THE DECAMERON
[LT apačioje]
The classical Decameron, written in XIV c. by Giovanni Boccaccio, tells a story about 10 young people that decide to run away from the city of Florence, which is being ravaged by plague, to a distant countryside villa. They lock themselves in that villa and spend their time telling each other all kinds of stories ranging wide and far both thematically and geographically.
Unexpected, but important coincidence occurred – this interpretation of the Decameron that was finished painting in 2020 has coincided with a global coronavirus pandemic. People were forced to lock themselves between four walls and live of memories, hopes, movies, tv series, video calls, social networks – everything that is not entirely real. Such life furthers one from reality even more than XXI century usually does. Living of fictional tales of some kind. This new context of the pandemic ties us with Florence that is being ravaged by plague.
This interpretation of Boccaccio was done not directly, not by the book, instead it was done trying to imagine a modern screen adaptation of the book. A non-existent movie while painting random scenes from it. It was done like this because at these times we get most of our information this way – fast and in fragments. And that information itself is often built on emotion.
What I was thinking, or shortly about the themes of the paintings:
Now the only thing that is left is for the spectators to interpret this obscure and scattered collection of stop frames.
The classical Decameron, written in XIV c. by Giovanni Boccaccio, tells a story about 10 young people that decide to run away from the city of Florence, which is being ravaged by plague, to a distant countryside villa. They lock themselves in that villa and spend their time telling each other all kinds of stories ranging wide and far both thematically and geographically.
Unexpected, but important coincidence occurred – this interpretation of the Decameron that was finished painting in 2020 has coincided with a global coronavirus pandemic. People were forced to lock themselves between four walls and live of memories, hopes, movies, tv series, video calls, social networks – everything that is not entirely real. Such life furthers one from reality even more than XXI century usually does. Living of fictional tales of some kind. This new context of the pandemic ties us with Florence that is being ravaged by plague.
This interpretation of Boccaccio was done not directly, not by the book, instead it was done trying to imagine a modern screen adaptation of the book. A non-existent movie while painting random scenes from it. It was done like this because at these times we get most of our information this way – fast and in fragments. And that information itself is often built on emotion.
What I was thinking, or shortly about the themes of the paintings:
- Human nature (original sin). We are guilty of being born.
- Can a person choose? Is there a free will?
- Human lives two lives at the same time – a classical dramatic choice between the voice of the heart and the voice of the mind (in abstracto/in concreto). How do we, being decent and educated people as we are, would act if the situation would turn a little to the right or a little to the left?
- The anti-enlightenment approach to human nature versus the Enlightenment approach to it. Enlightenment approach would be being born, then getting to know, then wanting that what is known (or good), while the anti-enlightenment approach would be being born, then starting to want things, then getting to know of what it is that one wants.
- We all have a bad side, so an educated European is only one step away from a war criminal.
- The human from Renaissance is not that different both from prehistoric and contemporary human. The colonisation of planet Mars is being planned now while human is as lost and unhappy as few thousand years ago.
- Some degree of vulgarity in the paintings came from the experience of traveling trough the former Yugoslavia while touching the still fresh scars of war and violence. But nevertheless, the paintings are not geographically bounded with any place. If those travels would have been through other freshly scared post recent war nations, I guess both emotional and factual information would be remarkably similar.
- There is a certain sympathy for metamodernist ideas.
Now the only thing that is left is for the spectators to interpret this obscure and scattered collection of stop frames.
DEKAMERONAS
Klasikinis Giovanni Boccaccio Dekameronas, parašytas XIV amžiuje, pasakoja apie 10 jaunų žmonių, nusprendusių pabėgti iš maro siaubiamos Florencijos ir užsidaryti atokioje užmiesčio viloje. Užsidarę ir pasislėpę nuo epidemijos jie leidžia laiką pasakodami įvairias istorijas, plačias tiek savo temomis, tiek geografiškai.
Neplanuotas, bet svarbus sutapimas, kad ši 2020 metais baigta tapyti Dekamerono interpretacija sutapo su pasauline koronaviruso pandemija. Žmonės buvo priversti užsidaryti tarp keturių sienų ir gyventi prisiminimais, lūkesčiais, filmais, serialais, vaizdo skambučiais, socialiniais tinklais – viskuo, kas nėra iki galo tikra. Savotiškomis pasakomis. Toks gyvenimas atitolina nuo realybės dar labiau, negu įprastasis XXI amžius. Šis pandemijos kontekstas suartina mus su siaubiama maro Florencija.
Interpretuoti Boccaccio pasirinkta ne tiesiogiai, ne pagal knygą, o įsivaizduojant modernią knygos ekranizaciją. Įsivaizduojant neegzistuojantį filmą, tapant atsitiktines filmo scenas, nes šitokiu fragmentišku ir greitu būdu šiais laikais mes gaunam labai didelę dalį informacijos. O ir ta informacija dažnai būna grįsta emocija.
Apie ką aš galvojau, arba trumpai apie temas, paliestas paveiksluose:
- Žmogaus prigimtis (prigimtinė nuodėmė). Mes kalti, kad gimėme.
- Ar žmogus gali rinktis? Ar yra laisva valia?
- Žmogus vienu metu gyvena du gyvenimus – klasikinis draminis pasirinkimas tarp širdies ir proto balso (in abstracto/in concreto). Kaip mes, būdami padorūs ir išsilavinę žmonės, elgtumėmės situacijai truputį pakrypus į dešinę ar į kairę?
- Antišvietėjiškas požiūris į žmogaus prigimtį prieš švietėjišką požiūrį. Jeigu pagal švietėjišką požiūrį yra gimstama, tuomet pažįstama, tuomet norima to, kas pažinta, tai pagal antišvietėjišką požiūrį yra gimstama, tuomet norima, o tik po to suprantama, ko norima.
- Mes visi turime blogąją pusę, tad nuo išsilavinusio europiečio iki karo nusikaltėlio – tik vienas žingsnis.
- Renesanso žmogus ne tiek jau daug skiriasi tiek nuo priešistorinio, tiek nuo šiuolaikinio žmogaus. Šiuo metu planuojama Marso kolonizacija, tačiau žmogus yra lygiai toks pats pasimetęs ir nelaimingas kaip ir prieš kelis tūkstančius metų.
- Tam tikro vulgarumo, kaip meninės priemonės, paveikslams semtasi iš kelionių po buvusią Jugoslaviją, prisiliečiant prie dar neužgijusių karo ir prievartos randų, tačiau paveikslai nėra geografiškai su niekuo susieti. Jeigu kelionės būtų buvusios po kitas šviežius karo randus turinčias šalis, greičiausiai būtų gauta beveik identiška informacija bei emocinis krūvis.
- Šiek tiek simpatizuojama metamodernistiniams principams.
O dabar belieka žiūrovams interpretuoti šią neaiškią, padriką stop kadrų seriją.