Eides of December 2013

The third day of the Roman Yule, and it was a revelation. Although abstract art is not my real preference, I have always liked Klee and Kandinsky. But after today’s visit to the EY exposition of “Paul Klee: Making Visible” at the Tate Modern, I feel utterly privileged to have come to witnessing finally one of the superlative artists of the twentieth century. A confident master from start to finish, he could ponder an aesthetic situation apparently for great lengths of time before pouncing onto the execution of one work of art after the next. On top of all, he was a nice man and, for instance, could completely and openly distance himself from any anti-semitic kowtowing at the peak when this was dangerous to say. Today, I fell in love with the man.

The ‘London Chapter of the Pagan Church’ met afterwards on the low-tide bank of the Thames – with Christopher Wren’s dome of St. Paul’s illuminated across the river. Why, why, why, when we have such global and technological possibility, do we need constantly to frizzle the opportunity into stalemate deadlock and harmful degenerations? We could do this differently – and perhaps even without compromising the 1% overly much but instead enlisting their support for creative solution and relative equanimity. I fully believe this can feasibly be accomplished without resorting to maiming our young through war, polluting our planet beyond repair, thriving economically through human slavery or serfdom, and maintaining a situation that depends on depriving anyone of minimum standards of living. None of this need happen overnight – though the sooner rather than later, the less onerous would be the ultimate burden to an exciting achievement and platform for an adventuresome, inventive, creative and happy humanity.

I would appeal to people like the Koch brothers, even to Rumsfield and people like whoever is behind the banking, petroleum, chemical and pharmaceutical lobbying along with corporate-backed government in general: please lead the way with everyone on board, but let us let there be a universal suffrage with global decision making so that we can capitalise on our world-and-human potential to live in harmony and enjoyment!

What I saw today in the consummate skill of a Paul Klee I could see as a similar skill capable for humanity at large and as a whole. What surprised me was the pagan-like sympathies of the artist (Wieder einer grundverhext, Erd-Hexen, Wald-Hexen, Verhext-versteinert, Walpurgisnacht, Feuer bei Vollmond, Brustbild Gaia and Blick der Stille). And “At the Bauhaus, he argued for abstraction but also defended the imaginative freedom that the surrealists admired in his work.”It is all there – in one soul! And if it can be in one, it could be in many – and enough for us all as well as our enterprise for our collective soul/our collective consciousness/our collective conscience. If we cannot all dedicate ourselves essentially to this task, what is the point? Can we all divide ourselves into separate and gated enclaves? How long can that last? And how much in the long run is such a situation durable and worthwhile?

If anyone is in London or is coming to London, see this show at the Tate Modern if at all possible! It lasts until the 9th of March.