Stendhal Syndrome, A wish to hold on to beauty

“A dominant impulse on encountering beauty is to wish to hold on to it, to possess it and give it weight in ones life..The urge to say,’ i was here, i saw this and it mattered to me”

-Alain de Botton

So, I think a lot about this relationship between beauty, aesthetic work and catharsis and at what price.The philosopher Alain de Botton had an amazing passage in his book ‘Architecture of happiness ‘ which describes an individual who is so moved by art that he was shaken to tears, He was literally brawling because he was so affected by the outrageous beauty emanating  from the piece of art he was looking at !  The imaginary foundation defines beauty as this kind of rousing, symphonic climax. Its literally explosive, An extraordinary moment of poetry and grace but again at, What price ? I recently came across an actual affliction Stendhal syndrome. This is an actual psycho somatic condition, a medical condition in which an individual can be so moved by aesthetic work, a work of art can affect him so deeply that he can literally lose consciousness. The individual can pass out from the aesthetic impact from the work of art . How far are we willing to make beautiful art? Can beautiful art destroy us? The artist has to always ask this question to himself at what price, can you have too much ecstasy ? How far are we willing to go to have that catharsis that kills us? The poet slyvia path died a horrifying death in search of answers for her art! Breath taking, Life altering art. ‘Can we be destroyed by art, by our own art ? ‘

I guess thats the question.

 

Mohnish Bahal

Feel free to comment on this and answer the question, can we be destroyed by art ?

 

‘Turn on, Tune in, Drop out’

‘Turn on, Tune in, Drop out’ (Hit the link to see the Trailer, Dying to know)

In the Late 1967, The phrase, ‘Turn on, Tune in, drop out’ was the most famous jargon among those who were willing to subject themselves to a open stream of consciousness , Of course in the broadened enlightenment of Timothy Leary a Harvard University ‘Drop out’

‘Dying to know’ is a movie on the subject “Consciousness” and the acknowledgment of the fact that death is certain phenomenon and the understanding of it can lead to Living the moment, Which now is just a common jargon to life.

Note: The inspiration doesn’t thrive to increase the use of psychedelics, The inspiration thrives to explain certainty of time, death and life.

-Mohnish bahal

“Until I Land..”

When I Die,

My atoms will come Undone;

I’ll be space dust, Once Again.

 

The wind will carry me;

Scatter me everywhere;

Like Dandelions in springtime.

 

I’ll visit worlds and alien moons;

it will be so dam poetic-

Until i land on your sandwich.