06 Jan Travelling the Light
Listen the alegory of the cave by the voice of Sofia Hatzoglou
Listen the analysis of the artwork by the voice of Sofia Hatzoglou
Listen to the accompanying poem of the work by the voice of Sofia Hatzoglou
The allegory of the Cave
In a cave under the ground, there are people chained in a way that they can only see the rock opposite them. They cannot look behind, nor to the right or to the left. Behind them, inside the cave there is a fire. In front of this fire other people walk by carrying different things. The shadows of these things are projected on the rock that the captives can see. Because these people throughout their lives the only thing they have seen are these shadows, they have the impression that this is the reality. If, however, one of the chained people manages to free themselves, get out of the cave and go up on the ground and, under the sunlight look at the things, they will realize the fallacy in which they lived when they were in the cave. He will realize then that his companions, who continue to be chained in the cave, still live immersed in illusions. Still, if he goes back to the others and tries to explain to them that the world is not these shadows, then they won’t believe him and he will most likely be considered a lunatic.
Analysis of the work
Plato is in the middle (No1). He has one eye closed and his cheek is lifted. These two features express doubt. The title of the unit is “Mind Caves”, so there is a cave where his mind is (No 2)… The cave with the fire, mentioned in the allegory, is at the bottom right (No3). The captive who made it outside the cave is on the top left (No 4). In essence, this is every man who wants to see more. He wants to see the truth, the Light…That is why this work is called “Travelling towards the Light” and on the sculpture this man is looking towards the Light. On the bottom left (No 4) there is one of the other captives who is projected as a captive on the shadow, whereas he is free on the sculpture.. The questions rising from this comment are the following: Are we free? How free are we? Who imprisons us? On top left (No5) there is Sisyphus, who symbolizes the hardships of the climb.
Travelling the light
WE ARE FREE!!!
In a world that was brought upon us…
in a world that we accepted…
in a world that was confined by others…
in a world that we see, touch, taste, listen, smell…
in a world we didn’t seek for…
In a world where everything is permitted and everything is forbidden…
We are free to see the unearthly light…
and if we look…
we will be looked at strangely…
ARE WE FREE???
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