Friday, December 30, 2011

Fun


This is the Rizzi-Haus in Braunschweig in Germany. It is an office building designed by the American pop artist James Rizzi, who has just died aged 61. I wish more buildings were as fun as this. What is not always known is that medieval cathedrals were brightly coloured inside. I think it is natural for people to surround themselves with bright colours, unless they are Protestants.

Rizzi had Venus conjunct Saturn, not what you'd normally associate with a fun aesthetic.
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Here he is again:


What fun! What joie de vivre! Saturn can simply mean that you are good at what you do. Not in the Neptunian sense of a gift, but in the sense of a good craftsman who has earned his skill. Which is why Saturn is often a tough placement to have when we are young, a demanding taskmaster.

Rizzi's Venus-Saturn suggests that his work was highly skilled. Who says that Saturn isn't joyful once you have learned his lessons? In Roman times they had the Saturnalia, a carnival in honour of Saturn at the time of the winter solstice. The social norms were overturned: gambling was permitted, and masters served their slaves. The poet Catullus called it "the best of days." This is Saturn: he builds the social norms, and once they are in place, he takes you beyond them. To the Rizzi-Haus office block in Germany.


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9 comments:

bb said...

Lest you forget - ancient Greek temples were originally quite colorful.
This year can't go away quickly enough.

Faye said...

Hear hear - well said - I'm sick of poor old saturn getting a bad rap.

Magic Dragon said...

Nice post, I have a smile on my face.
Let's take notice of the example and make life in 2012 much more colourful and interesting. May trust and confidence in our true self grow. Let's make it FUN.
Nick

Opal said...

Excellent - as a Capricorn, I can confirm that that is exactly the sort of building I'd love to live in. I'm getting out the paint....

BTW I once visited a tiny little cathedral in Poitiers which had some remnants of the original decoration left - very gaudy and joyful.

Anonymous said...

I love color. My walls are red, or decidedly green. On the floor is an Iranian rug, on the couch a pillow from Turkey, patterned shawls, on the walls bright art. Nevertheless I am impelled sometimes to Mexico where color is not added, but is in the sea, the birds, the fish. I don't know why this is true, but it is like hunger and I have to go.

Anonymous said...

and I'm sure you read Catullus in the original - Happy New Year DR!

arden

Ruth said...

I love that building! I can't imagine being unhappy working in that. You need a lot of courage to have such a joyful and fun aesthetic, higher browed, more depressed and serious types would probably frown at it.

Anonymous said...

I feel as though I've been over-cycled on. I hear this teacher and he keeps my feet to the fire but I don't get the message. It's like the teacher (on the cartoon, Charlie Brown) is talking but all you hear is WONK...WONK...WONK. Jenni-omg

FUCK YOU said...

I'm Protestant ! Well I like it too jerk!