Moved from the city to a villa on the outskirts. This is not about the city because if I were talking about it, I would have to find the time to say it properly or stay mum about it forever. This is about the fact that there is nothing else I can think of except the sheer limitation of a person today. The age that came before whichever age we are in, and whichever age led to this one, was impossibly magnificent. Whatever we have built and managed has been on the shoulders of the few, who, despite the lack of resources, better judgement or fate, were continually fixated on the idea of exceptional work. Where did we falter, I wonder? What happened between Michelangelo’s obsession with fine detail and whatever passes for art today? What happened between Da Vinci and whatever an engineer builds today?
I have my ideas; if I mention them, they are either conjecture or idealism. Both of which do not fly well in the court of public opinion. But I reckon I do know what happened. I think the person, the individual, became too selfish, and thereby, in focusing only on his survival, on his money, on his success, managed to lose all his individuality. Or perhaps I am just a man sitting in a posh villa, sipping wine and writing words. It is also true that I have no skin in this game, and I admit my position and defeat.
In any case, I find myself stupefied at the genius that has left this world. I find myself shocked that people flock to a place and do not hold in awe the grand beauty that awaits them. They stand in front of monuments and get pictures clicked, never knowing what it took for it all to be the way it is, or to pause and think how lesser we are in comparison to the glorious giants who built whatever is left behind, who left their footsteps for us to trace and pretend as if we know the way, who set the building blocks to the puzzles we so effortlessly believe solved. Perhaps this all is just a letter from a fan. Or maybe it is an admission of my guilt. I have nothing but admiration for everything that has existed from long before we began whatever we consider normal. It is people who do marvellous things. We must remember this. We must not let it go.