Indeed, for me, this wall art can't but help reveal the (nobility of) the human spirit of endeavor and constructionism. In reality, I genuinely like this wall art, and I'm glad to say that it looks like it's never really been badly damaged, although there is a bit of graffitti here and there underneath, but even this seems to add to rather than detract from it.
Of course, the biggest old Soviet symbol of them all lies right at the heart of Warsaw: The Palace of Culture.
Somehow, my little mobile has managed to give the Palace of Culture a wobbly magnificence here. In reality, many semi-ugly/semi-acceptable, tall, glass skyscrapers have been (and are still being) built around this incredible structure to slowly shroud out its presence in Warsaw. Poles are often divided in their feelings over the significance of this massive building.
Finally, if somebody decided to walk down near the US embassy, they would come across a completely different piece of art work dedicated to somebody who was completely opposed to Communism/Socialism:
Yes, it's a statue dedicated to the late Ronald Reagan. It's funny that whenever I think of Ronald Reagan, I can't help but think of the Rush track from 'Signals': 'New World Man'. This is because many British music papers in 1982, when 'Signals' was released, were interpreting the lyrics as a celebration of Ronald Reagan and his work, which may well be true, but I don't really know. So, here's 'New World Man' by Rush below:
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of 'New World Man' is a continuation of Neil Peart's 'Tom Sawyer' theme. Post modern man is a rebel and self individual with the knowledge of the failings of the past (Communism, Capitalism..) and the fear of the future and nuclear annihilation. We have the technology but do we care about the environment?
That's the great thing about Neil Peart's lyrics You can pull them apart and discuss their meaning.
Love the sculptures.
So, this is the kind of Ayn Rand thing that influenced Neil Peart's early lyric writing, Dave, and the Ayn Rand thing ('selfism', Kantian self-creation or individual project making with as minimalist influence from external forces as possible) is said to have been/maybe still is the philosophical voicebox of the Republican movement in the US.
ReplyDeleteThus, the song may be an allusion to Ronald Reagan, although what a song lyric means is equally if not more determined by the reader's/listener's interpretation than the author's intentionality, so I guess that 'New World Man' can be about what people want it to be about (within reason, I guess).
Glad you like the sculptures, it's good that they lie as a remnant of the Soviet-influenced past, as people cannot eradicate history.
I see that Neil Peart denounces Ayn Rand's views in a recent interview Pat? Think it's great that we can all change our views when we want to? I admire his 'tryism' philosophy on life. If we all 'try' hard enough we can achieve what we want to. Wish that was true.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Neil Peart has been downplaying the early Rand influence for some time now, but I think it's almost canonised in certain early Rush song lyrics: 'Anthem'; '2112'; 'Free Will'; 'The Red Barchetta'; 'Tom Sawyer' etc.
ReplyDelete