The Tyranny of Vulnerability

The Tyranny of Vulnerability:

Now, still in the Crisis, although the worst first onslaught seems to be over, at least until the second wave reaches us, the mind goes out to art, wants distraction again, experience, aesthetic challenge and performance. And is immediately thrown back as if hurled against a wall. The sad fact remains, that Art, specifically art in music, concerts, theater, dance are still among the things we are not allowed to enjoy in public or together with many people. For this joy we have still to wait. I very much miss having these “profound experiences of Art“ and long for the time they are to be enjoyed again. 

And so it is doubly sad to be forced to observe a tendency in recent years, ever becoming stronger, of groups in society, in social behaviour, to criticise, condemn and even ban art (painting, photography, video, film, theatre, opera, literature) for alleged insults and injuries to sensitivities.

It is sad to see this tendency coming from a mostly young, internet affin clientele, from people who seem to define themselves solely by being “different”,  by belonging to an assumed minority (vegan, gay, trans, feminist, gluten intolerant, birdsong allergic ...) and therefore feel entitled to claim more rights for themselves than others. Their sole purpose of living seems to be being a victim or being just “different“. Sadly the fact that usually a person is much more complex than just being gay, vegan, trans, (… you name it), seems to be forgotten. 

I call this The Tyranny of Vulnerability.

If everything which could evoke a feeling of insult would lead to a ban, then the door opens to an unsustainable state of things, since potentially everything could be insulting to someone. This development would be the end of all freedom of art.

In a society like ours one has to learn to live and endure contradictions. Not all of them are solvable, some of them we just have to learn to live with and thus continue living the absurdity of life.

#robertfaeth, #painterinBerlin, #painting, #art, #bookblog, #bookreviews, #literaturelover, #poem, #poetry

‘One Art’ - poem

One Art

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

— Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident

the art of losing’s not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster

                                      Elisabeth Bishop (1911 - 1979)*

*Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956,  the Naational Book Award winner in 1970, and the recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1976.

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The Joy of Baking

The Joy of Baking:

This is not another food blog. Or is it?

Well, it is about food, yes, specifically about baked food. But it is more about the process, the deed, the action, the activity of baking and how I came about to so get into it lately. The main persuasive power has been Corona, of course. With it came all we experienced in the last weeks and months. The lockdown, the isolation, the shortfall of external distraction and the rising need to counter these blanks with new stimulus.

What is one to do when at home most of the time. This might sound like an excuse but is really meant to be only an explanation. In search of something "to do", apart from all the other things I already do and which are always part of my way of living, I discovered baking as a form of creative meditation. So another perfect way to find my inner self and additionally produce something delicious for my tastebuds.

There is something almost erotically sensual in kneading a dough. Not only does it please my tactile receptors but it also brings back memories of playing in the playground, as a kid, in the sandbox. Dirt and water, the main ingredients for a sand cake then have been exchanged for milk, butter, flour, chocolate, sugar and vanilla. The feeling stayed the same. 

If I’d be a yoga teacher I’d open a yoga class “Yoga and Baking“. Or “Connect with the Cosmos: “Bake a Cake”. 

The satisfactory feeling of having created something extraordinary is the same every artist experiences when having finished a piece of art. In addition this “delicious farinaceous compound” ( Henry James) can now be eaten, a delightful if short moment of happiness. 

And I have to admit, mostly I am proud of what I succeeded in doing. Therefore, a little galery:

Irish Cream Gugelhupf

Traditional Lemon Cheesecake

Miss PACMAN Cake (Chocolate-Walnut-Raspberry)

Russischer Zupfkuchen (Russian Pluck Cake, a cheesecake with chocolate dough chunks)

Traditional Plum and Rhubarb Cake with yeast dough

#robertfaeth, #painterinBerlin, #painting, #art, #bookblog, #bookreviews, #literaturelover, #poem, #poetry