Author: Julia Kalmund

What a person wants to believe, he also believes true.                                                                                     (Demosthenes, Athen 384 v. Chr.; † 322 v. Chr.) Deception and deceit are nothing new. The devil came to Faust in Goethe’s masterpiece as a poodle, like the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. Art and literature have been full of such tricks for a long time. Deception in painting Before we could catch reality in the lens of a camera, paintings tried to bring historical scenes to life on the canvas. If these oeuvres pretend to show what really happened, then it is only pretence. The ‘actors’ in the scenes, whether soldiers or priests, kings or knaves insisted on being depicted in the most favourable light. True or false – it did not matter. Play with the senses Artists have their own agenda and are driven to create something, at times for themselves, at times for the spectator. They answer to their soul or they disrupt, make you feel uncomfortable, or at least make you reflect and think twice. In as much, artists do manipulate. They play on our senses and maybe on the unconscious too. We often interpret more into works of art, then perhaps the artist intended. We distort what we see Much later the Impressionists dared to distance themselves from faithfully copying what they saw; they painted impressions, feelings and experimented with light. They were not out to deceive but were also not bent on reproducing a universal truth. Fake or deception? Artists have their own agenda and are driven to create something, at times for themselves, at times for the spectator. They answer to their soul or they disrupt, make you feel uncomfortable, or at least make you reflect and think twice. In as much, artists do manipulate. They play on our senses and maybe on the unconscious too. We often interpret more into works of art, then perhaps the artist intended. If you want to learn more about “The Thrill of Deception”: The exhibition in Kunsthalle Munich shows Ancient Art to Virtual Reality playing with our senses until 13 January 2019   The Devil in Disguise… weiterlesen

Philosophical instruction for use Nina Schmid is co-owner of „Street Philosophy“ and an architect. She has the look on unity and fullness not only in her work but also in live. Her power comes from conviction that there is so much in our world that is beautiful. It is just waiting to be discovered and perceived. In her book “the anagram of god is dog – The Magic Dog’s Seven Secrets to a Truly Good Life” she tells about life and a dog called Hoomy. The Magic Dog’s Secrets strengthens a traumatized and scared family and brings back laughter and hope. Secret No. 6 is all about beauty. Here comes an excerpt: „Don’t go outside you hose to see the flowers. My friend don’t bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has a thousand petals. That will do for a place to sit. Sitting there you will have a glimpse of Beauty. Inside the body and out of it, before gardens and after gardens.” Kabir (Indian mystic, 1440 – 1518 n.Chr.) We can’t live without beauty Beauty has been damned so often. It has been misjudged, underestimated, spoken ill of, ridiculed, badmouthed and denigrated. Beauty has been insulted as superfluous, perfunctory, shallow, superficial, futile and useless. People have so often chosen the practical over the beautiful. They have brushed beauty aside, have turned their backs on beauty, have expelled beauty from their lives or have tried to bury it. Too many people are either afraid of beauty or jealous of it. But we cannot live without beauty. I know that I don’t want to live without beauty. We need beauty around us to be able to thrive. Beauty jolts us awake. Beauty makes us hold our breaths. Beauty keeps us amazed. Beauty opens our hearts. Beauty makes us flourish. Beauty makes us reach out. Beauty immerses us with gratitude. Beauty cultivates our sense of wonder. Beauty will never pass into nothingness. Beauty answers all questions. Beauty transcends words. Beauty surpasses all limitations. Beauty sometimes touches us so deep down inside, that it almost hurts. Beauty speaks directly to our soul. Beauty connects us to the universe. Beauty connects us to the source. Instinctive reaction Secretly we are all in love with true authentic beauty. And we all instinctively react to beauty. Beauty inside and beauty outside. Beauty in all its different forms. “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”… weiterlesen

One of the greatest literary works. Current like never before The tragic play ‘Faust’ von Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was first published at the beginning of the 19th Century. It takes place around 1500. Europe was slowly shedding the chains of the Middle Ages. Scholarship and science were gaining ground and the Church was no longer the only authority on the meaning of life. The play was written two hundred years ago and takes place at the turn of the 15th Century and yet it seems to me that we are still preoccupied by the same questions, the same uncertainties; we still have the same yearnings. Seducer and Seduced Faust is a scholar and a seeker. He strives for more knowledge, needs more time to study. In the end he is willing to sell his soul for a promise of life eternal and omniscience. He falls prey to the Devil’s seduction. He, in his turn is also a seducer with little respect of other people’s feelings, in fact for other people’s lives. The drama is all about love and power and entanglement with evil. It is much about trying to overcome our earthly limitations, without considering the costs. The Devil is in Our Everyday Life Are we not all Faust at times? We are also seekers and we are so often willing to take things at their face value. We shut our eyes to all that is inconvenient, to all that might cause us pain, even if others are harmed through our thoughtlessness. We compromise and make deals; not so much with the Devil, more likely with ourselves. This is not surprising because our daily life is often devilish, and we don’t even notice that our routine and habits decide about how we cope. We are playing roles that society imposes on us, and which we blindly accept. There is Hope for us yet This is not so different to how Dr. Faust acts out his life. We allow ourselves to be seduced, if only we are promised eternal youth and gratification. The sad thing is, that we often, do not even realize that we are being seduced. We are not aware of who or what is manipulating us. Despite the similarities and thanks to the lessons we can learn from ‘Faust’, there is hope for us yet. Thanks to huge advances in neuroscience, we have more knowledge about how our minds work.… weiterlesen