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Happy RabbiCat Year!

I‘m experiencing this wonderful state of not knowing what to say – quite like when I was about to start blogging four years ago. I’m staring at the blank blog post form, and I don’t want to list my resolutions or goals, nor do I want to get into a serious mood and start narrating “the lessons of the decade”. There is a palpable sense of adventures coming, so la nave va

This will probably be the shortest “s novym godom” post you’ve ever read. As the noughties draw to a close, I really don’t feel like contemplating this. Not that I have nothing to say – on the contrary, these 10 years, from 2000 till 2010 were packed with happiness, joy, success, love, pain, loss, even poverty, that it is not possible to speak of all of them laconically and impersonally. And yet this is how I should speak of them, and even if I cannot be short, I shouldn’t be too involved. I realised I got very much involved in some things in the past, and I have corrected the errors. Once again I recall Maugham’s Theatre when Michael advised Julia to take a vacation because her act was awful. She was surprised, for, fresh from a break-up with Tom, she thought she’d never been so true to herself. While on vacation, she realised that this was exactly the mistake: the actor can only convey the emotion after it had been experienced, i.e. s/he conveys the essence of the emotion, not the contents of their private life.

You don’t have to be an actor, or unsuccessfully in love, to be in a similar kind of situation. I don’t want to pat myself on the back, to praise myself, or to pity myself. I don’t even want to state facts. All of this feels so unimportant now that I really want to turn the page as quickly as possible.

As a few years before I’m spending this turn of the year away; I’ve not got a camera, I’m not taking any photos, I’m just spending time with myself and things I love. There are some new beginnings, but I’ll mention them later.

The only thing I will do is wish you to find happiness, passion, and humour. There must be something in your life that you feel absolutely passionate about, in which you can immerse yourself fully. Do have the sense of humour to separate the resulting act from the originating act. Instead of dedicating yourself to eating, why not focus on cooking, or gardening, or providing food? And then, I can guarantee you, you will find happiness. It will be the logical gratification for seeing the results of your work. Again, have the humour and don’t take the errors too seriously, i.e. too personally. But do have the passion to pursue your goals.

Remember Thomas Edison. When asked how it felt to have failed over 700 times, he replied: “I haven’t failed once. I am simply eliminating unsuccessful ways. When I have eliminated all of them, I will have found the one that is successful“.

And I shall also break the tradition of showing the postcards in this post. You will see them tomorrow 🙂 In line with my decision to not be too serious I’m giving you two postcards with kittens from my family archive. Print them, share them, or simply look at them – 2011 is the magical year when the most beautiful things are bound to happen.

S Novym Godom, meow!

L’Amour Pour L’Art: Why Do We Visit the Great Artistic Shrines?

Sébastien Le Fol blogs about culture and arts for Le Figaro. His most recent piece was on the subject of why the Parisians seem to similarly adore both Claude Monet and Basquiat whose exhibitions are currently going in two different parts of the French capital.

I still vividly recall my own experience of going to Monet’s exhibition at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow in early 2002. It was the last day of the exhibition, and I queued outside from 1pm until 6.30pm, in minus 10 in Moscow winter. Thankfully, there was no snow or sharp wind, and, to the Museum’s credit, they eventually started letting us in without a compulsory journey into the cloakroom. I must admit that the impression of the genius of the French Impressionism (excuse the pun) after all those hours outside was somewhat slated. And yet I can confirm – retrospectively – Sébastien’s report of the inexplicable love for the art of Monet.

At the same time, Basquiat who is almost on the opposite end to Monet attracts a similar amount of interest, and Sébastien justly wonders if artistic exhibitions, biennials etc. have now substituted the religious pilgrimages of the past. It no longer matters whether we go to Lourdes, Cologne, Jerusalem, or Santiago de Compostela – or, to substitute those religious sites with artistic, to the Louvres, Uffizi, a Leonardo or a Picasso exhibition. What matters is that we do visit those sites because such activity becomes a conscientious cultured person.

Back in 2004 when I visited exhibitions of Rafael and Degas at the National Gallery in London I was struck with the fact that Rafael’s halls were flooded with both Brits and tourists, while Degas’s halls were mostly – and not very densely – packed with Far-Eastern Arts students. My conclusion then was that Rafael’s “happy genius” attracted the attention of those who were tired of endless searching for truth, revolutions and reforms and who wanted something simple yet subtle to contemplate. Rafael was the antidote to the contemporary art that is often too self-absorbed, aloof, and intellectual for its own – and ours – good.

The same, perhaps, is the case with Monet, given that his work was described as the “the myth of happiness à la française composed of recklessness and legerity preserved in Nature“. Such description flies in the face of facts about Monet’s personal life, his experience of the loss and grief that also spilled over onto canvas. To the majority, however, he is the one who painted the lilies in the pond and the Rouen cathedral at different times of day.

The question remains: why do we go to these artistic shrines, be they exhibitions, salons, museums, or private collections hidden in a splendid mansion protected by the British Heritage Fund, e.g.? In my opinion, the quasi-religious fervour is somewhat improbable, at least not on the grand scale. Two scenarios are more likely. In one, we need an opportunity to relax our brain, to let out thought float effortlessly, like the sweet naughty angels on the Rococo paintings. Contemporary art, with its mission to engage the viewer, fails to give this relaxation. In another scenario, we need an opportunity to rebel or to convince ourselves that contemporary art is necessary to drag the Art out of its classic predicament.

What is obvious is that in both scenarios it is our intellectual needs that dictate the choice and form the artistic taste. The needs of the soul and spiritual searchings remain hidden under the landslide of information and mental effort to tackle it. We visit the Prado because it is on the tourist map and because it would be strange to visit Madrid and not to visit Prado, but not because the museum houses Picasso’s Guernica or because we want to see in Guernica what Picasso had tried to convey. The list can go on, but the point is, and I’m sure to be correct on this: there are very few pious dedicated “artistic pilgrims” who visit the “shrines” to receive a “communion” with Inspiration, Beauty, Love, not merely to tick the boxes on the map of the Grand Tour d’Art.

Christmas in Photography: Russian Snows

The photos featured in this post were made by my compatriot, called, Igor. It is incredible to have this kind of weather for season’s holidays – a nice change after the years of rain and wind d’Angleterre!

ВРЕМЕНА ГОДА

«ВРЕМЕНА ГОДА» на Яндекс.Фотках

ВРЕМЕНА ГОДА

«ВРЕМЕНА ГОДА» на Яндекс.Фотках

Christmas in European Postcards: Frohe Weihnachtsgruesse!

I don’t know the full story of the family archive, particularly of where the postcards came from. The postcards below, however, bear inscriptions in German, and I do know that my great granduncle apparently travelled to Germany, although I have no idea, why. If so, it could be him who’d brought one of those postcards back to Russia.

I wish all of us happiness, joy, and a lot of laughter. I hope we can find – or learn to find – something beautiful and positive in everyday, little things. This way we can remain humble and sincere, for great things sometimes originate from the most simple setting.

Money Costs a Fortune, People Cost Nothing

It’s been a couple of years already that Mr Freeman has been the mystery no. 1 on the Russian Internet. Although there have been many a guess who may be hiding behind this matchstick man, the real person is yet to be pinned down. If you ask me, I’d rather have him remain mysterious like one of those famous literary memes, say, Kozma Prutkov (a brainchild of Alexey Tolstoy and the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers) or Emile Ajar (another pseudonym of Romain Gary, writing under which Gary had received his second Prix Goncour). One day, perhaps, we’ll find out whose genius produced Mr Freeman, but for now it is more important what the character is saying.

Until recently, the character was mostly speaking Russian, although one of his recent uploads was in English. What you are about to read, however, is a biting satire of our fear of, and love for, money. Now, where money is concerned, it is evident that people fall into one of the two extremities: they either don’t care for it, or they care for nothing but money. Whether or not they actually have money doesn’t matter. As we would agree, neither extremity is good, but if the inability to attract and preserve money is pathetic, the blinding desire for money is ugly. And this is what Mr Freeman has contemplated in his video, What Is You God?

And at the very bottom of the post you’ll find a brilliant number from Cabaret the film.

Not bad. I never said that money was bad. I respect every religion however servile it is. Ah, well, you don’t know. Just relax, don’t spew your spinal marrow around…. Money is God. You have always thought that religion was Christianity, the Buddha, the shaman. No, of course not. You cannot be that thick. The single modern global religion is money. And different currencies are like Catholic religion, Orthodox, Protestant, Buddhism, Judaism… Generally, money is your God. It is the thing in itself, it is the beginning of everything, and it can, from time to time, make wonders. Wow… This God has got the millionaire apostles, whose sacred lives you study so jealously. Each of you regularly takes part in the Communion service when you receive a piece of divine flesh in the envelope. Yet how about asking anyone, how much he earns? He’ll shit himself as if you asked him to confess to his sins… And what about those bank notes? They are the icons, you look at those notes, and for you they are not merely paper and paint, no! For you it is your God’s flesh. It is born in the sacred place where the entrance is forbidden for ordinary mortals. Then those divine notes get into the hands of people, and then, weary, creased and dirty, are burnt in the furnace, in order to be reborn, like a Phoenix, to once again follow their earthly path. Everyone touches money. Now, take out your wallet: can you imagine what ways has every single note moved in order to get to you? Who crackled it before anybody else? Where will it go next? A tramp, a syphilitic, a prostitute, a president, and you, all of you receive Communion with the same piece of paper. People! Wake up! The circulation of money is necessary so that you give away your power. You see, the value of money is maintained by labour, and without you money means nothing. In fact, it is merely a result of the printing press at work. Everyone can print his own money. Except that instead of collective unconscious there will be a person behind the money. You were divided so that you can be ruled. Of course, money is common… but everyone has his own money. Money costs a fortune, people cost nothing, for you are worthless because you have proved that you can turn any myth into a God. And you are ready…

http://vkontakte.ru/video_ext.php?oid=15568&id=151170741&hash=26f867a7ccb2b444

Total Eclipses over the British Lakeland

Tony Richardson who for years has religiously been documenting the beauty of the Cumbrian Lakes supplied us with a few fascinating photos of the total lunar eclipse. The first photo was taken in Coniston, the next where we can see a nearly total eclipse – in Wetherlam.

And, as you may know, Cumbria, particularly Coniston area, was shaken today by an earthquake. Thankfully, there was nothing more but a bit of shock caused to those who noticed it. I experienced the tremour once in Manchester in 2008; and in 2006 I shared the photo that also appeared on Tony’s website of a lightning striking in Cumbria.

Finally, one more photo from Tony’s website – a beautiful winter wonderland around Half Way House.

My Favourite Success Recipes

A few people recently have shared their “success recipes”. One comes from Elena Lenina, the most famous Russian in modern France. According to her, success is granted on the following four conditions: 1) high work ethic; 2) sincere interest in other people; 3) a high professional level that increases every day; 4) only in the sphere where you can work for free you may become a millionaire.

Chris Brogan has just published a post where he also contemplated the “particles” of success:

Success, you see, isn’t a mansion and a yacht. Success is living the life you want and doing the work you’re best at doing with the people you know will help you reach the next level. Success means working on projects that you know will fulfill a deep felt passion within you, and yet, will feed your family. Success is knowing that you’ve built a thriving network of people who all work hard to grow each other’s capabilities. Success means finding a next angle and vectoring your efforts towards growing that out. Success means having the means and capability to make better decisions. Success means getting home in time for dinner. Success means leaving the house when I want to, and staying home with the kids when I want to, all while making a future for my family.

Lastly, Seth Godin questioned a curious fact: do successful people turn certain things into an epitome of success, or do certain things, so-called success symbols, make those who own them successful?

The common ground that all three – one woman and two men – would certainly share is that the attributes of success do not make one successful. They do certainly show that the person can afford something, but by no means compensate for the feeling of inadequacy or this crippling knowledge that without these symbols and emblems one’s life is rather uneventful.

I want all of us, however successful we already are, to avoid compensating for the lack of success, and instead to focus on doing what we want to do that will bring us fulfilment and happiness.

Victoria and Albert Museum – The Inner Court Decor

I‘ve noticed someone watching the V&A Museum set on Flickr, and so decided to share one of my favourite photos from the set. Everyone who visited the V&A knows that the building is impressive both outside and inside. And yet this elaborate balcony that overlooks the inner court is so splendid that I still remember losing my breath when I looked up and saw it.

If this had such effect upon me, can you imagine what happens when I look up the buildings in Piazza del Duomo or Piazza della Signoria in Florence?!

Christmas in Photography: My Streetlight And Snowflakes

I have just risked my health by opening the kitchen window to take a few photos. We’re having a slow and silent snowfall in Moscow. It is by no means catastrophic, rather magical and serene. What I didn’t quite expect to happen was to photograph snowflakes. In fact, as you will see, they were more “flickrable” than ordinary objects. I think I mentioned it somewhere that I’ve almost always lived by the road; the road you see in the photo is the one I’ve been looking at for 20-odd years in Moscow. It gets very congested during the day, but at night, at quieter time, it is almost like a village road, with but a few cars rolling their wheels up and down the way. But, back to the photos, this is the streetlight that I once commemorated in a poem. And there is something very special about watching it on the picture, amidst the falling snow…

Zarya Newspaper – Moscow, 29 November 1915

In our family archive we have several newspapers that date back to the pre-Revolution times. One of them has just marked its 90th anniversary, and if you flick through the pages of the embedded document you will notice the state of the pages. I must admit it’s amazing how well the newspaper got preserved, given that it survived a fair share of peregrinations.

Zarya Newspaper-29 November 1915 http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=45517052&access_key=key-2gqucoadnfeaes2qi5hg&page=1&viewMode=book

NOTE: the document is pretty huge, so I decided to allow readers to download it from Scribd: Zarya Newspaper 29 November 1915. Needless to say, if you want to use it or have queries about the content, please reference me and my blog, thanks!

About half of the paper is what you call the belles-lettres. They are short stories about life on the front line or the actions of the civilians. It is noticeable that in 1915 Russia’s attitude to the First World War was pretty much the same as that of the English or French. The participation in the conflict was perceived as something of a solemn duty for a soldier to fulfil. To this end, there were regular despatches from the front, galleries of heroic nurses and men-of-arms. And at the same time the newspaper published romantic stories, poems, as well as satyrical pieces. In the 29th of November edition there was a story about a girl called Lydia who was the object of affection of two men, one was a young student, another was a mature man. Both loved her, although they expressed it differently. And when both went to war, she began to write letters to both of them. Even though she only loved the older man, she considered herself responsible for sustaining the hope and the desire to live in the student. The story would most likely fly in the face of some of today’s ideas about relatioship… or perhaps it would confirm certain things we don’t like admitting.

error: Sorry, no copying !!