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Exit, no exit |
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written
by minhan / 10.24.2005 |
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Assignment |
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No escape from a mindless conformity to individuality. The via Veneto is a street meant for people that have the look or want the look. It represents what life can be if we walk through life, letting it pass by in a blur, solely dependent on outward appearances. The unimpressive street is lined with expensive stores and restaurants. The sidewalks, instead of being filled with cozy outside tables that take over the street, they are filled with glass rooms like mini greenhouses filled with tables of fancy cloth and silverware. The people sitting in there are like exhibits that can be stared at and they in turn can stare out at others in their comfortable cage.
The instant shock of seeing the unexpected makes the grotesque human bones seem less haunting to me, who cannot even watch scary movies. More rooms filled with religious scenes made entirely of the human bones of holy men seem to numb me each time to that first instinct of horror. As I reach the last room of a dead end hallway, right before me in the middle of the room an inscription reads in many languages “What you are now we used to be, What we are now, you will be.” The message seems to scream to all that enter that, this dead end hallway represents the inevitable truth of our lives. There is no exit, escape from death. Just like the human bones we see before us, we will in time also become. With this horrifying news, I walk back, through the rooms, as if I was rewinding my track and my life timeline, not wanting to end up at death just yet. As I reach the entrance/exit I notice another piece of writing, this one small and hidden on the wall. From Apostle Paul, “The world as we know it is passing away” “Let us perform works of Justice and Mercy while there is still time.” It is like we were given a second chance. Walking down the hall is symbolic of our walk through life. As we enter the hallway, we can rush through disgusted and let our fear overcome us or we can take the time and overlook the first instinct of what we fear and look at the skillfully work of art before us and appreciate it as it is. Therefore, although the message is saying that all will pass down this hallway with no exit, along the way in our short time in life, we should not hide behind fear and overlook life.
The journey through the Spanish Steps does not consist of a separate up or down but the journey connects the two movements into a fluid motion that also seem to represent walking through my timeline of life. Walking up, I was quick, focused on the task at hand, drawn to the huge obelisk. Only pausing at the few platforms, only to get a better at my final goal to reach the overpowering obelisk. It seemed like the first half of my walk/life was rushed through because I am overpowered by the goal I would like to reach at a certain time/age. When I reached the obelisk, disappointment, I had gotten up so fast, I did not remember the journey up. Is this also an analogy to my life? Will I reach my goal only to be disappointed? Looking down from this vantage point, I could see the general path I came up and the path that was to come. Maybe there is still hope that there is more to life for me. Slowly going down the steps, my view of the next steps became hidden as I came across what looked like the edge of a steep cliff. Maybe it is better to not always know where I am about to go or experience. Drawn to going to the unknown, I walked slowly up to see what lied below. I looked straight down and my eyes followed an imaginary vertical line down the steps and into the street ahead. As I try to find out what lies ahead, only more unknown streets/obstacles form before me.
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