Ao longo dos anos que vou vivendo nesta "coisa" chamada vida sempre comuniquei mais com mulheres como um ser misterioso que se assemelha em tudo à mãe natureza devido aos seus estados hormonais, de fertilidade e de imaginação entre muitos outros.
Uma mulher consegue destruir um homem com facilidade?
Lógico que sim e a história recente da humanidade comprova-o como os casos flagrantes da actriz norte-americana Marylin Monroe com o presidente norte americano John F. Kennedy ou a administrativa Monica Lewinski num caso com outro presidente do mesmo país chamado Bill Clinton.
Tendo tudo isto em mente, sempre vi a mulher como algo fascinante e que deve ser objecto de atenção, protecção e carinho e que sempre foi um bom veículo para a Arte a nível Mundial.
Logo por vezes uma narrativa tão simples com o tema "somente os amantes ficam vivos" acaba por ser algo complexa num conceito de amizade e inclusive familia com o papel do sexo feminino na história da Humanidade.
A minha belíssima amiga italiana Antonella Adamo que desempenha vários personagens na sua vida profissional, quando esteve comigo fisicamente na cidade onde nasci falava-me de um personagem que tinha criado no passado inspirado no filme "Cisne negro" de 2010 do realizador Norte Americano Darren Aronofsky e interpretado pela actriz também Norte Americana Natalia Portman numa análise bem profunda à psicologia feminina e ao interior da mesma através de sonhos, constantes metamorfoses de corpo, alma e espírito ou pesadelos num constante vai e vem de emoções e sensações.
Um belo cisne negro interpretado pela minha amiga italiana Antonella Adamo
Por vezes fico um pouco "perdido" entre o que é sonho, ficção, memórias ou realidade quando comunico com mulheres e que são mulheres astutas e guerreiras que me voltam a colocar sempre na estrada perdida, que acaba por ser, todo o ser humano do sexo oposto ao meu e que acaba várias vezes por desempenhar vários papéis nesta vida, tais como: mãe, amiga, amante e acima de tudo companheira.
Sempre valorizei e muito as mulheres e crianças que irão ser o nosso futuro nesta nova sociedade de uma suposta "fama" ilusória que qualquer rede social fornece a membros de ambos os sexos, onde o sexo masculino continua a ser aquele que procura o oposto e o feminino aquele que escolhe o mesmo (observo aqui mais um paralelismo entre a mãe natureza que faz a escolha de quem nasce ou morre ou de como poderá estar a temperatura no ecossistema deste planeta azul).
Outras vezes é um pouco complicado para um ser humano do sexo masculino processar todos os pontos fortes e fracos do sexo oposto, mas existe algo que é demasiado forte no mesmo e que se manifesta no corpo, no coração e na mente que é o facto de serem mães e tudo isto muda a forma como a sociedade vê uma mulher assim que é forte, resistente e guerreira e que se assemelha aos membros dos antigos povos nórdicos da Europa que destruiram o império romano.
Logo, no meu simples entender, há que proteger e valorizar muito uma mulher que seja mãe de uma criança que hoje é o nosso presente e amanhã será o nosso futuro.
Mulheres e crianças acabam sempre por ser a coisa mais importante da vida
A mulher como elemento figurativo e contemplativo nas artes, faz com que os artistas no seu subconsciente se recordem das mesmas não só devido à sua beleza fisica, mas sim também à sua semelhança com a mãe natureza, pois ser artista (na minha humilde opinião) é ser quase um ser celestial que observa seres vivos em comunhão com a natureza em todas as vertentes artísticas pelas quais, os mesmos se regem ou nas condições atmosféricas nas quais se encontram.
Mulheres como objecto de arte contemplativa - parte 01
Mulheres como objecto de arte contemplativa - parte 02
Tentando ser um simples membro do sexo masculino que carrega consigo o "peso" de ter nascido na mais bela cidade do mundo com uma fantástica arte que é a calçada e o azulejo português faz sentido na minha mente que os meus lápis, canetas ou cigarreiras tenham estes mesmos motivos, pois estes fazem parte da essência da terra onde nasci.
Ao dedicar-me de corpo e alma ás artes (sejam elas quais forem), é lógico que carregue um pouco da minha essência.
Adoro o personagem Corto Maltese do mestre Italiano Hugo Pratt e a vinheta abaixo postada que tem um magnifico diálogo do mesmo para com um corvo a quem vai dizendo isto:
"E de todos os sonhos que tive, tu és a única coisa concreta que tenho" e vou pensando nesta frase enquanto desenvolvo projectos com ajuda de artistas internacionais.
Uma simples cigarreira, canetas, lápis e um marinheiro de seu nome Corto Maltese criado pelo mestre italiano Hugo Pratt que fala com corvos
A música é algo que influencia e muito um qualquer ser vivo, a criação de mitos vivos faz com que esta seja uma arte que é movida por sentimentos e estados emocionais.
Se os músicos que desempenham esta arte forem femininos e belos como a baixista da banda Russa Messer Chups de seu nome Svetlana Zombierella Nagaeva, faz com que a música de uma banda simples de psychobilly como esta, seja algo mais que mera música com a ajuda da imagem de uma mulher bela do século XXI com um personagem bem desenvolvido de seu nome Zombierella, no qual tento desenvolver conceitos artísticos num projecto de um livro a ser publicado a nível internacional com a ajuda de vários artistas internacionais e da própria Svetlana em relação á imagem da sua personagem anteriormente mencionada.
Zombierella desenhada pelo meu amigo e artista Japonês John Kurokawa
A minha amiga e excelente baixista Zombierella da banda psychobilly russa Messer Chups
Sempre pensei para mim mesmo que tudo pode influenciar um qualquer projecto, pois toda a arte criada (na minha opinião) acaba por ter sempre uma qualquer influência com histórias narradas, seja o caso do meu amigo e magnifico artista sueco Lars Erik Sjunesson com o seu personagem Ake Ordur ou até os The Endless criados pelo escritor britânico Neil Gaiman com quem tive o prazer de conhecer e falar pessoamente em 2004, num processo contínuo de busca de conhecimento da minha parte.
O Personagem Ake Ordur criado pelo meu amigo e artista sueco Lars Erik Sjunesson e os The Endless criados pelo escritor britânico Neil Gaiman
Existem filmes que mostram com coragem e personalidade a excelência do sexo feminino como "Amateur" de 1994 do realizador norte-americano Hal Hartley que os realiza sem um argumento previamente escrito e este filme protagonizado pelo actor Martin Donovan e a actriz romena Elina Lowensohn acabam por demonstrar o estado amnésico no qual um membro do sexo masculino pode ficar devido ao poder que o sexo feminino sempre teve na Humanidade.
Com uma banda sonora invejável editada pela Matador Records com as canções e bandas musicais abaixo mencionadas e que falam de coisas aparentemente simples como a mãe natureza, a mulher ou a comunicação.
01 Aquanettas, The Mind Full Of Worry
02 My Bloody Valentine Only Shallow
03 PJ Harvey Water
04 Red House Painters Japanese To English
05 Yo La Tengo Shaker
06 Bettie Serveert Tom Boy
07 Liz Phair Girls! Girls! Girls!
08 Jesus Lizard, The Then Comes Dudley
09 Pavement Here Original Score
Banda sonora do filme "Amateur"do realizador norte americano Hal Hartley
Filmes são supostamente uma mescla de todas as artes combinadas e neste post decidi mencionar dois que são do melhor que já assisti em toda a minha vida:
"E a tua mãe também" de 2001 do realizador Mexicano Alfonso Cuarón onde de uma forma muito resumida uma mulher (interpretada pela magnifica e belíssima actriz Espanola Maribel Verdú) que sabe que está nos seus últimos dias de vida, decide esquecer toda a sua vida e terminar a mesma com alegria e magia no México através da sua simplicidade e beleza.
"2046" de 2004 do realizador chinês Wong Kar Wai acaba por ser uma (des)continuação do seu filme anterior de 2000 "Disponível para Amar" onde um casal se encontrava de forma furtiva, sendo a mulher comprometida e o homem um simples escritor. Em "2046" este mesmo escritor acaba por se perder a nível emocional com várias mulheres, mantendo intacta a memória da relação que tinha tido no já mencionado "Disponível para Amar" e onde o passado se mescla com o presente nas suas memórias e recordações.
O sexo feminino sempre foi mais que uma mera contemplação de arte, sendo uma percussão/veículo condutor de todas as artes.
Edição francesa do filme "2046" do realizador chinês Wong Kar Wai e Portuguesa do filme "E a tua mãe também" do realizador Mexicano Alfonso Cuarón
Sabendo eu da importância e do poder que um projecto tão simples/complexo como é o caso do livro baseado na personagem Zombierella (do qual já escrevi um pouco acima) com a ajuda de artistas internacionais, decidi imprimir algumas trabalhos artísticos em canecas personalizadas de artistas que me ajudam no mesmo, devido ao facto de eu necessitar de ter algo físico para reter na minha memória neste projecto.
Os artistas que escolhi para personalizar estas mesmas canecas que serão simples canecas para eu beber café, chá ou água foram o Italiano Stefano Zattera, o Espanhol Ruben Pellejero (devido a terem-la desenhado na cidade onde nasci) ou a turca Ayse Maktas que é uma mulher e que a desenhou na perfeição com uma essência bem feminina.
Foram estes que escolhi para simples canecas personalizadas pelo motivo acima mencionado assim como poderiam ter sido outros que me estão a ajudar neste mesmo projecto.
Canecas personalizadas com trabalhos artisticos baseadas na personagem Zombierella criada pela minha amiga e baixista Svetlana Nagaeva pelos artistas Stefano Zattera (Itália), Ruben Pellejero (Espanha) e Ayse Maktas (Turquia)
Sempre ouvir dizer isto: "Coloca um pouco do que és no que fazes", logo decidi colocar trabalhos artisticos baseados em mim, na minha sobrinha mais nova Letícia e numa história que escrevi com a ajuda de artistas internacionais baseada numa mulher moderna do século XXI em mais canecas personalizadas para que as minhas memórias/recordações de quem sou ou do que faço fiquem sempre num qualquer objecto palpável
Canecas personalizadas com trabalhos artisticos baseadas em mim e na minha sobrinha mais nova Leticia pelos artistas Magdalena Minko (Polónia), John Kurokawa (Japão) assim como uma história que escrevi com ajuda dos artistas Mr ED (Argentina), Fidel Martinez Nadal e Pedro Espinosa (Espanha) e a artista Polaca Magdalena Minko.
A major parte do tempo que vivo, vou sendo guiado por palavras ou frases como as que estão abaixo numa simples imagem em inglês que diz isto: "Imperfeição é beleza, loucura é genialidade e é melhor ser o mais ridiculo possivel do que simplesmente aborrecido."
Uma citação que adoro em inglês
Gosto do sexo feminino.,trabalho com o sexo feminino na minha mente como inspiração,vivo com o sexo feminino, logo a citação abaixo descrita numa imagem de um simples ventilador de um dos quatro elementos naturais como é o caso do ar, acaba por ser a constatação de um facto do que todos os homens deveriam ser para com as suas mulheres numa simples frase:
"Simplesmente sou o teu o maior fã"
Algo útil e necessário nesta vida
A continuar esta narrativa em posts futuros neste blogue onde mesclo quem sou com o que faço ou o que gosto sem qualquer tipo de pudor.
Obrigado a todos os artistas internacionais que me ajudam em todos os projectos nos quais me envolvo com toda a minha essência.
Um obrigado especial a todos os membros do sexo feminino com os quais comunico todos os dias.
Manuel Espirito Santo
P.S: Abaixo coloco um video de um filme fabuloso chamado "Lost in Translation" de 2003 com realização da fabulosa realizadora norte-americana Sofia Coppolla, com interpretação dos actores também norte americanos Bill Murray e Scarlett Johansson, tendo como música de fundo "Just like Honey" da banda escocesa The Jesus and Mary Chain que é uma das músicas da minha vida dedicada a um membro do sexo feminino.
Lots of times, random questions pop in my mind such as these:
How to decypher work?
How to endure life?
How to cope with disinformation?
How to survive in chaos?
Who to trust?
Where to sail?
What to write?
When must a deadline meet in my mind?
Since 2016, I've been working on several exhibitions all over the world with help by international artists and I do try to register all my work with narratives and printed pictures with artworks by international artists, printed pictures by Zombierella as a character/musician/21st century woman, Westworld TV series (with quotes and dialogues), personal pictures with myself, pets, family, women, books or movies (also with quotes, passages or dialogues) to serve a bit as illustrations for posts.
Clearly knowing that I was born in Portugal (and that several times I'm not proud of its present world History), I do try to illustrate some posts and connections with world History researches with pictures of Portuguese objects such as cigarette boxes or simple pens or pencils decorated with Portuguese tiles or "A calçada Portuguesa" because the floor in which Portuguese walk day in, day out are a masterpiece in art's world History and we don't value it that much (being Portuguese is really strange several times, because it seems that we're orphans of somebody, always living in the past and quickly ignoring what Portuguese men do and always did in this planet History with their strength and skills, we back stab our own fellow citizens when we've the chance to do it, like we did in the past in 139 B.C with Viriathus that was the founder of Lusitania as a region with the first Portuguese settlement and the first leader of this tiny country, being Portugal, the European country who ressembles most U.S.A where having money means everything in life).
Printed pics of teenage memories, myself wearing a personalized t-shirt with an artwork by Italian Artist Stefano Zattera based on Musician/character/21st Century woman Zombierella, Artwork based on myself by Polish artist Bartosz Jekiel while being "Lost in a Nordic dream"
I know that I organize book collections in my mind that later turn into reality like some that I've mentioned in previous posts in this same blogue with some of the best international artists ever that I know of.
I also know that I write about artists, books, music and even autobiographical stories.
In the last 2 years, I started watching a TV series named Westworld, sometimes it was slippery and created some fog within my mind, but with one episode after another, I had this series stuck in my brain, because it deals with life, books, movies, creation, humanity, phylosophy in some sort of peculiar deck of cards with key references on it that reminded me a bit of what are the most precious things that we've as living beings in this life.
Dialogues in printed pictures - 1st image: "freeze all motor functions", "Let's try it again", "What's real...", "It's irreplacable", "Nothing is on our way now', "I can see the end", "This is the end", "There's only one question unanswered", "Will you help me?"
2nd image: "We're together in the end", "Who the hell is this?", "Where are we?", "We're in our own new world'", "We're at the beginning", "How am I alive?", "You live as long as the last person who remembers you, Bernard.", "Refining my every gesture, word and thoughts", "A fighting chance"
So I wondered several times this to myself:
- Are books necessary?
- Are artworks a huge asset in our lives?
- What's more valuable in this world?
- Is it money the most important thing in it or our info and memories in this pale blue dot that we call Planet Earth and that we share with thousands of living beings?
The TV series mentions Utopias, the main character is named Ford named after the character Ford that's mentioned in Aldous Huxley's masterpiece "Brave new world" that thousands of readers, did read all over the world.
Below, I'm posting the a pic with the Portuguese book edition that I've of this book and some info of who character Ford was in it with a research found online.
Aldous Huxley's "Brave new world" - Portuguese edition
Aldous Huxley's - "Brave New World" published in 1932 - Character Ford
Short review of him in "Brave New World"
Henry Ford perfected the assembly line in the manufacture of automobiles, a concept which changed a nation as efficient mass production made ownership of things possible for the average person. Along with the assembly line, then came the advancement of materialism as more and more things became affordable to the average consumer.
It is, therefore, a fitting way for Aldous Huxley to convey the consumership and materialism that dominate the society of the New World by having time measured in terms of Ford. In addition, with time measured by the name of a man associated with the efficient assembly line, the importance of this type of production is underscored as people are made in mass with the Bokanovsky Process which standardizes humans and generates them in massive multiples by machines: "Ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines!" the enthusiastic voice of the tour guide describes the production of human beings in Chapter 1 of Brave New World, in a satiric mimicking of tours that people actually would take in Huxley's day through manufacturing buildings.
Women as source of light in LIFE
The main characters in Westworld are female, there's one named Dolores (whose name translated to English means Pain) and that asks this in the second season this question to a main male character: "what's real?" and another one that is named Maeve (ma Eve = mother Eve) and their names aren't out of context in my opinion, because the first woman is a woman that doesn't want to always be some damsel in distress in some sick story (she wants to write her own stories) and the second one's a mother and a warrior searching for her lost daughter and their souls reminds me lots of times of Universe's MOTHER NATURE and how it influences living beings in this planet (the female subject in this series is awesome regarding women's memories as mothers or daughters and the choices that they've as human beings in this life, where money is something to avoid in order for their minds not to be corrupted with evil or darkness) and my friend and extraordinary Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom ressembles a bit the second one because she's a mother, she loves her memories, she believes a lot in MOTHER NATURE and she also knows that I'm a bit "Lost in a Nordic Dream" and she'll create a new graphical short story for this book anthology that I'm trying to publish with a theme as simple/complex as "Life and death" is with help by her, Swedish artists: Clara Bessijelle Johansson, Max Andersson, Lars Erik Sjunesson, Knut Larsson, Nicolas Krizan, Danish Artist : Henrik Kim Rehr, Norwegian artist : Lars Fiske and Polish artist: Bartosz Jekiel. .
Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom painting a mural and my youngest niece Letícia and one of my little cousins named Evinha (Eva is her name) in my presence.
Women always were a subject that I love to write about or comunicate with, so I found interesting trying to gather info all over the years about the first woman that appeared on Earth named Lilith and that was equal to the first man that appeared also in it named Adam.
Below is a bit of info about her as a myth or somebody that truly existed.
Lilith as the first woman created by God along Adam
History/myth?
In Jewish tradition, Lilith was the original wife of Adam; she was turned out of Eden and replaced by Eve because she refused to submit to his authority. Lilith slept with Adam after his expulsion from the garden and gave birth to the evil spirits; according to another story the evil spirits were born of her union with the devil. In later legend Lilith became a succubus, a demon who caused nocturnal emissions and the birth of witches and demons called lilim. She was also believed to steal and kill children, and charms were used to protect them from her.
She's mentioned also in the holy bible in Isaiah 34:14 aslilithor lilit (translated as "night creatures", "night monster", "night hag", or "screech owl") first occurs in a list of animals.
Catholic churches censored the apocryphal texts. Lilith had been a woman who had a character that was firm, and she was intelligent and seemed to be superior to Adam. However, Adam was more dominant in character and had a carnal appetite. In intimacy, Lilith demanded that Adam be on her, and she could be on him, but Adam refused.
This was said to have caused conflict and so there was a separation of the two and Lilith was banned by God when Adam asked. The apocryphal book of Genesis states “Why should I lie beneath you?" He asked: "I was also made with dust, and therefore I am your equal …" As Adam tried to force her to obey, Lilith, angry, pronounced the name of God, and left Eden.”
It was said that she then pronounced the name of God and so God cursed her with the generation that procreated with Samael. The text says “She liked the man’s reproductive liquid very much, and she always walks to the point of seeing where she has fallen. All the liquid of man that does not end in the matrix of the wife is hers: all the seminal liquid that man finds wasted throughout his life, whether by adultery, by vice or in sleep.”
Lilith was made into a demon with God cursing her and all of her offspring. When Lilith was cursed God realized that Adam was all alone again and chose to make him a companion. This time in order to ensure that is companion would be obedient he took one of Adams own ribs and created Eve.
Genesisbible1: 27 says “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Pic with my youngest niece Letícia (that will turn into a woman in some years to come), Musician/character/21st century woman Zombierella and myself at Guimarães where people say that Portugal was born.
Like I wrote before in this post Westworld deals with Utopias and below are some of my favourite quotes from George Orwell's "1984" masterpiece.
Books as inspiration to write this post
George Orwell, 1984 published in 1949
Excellent artwork by Argentine artist Santiago Caruso, myself smoking a cigarette and my copy of George Orwell's masterpiece "1984".
Quotes
"Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood."
"Who controls the past controls the future.
Who controls the present controls the past."
Still watching Westworld and reviewing it in my mind like a sort of Labyrinth, I've gathered more info about classical books that ressembled it and were in my mind while watching this TV series such as Shakespeare's "The Tempest", Dostoiévski's "Notes from the Underground", John Milton's "Paradise Lost", Dante Alighieri's "Inferno", "Westworld and Philosophy" and even Icelandic Contemporary writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s trilogy that in my humble opinion is one of the best trilogies ever written.
Below is some info about all these books illustrated with printed book covers images and that serves as inspiration to write about this TV series while trying to make sense of it regarding life as a living being.
Printed pics with vintage books "The Tempest" by Shakespeare and "The Aeinid" by Virgil.
William Shakespeare's "The tempest" published in 1610
Dialogue between characters Prospero and Ariel that influenced Westworld:
Prospero. My brave spirit. Who was the one who kept his head during all this uproar?
Ariel. Not a soul. They were all scared and went crazy, jumping overboard and screaming like mad men. When they saw my fire, the king’s son, Ferdinand’s hair stood on end. He was the first one to leap aboard shouting, ‘Hell’s empty, and all the devils are here!’
Prospero. That’s more like it! Where are they?
Ariel. Close by, my master.
Prospero. Are they safe, Ariel?
Ariel. Oh, not a hair on their head touched, Master. Not even a tear or stain on their clothes. They’re good as new – even better. As you told me, I got my troops to look after the other people but I took care of the king’s son myself. I left him moping and sighing, sitting like this.
Later...
Prospero. No. I reckon it’s at least two o clock. Look, between now and six o’clock, we’ve both got a lot to do.
Ariel. Is there more work? You gave me a very hard task to do. Just let me say that so far, you haven’t given me what you promised me for the last one.
Prospero. What do you want?
Ariel. Set me free.
Prospero. Not before the time is right.
Ariel. I’ve always served you well. I’ve been honest, made no mistakes. Worked without grumbling. You even promised to reduce my service time by one year.
Prospero. Are you forgetting what I saved you from and where I got you?
Dostoiévski's "Notes from Underground" was originally published in two installments in the January and February 1864 issues of The Epoch
Portuguese book edition of "Notes from the Underground"
Passage:
"You are confident that man will...voluntarily cease making mistakes and, will-nilly, so to speak, refuse to set his will at variance with his normal interests. Moreover: then, you say, science itself will teach man (though this is really a luxury in my opinion) that in fact he has neither will nor caprice, and never did have any, and that he himself is nothing but a sort of piano key or a sprig in an organ; and that, furthermore, there also exist in the world the laws of nature; so that whatever he does is done not at all according to his own wanting, but of itself, according to the laws of nature. Consequently, these laws of nature need only be discovered, and then man will no longer be answerable for his actions, and his life will become extremely easy. Needless to say, all human actions will then be calculated according to these laws, mathematically, like a table of logarithms, up to 108,000, and entered into a calendar; or, better still, some well-meaning publications will appear, like the present day encyclopedic dictionaries, in which everything will be so precisely calculated and designated that there will no longer be any actions or adventures in the world."
"Westworld and Philosophy", edited by James B. South and Kimberly S. Engels and published in 2018
Printed pics with vintage books of John Milton's "Paradise Lost", Dante Alighieri's "Inferno" and "Phylosophy and Westworld"
Short review found in the web:
Here the androids embody the potential for bioengineering and artificial intelligence to merge in ways that feel uncomfortably plausible if not quite imminent enough to keep anyone awake nights, just yet.
Westworld the series keeps questions about mind, personal identity and ethics in play at all times. The "hosts" populating the vacation resort are programmed with artificial memories, giving them realistic personalities as they interact with "guests" in the course of various Western "narratives", also programmed by Westworld's corporate management. Artificial intelligence enables the hosts to respond with appropriate emotions and actions as the narrative unfolds in real time. Indeed, they are so perfectly lifelike as to be effectively indistinguishable from the dude-ranch clientele, who are free to behave toward the hosts in any way they want, without the risk of the consequences that they'd experience in the outside world. After a narrative has run its course, the host's short-term memory cache is cleared so they can be deployed again with another bunch of guests/customers.
What are the guests, or the viewers, for that matter? If a machine were able to handle the same stimuli as a human nervous system, process it in ways modeled on the cognitive capabilities of the human brain and respond with language and behavior as complex and variable as a fully socialized adult, how meaningful would the distinction be?
Philosophers and screenwriters follow the conundrum in different directions, of course, but Westworld displays a surprising awareness of where the philosophical discussion has already gone. The viewer may feel compelled to humanize the hosts -- to imagine the androids as somehow, at some level of complexity, generating an interiority, a sense of self. But onscreen, we find Robert Ford -- the creator of the technology, played by Anthony Hopkins - considering that idea from the other end.
John Milton's - "Paradise Lost" published in 1667
Quote:
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..."
Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s - Heaven and Hell Published in 2007 - Icelandic Contemporary writer.
Portuguese book editions of Stefánsson’s "Heaven and Hell", "The sorrows of angels" and "The heart of a man".
Passage:
“They had seen every crack and crevice in the mountains many kilometres from the boat and the sky arched over them like the roof of a church, the roof that protects us. The six men had been silent, humble and thankful of their existence. But it isn’t natural for a person to feel thankful or humble for too long: some had started thinking about tobacco and forgotten eternal life.”
Short review:
The story opens with the boy and his friend Bárður returning to the isolated fishermen’s huts on the coast where they wait for calm weather to head out for the catch. Bárður passes his time enrapt in a translation of Milton’s Paradise Lost. He and the boy are the two youngest and least experienced of their six-man, six-oared crew; but by the time the men are four hours from the shore and setting their fishing lines, the wind has picked up and it begins to snow. Bárður suddenly realises that he has forgotten his waterproof. What seems at first seems a mere inconvenience becomes the only thing between life and death. Ice begins to form on the sails and Bárður is soaked through to the skin. Despite the boy’s desperate efforts to save his friend, Bárður is doomed.
Back on land, incensed by the indifference of the other fisherman (who appear more concerned with salting and gutting the catch), the boy sets out for the village in the middle of the snowstorm. His goal is to return Bárður’s book to its rightful owner. For the boy, it is the poetry of John Milton that has killed his friend. It is almost as if until he returns this book, Bárður’s spirit cannot rest."
"The Sorrow of angels" published in 2012
Short review found in the web:
Living in a small fishing village at the turn of the 19th century, it is his ambition to be master of his own destiny, but he soon finds his path irrevocably intertwined with that of another: postman Jens, a gruff loner who stumbles into the boy's lodgings half dead, having been frozen solid to his horse.
Jens must deliver his next consignment of mail on time or face losing his job. The boy is thus commandeered to assist him in his insurmountable task. Together they embark on a perilous passage through treacherous and deadly landscapes, across frothing seas, through howling winds and blinding snow, staring death in the eye and encountering the forms of long-since perished souls which rise up out of the endless blizzards.
"The Heart of man" published in 2015
After coming through the blizzard that almost cost them everything, Jens and the boy are far from home, in a fishing community at the edge of the world.
Taken in by the village doctor, the boy once again has the sense of being brought back from the grave. But this is a strange place, with otherworldly inhabitants, including flame-haired Alfhei?ur, who makes him wonder whether it is possible to love two women at once; he had believed his heart was lost to Ragnhei?ur, the daughter of the wealthy merchant in the village to which he must now inexorably return.
Virgil (writer of "Aeneid") published between 29 to 19 B.C. as the guide to Dante Alighieri's "Inferno" published in 1555
Virgil displays all of the noble virtues attributed to the perfect Roman.
He represents reason and wisdom, making him the perfect guide. As the journey progresses, his treatment of Dante changes, depending on the situation. Often and most importantly, Virgil is very protective of Dante. At times, he reprimands Dante for his sympathy, reminding Dante that these dammed souls are here for punishment, and that their punishment is the design of a larger plan dictated by God.
Short review:
Virgil is very careful to explain patiently all of the functions of Hell and its various structures. Virgil is constantly solicitous of Dante's welfare, and he knows that Dante is dependent on him. At times, when Virgil himself is having difficulty with some of the shades, he tells Dante to wait behind, because he does not want to frighten Dante, who is completely dependent upon him, as both a guide through the geography of Hell and as a spiritual guide. Finally, even in the bottom parts of Hell, Virgil has to scold Dante for pitying those who deserve the punishment that they are receiving. Virgil's great task is to get Dante to harden his heart against the most horribly damned shades in Hell. He succeeds, and he shows Dante how to climb Lucifer's leg and then turn upright to see the stars of Purgatory ahead of him.
Dante's "Inferno" - canto XVII
Like the beginning of the other two main sections of Hell, a familiar mythological monster rules the entrance of the particular souls in this sphere. In Canto XVII, the monster Geryon symbolizes Fraud, the sin of the souls in Circle VIII. Furthermore, like Fraud, his innocent face fools the onlooker long enough to be stung by his scorpion-like tail.
Dante alters the figure of a mythological creature from its traditional form (one of the poet's favorite literary devices), functioning to make Hell a place where traditional expectations may not exist. Geryon is the mythological king of Spain who was killed by Hercules, and he was traditionally represented as having three heads and three bodies.
Dante the Pilgrim is indeed beginning to understand the true nature of sin as he confronts the Usurers, the sinners in the final round of Circle VII. He does not linger among them, insisting on their names, but coolly observes them and moves on.
Dante the Poet places these sinners in dire circumstances, and tells none of their names, hiding them from Earth, making sure that none were remembered. The faces of the Usurers lack individuality because their concern with money made them lose their individuality. However, the signs and symbols on the sinner's purses indicate their families.
As the sinners' sins become more vulgar and base, the language in the poem becomes more graphic, so as to illustrate the misery of the usurers. In this canto, the Usurers are described as dogs in summer, and their very nature and description is disgusting. The power of the language increases as the poem goes on, which Dante illustrates in later cantos.
I've also thought about some movies that I've watched in my past life and that passed me some sort of link/message (like this TV series did) such as Fellini's "8 1/2", Mike Leigh's "Naked" or Andrei Tarkovski's "Nostalgia".
All these movies touch life as a whole with real emotions about who we're in this Planet, its existence and even longing for our homeland or loved ones (and they're some of the best movies that I've watched in my entire life).
Below is some info about them with images that touches a bit of the surface created within "Westworld".
Movies as inspiration to write this post
Fellini8 1/2 released in 1963
Portuguese DVD edition of Fellini's 8 1/2
Dialogue between Guido and Claudia Cardinale:
GUIDO: Could you leave everything behind and start from zero again? Pick one thing, and one only, and be absolutely devoted to it? Make it the reason for your existence, the thing that contains everything, that becomes everything, because your dedication to it makes it last forever? Could you? ...
CLAUDIA: ...And what about you? Could you?
GUIDO: ... No, this guy here, he couldn't. He wants to grab everything, can't give up a single thing. He changes his mind every day, because he's afraid he might miss the right path. And he's slowly bleeding to death.... Then one day he meets the girl of the spring. She's one of those girls that distributes the healing water, she's beautiful, young and ancient, a child and a woman already, authentic and radiant. There's no doubt she's his salvation. You'll be dressed in white and your hair will be long, just the way you wear it.
CLAUDIA: ...A guy like your character, who doesn't love anybody, is not very sympathetic you know. It's his fault. What does he expect?
GUIDO: ... You think I don't know that? ...
CLAUDIA: ...I don't understand. He meets a girl that can give him a new life and he pushes her away?
GUIDO: Because he no longer believes in it.
CLAUDIA: Because he doesn't know how to love.
GUIDO: Because it isn't true that a woman can change a man.
CLAUDIA: Because he doesn't know how to love.
GUIDO: And above all because I don't feel like telling another pile of lies.
CLAUDIA: Because he doesn't know how to love.
GUIDO: ... Everything is confused again as it was before. But the confusion is .. me. Not as I'd like to be, but as I am. I'm not afraid anymore of telling the truth, of the things I don't know, what I'm looking for and haven't found. This is the only way I can feel alive and look into your eyes without shame. Life is a celebration. Let's live it together! ... Accept me for what I am, if you want me. It's the only way we might be able to find each other.
Mike leigh's "Naked" released in 1993
English DVD edition of Mike Leigh's "Naked"
English book edition of Mike Leigh's "Naked" screenplay.
Main characters dialogue:
Johnny's with Louise
"Was this little dot, right? And the dot went bang and the bang expanded. Energy formed into matter, matter cooled, matter lived, the amoeba to fish, to fish to fowl, to fowl to frog, to frog to mammal, the mammal to monkey, to monkey to man, amo amas amat, quid pro quo, memento mori, ad infinitum, sprinkle on a little bit of grated cheese and leave under the grill till Doomsday."
Andrei Tarkovski - "Nostalgia" - 1983
Andrei Tarkovski's "Nostalgia" - Portuguese movie tickets.
A spiritually wearied poet, Andrei Gorchakov traveled to Italy to research the life of a composer who studied in Bologna-Italy during the late 1700s before returning to Russia to hang himself.
In Nostalghia, Gorchakov’s feelings—his sense of nostalgia for Russia, his search for meaning in his life, his aversion to the modern world that feature women or a country home shrouded in fog, through Gorchakov’s prominent inaction, which is established in the opening scene when he turns down an offer by his comely translator, Eugenia, to look at Piero della Francesca’s painting Madonna del Parto by saying “I want nothing more just for myself.”
Thinking about my work, my life and in questions regarding it such as:
- Who am I?
- Who've I ever loved?
- Who do I love?
- Where're my origins?
- Are my memories and info for real?
Printed pic of my kitty Ilvie that was stolen from me 2 years ago, a statue to a soldier at Invicta and a Hugo Pratt's "Corto Maltese" character watch
Westworld season 1 and 2 put me in a wild rollercoaster thinking about lots of things and suddenly, I started to think this to myself:
- My guardian angels are people who trust and support my ideas, be them international artists (that I actually consider as my friends), my family and loved ones.
- My inner demons will always be my past and what I couldn't achieve on time with my mind, heart or soul either in a professional or personal way either at some single time fraction or single moment in the life that I live.
I believe that I'm an humble and simple guy that tries to decypher life and its codes with lots of love to share within my work.
There're people who are a bit more important than others in my life right now and that I think that I've a spiritual bound with.
In my mind, heart and soul, I'll always be grateful to Argentine Artist MR Ed, Spanish Artists Ruben Pellejero, Jon Ander Azaola, Eduardo Alvarado Sanchez Cortez, Swedish Artist Lars Erik Sjunesson, Finnish Artist Terhi Ekebom (because she's a force of nature and extraordinary artist) among many others. (You're more than one hundred international artists and I'm only a guy, but you know that all of you are in my heart and soul because I've worked and hope to continue working with all of you and more artists in synch as a team.)
I also know that all the themes, characters or narratives that I've worked or organized with help by international artists are and always will be real important in my life, be it my stolen kitty Ilvie, be it, Valentina, be it Belinda, be it Mourinho, be it Zombierella, be it a quest about identity within ourselves as living beings, a theme as complex as "Life and death" or even, be it "being lost in a Nordic dream" book anthology that I'm trying to publish with short stories by Nordic artists or trying to have more knowledge about what life really is and that life only is Alpha in it and Death simply is the Omega of a living being in this timeless Universe.
Printed pic of my friend Svetlana Zombierella Nagaeva wearing a t-shirt with Felix, the cat book and animation character.
I'll try to keep all my memories, dreams and info intact while trusting in people that I do love and that also love me (or my work), not only because of past and present work for a prestigious American book publisher such as Fantagraphics, but because I think that people that I've worked or I'm working in the last two years, know that I do try to work with my heart and soul almost all the time in the only life that I've and that was given to me by Mother NATURE.
Enter on a rollercoaster named Westworld and maybe your life will change or maybe it'll be only fiction for you readers, but what I can write about it without being a spoiler is this:
- This TV series breathes life in and out since the beginning of life in this planet where we live in and this is something to hold and behold.
Manuel Espírito Santo
P.S: Below, I'm sharing an awesome music video and its lyrics by British band Radiohead that in my opinion links a bit of a single individual thoughts concerning his/hers professional or personal life with a clear choice with it while trying to use power and determination in life in spite of money or corruption.
I jumped in the river, what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me A moon full of stars and astral cars And all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me All my past and futures And we all went to heaven in a little row boat There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt
I jumped into the river Black-eyed angels swam with me A moon full of stars and astral cars And all the figures I used to see
All my lovers were there with me All my past and futures And we all went to heaven in a little row boat There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt There was nothing to fear, nothing to doubt
