Friday, October 19, 2012

The Superman Story

 "Absolution" is my fifth "Superman" assemblage. I never consciously decided to create a superman series, they just started with the first one.
 
 
I always found superman to be a prime example of the struggle between spirituality and self will. Is Superman also the magic bullet of society? Personal responsibility vs. Superman conveniently taking care of any social ills with one painless swoop? I also like to think of Superman as a Super Ego. An ironic twist as our hero is actually the anti-hero. In my pieces, Superman is the stubborn, clueless man who, at any time, awaits his "house of mirrors" as don Don Quixote did. Finally, if one does believe in judgement day, yes, even Superman will have to answer to a power greater than himself.

Thus Absolution, "a declaration or assurance of divine forgiveness to penitent believers, made after confession of sins." As usual, Superman stands in defiance to absolution, arms crossed, in a "not me, I'm Superman" stance. The cabooses are indeed the ends of the line, reminding us, there is no clear path to our personal death and how that might come about. It seems everyone's death is unique within itself. I always find a person's discussion of how they think and/or wish to die, entertaining. Ah, Superman rears his ugly head once again.

No one said absolution was easy, thus the chains and toggle bolts which suspend the act of absolution in mid-air. It is a constant struggle. Absolution is the ultimate freedom, making one think it would be a welcomed sought after task, but humanism resists it. Self will allows us the toggle bolt of adjustment (denial?), shades of how we perceive, define the act of absolution.

All while the carnival lights of life blink insistently overhead. Each blink is a specific blip of one's life, one frame of one's life movie. If one is to view this piece in a darkened room, with only the blinking lights, this assemblage take on a life of its own. If given enough time (patience), one will experience the multiple, shifting angles of light on the rest of the assemblage parts, creating a sense of movement and its own reality. One's life becomes all powerful, encompassing, but sadly, disintegrating into a person's "it's all about me" state of existence.

Above it all the final struggle continues between absolution and self will. Self will being the tiger ready to dominate, strike or Spirituality with the "taming of the tiger." One always has options, even at their end of life.

At 63, it is time for me to ask myself, how would I like to live out the rest of my life? All the while accepting the fact that my life could end today.

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