In my beginning is my end (T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets, East Coker, I)

5th century BC

Acropolis, Athens, Greece

6th century AD

Basilica di San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

16th century

Matthias Gruenewald, Die Stuppacher Mdonna

Tiziano: Salome con la testa di S. Giovanni Battista

16th – 17th century

Caravaggio, San Giovanni Battista

18th century

San Francisco Church, Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

Inside the Church of San Francisco in Salvador

19th century

Cezanne, Large Pine and Red Earth

Degas, The Millinery Shop

20th century and beyond

Nolde, Hermit on Tree

Freud's Couch, The Freud Museum, London, England

Helmut Newton

Maria Adair, Instalacao Ambiental

Elaine Roberts, Lotus Flower

Venice - my photo

Anselm Kiefer, Salt of the Earth

Boy - my photo

Thomas Schutte, Efficiency Men

Naoussa, Paros, Greece - my photo

Lefkes, Paros, Greece - my photo

Marpissa, Paros, Greece - my photo

The Earth of Marathon, Attica, Greece - my photo

T.S. Eliot - Four Quartets, East Coker, III

 

Happy New Year!!!

P.S. This came as a result of rediscovering X’s letter with the extensive quotation from Eliot’s poem “Four Quartets”. The hand written page is hers.

Lunch of 26th December 2011 in Marathon, Attica, Greece

Sunrise of the 26th December 2011

The day of the 26th December 2011 is special. My best man “koumbaros” Manolis celebrates his name day. In addition, it is the anniversary of his wedding to my “koumbara” Marion. As it happens, this year it is the 20th anniversary of their marriage. One more reason to celebrate with a lunch that is a tribute to life and its enjoyment.

The first dish of the menu has a name that resounds with passion: “Besame Mucho”. It is a new creation of my humble personality, invented in the middle of dark winter nights.

Raw Kokoretsi

The first ingredient of the dish is kokoretsi, lamb’s intestines wrapped around liver, heart, and sweetbreads of the lamb.

My butcher prepares them on 30 cm sticks. I bake them after I season them with coarse salt and black pepper.

Cooked kokoretsi

Once baked, I take them off the stick and cut them in small chunks. They are now ready to be served with the second ingredient of the dish, which is lentils.

Lentils - detail

I boil them with a lot of chunks of pickled celery root and leafs, carots, a bit of onion and a bit of garlic.

The first dish: Besame Mucho

I serve the lentils in the middle of the dish, and place the chunks of kokoretsi around it, with some fresh chopped home grown coriander and a few drops of vinegar.

After the enticing experience of “Besame Mucho”, the palate needs a thorough cleaning.

Rucola outside my front door

This is accomplished by the green salad made with lettuce, spring onions, dill, coriander, and home grown rucola.

Ojos Verdes

Add a good olive oil, some lemon, and coarse salt, and you have one of the most refreshing and tasty salads in the world! I name this salad “Ojos Verdes”.

And now to the second dish, as the ojos verdes were an interlude, albeit a very tasty and flavorful one!

This dish is the marriage of roasted piglet and mixed pickled cabbage, white and red, and bears the name “Love me tender, love me sweet”.

Pickled cabbage

I prepare the pickled cabbage at home, and all I do after I Take out of the jar where it has been pickled, is to let it simmer gently for a couple of hours, adding a bit of olive oil.

Roasted Piglet

The piglet is roasted in the oven, with rosemary, coriander and garlic stems. I also add coarse salt and pepper.

Last but not least, the “breads” of the lunch. We had corn bread (in the upper half of the picture) and piroshki made of potatoes (the lower half of the picture).

Both were prepared by a good friend.

There was no room for anything after all this, but only for fresh fruits, apples and tangerines.

Many Happy returns dearest friends, and a Happy New Year to All!!!

Christmas eve of 2011: The Love of Greece

Nah ist

Und schwer zu fassen der Gott.

Wo aber Gefahr ist, waechst

Das Retende auch.

Patmos, Friedrich Hoelderlin

God is near

Yet hard to seize.

Where there is danger,

The rescue grows as well.

(translation by Scott Horton)

Ειναι κοντα

Και δυσκολος να τον συλλαβεις ο Θεος.

Ομως εκει που ειναι ο κινδυνος,

Εκει και το σωτηριον φυεται.

(Πατμος, Φρηντριχ Χελντερλιν, Μεταφραση Στελλα Νικολουδη, Εκδοσεις ΑΓΡΑ)

Ὦ φιλτάτη πατρίς,
ὦ θαυμασία νῆσος,
Ζάκυνθε· σὺ μοῦ ἔδωκας
τὴν πνοήν, καὶ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος
τὰ χρυσὰ δῶρα!

(Ωδαι, Ανδρεα Καλβου, Ωδη Πρωτη, Ο Φιλοπατρις)

Ohh beloved motherland,

ohh wonderful island,

Zakinthos; you gave me

the breath, and Apollo’s

golden presents!

(Odes, Andreas Calvos, First Ode) 

(my translation)

Μέσα στις θαλασσινές σπηλιές
υπάρχει μια δίψα
υπάρχει μια αγάπη
υπάρχει μια έκσταση

(Γιωργος Σεφερης, Μεσα στις Θαλασσινες Σηλιες) 

Inside the sea caves

there is a thirst

there is a love

there is an ecstasis

(George Seferis, Nobel Laureate, Inside the Sea Caves)

(my translation)

The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,—
Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung!

(Lord Byron, The Isles of Greece)

Τα νησια της Ελλαδας! Τα νησια της Ελλαδας!

Εκει που η φλεγομενη Σαπφω αγαπησε και τραγουδησε,

Εκει που μεγαλωσαν οι τεχνες του πολεμου και της ειρηνης,

Εκει που αναδυθηκαν η Δηλος και ο Φοιβος!

(Λορδος Βυρων, Τα νησια της Ελλαδας)

(δικη μου μεταφραση) 

Only through the experience of Delos did the journey to Greece became a sojourn, cleared dwelling by that which Αληθεια is.

 Delos itself is that field of unconcealed hiddenness that accords sojourn: first to φυσις, to the pure and self-sheltered rise of mountains and islands, sky and sea, plants and animals, the rise where each thing appears in its strict type but also in its gently suspended form.

In the sojourn granted by αλήθεια the έργον appears as well: everything that is made and built by human work.

In this granted sojourn, the mortals themselves appear and precisely as those who respond to the unconcealed, for they bring to their proper appearance that which becomes present in this or that matter.

(Martin Heidegger, Sojourns: the journey to Greece, translated by John Panteleimon Manoussakis)

In closing, I wish to all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2012 Year!

With the Love of Greece!

Κλεινοντας, σημερα, παραμονη Χριστουγεννων 2011 ευχομαι σε ολους Καλα Χριστουγεννα και ευτυχες το νεο Ετος 2012.

Με την Αγαπη της Ελλαδας!

Frida Kahlo: Cartas Apasionadas (The Letters of …)

Today I travel to Mexico, to join the Great Mexican Painter Frida Kahlo. My aircraft is Martha Zamora’s compilation of Frida Kahlo’s letters, Cartas Apasionadas, published in 1995 by Chronicle Books in San Francisco, USA.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

The painter was born in 1907 in Coyoacan, a borough of the Federal District of Mexico City as Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón.

Frida Kahlo with drawn tears - Photo by Guillermo Kahlo, 1932

I started painting twelve years ago while I was recovering from an automobile accident that kept me in bed for nearly a year. In all these years, I’ve always worked with the spontaneous impulse of my feeling. I’ve never followed any school or anybody’s influence; I have never expected anything from my work but the satisfaction I could get from it by the very fact of painting and saying what I couldn’t say otherwise. (Letter to Carlos Chavez, 1939).

Frida Kahlo: Autorretrato con Collar de Espinas y Colibrí" ("Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Humming-bird").

In 1925 Frida has a horrible accident while riding a bus.

The only good thing is that I’m starting to get used to suffering. (Letter to Alejandro Gomez Arias, December 5, 1925).

Frida Kahlo: Frida and Diego Rivera, 1931

A short while ago, maybe a few days ago, I was a girl walking in a world of colors, of clear and tangible shapes. .. If you knew how terrible it is to attain knowledge all of a sudden – like lightning elucidating the earth! Now I live on a painful planet, transparent as ice…I grew old in a few instants and now everything is dull and flat. I know there is nothing behind; if there were something I would see it. (Letter to Alejandro Gomez Arias, September 1926).

Diego Rivera: Man masters the Elements

In 1929 Frida got married to the Mexican painter Diego Rivera. Their marriage hits the rocks quickly, as Diego is irreversibly unfaithfull. In 1934 Diego has an affair with Frida’s sister, Cristina. Frida is devastated.

Frida Kahlo - Photo by Nickolas Muray

First, it is a double disgrace, if I can explain it like that. You know better than anyone what Diego means to me in all senses, and on the other hand, she was the sister whom I loved the most and whom I tried to help as much as I could; that’s why the situation became horribly complicated and it is getting worse every day… My situation seems so ridiculous and stupid to me that you can’t imagine how I dislike and hate myself. I’ve lost my best years being supported by a man, doing nothing but what I thought would benefit and help him. I never thought about myself, and after six years, his answer is that fidelity is a bourgeois virtue and that it exists only to exploit (people) and to obtain an economic gain. (Letter to Ella and Bertram Wolfe, October 18, 1934).

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mask from Mexico

Even if we experience endless adventures, cracks in the doors, “mentions” of our mothers (the mentioning of one’s mother is considered to be very insulting in Mexico), and international complaints, don’t we always love each other? … All this anger has simply made me understand better that I love you more than my own skin, and that even though you don’t love me as much, you love me a little anyway – don’t you? If this is not true, I’ll always be hopeful that it could be, and that’s enough for me… Love me a little …. I adore you … Frieda (Letter to Diego Rivera, July 1935).

Frida Kahlo - Photo by Vicente Wolf

Diego has also been sick, but now he is almost well. He is working as usual, a lot and well. He is a little fatter; he is eating a lot and is as talkative as usual. He sleeps in the bathtub, reads the newspapers while on the toilet, and spends hours playing wiht Don Fulang Chang (pet monkey), for whom he already found a partner. (Letter to Ella Wolfe, 1938).

Diego Rivera: In the trenches - Photo by Tina Modotti)

Well child, let me thank you for your letter and for being so nice as to ask me about Diego’s shirts. I’m sorry for not being able to give you the sizes you asked for, but no matter how much I look inside the collar, I can’t even find a clue of what could be a number indicating the thickness of Don Diego Rivera y Barriento’s neck. So, I think it would be best to tell Martin to please buy six of the largest shirts that New York has, that is, if this letter gets to you in time, which I doubt very much. Get the kind (of shirts) that seem almost impossible to be made for a person, i.e the largest on this planet, commonly referred to as the Earth. (Letter to Ella Wolfe, 1938).

Frida Kahlo: Two nudes in the forest 1939

Now I will tell you some things about myself. I haven’t changed very much since you saw me last. Only I wear again my crazy mexican dress, my hair grew longer again, and I am as skinny as always. My character hasn’t changed either, I am as lazy as always, without enthusiasm for any thing, quite stupid, and damn sentimental, some times I think that this is bacause I am sick, but of course that is only a very good pretext. I could paint as long as long as I wish, I could read or study or do many things inspite  of my bad foot and other bad things, but, there is the point, I live on the air, accepting things as they come, without the minor effort to change them, and all day long I feel sleepy, tired and desperated. (Letter to Lucienne Bloch, February 1938).

Frida Kahlo: The broekn column 1944

My child, I really should not complain about anything that happens to me in life, so long as you love me and I love you. (This love) is so real and beautiful that it makes me forget even distance. .. I don’t have the words to describe how happy I am, knowing that you tried to make me happy and that you are so good and adorable… My lover, my heaven, my Nick, my life, my child, I adore you. .. Don’t make love to anyone, if you can help it. Do it only in case you find a real F. W. (fucking wonder), but don’t fall in love. .. Oh, my dear Nick, I adore you so much. I need you so much that that my heart burns. (Letter to Nickolas Muray, February 1939).

Excerpt from a Poem to Lina and Arcady Boytler

I am leaving my portrait to you

so you’ll have me in front of you

every day and every night

in which I am far away from you.

Sadness is portrayed

in my whole work,

but that’s my condition;

I am hopeless.

Frida Kahlo, 1941 - Photo by Emmy Lou Packard

Seafood!!! Images for the body and the soul (from Venice’s Rialto fishmarket)

Today’s post is food for the body and soul, images from Venice’s seafood market in Rialto.

Rialto Fishmarket in Venice

I love fishmarkets!!! As you can tell from a sequence of posts already dedicated to them!!!!

No words or explanations or arguments are necessary.

Red Mullets - Barboni - Μπαρμπουνια

Alici - Γαυρος

Sardines - Sarde - Σαρδελλες

Sardines - Sarde - Σαρδελλα φιλετο

Molli

Orate

Papaline

Monkfish - Rana peskantrice - Πεσκανδριτσα

Palombo

Eel - Anguila

Swordfish - Pesce Spada - Ξιφιας

Skate - Razza - Σαλαχι

Skate - Razza - Σαλαχι

Sole - Sogliola - Γλωσσα

San Pietro

Scorpion Fish - Scorfano - Σκορπινα

Tuna

Scallops - Canestrelli - Χτενια

Scallops - Capesante - Κοχυλια του Αγιου Ιακωβου

Cuttlefish eggs - Latti di seppia - Αυγα σουπιας

Small cuttlefish - Seppioline - Σουπιτσες

Cuttlefish - Seppie Grosse - Σουπιες

Small Octopi - Folpi - Χταποδακια

Octopi - Piovra - Οκταποδες

Calamaretti

Calamari

Mazzancolle

Scampi

Soft Venetian Crab

Canocce

Squilla - Canocce

Donatello’s “The Penitent Mary Magdalene”

Following the trail I started with Titian’s “Pieta”, today I go a few years back to meet another Genius and Master, Donatello.

Donatello's statue outside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

As I read in PBS’s web site:

“Donatello was not a popular person, but in his sculptures he managed to capture life itself. Every look and gesture was rich in humanity and personality. He was known to mutter “speak, damn you, speak!” at his figures as he worked.

In 1434, following his triumph over the enemies of the Medici, Cosimo requested a special commission from his friend. A statue of an Old Testament hero, symbolizing triumph against the odds. Donatello’s bronze “David” broke all the rules.

Donatello: Davis, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Firenze

A playful, sensuous, and androgynous hero, “David” was the first life-size nude to be cast in bronze since Classical times.

In the 1450s Donatello began work on a terrifying statue, the most vivid of his career. The “Penitent Mary Magdalen”, carved for the baptistry of Florence, is an eloquent vision of fear and decay, perhaps brought on by the realization of Donatello’s own mortality.”

( The material of the previous paragraphs comes from the web site of USA’s Public Broadcasting Service, PBS.)

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalene, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Firenze

From David to Mary Magdalen. It is a path of life.

Mary Magdalene has been the subject of many paintings and sculptures.

Titian: The Repentant Mary Magdalen

Titian has painted a portrait of Mary, which is in the Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, a few hundred meters away from Donatello’s sculpture, which is in the Duomo Museum of Florence.

What a contrast between Titian and Donatello’s interpretation! Is it only Titian portraying Mary as a young woman, repentant or not?

El Greco: Mary Magdalene in penitence

Not really. Look at El Greco’s interpretation. Mary is young, very young, beautiful, with long hair that envelopes her body.

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalen (detail)

The hair is the only common element between Titian’s and El Greco’s paintings and Donatello’s sculpture.

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalen (detail)

Donatello wanted Mary to be an old woman. A woman approaching the end of her life.

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalen (detail)

A woman whose face is pierced by the bones, whose eyes inhabit open dark holes, whose mouth is almost toothless.

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalen (detail)

Her hands are almost forming a prayer pair, but not so.  It is as if she was going to pray but she changed her mind as the hands were coming together, but not touching yet.

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalen (detail)

The aging woman is standing firmly on her feet. As disconcerting her hace and overall condition may be, she is standing with confidence and without any weakness. She is almost “relaxed” when it comes to her feet.

This in my view is the key to “reading” the work. Reading the body.

Donatello: The Penitent Mary Magdalen (detail)

As the eye travels from the face to the torso, the hands and then to the feet, the ambivalence of the artist manifests itself in a comprehensive way.

This ambivalence is the distinctive feature of the work, a feature that differentiates Donatello’s interpretation from Titian’s and El Greco’s.

In both paintings, Mary is a person wiht a clear attitude and stance in life. Repentant in Titian’s painting, full of devotion in El Greco’s.

But in Donatello’s sculpture, Mary may be skinny and appearing in a state of departure from the worldly affairs, but at the same time she is not fully wholy absorbed by her devotion or repentance. Her body language expresses ambivalence and the coexistence of the worldly stuff with the heavenly. This is what I find amazing in this work. Donatello either consciously or subconsciously is a Modern Master in this work, as he depicts Mary in the state of inner conflict, in the state of Being and Being Not.

What Donatello may have started as a work that would portray his fear of Death, his anguish of getting old, was transformed in the creative process to a work that is full of Life, as Life is ambivalence and contradiction and conflict.

Through the Glass: From Bucharest to Athens on a Friday morning in December 2011

One icy morning in December, I flew with Tarom Airlines, the Romanian National Carrier, from Bucharest’s Otopeni Airport to Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos. This is a sequence of images through the glass of the airplane’s window.

Temperature and weather conditions at the Ottopeni Airport, at the time of departure:  -1 C, clear skies, frost on the ground.

Otopeni Airport, de-icing the airplane

The airplane reequired de-icing due to the frosty conditions.

Otopeni Airport, Ground service personnel

Ground service personnel

Otopeni Airport, de-icing truck

The de-icing truck

Otopeni Airport, after the de-icing shower

At Otopeni, after the de-icing.

Taxiing at Otopeni Airport

Taxiing at Otopeni

Otopeni Airport, terminal building

A fuzzy view of the terminal building at Otopeni Airport

Airborne, over Romanian Land

Airborne, over Romanian land

Airborne, over Bulgarian mountains

Airbrone, over Bulgarian mountains (it is NOT the sea!)

Airborne, over Northern Greece

Airborne, over Northern Greece

Airborne, over Central Aegean Sea

Airborne, over Central Aegean Sea

Airborne, near Evoia

Airborne, near Evoia

Landed at Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos

Landed!

Flaps down and taxxing

Flaps down and taxiing

Weather conditions at the Athens Airport at the time of landing: clear skies, 10 C, dry conditions.

All photos were taken with my mobile phone, a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini. A handy and mighty device!

Αποδομηση πριν την Αναδομηση: Προσεγγιζοντας τα παραγωγα του Πανδαματορα και των συνωνυμων αυτου

Εισαγωγικο 

Η κρισιμοτης των ημερων που διαγομεν με οδηγησε ξανα εις την επιστημην. Και δη την γλωσσολογιαν. Το θεμα μου το εδωσε η παλαια ρηση “Ολα τα δαμαζει ο Πανδαματωρ Χρονος!”. Μονο που επηλθε εις το ασυνειδητον μου μια τροποποιησις σε ο,τι αφορα τον πανδαματορα. Οπως ειναι γνωστο (σε καποιους και καποιες εν πασει περιπτωσει) εκτος του Χρονου, ο ετερος Μεγας Πανδαματωρ εν τω κοσμω τουτω ειναι ο περιωνυμος Ψώλος. Η μικρη τουτη συμβολη στην επιστημη λοιπον θα ασχοληθει με τον πανδαματορα και δη με τα παραγωγα του, δηλαδη τις λεξεις εκεινες που χτιζονται χρησιμοποιωντας σαν βαση τον πανδαματορα.

Παρατηρησις Πρωτη: Επιτρεψατε μου να παρατηρησω πριν καν αρχισω να γραφω επι του θεματος μου οτι ο Πανδαματωρ στα λεξικα αναφερεται ως “ψωλή”. Εγω προτιμω να αρσενικοποιησω τον θηλυκοποιημενο πανδαματορα, και να χρησιμοποιησω την επισης χρησιμοποιουμενη λεξη “ο Ψώλος”.

Παρατηρησις Δευτερη: Συνεχιζω με δευτερη παρατηρηση, ακομη δεν εχω αρχισει να γραφω επι του θεματος και ηδη ειναι προφανες οτι χρειαζονται οι τόνοι επι των λεξεων!

Σημειωσις Πρωτη επι της Δευτερας Παρατηρησεως: Δηλαδη ακομη δεν αρχισαμε και ηδη ο Πανδαματωρ στελνει μηνυμα οτι πρεπει να επανελθουν οι τονοι, στην χρηση της ελληνικης γλωσσας!  Μονοτονικο σιγουρα, για τα αλλα δεν ξερω!

Σημειωσις Δευτερη επι της Δευτερας Παρατηρησεως: Αλλο Ψώλος και αλλο Ψωλός!  Βλεπε το πρωτο μερος του παροντος.

Παρατηρησις Τριτη: Προσοχη αγαπητοι αναγνωστες! Δεν υπαρχει χυδαια γλωσσα, υπαρχουν μονον χυδαιοι ανθρωποι! Το αναφερω προκαταβολικα προς αποφυγην παρεξηγησεων. Δεν σας εχει τυχει να σας πει καποιος καλημερα και να αισθανθειτε οτι σας βρωμησε με τη λαλια του;

Πλειστες οσες πηγες, μελετητριες, ονειροπολες, ευφανταστοι, ερωτευμενες, καψουρηδες, καψουρεμενες, καψουρες, καβλωμενες και καβλιαρηδες, γαμιοληδες και γαμουμενες, γαμικοι και γαμικουλεμενες, εχουν κατα καιρους τιμησει παντοιοτροπως τον Πανδαματορα Ψωλο, ειτε με τις πραξεις τους, ειτε με τα ονειρα τους, ειτε με τις δεησεις τους, ειτε με ο,τιδηποτε εχει ο καθενας στη διαθεση του τελος παντων. Παρατηρειται ομως μια σχετικη παραγνωριση των παραγωγων του. Ειναι τοσο μεγαλη βλεπετε η δυναμη και η επιρροη του, που τα παραγωγα σχεδον μενουν στην αφανεια.

Αυτην την ιστορικη, πολιτικη, αλλα και ηθικη αδικια θα επανορθωσω σημερα, η μαλλον θα επιχειρησω την απαρχη της επανορθωσης, καθοσον η παραγνωρισις ταυτη επιτελειται επι αιωνες και ως εκ τουτου πως ειναι δυνατον η ταπεινη μου γραφιδα εν μια νυκτη να επανορθωσει τα εργα αιωνων, ιδιαιτερως οταν αυτα ειναι σφραγισμενα με τοσους και τοσους υμνους και θυσιες στον Πανδαματορα.

Η σημερινη αναρτηση επιχειρει να παρουσιασει τα κυριωτερα παραγωγα του Πανδαματορος Ψώλου,  ειναι γλωσσολογικη και ως εκ τουτου και πολιτισμικη, κοινωνικη, πολιτικη, και ακρως επαναστατικη. Απο πλευρας μεθοδολογιας, θα ακολουθησω την Γαλλικη σχολη, δηλαδη πρωτα θα αποδομησω, και μετα θα αναδομησω, δηλαδη πρωτα θα αναφερθω στην λεξη Ψωλος και μετα στα οσα δημιουργουνται απο αυτην την λεξη.

Παρακαλουνται ολοι οι επισκεπτες οι εχοντες ευαισθησιαν εις την ψωλολογιαν να απομακρυνθουν παραυτα! Κινδυνευει η υγεια τους εκ της αναγνωσεως, η ακομη και της θεασεως του ταπεινωτατου τουτου αρθριδιου.

Εχοντας προειδοποιησει τας ευαισθητους ομαδας, και απεκδυθεις της μαρτυρικης ευθυνης των οιωνδηποτε συνεπειων, προχωρω εις την αναπτυξιν του θεματος μου.

Οπως ειναι γνωστο, ο Πανδαματωρ εχει πολλαπλα συνωνυμα, ειναι ομως υπερανω των δυναμεων μου να τα περιλαβω εις το πονημα τουτο.

Μερος Πρωτο: Αποδομηση και εθνικες υποχρεωσεις 

Η λεξη Ψώλος προερχεται απο την Ψωλή, που με τη σειρα της προέρχεται από το ρήμα ψην που σημαίνει τρίβω. Η ριζα ειναι σανσκριτικη.

Σημειωστε οτι σε αντιθεση, η λεξη “πουτσα” ειναι μαλλον σλαβικης προελευσης, αφου παραπεμπει σε κατι σαν “εξογκωμα”. Δεδομενου οτι λιαν συντομως το Διεθνες Δικαστηριον της Χαγης θα δικαιωσει τους Σλαβομακεδονες με τα κολπα που κανουνε για την ονομασια του κρατιδιου τους, προτεινω ως Ελληνες να καταδικασομε την χρηση της λεξης “πουτσα” και να χρησιμοποιουμεν τουδε αποκλειστικως και μονον την ψωλην, τον ψωλον και τα πραγωγα τους.

Ψωλός: ο περιτετμημενος, ο εχων γυμνην την βαλανον. Σημαινει ομως και λειος, εκ της τριβης. Ετσι “ψωλή του αερα” σημαινει ανεμοδαρμενη κορυφη που εχει μονο θαμνους, αφου ολα τα δεντρα τα ξυριζει ο ανεμος.

Ψωλάρα ειναι η μεγαλη ψωλη, ενω Ψωλαράς ο την εχων μεγαλην.

Ψωλακι ειναι η μικρη ψωλη, ενω φυστικοψώλης ειναι ο εχων μικρην ψωλην, ωσει φυστικιον.

Μερος Δευτερο: Αναδομηση

Στο δευτερο μερος παρουσιαζονται μερικα απο τα παραγωγα της λεξεως Ψωλος. Η σειρα των παραγωγων ειναι τυχαια, οσο τυχαια μπορει να ειναι μια τετοια ακολουθια λεξεων. Παρακαλω τους αναγνωστες που θα επιχειρησουν μια ψυχαναλυτικη διερευνηση του γιατι η σειρα των παραγωγων ειναι αυτη που ειναι, να επικοινωνησουν παραυτα μαζι μου για να μαθω εαν επιδεχομαι σωτηριαν η οχι. Τουλαχιστον ας γνωριζω την βεβαιοτητα της καταστροφης μου. Εν πασει περιπτωσει, τα παραγωγα που παραθετω ειναι τα ακολουθα:

Ψωλολογια: η συζητησις περι ψωλων, αλλα και η εμβαθυνσις εις την εννοιαν και χρησιν των σχετικων λεξεων, εν τω πλαισιω του ευρυτερου πολιτιστικου εποικοδομηματος. Υπο αυτην την ερμηνειαν, το παρον πονημα εντασσεται εις την ψωλολογιαν.

Ψωλοβαραω: βαριεμαι και παιζω με την ψωλην μου. Εν προκειμενω δεν διευκρινιζει ο γλωσσοπλαστης τι ακριβως παιχνιδια παιζει ο πασχων εξ ανιας. Αυτη εξαλλου ειναι και η ομορφια της γλωσσας. Ειναι συγκεκριμενη απο τη μια, αλλα και ασαφης απο την αλλη. Οι λεξεις σε φτανουν μεχρι ενα σημειο, και μετα τη σκυταλη την παραλαμβανει η φαντασια, ή οτι αλλο υπαρχει εντος και εκτος ενος εκαστου εξ ημων.

Ψωλαρμενίζω: ευρισκομαι εις αγραν ερωτικου συντροφου με αποκλειστικον σκοπον το σεξ, δηλαδη την ικανοποιησιν του Πανδαματορος και ουχι των πνευματικων και συναισθηματικων μου αναγκων

Ψωλομούρης: ο πολυ ασχημος αντρας. Εδω εχομε μια αρνητικη χρηση της λεξης, δηλαδη ενω θα περιμενε κανεις οτι καποιος που μοιαζει με Ψώλο να ειναι τουλαχιστον ελκυστικος, αφου ειναι Πανδαματωρ, συμβαινει ακριβως το αντιθετο, δηλαδη ο Ψώλος ευτελιζεται και οδηγει τον ομοιαζοντα προς αυτον εις την ασχημιαν και την κατακραυγην. Κατα τινες αναλυτες αναφερεται σε αντρες που εχουν πολυ μεγαλη και ακανονιστη μυτη, οποτε βεβαια θα μπορουσε κανεις να επικαλεσθει και την επιστημονικην στατιστικην συμφωνα με την οποιαν οι εχοντες μεγαλη και ακανονιστη μυτη ειναι συνηθως ψωλαραδες. Δηλαδη στην περιπτωση αυτη ισχυει το “ψωλομούρης και ψωλαράς”.

Ψωλαρχιδας ή Ψωλαρχιδι: υποτιμητικη λεξη, που συνδυαζοντας τα τρια τα καλα ολα μαζι, χαρακτηριζει εναν αντρα με τον χειροτερο δυνατο τροπο. Ειναι και παλι αξιοσημειωτο πως ο Πανδαματωρ και οι δυο βοηθοι του καταντουν να υποσημαινουν τον ευτελεστερο αντρα. Η ψυχαναλυτικη σχολη θα προτεινε οτι τετοιες λεξεις εχουν δημιουργηθει απο ψωλοφθονουντες, δηλαδη απο τους αποστρεφομενους τον ψωλον και τους συνοδευτικους ορχεις. Αρα ολοι οι κακοι γαμιαδες, οι αγαμητοι, οι μαλακες, οι γυναικες οι πασχουσες απο τον φθονον του ψωλου (penis envy), αυτοι βρισκονται πισω απο την λεξη.

Ψωλορουφήχτρα: γυνη (ή …) που κατα συρροην επιδιδεται εις την παρα φυσιν στοματικην απορροφησιν του πεους και των προϊόντων του. Κατ’ επεκτασιν, αναφερεται σε γυναικα καπατσα στο σεξ.

Ψωλαρπάχτρα: η αρπαζουσα τις ψωλες, αρα γυνη με επιθετικη προδιαθεση και συμπεριφορα, Αμαζονα ισως, επιδιδομενη εις το κυνηγιο των ψωλων. Δεν αποκλειεται αφου τις αρπαξει να τις θυσιασει κιολα σε καποια θεοτητα, δηλαδη το σεξ (οποιασδηποτε μορφης) να ακολουθειται απο ακρωτηριασμο του ανδρικου μοριου. Μια τετοια συμπεριφορα ειναι μεν ψυχοπαθολογικη, αλλα και ιδιαιτερα διαδεδομενη, αφου στην διαταραγμενη ψυχη και φαντασια, η απολαυση ολοκληρωνεται με την αιματοβαμενη θυσια.

Ψωλομαζεύτρα: εκεινη στην οποια αρεσει να “μαζευει” ψωλές, επιδιδεται δηλαδη αδιακριτως και καθολικως εις παιγνια μετα του Πανδαματορος, ενος ή και περισσοτερων, οποτε ειναι και παρτουζιαρα

Ψωλοντανιάστρα (δευτερο συνθετικο απο το ρημα “ντανιαζω”, που σημαινει “σχηματιζω ντανα”, οπου “ντανα” ειναι μια στοιβα απο ομοια πραγματα): η γυνη (ή τρανς, ή…) που αρεσκεται στην  ταυτοχρονη εξασκηση μετα πολλων μοριων, δηλαδη τα ντανιαζει, το ενα μετα το αλλο, δηλαδη εχει σεξ με μια ντανα απο ψωλες και οχι μονο μια.

Ψωλέττα: συνηθως νεανις παιζουσα με τις ψωλες, χωρις αυτο το παιχνιδι να εχει εισετι λαβει διαστασεις ιδεοληψιας ή εμμονης. Ψαχνει και ανακαλυπτει και τευτοχρονα απολαμβανει, αλλα εχει ολες τις επιλογες μπροστα της. Στην περιπτωση αυτη αποκαλιεται και “Ψωλίτα” λεξη σαφως επηρρεασμενη απο τη “Λολιτα”. Νιατα και ανεμελια συνδυασμενα με την απολαυση της ψωλης αλλα και το παιχνιδι με τους αφελεις ανδρες που πεφτουν στα διχτυα. Υπαρχει και η βαρυτερη περιπτωση, της μη αναστρεψιμης πορειας, οπου το υποκειμενον χαρακτηριζομενον ως ψωλεττα εισερχεται εις την καταστασιν της εμμονης και της αυτοτελους εστιασεως επι του ψωλου ως του μοναδικου αντικειμενου το ποθου και της απολαυσης. Βεβαια θα πρεπει να επισημανθει οτι ουδεις εκ των χρησιμοποιουντων τις λεξεις αυτες για καποια γυναικα ενδιαφερεται καν για την υπαρξη ιδεοληψιας, εμμονης, ή ακομη και ποθου. Βλεπε και το επομενο παραγωγο.

Ψώλη, Ψωλού, Ψώλα, Ξεψώλι: ακρως υποτιμητικη λεξη δια την γυναικα (η…) που επιδιδεται μετα μανιας εις παιδιες με τον πανδαματορα. Πρεπει να επισημανω την ακρατον υποκρισιαν ητις υποβοσκει εν προκειμενω. Αν καποια επιθυμητη γυναικα “κανει την δυσκολη”, οι υποκριτες την χαρακτηριζουν αμεσως “αγαμητη”, λεσβια, και αλλα σχετικα. Αν παλι  πηγαινει με αλλους αντρες αλλα οχι με τον υποκριτη, ο υποκριτης αμεσως την απαξιωνει χαρακτηριζοντας την ως …. Τελικα δηλαδη πισω απο αυτες τις λεξεις κρυβεται ο φθονος του αρσενικου που ειναι ανικανος να κατακτησει την γυναικα η τις γυναικες που επιθυμει, και ως εκ τουτου τις απαξιωνει με την χρηση των σχετικων λεξεων. Οπως δε καθε απαξιωτικη αποπειρα, ο κυριος παραληπτης ειναι ο πραγματοποιων την αποπειρα.

Της ψωλής μου ο χαβάς: ειναι αυτο που λεμε με αλλα λογια “κανω ο,τι μου καβλωσει”. Αναφερεται σε αντρα που διακατεχεται απο μανικη προσηλωση στην πραγματοποιηση των ενστικτωδων του τασεων, χωρις να τις επεξεργαζεται, δουλευει δηλαδη αποκλειστικα με το κατω κεφαλι, για να χρησιμοποιησομε μιαν αλλη εκφραση. Σε καθε περιπτωση, οποιος ευρισκεται εις παρομοιαν καταστασιν, την εχει μαλλον ασχημα και καλον ειναι να του φερομεθα ευγενικα και να μην του λεμε οχι. Αυτο βεβαια δεν ισχυει δια τις γυναικες που πιθανωτατα ο κυριος αυτος ορεγεται. Οι κυριες αυτες, θα πρεπει μαλλον να αλλαζουν δρομο αμα τη θεασει, προς αποφυγην περιπετειων.

Επιμυθιον

Κλεινω το αρθριδιον με:

1. Ενα γνωμικο του Αμερικανου Προεδρου Λυντον Τζονσον

“Ποτέ μην εμπιστεύεσαι κάποιον, εκτός αν έχεις την ψωλή του στην τσέπη σου.”

2. Ενα ποιηματακι που εμαθα στο Γυμνασιο, που παραπεμπει στην Αρχαια Ελλαδα και την λατρειαν του πανδαματορος.

Σολων, Σολων!

Θελεις Ψωλον; Τον μισον η Ολον; 

Ολον, Ολον, Ολον! 

αναφωνει ο Σολων με ανοιχτον τον Κωλον

Υ.Γ. Η επιστημονικη μου αρτιοτης μου επιβάλει κατοπιν της δημοσιευσεως του παροντος να συνεχισω εις το απωτερο μελλον με ειδικο αρθριδιο αφιερωμενο εις τα παραγωγα του ορους της Αφροδιτης (βουνίο, και ….)

Emilio Vedova – Italian Artist

During my recent visit to Venice, I was lucky to discover the Italian artist – painter, Emilio Vedova, who impressed me. Emilio Vedova was known as the ‘Italian brother’ of abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline.

This post is triggered by the Exhibition “…in continuum”, that was on show in Venice until the end of November 2011.

The biographical notes that follow and the short description of the exhibition come from the site of the Emilio and Annabianca Vedova’s Foundation.

Biographical notes

Emilio Vedova painting in his studio

Born in Venice into a family of workers and artisans, from the 1930s onwards Vedova began an intense activity as a self-taught artist, drawing figures and buildings. In 1942, the young Vedova joined the anti-Novecento movement known as “Corrente”.
An anti-Fascist, he worked for the Resistance from 1944 to 1945 and in 1946, he was one of the co-signers of the “Oltre Guernica” manifesto in Milan. In the same year in Venice he was one of the founders of the “Nuova Secessione Italiana” followed by the “Fronte Nuovo delle Arti”.
In 1948 he made his debut in the Venice Biennale, the first of many appearances in this event: in 1952 an entire room was devoted to his work, in 1960 he was awarded the Grand Prize for Painting and in 1997 the prestigious Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement.

In the early 1950s he created his celebrated cycles of works: “Scontro di situazioni” (Collision of Situations), “Ciclo della Protesta” (Protest Cycle), “Cicli della Natura” (Cycles of Nature). In 1954, at the second São Paolo Art Biennial he won a prize that would allow him to spend three months in Brazil, where he encountered an extreme, hard reality that would leave its mark on him. In 1961 he designed the sets and costumes for Luigi Nono’s “Intolleranza ‘60” (Intolerance ’60); in 1984 he would work with the composer again on “Prometeo”.
From 1961 onwards he worked on his “Plurimi” creating an initial Venetian series followed by works made from 1963 to 1964 in Berlin including the seven pieces forming the “Absurdes Berliner Tagebuch ‘64” (Absurd Berlin Diary ’64) presented at the 1964 Kassel Documenta where he also showed in 1955, 1959 and 1982. From 1965 to 1967 he worked on “Spazio/Plurimo/Luce” (Space/Plurimo/Light) for the Montreal EXPO.

He carried out intense teaching activities in various American universities followed by the Sommerakademie in Salzburg and the Academy of Venice. His artistic career was characterised by a constant desire to explore and innovate.
In the 1970s he created the “Plurimi Binari” in the “Lacerazione” (Laceration) and “Carnevali” (So-called carnivals) cycles followed by the vast cycles of “teleri” (big canvases) and his “Disks”, “Tondi”, “Oltre” (Beyond) and “…in continuum…” (…in continuum…) works. He won numerous prestigious prizes and awards. His last important solo exhibitions included the major retrospective held at Castello di Rivoli in 1998 and, after his death in 2006, the sister shows at Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the Berlinische Galerie (Berlin).

…In Continuum

June 1, 2011 – November 30, 2011

Emilio Vedova began his artistic research in the 1930s surrounded by the seventeenth-century Baroque atmosphere of Venice. In the following decade, he was already a major figure in the post-war art scene, and in the 1950s, together with Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana, he became a leading exponent of Italian and European art informel alongside abstract expressionist painters from the United States such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. The winner of the Gold Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 1997 Venice Biennale, he endlessly fought for the freedom of the artistic experience against all forms of repression.

…in continuum, compenetrazioni/traslati ’87/’88 (…in continuum, compenetrations/transferred ’87/’88) is a cycle of 109 large canvases conceived and executed between 1987 and 1988. White on black and black on white paintings made using a unique technique, which Vedova called “blind painting”… in continuum is a sort of accumulation “with no beginning or end” that invades space in free and random layers. The potential gesture of arranging these canvases in ever-changing images in motion is meant to express the unstable precariousness of our lives and actions.

In an article on Italymag, we read:

[From the dark geometries of his experiments with cubism, Vedova's work from 1950 onward grew increasingly abstract, placing him in league with the European ''Art Informel'' movement that paralleled the work of abstract expressionists in America like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

''My [works] are not creations, but earthquakes,” Vedova once said.

”They are not paintings, but breaths”.

Vedova’s experimenting would eventually carry his work off the canvas altogether into the groundbreaking new terrain of artificial light play and installation art, for which he was featured in the Italian pavilion at the 1967 International and Universal Exposition in Montreal.]

Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza – Venice 1961

Vedova worked with his friend Luigi Nono in the production of Intolleranza, at “La Fenice” in Venice, 1961.

The Italian Pavilion in the Montreal 1967 Expo

In 1967 Emilio Vedova was appointed by the Italian Government to create an installation for the Italian Pavilion of the Montreal Expo. Vedova came up with this great ideas of using small glass slides, especially created to reproduce his abstract painting, and then projected on the asymmetrical walls of the Pavilion. He then asked Nono to compose some electronic music, but Nono had no time, and suggested to ask Marino. He replied: “I could do something, but keep in mind that I am no composer”. The result is Parete (Wall) 1967, a spectacular and intense 30-minutes loop of pure and intense electronics, a magmatic cascade of harsh sounds and deep drones, and a fantastic counterpart to the harsh and expressionistic painting of Vedova.

P.S. For whatever reasons, Vedova has not been a darling of the publicity circus in Europe and the USA. Artists of lesser qualities have been publicized and known, but not Vedova. In any case, this is a matter for another discussion.