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Friday 7 January 2011

If love is the answer could you please rephrase the question?

At the end of each year and well into the beginning of a new one we tend to look back at the last 365 days of our lives. We retrospect and make all kinds of lists: best books, worst films, failed resolutions, kept promises, etc, etc.

According to Yahoo! the most popular questions of 2010 were:
  1. How to Tie a Tie
  2. How to Lose Weight
  3. How to Kiss
  4. How to Write a Resume
  5. What’s the World’s Only Immortal Animal?
  6. Which City Has the Best Tap Water?
  7. Which Natural Disaster Shortened Earth’s Days?
  8. What Is Love?
  9. What Causes Lightning?
  10. How to Boil an Egg
Striking range, isn’t it? From practical tips to purely philosophical topics. "What Is Love" is a good one to ask Yahoo!... Is there a definition of love? Sure. Thousands of them. And we still don’t know. Century after century creative minds try to unearth the essence of love. Look for Love quotes – it will take years to read. 

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." - Sophocles

"Love is like quicksilver in the hand. Leave the fingers open and it stays. Clutch it, and it darts away." - Dorothy Parker

"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it...It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong

“Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.” – Anais Nin

Or how about: “If love is the answer could you please rephrase the question?” It’s a video created by Bettina Disler, an artist from Canton Aargau, one of the local artists of the year, chosen by the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the Aargauer Kuratorium for Auswahl 10. This traditional annual exhibition of Aargau artists offers a review of the various current art practices in the Canton of Aargau. 

Image courtesy of www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch

To be completely frank I always feel somewhat lost after visiting this yearly event. Many works seem very conceptual, although the concepts are not always understandable. Probably for this reason Bettina's video was my favorite exhibit this year, because after all love needs no explanation. Naturally one can join a group and the guide will elaborate (as far as interpretation goes) on artist's ideas and intentions, but I prefer wild guessing. 

And when I run out of wild guesses I go to the 1st floor to see the permanent collection of the museum.  As site description puts it, “the Aargauer Kunsthaus is home to one of the most beautiful and comprehensive public collections of recent Swiss art. It is an ideal venue for encountering the great diversity of Swiss art – from the 18th century to today.” Comprehensive and beautiful - a truly precious combination...
Max Pechstein Liegendes Mädchen, 1910

The annual exhibition will last till Sunday, January 9, 2011. More information about Auswahl and other events you can find here: http://www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch/en. 

I hope you had a lovely start in 2011.

Love,
AB

2 comments:

  1. Hi Anna ,
    " Ce qui à besoin d etre démontré ne vaut pas Grand chose " ( sorti du contexte , Nietzshe à propos de Dieu ).
    Et si Dieu n était autre chose que l Amour , dans ce contexte , l Amour , sans en définir l essence, ne serait elle pas une réponse appropriée au sujet ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. If God is Love, then I am a believer...

    ReplyDelete