to use it.The world of today is quite still,pyramidal can be said,but it feels hard and no longer really Human in the same way as the world Prometheus saved. But there’s a hope,that’s why he’s holding a torch in his hand.To explain a work in detail, is not easy even for the Artist.The myth of Prometheus has been a recurring motif in art, literature and music, and is found in works by Shelley,Goethe,Michelangelo, Beethoven & Swedes V.Rydberg,Strindberg & Hjalmar Gullberg.”

Triangles in the art world can symbolize psychic or spiritual things as opposed to squares or cubes that symbolize rationalism.The pyramid is also a symbol of illuminism,but Prometheus didn’t belong to illuminati,he wanted to enlighten the world …

We may encounter art we don’t like,the conflation of art with its purposes is always a difficult issue to examine …

Generations of writers,philosophers & political revolutionaries have been inspired by Titan Prometheus’ story of rebellion.In contemporary times,Prometheus has become a symbol for Progress in Science and Technology.

Titans in the hands of artists & the story of the canal-side bronze & concrete sculpture,Prometheus,by Vassil Simittchiev – 1995 – dimensions 215 x 90 x 92 cm –

I noticed some graffiti art on his pyramidical head and remembered Banksy’s quote:“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” …

 

The ice on the canals had started thawing and flowing my thoughts down into Kattegatt,in the North Sea … The Lapis Blue Ice on Stora Hamnkanalen was slowly moving and the Tower of Tyska Church,or Christina Church,was impossingly soaring skywards to catch the evening light before the nightfall.

Fishermen statues ouside the big Feskekôrka (fishmarket) of the town were treating visitors and dogs and taught the art of Love & Friendship …

 

 

Some tropical plants,birds and other creatures were enjoying the warmth of the Botanical Garden completely unaware of the iced city outdoors.

 

 

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People in an alley in Haga uprooted the frozen flowers and planted some fresh ones.They also decorated the poles with coloured fancy feathers to wave to Spring and remind Her that She had completely forgotten their part of the world.

I found them very smart Semaphores …

 

 

Seasons can be quite different depending on where we live;
although March had almost ended,spring in the Nordics was heavy winter.It seems the sun got out of bed on the wrong side this spring,he confused directions and he didn’t know where he should move and where to stay.It is summer in the middle of spring,in my country.Oh,how beautiful the frozen canals were …

The bare “spring” branches outside a church were drawing on the moody canvas of the sky while the Peace Flame in the church was warming every corner of the Globe …

 

 

The Promethean Spark through Art,Science,or Religion,refers to the Human Soul,Divine Ambition and anything Enlightening that we share with others to Elevate our beautiful World.

 

 I left the Inextinguishable “Promethean Spark” and the “Peace Flame” burning  and imparting Knowledge and  Warmth …

One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.Henry Miller

 

Off  to start slowly moving through the WordPress Gears again …