Rivers and Tides :Andy Goldsworthy Working with Times

 Hello Readers !

Welcome to my blog. This blog is about the Golden Gate award winning  documentary " Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Times" . The documentary was directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer. So here I am looking for frame study on this documentary. And also discussed about the transient nature of art and as well as life. How beautifully Andy Goldsworthy made a gorgeous piece of art with all his anxiety. How beautifully Andy Goldsworthy made a gorgeous piece of art with all his anxiety.  Here also we can see how he was dedicated to his art and his work. He was making something from nothing without damaging nature.

Click here to watch documentary......

          So let's know something more about Andy Goldsworthy…….

   

               Andy Goldsworthy  (born 26 July 1956) is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist who produces site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.

The materials used in Andy Goldsworthy's art often include brightly coloured flowers, icicles, leaves, mud, pinecones, snow, stone, twigs, and thorns. He has been quoted as saying, "I think it's incredibly brave to be working with flowers and leaves and petals. But I have to: I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole." Goldsworthy is generally considered the founder of modern rock balancing. For his ephemeral works, Goldsworthy often uses only his bare hands, teeth, and found tools to prepare and arrange the materials; however, for his permanent sculptures like "Roof", "Stone River" and "Three Cairns", "Moonlit Path" (Petworth, West Sussex, 2002) and "Chalk Stones" in the South Downs, near West Dean, West Sussex he has also employed the use of machine tool.

         Andy Goldsworthy is the subject of a 2001 documentary feature film called Rivers and Tides, directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer. In 2018, Riedelsheimer released a second documentary on Goldsworthy, Leaning Into the Wind.

As we know that famous sentence :  the Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholders.   If we realize what is in the documentary , it is not only there but that is also in our atmosphere also. But as  we said that beauty lies in the eyes of beholders, so their beauty in all the aspects of nature but how we see and how we relate to our lives that is the beauty. So that thing was perfectly done by Andy Goldsworthy. The beauty of nature is always their but when we realize then this is existing in our eyes.

        Each and every mankind craves for his or her praises. Especially during when we are doing something. Here in the documentary we can see that artist make "something from nothing" usually something that is eye-catching using the elements of nature like water, tides, sunshine, wind, trees, leafs, stones, natural color, iron oxide chalk, raw sheep’s wool, flower blossoms, leaves and grass, feathers, random sticks and stones, broken rocks, pieces of icicle, green iris blades and red berries, thorns, bracken, or handfuls of snow etc contributing to the process. He was making the piece of art that is existing for a few minutes or second. Here we can understand the concept of transient nature of art and lives.

      As Andy Goldsworthy mentioned that Art for me is the form of nourishment.  And also he said " I don't think land needs me at all But I do need it".  He included that if he doesn't work then he feels less.

 

It doesn't feel at all like...destruction. That moment is really part

of that cycle of turning. You feel as if you've touched the heart of the place. That's a way of understanding for me...

Seeing something you never saw before that was always there but you were blind to. There are moments when it is extraordinarily beautiful in a piece of work. I mean, though it happens, that is...Then those are moments that I just live for.

That is the lines taken  from the transcript of the documentary. In which we find his feelings for his art. When the particular piece of art is going to destroy at that time he doesn't feel like destruction. He called it a cycle turning, and also you touched the hearts of the place.

For him no matter whether people saw this art or not , he just wanted to enjoy the moment.  He doesn't want praise from others. So we can say that the end results are not important but the process to gain something that is important. 

          At one point When he was making art from stone at the  sea shore And it was not going well with times because at some point of time Tide came near and near. Four times the stone collapsed but he continued his work with the same patience. He was said that 

"and each time I got to know the stone  a little bit more. I got higher each time. So it grows in proportion to my understanding of the stone. And that is really what one of the things that my art is trying to do."

       He mentioned that  he knows that the sea destroyed the piece. But he said that is the gift for the sea. He also never hoped for it. He also connects life' s different situations with that.  The same type of causes upheaval and the shock in life.

References :

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Goldsworthy

https://subslikescript.com/movie/Rivers_and_Tides_Andy_Goldsworthy_Working_with_Time-307385

Thinking activity : The Scarlet letter

 

Hello Readers, 

        Welcome to my blog. So first of all, we want to discuss exactly what the task or thinking activity is. This blog is part of my academic writing.  If you want to know more about this task then visit Heena ma'am's blog. ( Click here to visit madam's blog).

          The novel The Scarlet letter by Nathenial Hawthorne  The theme of the other is a threat to our existence. In The Scarlet letter we find how the others play a role in an individual's life.

Especially in the character of Hester Prynne, Peal and Dimmeadale's life Other, you can say society plays a vital role in  their lives. In Hester's account we find society decided that her act is apt one or not.

In the case of Dimmesdale we find that he is also present at the scaffold scene. But he could not show courage to come forward and confess. He could not accept it in public because the fear of society. So the question is, what is the importance of individuals ?

      Society was curious to know about Hester and her Sin. She was tortured by society that she must tell her lover fellow sinners. In the opening scene in the novel we find that Hester stands on the scaffold. She is there to face the look of the people. Here we can see the Puritan mindset. Here I want to add something about how time changed with various social standards, that sin kind of thing at one time that became normal things. But that makes mass up in an individual's life.

Here we can see that the experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because , in both cases, sin results in expulsion and sufferinglk lol

       So here I am writing about my personal experience, how I feel the pressure and how society's standard that I don't feel comfortable. So let's go through my conscience….

Whenever I go out in a public place that time we observe people through we find what kind of standard they set. And if someone who doesn't follow the foolish standard then they talking about that particular man and woman in a

bad manner. Why that was happening is the question for me. Whether they are also treated by other people in a bad way, may be that's why many people think that  way, if we face this problem then why not you ? Otherwise people don't have a notion of what is good or bad.

          

Is it my fault ?

That I am scrolling down and up myself, like others want.

Which kind of force makes me fool to myself.

Here society controls the individual self.

Thank you.........

Thinking activity on The Waste Land

 

Hello friends !

     Here I am discussing The Waste Land  , a modern epic  in the context of the Indian Upanishads, T. S.Eliot versus Freud and T.S. Eliot and Nietzsche.

          Thomas Stearns Eliot OM was an American-born British poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. He avoided personal emotion in contrast to the more romantic effusions of the Georgian poets. His distaste for romanticism, a desire to treat the poem in isolation from the poet and the cult of traditional classical values went hand in hand with a dislike of the modern world.

 About Poem :

          The waste Land , widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. This poem is divided in five parts , that are : 

✍️ The Burial of the dead,

✍️  A Game of chess, 

✍️ The Fire Sermon, 

✍️ Death by water, 

✍️ What the thunder said.

 

        If we look at a poem for the first time then we may say that the poem is nothing more than a collage of various images. And also the images are not linked with each other. But if we try to understand deeply then that is deep roots in human civilizations. T. S. Eliot beautifully expressed world literature in this poem. T.S. Eliot made a good use of world literature. Many critics like I.A. Richard and Cleanth Brooks agree that this poem is more about Christan poem or a religious poem. But if we go through the poem then we realize that this poem isn't Christan but also Buddhist, Upanishadic to some extent. Poet hasn't dealt with directly but indirectly that is there.

   The main theme of the poem is Sexual perversion and spiritual degradation. But there are questions like whether spiritual degradation leads to Sexual perversion or sexual perversion brought spiritual degradation ? The whole poem is about spirituality and the solution of the problems.

 👉 What are your views on the following image after reading 'The Waste Land'? Do you think that Eliot is regressive as compared to Nietzche's views? or Has Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answers to the contemporary malaise?

Nietzsche talks about the term ' Superhuman', 'Superman', 'Übermensch' significantly used in Also Sprach Zarathustra (1883-1885). In which we find that, If God is dead then the superhuman or overhuman is the gift that can now be presented to humankind. Maybe each and every problem will be solved by superman. The teachings of the superhuman is a kind of continuation of the subject of man. Superhuman is a continuation in the future as an ideal rather than a realistic goal.

As compared to Nietzche's views T.S.Eliot was significantly regressive. If we look at the poem The Waste Land then we find that Eliot tries to find solutions from the history of world literature. Weather in the side of Nietzsche we can say that he was progressive because he thought differently for the sake of human beings. He was thinking in progressive way but we can't say that is great but that is also problematic. The Characteristics of a superhuman that is something dangerous, there may be alake of morals.

    And Yes, Eliot achieved universality of thought by recalling mytho-historical answers to the contemporary malaises in the famous poem The Waste Land (1922).

 👉 Allusions to the Indian thoughts in 'The Waste Land' (Where, How and Why are the Indian thoughts referred?)

This poem is considered as world literature because in this poem we find the context of many religions and literature. In which we find that the Indian thoughts also. Let's discuss in detail…

      One of the things is that how T.S. Eliot using 'I' in his poem. We cannot properly get who is the 'I'. This type of narrative we find in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. (Some extent we connect here)

(Click here to read Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) translation in English

          The third part of the title 'The Fire Sermon' itself shows us that this is connected with Buddha;s Fire Sermon.  There is also a reference of Burning that 8s also related to Buddhism.

    There are references of Indian River, a mountain that is familiar to the Indian readers. Like 

Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves

Waited for rain, while the black clouds

Gathered far distant, over Himavant.

The jungle crouched, humped in silence. 

      Here we find that Eliot refers to Wisdom of India for spiritual salvation of modern humanity.

 The most influential thing is that last part 'What the Thunder Said' in which we find that the three Da. 

Datta :       Be a giver

Dayadham :    Empathise

Damyata :       Self- Control

These three tendencies are originally in Upanishads. Prajapati who taught his children God (devah), Humanbeing (Manushyah), Demon (asurah). The practice of these virtues will preserve, promote and enhance the value of life. Men themselves are distinguished into these three classes according to their lack of self control and possession of the defects or according to the tendencies of the three gunas.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदम् पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ 

     This particular shloka is in invocation and at the last of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads. Here in The Waste Land the meaning of the Shanti is 'peace that passeth all understanding'. Poet discussed all the malaises of modern times and at last he was giving solutions and then he wanted peace.

 👉 T. S. Eliot versus Sigmond Frued :

Prior to the speech, Gustaf Hellström of the Swedish Academy made these remarks:

What are your views regarding these comments? Is it true that giving free vent to the repressed 'primitive instinct' leads us to a happy and satisfied life? Or do you agree with Eliot's view that 'salvation of man lies in the preservation of the cultural tradition'?

Freud was made a point that giving free vent to the repressed primitive instinct will automatically lead towards the anarchy. For transitioning happiness, we should not create disorganization in society. And also Yes, it is true that giving free vent to the repressed primitive instinct can lead us to a happy and satisfied life, but individually, things and happiness which are satisfying us can harm others and which give pleasure to others can harm us.

    Here, Eliot seems more powerful than Freud because if we live our lives with some discipline or with the organization than life becomes easier. But to some extent that is also not fair one. Frued wrote that for progress any individual primitive instinct was needed but in order to preserve tradition Eliot says that there is need for to grow together so both are right at their position. 

    These are my views regarding these three topics. Your views may be different, you can write your views in the comment section. 

Thank you…..

General Characteristics of the twentieth century literature

 Hello friends !!

          Here I am going to write about the general characteristics of twentieth century literature. So here we had focused  on the history of the time. It is not easy to write about history without the things knowing and realizing. But the classroom understanding and my reading help me to write about the particular age of the twentieth century. But one thing is there what I mean for this that is not mean but a whole. So here I am trying to analyze the history of the age ,what type of literature introduce by writer etc:

• The Twentieth-century

• Historical background………

• Modernism and Art……….

• Characteristics of twentieth century literature……….

 

• Historical background  ……..

No.	Time - Period	Event
1.	1901 - 1910	The reign of the king Edward Vll ;
2.	1910	The Succession of the George V to the throne :
3.	1914 - 1918	World War I
4.	1921	Independence of Southern Ireland from Britain Anglo Irish Treaty of December 1921 established the Irish free state.
5.	1928	Women's suffrage women over the age of 31 are given the vote right.
6.	1929	The Great Depression originated in the United States in late 1929.
7.	1939 - 1945	World War 2

• The welfare state

• Urbanization

• Social Satisfaction and social mobility

• The world of work

• Education, religion and culture

The twentieth century was in contrast with the Victorian age. How Victorian ideals became stupidity in the twentieth century. Every aspect of life is changed with the industrial revolution and through the welfare state. The time has come to attract towards urbanization. So that's how we also understand the literature of that time.

         At this point, however, there is no need to distinguish between two groups of writers: the group that was already established in the first decade of the present century; and the group that had not so far begun to produce, but was shaping its ideas largely in conformity with a work which had had no public impact, G E Moore's Principia Ethica (1903). 

There are also two types of groups that are Fabianism, socialist movement and theory that emerged from the activities of the Fabian Society, and another one is Bloomsbury group of thinkers and writers.

• The Modern movement ...

        The Modern Movement of architecture represents a dramatic shift in the design of buildings, away from the traditional forms and construction techniques of the past and toward a new era of design. The styles of the Modern Movement, Art Deco, Moderne and International, began in Europe and spread to the United States in the 1920s. 

      The various inventions and wars are going on. There is a great effect of war on art and society as well as on literature also. World War I brought an end to this phase but indicated the beginning of a number of anti-art movements, such as Dada and Surrealism. The new ideas are developed about the interrelation of the arts, architecture, design, and art education. Cubism has been considered the most influential art movement of the 20th century.

Characteristics of the Twentieth-century literature :

     Twentieth century literature was in contrast with Victorian literature. There is an  impact of imperialism that we find in Rudyard Kipling's works etc. Another factor is Social Unrest because of the sudden Reformation in every factor of life that is quite dangerous for human beings.  Two World Wars that made a great effect on literature.

       

 For many, humankind was entering upon an unprecedented era. H.G. Wells’s utopian studies, the aptly titled Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought (1901) and A Modern Utopia (1905), both captured and qualified this optimistic mood and gave expression to a common conviction that science and technology would transform the world in the century ahead.

The Twentieth century  writing is highly self-reflexive and poems written during this time were much shorter and relied more heavily on free verse. Additionally, many poets used the theory of imagism in their writing, which involved concise language and sought to capture various images.

Among the English poets of the Modern Period, two of the most prolific were not English-born writers. T.S. Eliot was an American-born British poet who is often considered one of the most influential poets of the 20th century.

Novels at that time focus on man in his social circle to man as an isolated individual. This change emphasized the thought processes and unconscious impulses of man.  One writer who encompassed both Victorian and Modernist ideals was E.M. Forster. He was also talking about Escapism. While many of his works discussed class and hierarchy in social status, he also displayed an interest in individual values. His two most well known works are A Room with A View (1908) and A Passage to India (1924).

This particular time we find that a lot of war poets are there who write a poem about war. Twentieth century literature is about individualism, stream of consciousness, to read against power and religion, science fiction, short stories about class distinction, about workers etc.

Thank you !!!