"The Ugly Original" or,
Jolies-laides

Pretty uglies in French. Yes, it is encouraging, it leads us to think that what is beautiful urges us to repeat again and again. Where as "The Ugly Original" open up unknown territories. We desire to be fascinated by what charms and attract us. Indeed, the Medusa was so enamored of her own beauty that she was punished with having it transformed into accursed, unbearable ugliness. Her curly hair was turned into snakes and her head turned the spectator to stone. Beautiful ugliness: Freud observed that the Gorgon was a symbol of the female genitals, since its sight made men hard. It
was Peruses who, by presenting her with his shield which was bright as a mirror he was able to cut off her head and used it to overcome other enemies. He kept it covered with cloth which he lifted when in need. Indeed, this is one of the most beautiful allegories of painting in the West. Every culture establishes norms and precepts which regulate the circulation of values. These are by no means secure. But the entire system of museums, collections and collectors, critics and the public alike act almost as an intellectual police, voluntarily and involuntarily. Only an appeal to other cultures, or historical precedent can shift the paradigm. In the last century much was achieved by applying a unorthodox material and devices. New technique made the need for new norms urgent. Could the car be truly compared to the Parthenon? Of course, it could not. But the "new Spirit" which was just a euphemism for Capitalism invented by a very clever Berlin sociologist: Werner Sombart was immediately adopted by every upstart. At this moment in time we are in a comparable situation.
There is much that we can make use of. Much of it is ugly. But only by allowing ourselves the luxury of helping ourselves to what is "beaautiful" we have the chance to recover our original perception of the world, the world as it has never seen before. Hence "The Ugly Original" is a key strategy which release one from the tyranny of the empirical world, the tyranny of taste and fashion. As George Bernard Shaw says: "no wonder fashion has to be changed every three month as it is ugly."

New York 16. II. 09
Lele