Modern German Art

I recently went to the Kunst Museum Bonn in Germany that is full of modern art. The strangest thing I encountered there was a mannequin in a suit with a ventriloquist doll sitting on his shoulder and talking. Welcome to the world of modern art!



The current exhibition is Ferne Nähe. This exhibition is about the remote proximity of nature in contemporary art. I liked the dark room with the video of a lady playing an instrument on the side of the mountain. I was surprised to see a large pile of fish tanks full of moss, with water running through them as a piece of art. Earlier that week I saw on the German shopping network a weird invention that easily removes the moss from in between the cobble stones around your house without hurting your back. I live on the west coast in the USA, so I hardly think about moss, but to Germans it must a familiar part of daily life...a nuisance as well as something so appreciated that it is turned into a large artistic sculpture.



Something else really interesting was a machine that spelled words as water drops fell from it.



There was also a large collection of paintings that included the two below. The still life is August Macke, a local Rhein artist.



I don't remember the name of the disturbed person who painted this, but it reminds me of the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, even though it was a German artist. I love the bright colors, who says that death has to be black?



I snapped a picture of the security guard looking at this work of art.



Even the building architecture was interesting and beautiful. Art is very inspirational and can feed the soul. I'm glad I went to this art gallery, even though my guy refused to walk through the door with me (he spent the day eating and walking around outside instead). At least I can become more cultured.



Tip of the day: Find a local art gallery where you live to visit. Even if you don't like the style of art, say Modern German (I'm not really a fan), you will still walk away more cultured, and something might even inspire you.

Mythology - Greek Goddesses - Aphrodite

Aphrodite was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Think Marylin Monroe, Cleopatra, Scarlett O'Hara, and Madame Bovary all rolled into one hot, sexy, and irresistible goddess. She was born when the Titan Cronus cut off his father's penis with a sickle (ouch!) and threw it into the sea. Aphrodite then came out of the sea foam and sailed to shore on a sea shell.

Queen of Hearts

All the gods and mortals fell for Aphrodite. Zeus forced her to marry the crippled god Hephaestus, but she often cheated on him with the sexy gods Dionysus (a fun loving lady magnet and the god of wine and ecstasy) and Ares (the strong and protective god of war); she bore their children as well as the children of many other gods and mortals. Her jealous husband made a gold net and threw it over Aphrodite and Ares when they were in bed together. Then he called the other gods down from Mt. Olympus to see the pair, but they only laughed at Hephaestus's' shame. Aphrodite's greatest love was with Adonis and she had a huge fight over him with the goddess Persephone (who was married to the god of the underworld, Hades). Zeus ruled that Adonis would spend a third of his time by himself, a third with Aphrodite, and a third with Persephone.



The Golden Apple and the Trojan War

At a wedding, Eris, threw a golden apple into the room with the inscription "For the Fairest". Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena got into a fight about who was the fairest goddess and Paris, son of Priam the king of Troy, was asked to settle it. It was a tough position for a guy to be in I'm sure, but they all bribed him with gifts. Paris took Aphrodite's offer of the most beautiful mortal, Helen a Spartan beauty married to King Menalus. He gave Aphrodite the apple, called her the fairest goddess, and a war was started over the love of Paris and Helen.



Children

With Ares:

Eros was the creator of sensual love.
Phobos
Deimos
Harmonia
Arethousa
Adrestia
Anteros punished those who didn't return the love of others.
Himerus
Atesia

With Hermes:

Hermaphroditus this god had two sexes.
Tyche
Rhodes
Peitho
Eunomia

With Dionysus:

The Charites
Hymen was the god of marriage.
Priapus was horribly ugly, representing human lust.

With the mortal Anchises:

Aeneas was the founder of Italy and ancestor of the Roman people.



Tip of the Day: Pay attention to your posture. You look more elegant, not to mention skinny when you walk with your shoulders back and your head held high.