the whirlwinds of absolution with gusts of confused air.

back from a short studious vacation, paris, berlin, the dam,
paris= kiefer (louvre) kiefer (d'orsay) corinth (d'orsay) bourgeoisie (pompidou et tulieres).
(and maybe one caravaggio that held its own- louvre)
berlin= kiefer kiefer kiefer (hbg bahnhof) baselitz, grosz, beckmann, kokoschka (neuenatgal)
kathë kollwitz!!! (she has a better pieta than michelangelo)
dam= vermeer!!! (but ive already talked about that one.)

so now its back to video world, maybe its good since the flood gates of time have reopened in the best ways i've ever known, dunkin donuts in berlin is a strange idea.

kiefer gave me alot to think about, he had a statement about his german background and how it affects his working process, and its readily apparent that he has embraced the horrors of history and understands something i have yet to attempt, after all the ashes and death life does come a new, be it bombers and books fertile with poppies, or constellations of sunflowers or an old man finding understanding in heavy metal. (that wasnt meant to be a double-entendre, they are just inescapable.)
his new installation at the louvre, titled "athanol" was stunning not only in its symbolism of redemption, cycles etc but he has opened up the world of painting in ways that only merlin could have imagined, he always has used the dirt and detritus of his consciousness to inform and lecture the viewer, but now he has become transcendent, there is no lecture, just hope and amazement.

and then to look at the past, his german past, his lilith was to be taken into a world that knows only slight hope and some sort of baroque amazement,
i came up with the crackpot idea of watching him work, working for him, producing a movie on him, because this movie/project has opened my eyes to the constant lineage of journalists, artists, filmmakers, musicians who are willing to actually open their eyes to the horrors of the human condition, including their own as some sort of wierd in/evolutional telescope, to map, to describe, and to warn others of dante, of merlin, of talmud.

"abandon hope, all ye who enter here" just not yet.

the videos almost done, i should have a preview up on withoutabox soon, and send it into sfc this week, and then its back to painting, its the river for a week or so, and possibly to the kurtz compound prior to cannes, i just dont know where any of it all fits in to the life altering alterior solutions i try to understand.