I found time for a bit of sight-seeing in Berlin, too, and was moved by my visit to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, with its fascinating -- and inspiring -- collection of bullet-riddled flying machines and earthbound driving contraptions built by courageous East Berliners who used them to escape over (or through, or under....) the Wall to West Berlin. It is impossible to emerge from that exhibit without a sharpened understanding of what personal freedom is worth, I wish everyone who reads this Newsletter will have the opportunity to see it at some point.

CRAFT NOTES
"New Beginnings"

I enjoyed a beautiful snow fall in Stuttgart last month, and it reminded me of how much I miss living in a city that has seasons, not only for the roller coaster temperature changes but for the natural cycles that seasons impose on ones life and work. The world is functioning on Internet time now, which only gets faster and faster and has no natural interludes. Boot-up, log-on, sign-off and shut-down are not substitutes for summer, fall, winter and spring.

It is worth noting ("The Origin of the Theater" (1955) by Benjamin Hunningher) that theatre likely had its ancient origins in dance-ritual celebration of Spring's victory over Winter. Spring came to represent life, abundance; Winter came to represent death. "...the idea of a definite seasonal change retires to the background and winter-in-general gradually opposes summer-in-general, death opposes life ... From this concept arose the performance of the year-king or year-priest, known over the whole world, who overcomes death to bring life. With the approach of winter the year-king himself turns into the daemon of death and must perish in a duel with the champion or king of the next year for life to spring forth anew." (Hunningher, pp17-18)

Regardless of the art form -- drama, music, animation, painting, dance, poetry -- the mandate of an artist is to help the audience find meaning in simple existence. Our task is still similar to that of the Shaman. Whether we're talking about the comic strip "Peanuts" or Massacio's frescoes in Florence or another revival of "Our Town", it is all about life and the values we humans share in common. A snow fall reminds us that we all are subject to seasons, and that Spring will always follow Winter. Hope is eternal.

Even if we can't literally see the snow in San Francisco or Los Angeles, I wish for all of us a snow-scape seasonal moment of quiet; and, if it is not too maudlin, a cyber-holding of hands. It has finally become that new millennium we have been hearing so much about. Let us go out into the world now and do something about it.

Return to Top