‘The balance of day and night’
TRAVAUX EN COURS:
JHS Littérature Apocryphe MMXI
Patrimoine vs. Identité culturelle
Dios Mio! Été MMXI
Pour l’oeil, contre l’oeil. Pour l’esprit, contre l’esprit
Mi Amore ‘the Lamb’ (2005) & ‘the Lion’ (2007) en studio @ Godcity (vidéos)
The Phantom Carriage
Victor Sjöström, Sweden, 1921, 93 min
The Phantom Carriage (Swedish: Körkarlen) is a 1921 Swedish romantic horror film, generally considered to be one of the central works in the history of Swedish cinema. Released on New Year’s Day, it was directed by and starred Victor Sjöström, alongside Hilda Borgström, Tore Svennberg and Astrid Holm. It is based on the novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! (Körkarlen; 1912), by Nobel-prize winning Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf
The film is notable for its special effects, its advanced (for the time) narrative structure with flashbacks within flashbacks, and for having been a major influence on Ingmar Bergman. – WIKI
My artistic activity is founded in painting. During the past years I have explored art’s connections to the occult world and to different esoteric traditions. Religion, religious experiences and meditation are important parts of my artistic work and of my life. My images are often based on existing images within the esoteric and mystical traditions and can be seen as a map-making of their symbols and archetypes. The metamorphosis and the generation of new meanings that takes place during the work process can be likened to a magical and alchemical work. I’m interested in re-organising and further developing these image-worlds and placing them in a contemporary context. Can artistic work function as a proto-science, like alchemy, to explore this? One of the potentials of art is that it can work as magick, in the sense that it deals with an apprehension of reality that claims you can affect the physical realm by having contact with the transcendental and metaphysical realms.
My images work both as magickal sigils and meditations but also as introductions to hermetic philosophies and methods, to present an esoteric way of thinking for the viewer. This combination, that the works function both as things to be used and as information carriers, is very central and important to me. I think it’s very important that artists try to create alternative environments and act in non-compromising and alternative ways. It’s important that art can be a mental free-zone, with time and space for contemplation and afterthought. The artistic work is therefore especially well suited for the exploration of dreams and visions of the mystical side of existence. These areas have always been very close to the esoteric and occult. Can art be used as a platform for the most important question that no-one can escape – what happens after death? And how should we relate to that during life?
FREDRIK SÖDERBERG
Born 1972, lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden
The Holy Mountain
Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico-USA, 1973, 114 min
The film is based on « Ascent of Mount Carmel » by St. John of the Cross and Mount Analogue by Rene Daumal, a student of G.I. Gurdjieff. In particular, much of Jodorowsky’s visually psychedelic story follows the metaphysical thrust of Mount Analogue such as the climb to the Alchemist, the assembly of individuals with specific skills, the discovery of the mountain that unites Heaven and Earth « that cannot not exist » and symbolic challenges along the mountain ascent. Daumal died before finishing his allegorical novel, and Jodorowsky’s improvised ending provides a clever way of completing the Work (symbolic and otherwise.) – WIKI
***
Hommage à l’ensemble de l’oeuvre d’Alexandro Jodorowsky
Du 29 mars au 2 avril 2011 (Montréal)
Informations
Hell: The Devil’s Domain
History Channel, USA, 2004, 100 min
‘From Dante’s Inferno to modern-day revival meetings, this feature-length special chronicles our views of Satan and his legendary realm.
* A sweeping look at the many faces of the Satan through the ages.
* Hear from survivors of near death experiences who claim to have glimpsed Hell.
* Includes interviews with leading theologians and historians.
From the dark Hades of Greek Mythology to the fire-and-brimstone visions of fundamentalist thunderers, Hell has long held a particular grip over the human imagination.
HELL: THE DEVIL’S DOMAIN travels the world to peer into the darkest depths of this eternal fascination.
The journey begins with the story of a near-death experience in which a man thinks he went to Hell after being declared clinically dead and before resuscitation.
Trace the evolving conceptions of hell and the devil from Stone-Age French cave paintings to Hollywood blockbusters. Speak with survivors of the recovered memory craze and parishioners at a fundamentalist Texas church. Review literary landmarks like Dante’s Inferno and Milton’s Paradise Lost. And see how the world’s great faiths various conceptions of the afterlife encompass these universal fears.’
Merci Mat.
