Tuesday, May 28, 2013

No epidural


"You know that they say: there's no epidural during a spiritual rebirth!" 
-- Dharma and Greg

This is funny, but golddurnit, it's true too. My spiritual rebirth has been taking years so far, and bless me if I haven't sometimes wanted an anesthetic as bad as anything ever.

The Vitalist Manifesto

Vitalist Manifesto

Art is for us life, and life is art. In our art we seek to express life and create life.

We believe in the constructive qualities of art, and in the creation of more life. We believe in life, joy, and beauty. We believe in the attainment of higher states for man, and in the participation of art in this process.

Nothing in life is alien to us. We have seen life from bottom to top and from East to West, we know life. We know pain and joy. We know happiness and despair. We know wisdom and stupidity. We know all of life, and all of life is dear to us. Even troubles are a part of life, and must be faced if they are to keep their place in the big picture.

For how dear all of life is to us, some things take precedence. These are the things which embodies most life, the things which create the most life. These things are Joy, Beauty, and Warmth. They are the core of life and the start of life. They are the source of greatness.

Joy, Beauty, and Warmth reach out to others. They do not know any difference between big and small, and they seek to help all. Nobody seeks in vain when these are near. Joy, beauty and warmth come from the center of the soul and are the choice of the soul. Joy, beauty and warmth are our destiny and future.

We seek in our art to reach deep into the well of the Universe and bring to light the secrets which we know are there. We seek the highest Spirit, and we wish to partake in the universal creating.

We fear nothing, and we stop for nothing, for we have felt the wind of freedom on our faces, and we follow its call like its true children.

Eolake Stobblehouse
Copenhagen, 1992




Below is the original Danish version, which I wrote while working in a group of visual artists in the early nineties.

Vitalistisk Manifest

Kunsten er for os livet, og livet kunsten. Vi søger i vor kunst at udtrykke livet og at skabe livet.

Vi tror på kunstens godgørende virkning, og på skabelsen af mere liv. Vi tror på livet, glæden og skønheden. Vi tror på opnåelsen af højere niveauer for menneskeheden, og på kunstens deltagelse i denne process.

Intet i livet er os fremmed. Vi har set livet fra bunden til toppen, og fra øst til vest; vi kender livet. Vi kender smerten og glæden. Vi kender lykken og ulykken. Vi kender visdom og dumhed. Vi kender livet, og hele livet er os kært. Selv sorger er en del af livet, og må ses i øjnene, hvis de skal beholde deres plads i det store perspektiv.

For hvor kært hele livet os end er, er visse ting dog vigtigere end andre. Disse ting er dem, som indeholder mest liv, de ting, som skaber mest liv. Disse ting er glæden, skønheden og varmen. De er kernen i livet og kimen til livet. De er kilden til storhed.

Glæden, skønheden og varmen rækker hænderne ud og søger andre. De kender ikke forskel på stort og småt, og forsøger at hjælpe alt. Aldrig søger nogen forgæves, når de er i nærheden. Glæden, skønheden og varmen kommer fra sjælens centrum og er sjælens valg. Glæden, varmen og skønheden er vor skæbne og vor fremtid.

Vi søger i vor kunst at række dybt i universets brønd og fremdrage de hemmeligheder, vi ved findes der. Vi søger den højeste ånd, og vi ønsker at tage del i den universelle skaben.

Vi frygter intet, og vi stopper ikke, for vi har mærket frihedens vind på vort ansigt, og vi følger dens kalden som dens sande børn.

Eolake Stobblehouse
København 1992

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Calm and happy does it



He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition, youth and age are equally a burden.
- Plato

Choose well: Your choice is brief and yet endless.
- Ella Winter


Friday, May 10, 2013

Infinite variety



There are as many kinds of loves as there are flowers: everlastings that never wither; speedwells that wait for the wind to fan them out of life; blood-red mountain-lillies that put their voluptuous sweetness out for one day, and lie in the dust at night. There is no one flower has the charm of all.

-- Ralph Iron