ΣΧΟΛΗ ΑΡΧΙΤΕΚΤΟΝΩΝ Ε.Μ.Π, 2014-15,
9ο ΕΞΑΜΗΝΟ ΑΡΧΙΤΕΚΤΟΝΙΚΟΣ ΣΧΕΔΙΑΣΜΟΣ 9
Διδακτική Ομάδα: Αριάδνη Βοζάνη, Ανδρέας Κούρκουλας, Θάνος Παγώνης
Επικουρικό Διδακτικό Έργο: Στεργία Σαραντοπούλου, Αντώνης Χαζάπης
Εξωτερική Συνεργάτις: Μυρτώ Κιούρτη


"It is Orson Welles's The Lady from Shanghai, a movie in which, in spite of the title, China never appears, but is referred to as a distant and mysterious reality - cliches within cliches. At the end of the movie, the images of the main characters are reflected by a myriad of mirrors, making it impossible not only for the spectator, but also for the characters themselves, to distinguish what is reality from what are mere reflections. The observer, after being exposed to so many contrasting realities, cannot help but wonder which, if any, is the ‘real’ China, and how many of the images will be shattered and smashed into pieces by the hard reality of a history still to be written.”




Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Rumi's Mathnawi | The Chinese and the Greek Artists

Rumi's Mathnawi (selections)

http://www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/reading/rumi/pages/05.htm


The Chinese and the Greek Artists (trans. E.H. Whinfield)

The Chinese and the Greeks disputed before the Sultan which of them were the better painters; and, in order to settle the dispute, the Sultan allotted to each a house to be painted by them. The Chinese procured all kinds of paints, and coloured their house in the most elaborate way. The Greeks, on the other hand, used no colours at all, but contented themselves with cleansing the walls of their house from all filth, and burnishing them till they were as clear and bright as the heavens.
When the two houses were offered to the Sultan's inspection, that painted by the Chinese was much admired; but the Greek house carried off the palm, as all the colours of the other house were reflected on its walls with an endless variety of shades and hues.
[...] You, who seek no more of Him than to name His name:

What do His name and fame suggest? The idea of Him.
And the idea of Him guides you to union with Him.
Know you a guide without something to which it guides?
You name His name; so, seek the reality named by it!
Look for the moon in heaven, not in the water!
If you desire to rise above mere names and letters,
Make yourself free from self at one stroke!
Like a sword be without trace of soft iron;
Like a steel mirror, scour off all rust with contrition;
Make yourself pure from all attributes of self,
That you may see your own pure bright essence!


"Chinese Art and Greek Art" (trans. Coleman Barks)

The Prophet said, “There are some who see Me 

by the same Light in which I am seeing them. 
Our natures are ONE.
Without reference to any strands 
of lineage, without reference to texts or traditions, 
we drink the Life-Water together.”
Here's a story
about that hidden mystery:

The Chinese and the Greeks

were arguing as to who were the better artists. 
The King said,
“We'll settle this matter with a debate.” 
The Chinese began talking, 
but the Greeks wouldn't say anything. 
They left.
The Chinese suggested then 
that they each be given a room to work on 
with their artistry, two rooms facing each other 
and divided by a curtain.
The Chinese asked the King 
for a hundred colors, all the variations, 
and each morning they came to where 
the dyes were kept and took them all. 
The Greeks took no colors.
“They're not part of our work,”
They went to their room
and began cleaning and polishing the walls. All day 
every day they made those walls as pure and clear 
as an open sky.
There is a way that leads from all-colors 
to colorlessness. Know that the magnificent variety 
of the clouds and the weather comes from
the total simplicity of the sun and the moon.
The Chinese finished, and they were so happy. 
They beat the drums in the joy of completion.
The King entered their room, 
astonished by the gorgeous color and detail.
The Greeks then pulled the curtain dividing the rooms. 
The Chinese figures and images shimmeringly reflected 
on the clear Greek walls. They lived there, 
even more beautifully, and always
changing in the light.

The Greek art is the Sufi way.

They don't study books of philosophical thought.
They make their loving clearer and clearer. 
No wantings, no anger. In that purity 
they receive and reflect the images of every moment, 
from here, from the stars, from the void.
They take them in 
as though they were seeing 
with the Lighted Clarity 
that sees them.

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