The Search for the Origins E-Book

Pino Viscusi

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Today, thanks to the space programmes and the support of powerful telescopes, man admires the wonders of Creation in awe, complicit the Moon, an inspirational muse.The Apollo 8 astronauts, the first to photograph Earth from space, the only coloured blue body in the darkness of an infinity studded by billions of galaxies, were silenced by this extraordinary show. Sensing the almighty presence of a mysterious Creator, they broadcasted to the world the words of Genesis, written by man, capable of glorifying God with Love and Art.Digital composition by Pino Viscusi, using still-shots from the film "Verse la Lune" (2014).

Leseprobe

Today, thanks to the space programmes and the support of powerful telescopes, man admires the wonders of Creation in awe, complicit the Moon, an inspirational muse.

The Apollo 8 astronauts, the first to photograph Earth from space, the only coloured blue body in the darkness of an infinity studded by billions of galaxies, were silenced by this extraordinary show. Sensing the almighty presence of a mysterious Creator, they broadcasted to the world the words of Genesis, written by man, capable of glorifying God with Love and Art.

Digital composition by Pino Viscusi, using still-shots from the film “Verse la Lune” (2014)

Still-shots, set designs, illustrations, and photographs in the book “"The Search for the Origins”, are the multiple artistic languages that take us through an incredible journey to tell the most fascinating of all stories: the discovery and conquest of Space, with a special attention to our satellite, the Moon.

With this book, Pino Viscusi abstractly continues his journey, started with “"Anche le Parole hanno le Ali (Words have wings too)” published in 1991 to mark the founding of the Instituto Tecnico Aeronautico (Aeronautical Technology Institute) Antonio Locatelli, Bergamo, of which I am still the director. Two publications that want to pay homage to the beauty and the mystery of the sky that many of my students have had, and will have the opportunity to closely admire.

Giuseppe Di Giminiani

Copyright © PINO VISCUSI, 2017

Email: [email protected]

Pino (Giuseppe) Viscusi’s publications are available in

digital format on:

www.youcanprintit.it

ISBN 9788892675773

All rights reserved. No part of these pages, either text or image

may be used for any purpose other than personal use. Therefore,

reproduction in any form or by any means, for reasons other than

personal use, is strictly prohibited without prior written permis-

sion.

The author remains at disposal of potential copyright holders for

those images whereas it was not possible to trace the original in-

tellectual property.

Graphics by Pino Viscusi

Translation from Italian by Giada Garofalo

“Art fights God

On the thread of immortality

It is intuition of absolutes,

Metaphor, myth, legend”

Pino Viscusi: “Anche le Parole hanno le Ali / Words have wings too”

“Art fights God”, Pino Viscusi writes; and I believe I can state that this struggle with and against God is at the heart of all his works.

Struggle is a dialogue of questions, is to search for, to ask for and to question; it is to reject the pret-à-porter of religious thinking (Patrick Levy), i.e. the religion of dogmas that gives definite answers that, however, only present us with David Maria Turoldo’s “Silent God”, quoted in the book by the author.

The answer is fatal because it annuls the question, crushes man and “kills the infinite”. The question, instead, takes us beyond man’s limitations and establishes freedom. The question is freedom, adventure, a starting point.

“To escape, to escape, to fly! That will be the time of our beautiful, most desperate silent ascent to the sky” , we might say with painter Osvaldo Licini.

The sky, a place inhabited by a transcendent force towards which man has always looked up, asking questions, searching for the meaning of existence.

In this book, Viscusi offers us his re-elaboration of Licini’s works. Licini who stated: “My kingdom is in the air”. It is the kingdom of Amalassunta, benevolent queen, goddess, young pure woman worthy of the Virgin’s name Assunta (ascended), and of its contrary: fairy, femme fatale, lady of the underworld.

Amalassunta is the personification of the Moon, archetype of mystery.                             

In his latest work, Pino Viscusi has researched the gazing up to the sky by writers and filmmakers who have written of imaginary trips into space, attracted by the mystery and the unknown.

The dream, then, became reality: man has investigated the mysteries of space, man went on the Moon. Science has allowed him to understand something more than ever before; but all this has not eliminated the element of surprise. In fact, as astrophysicist Marco Bersanelli suggests, it has increased it.

The Moon continues to “cross the dreams of those who look at her and fall in love” (Edoardo Bennato), as Viscusi himself evokes in the Haiku:

“Starred sky“The Moon wanders

Longed for messengerAcross dark paths

Of joyous dreams”Of myths and poets”1

The captivating and mysterious stories presented by the author, rich of symbolism and magic, are tools that lead to the fundamental question about our existence, evoked by the author in the title of this book.

As Patrick Levy states, if we want to know where we are, it is maybe interesting to discover first where we come from. And to understand who we are, it could be useful to search for our origin.

This is the issue underlying Pino Viscusi’s entire book, as already revealed by the title: “The Search for the Origins”.

Looking at the etymology of the words in the title, we can try to understand the journey the author embarked on:

Search: from old French cerchier, which comes from the Latin word circus (circle), which originally comes from the Sankrit word c’akrà, to go around, and is related to the word c’ar-krà, wheel.

And, after all, as Ezekiel reminds us: “the spirit of the living creatures [is] in the wheels” (Ezekiel 1:20).

The prophet gives a precise description of these four wheels that barge into the sky: they sparkle like chrysolite, all four rims are full of eyes all around, and all four look alike. Each appears to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.

The eye is essential to knowledge; its root ac in the Sanskrit word aksi suggest the idea of penetration, looking in depth.

To search, then, has to do with looking in depth expressed by Ezekiel with the image of the intersecting wheels. The eyes, though, are all around as to say that this deep look is directed at the Absolute. The search has the transparency and clarity of the chrysolite, which shines radiating light, originated somewhere else.

Origin: it is a trait of man to forget where he comes from.

Jewish mysticism states, in fact, that it is God’s duty to keep asking man:

“Where do you come from?” It is in this perspective that we can interpret the question that God has asked since the beginning: “Adam, where art thou?” (Genesis 3).

We could say that life in the Bible is the result of a call and of a promise: a call that is a vocation, and a promise that is happiness.

“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) ; it is to give a global meaning, a direction to one’s life intertwining freedom and responsibility.

The images from the film “The Tree of Life” that Pino Viscusi presents at the end of the book, with Job’s quotation from the Book of Job:

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Gb38)

evoke man’s fragility and triviality before the act of creation and God; but it is the same reference to creation that reminds of the greatness of man, the only creature made in God’s image.

Greatness and precariousness are not mutually exclusive, but constitute the essence of the responsible man. Responsible for the entire universe, because the universe was created for each one of us; hence every man has a responsibility towards it, as the Masters of Talmud state.

The Search for the Origins is therefore a fertile tension, which starts from a concern, a project, an interest, which is born out of a life lived cultivating something that gives it a meaning.

Man’s nature is in relation to the Absolute; that is why his search can never end. Man’s knowledge is inadequate and leads to new questions; the answer can never be definitive, because of man’s relation to the infinite.

The Bible suggests a path, a method, a mental attitude with which to question the world and ourselves, to grasp that sense of the absolute that crosses everything.

The Masters of Jewish Mysticism write that God does not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land, gifting him instead the best part: the ardent path that leads to...

The aim is not the Promised Land; it is walking towards it.

Metaphors apart, we could say that the best part is the quest, not the answer, because it is the quest that changes us, gives a meaning to our journey.

Elliot, quoted at the beginning of this book, expresses this idea very clearly: "We shall not cease from exploration; and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time".

As Christiane Singer suggests, in fact, the man who starts the journey is not the same man who will return. (Christiane Singer)

PREFACE BY STEFANIA AGAZZI

PART I: FROM LITERATURE TO SILENT FILMS

Introduction

“FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON” by Jules Verne (1865)

“ROUND THE MOON” by Jules Verne (1870)

“LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE” (A Trip to the Moon) by Jacques Offenbach (1875)

THE VARIETY SHOW, THE THEATRE “ROBERT-HOUDIN” (1888)

"LA LUNE À UN MÈTRE" (The Astronomer's Dream) by Georges Méliès (1898)

MONTREUIL CINEMA STUDIO (1899)

On the set of “LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE” (1901)

“LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE” (A Trip to the Moon) by Georges Méliès (1902)

PART II: FROM DREAM TO FICTION

Introduzione

ON THE SET OF "AELITA" (1923)

"AELITA" by Yakov Protazanov (1924)

ON THE SET OF “WOMAN IN THE MOON” (1928)

“FRAU IM MOND” by Fritz Lang (1929)

GEORGE PAL ON THE SET OF “DESTINATION MOON” (1950)

“DESTINATION MOON” by George Pal (1950)

PART III: FROM FICTION TO REALITY

Introduzione

JOHN KENNEDY’S PROMISE (1961)

APOLLO 1 (1967)

APOLLO 8 (1968)

APOLLO 9 (1969)

APOLLO 10 (1969)

APOLLO 11 (1969)

"MOONSHOT" by Richard Dale (2009)

NASA: BEHIND THE SCENES

MICKEY MOUSE ON THE MOON

AMALASSUNTA

PART IV: THE MAGIC OF ART

Introduzione

“LES ASTRONAUTES” (THE ASTRONAUTS) by Walerian Borowczyk (1959)

“THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET” By Brian Selznick (2006)

“HUGO” by Martin Scorsese (2011)

Pindaric flights

PART V: YOU ARE A SILENT GOD

Introduzione

“THE TREE OF LIFE” by Terrence Malick (2011)

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The Moon was for a long time the favourite subject for many writers across history, who told stories of imaginary journeys into space, until the “Apollo 11” mission of 1969, the first Moon landing that turned dreams into reality; and the whole world could watch the thrilling endeavour.

In ancient times, it was thought that Earth was a vast plane ending at the Pillars of Hercules, considered insuperable if not by one’s imagination. In his work “A true story”, Greek writer Lucian of Samosata (120-180 A.D.) imagines his boat and crew, who had dared cross the pillars near Gibraltar, being thrust out on the moon by a whirlwind. In Orlando Furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando), Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) entrusts Astolfo’s trip to the moon to the hippogriff, a legendary creature which has the front half of an eagle and the hind half of a horse.

In 1600 Galileo can finally admire the real face of the moon with his telescope; while in Somnium, published posthumous in 1634, Johannes Kepler imagines a round trip to the moon possible by falling in the shadow cone of a lunar eclipse to go, and of a solar eclipse to return. In the 19th century, we find Jules Verne anticipating all future space conquests, writing of lunar missions in the novels “From the Earth to the Moon” and “Round the Moon”, written between 1865 and 1870.

In 1983, Russian Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky publishes the sci-fi novel “On the Moon”, while in 1901 English author H.G. Wells publishes “The first men in the Moon”.

We have finally come to the invention of cinema –in 1895 by the Lumière brothers - that will immediately take on the subject of the moon. French filmmaker Georges Méliès, eccentric artist considered the precursor of the comedy genre by the Lumière brothers, was essentially a theatre man, the first to conceive cinema as a show to entertain the public. In 1898 he made the 3 minutes short "La Lune à un mètre", which he expanded and improved with the 1902 film “Le Voyage dans la Lune” (A Trip to the Moon).

French writer Jules Verne, born in Nantes in 1828, is regarded as one of the fathers of science fiction.

In one of his most popular works, “From the Earth to the Moon”, set in Baltimore, USA and written at the age of 37 in his Parisian home, he imagines reaching the moon on board of a space projectile.

During a time of forced inactivity, due to the end of the Civil War, the members of a very exclusive club the “Gun Club” (American Society of Weapons Enthusiasts) spend time remembering past endeavours and feeling demoralised for the forced inactivity.

The president of the club, Barbicane, calls a special meeting during which he announces his intention of shooting a projectile to the moon, and of constituting a technicalscientific committee to manage the project.

During the designing stage, member Michel                       

Ardan suggests changing the shape of the projectile from spherical into cylindrical to allow for a crew, and he puts himself forward as the pilot.

After through analyses and the subsequent creation of the cannon and projectile space-shuttle, Michel Ardan convinces the President and captain Nicholl to travel on board with him.

Finally, in the presence of spectators come from all over, the projectile is launched into space but Barbicane, Ardan and Nicholl will never reach destination: the shuttle will enter the moon orbit and start revolving it like a satellite.

The three of them will manage to save themselves only thanks to their genius.

The adventure ends with their return from space; only in 1870 Jules Verne will add new details in the sequel “Round the Moon”.

Jules Verne returns to the journey of the courageous characters, Barbicane, Nicholl and Ardan, in the sequel “Round the Moon”.

The three adventurers take with them: a couple of dogs, provisions for one year, and substances that through specific chemical reactions can produce oxygen.

At an established time, once lit the fuse, the projectile soars with a terrible roar, leaving behind a white contrail; inside the three passengers pass out.

The first to wake up is Ardan, who wakes Barbicane and Nicholl; astonished, they admire the immensity of the universe from the portholes.

When controlling the route, Barbicane realises that the calculations made by the Cambridge Observatory are wrong, that the power of the space cannon wasn’t enough to cross the point of neutral attraction between the Earth and the Moon; and in fact the projectile keeps orbiting around the moon instead of reaching the point of landing.

On the dark side of the moon, suddenly lightened up by a shooting star, the three catch a glimpse of lakes and forests; then everything goes dark again and all that remains is the doubt whether that vision was real or a pure hallucination.

The other side of the moon appears again and they understand that they would keep orbiting with no escape; they then decide to use whatever propulsion is left to invert course and return to Earth.

By doing so, they sink in the ocean. Fortunately, a ship doing marine recon is close by; Barbicane, Ardan and Nicholl are brought to safety and taken back on land to tell the world of their fantastic journey. Verne and his publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel                  

decided to accompany this already fluid and fascinating story with phantasmagorical illustrations by Émile-Antoine Bayard (1837-1891) and Henri de Montaut (1830-1900), which perfectly complement the narrative of the story.

One of Bayard’s illustrations, representing the shuttle on the moon with three American flags, will reveal itself extraordinarily prophetic a century later, with the Apollo 11 mission.

Composer and cellist Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) was born in Colone but lived in Paris.

He is considered the father of Operetta, a new genre of light theatrical entertainment with music.

“Le Voyage dans la Lune” is one of Offenbach most famous operettas, its French libretto by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier and Arnold Mortier. It premiered on October 26, 1875 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris, and was later revived with some variations in 1877 at the Théâtre du Châtelet.

It is structured in 4 acts and 23 scenes, among which Paris Astronomic Observatory, a high-furnace, a lunar passage, a volcano, a glass palace, mother-of-pearl galleries, etc.; for the occasion 673 costumes were designed for the singers, chorus, dancers, and extras.

The majestic and luxurious production, which obtained a huge success in Paris and was repeated up to 247 times, ended with the inevitable can-can, among the applauses of an enthusiastic audience.

The engaging plot tells the story of prince Caprice who, tired of court life, asks his father King Vlan to visit the moon.

To please him, the King orders the construction of a cannon and a huge shell that will have to carry him with the Queen and their son Caprice to the Moon.

Once reached their destination, they make friends with King Cosmos, Queen Popotte and their beautiful but moody daughter Fantasia, who falls in love with Caprice.

Following a series of funny situations due to the rather strange customs on the Moon, King Vlan, his wife and the lovers Caprice                

and Fantasia return back to Earth thanks to a volcanic eruption; there they can resume their carefree and luxurious life.

Filmmaker Méliès will also be conquered by this genre, to the point of staging himself - more often than non - fantastic productions featuring dancers, nymphs, fairies and fireworks.

Georges Méliès, son to a wealthy shoe-manufacturer, was born in Paris in 1861.

In 1888, he buys the theatre “Robert-Houdin” on the first floor of 8 Boulevard des Italiens, and makes it the home of magic shows in Paris, of which he is also a protagonist.

The invention of cinema in 1895, by Antoine Lumière, immediately attracts Méliès who does not hesitate to travel to London to buy an animatograph, a projector of the times, and films by the Edison Manufacturing Company.

He also establishes the “Star”, the first film production company in 1896.

With it he starts making a series of short films including “A Terrible Night”, in which a hotel guest (himself) is attacked by a giant bedbug. A prolific artist, Méliès has a penchant for one minute scripts based on fantastic, grotesquely comic stories; in 1898 he makes the 3 minutes short "La lune à un mètre" (The Astronomer's Dream), a single scene that keeps changing thanks to special effects filmed in his garden.