As a poet I hold the most archaic values on earth.
They go back to the late Paleolithic;
the fertility of the soil,
the magic of animals,
the power-vision in solitude,
the terrifying initiation and rebirth;
the love and ecstasy of the dance,
the common work of the tribe.
— Gary Snyder, American born 1930 in Earth House Hold, 1969
The German artist has placed a member of our species, armed with a club of the Paleolithic in front of all her other representations of the Graeco-Roman-Christian civilizations.
She has a snake leading, though. It has a history with us and a symbolism which surpasses that of other animals:
a primary example of the mechanism of rebirth with the shedding of skin and with the deadly and healing effects of its venom.
I take it that she designed this grouping for cause.
It is not that the symbols assembled behind the Paleolithic man have no value.
This photo from the net
They have history and
value and history but only if they are in support of our most archaic values.
It is just that young people are asking: why are things so confused?
I thought I would go back to first values with them and work out how to translate these values into every little thing of our lives today
without going overboard…
Figurengruppe, 2006-2008, bronze, copper and stainless steel, lacquered.
