A Day Late... by Chipka
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
On the third day of July, in 1883, Franz Kafka was born. On the third day of July, in 2013 (had he lived) he would have been a very old man. Because of both his death and literary legacy, Franz Kafka is immortal.
As of the writing of this text, it is the fourth day of July, a day of independence as recognized in the USA, and it seems both fitting and ironic, that I’d be thinking of Kafka as Chicago itself pops and sputters with a few preemptive fireworks. I have no idea what he would have thought of Chicago, or the US-American style of Independence, but I suspect he’d find some poignant (and somewhat dark) existential link between the idea of independence and one’s utter failure to ever achieve it. Kafka, after all, never achieved the independence he said that he desired though his two on-again-off-again relationships (or was it one relationship done twice?) reveal an unexpected streak of independence, wrapped up in complicated (and yes, contradictory) layers of…something.. Much of Kafka’s life was defined by a lovely garden of neuroses, centered on his fear of losing his hair, revealing the flaw of one deformed toe, and a seething, resentful relationship with his father, a figure he commonly called The Tyrant.
I wasn’t thinking of fireworks when I took the photograph that serves as the basis of this image. In fact, wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, though I had the inkling of a thought, focused on Duplex-8, an that odd cultural phenomenon that’ll be re-appearing in my gallery just as soon as it gets around to re-appearing. I wasn’t thinking of Kafka, either, but as I looked at this image and realized that I’d actually missed what would have been Kafka’s birthday, I decided to play around a bit. Though movies concerning Kafka and his various tales have been produced, I’ve seen precious few of them, and that’s something that should be rectified. Soon. But until then, here is an image and an implication of a cinematic spectacle, known only as “K”, with a reference to the Castle thrown in, simply to cover a particularly uninspiring billboard; so as to not overload the image with a singular sort of reference, however, I decided to leave the advertisement for “Modern Luxury” intact, which leads me to wonder if “Modern Luxury” is immune to the presence of oddly passive, horrendously self-aware cockroaches. I suspect there’s a bit of irony buried somewhere in there.
Thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting and I hope you’re all having a great week. I still have a LOT of catching up to do and I hope to get to it soon.
**The image of Kafka is derived from the extremely battered post card of the author that has graced my gallery and the experiences of other Renderosity photographers for a while. The image of "The Castle" is Prague Castle, which appears earlier in my gallery as well. It's ironic that the image of The Castle also contains a minuscule splotch (if you know where to look) and that splotch happens to be the Kafka Museum, in Prague, which is where I bought that now infamous post card in the first place.
Comments (21)
Outstanding work my friend. God bless.
As disappointed as I am with the state of the USA and much of the "Free World" today, I want to believe that the important thing is that we continue to strive for ideals - even if, like Thomas Jefferson, we fail to meet our own aspirations... That said, there is nothing wrong with the US that a could House cleaning (and Senate cleaning) wouldn't solve...
Very clever work, and a super tribute to one of my favourite writers
wonderful
Excellent!!
Very good tribute
AMAZING WORK!
Your image is heavy with symbolism and yet I find the simple connection between luxury and the ever-present cockroach's free entry into luxury, to be more interesting.
Of course this makes me think of the night he went off on his own while we had dinner, and then came back again. (I have one or two or a couple dozen of him, myself.) :)
He looks quite at home in Chicago, I think; at least on the billboard. HB to FK in memoriam, and well done image Chip!
Best Kafka movie I've seen was an animation of "Metamorphosis" done in sand laid on glass and lit from underneath - the different shades were created by piling the sand to different thicknesses. I'm sure Kafka would have loved the idea of his story told in shifting sands...
Although Kafka in "America" quite unattached writes, it is this work that has fascinated me from him. In Prague, I also visited the museum. Beautiful that you remember on him.
Okay, so this is the third time I've tried to comment on this picture. Unfortunately, my computer keeps turning into a bright blue cockroach. Which summarily destroys my cognitive whatevers and I have to start evolution all over again. It's a shame because well, this is a lovely warm shot. And 4.6 billion years later, again, I now understand the trials of Josef K - snicker. Incidentally I saw 'The Trial' starring Kyle MacLachlan a few years back, definitely not a date movie. Nor is 'Being John Malkovich', which answers the question, "what if Kafka were a member of Monty Python?". Even though it was written by Charlie Kaufman, but he was Kafka to us and we were grateful. I don't know why but Kafka looks comfortable juxtaposed against 'Public Parking' sign. It's almost like a invitation to come over and chat with him. Perhaps over a Bartenders' Root Beer (it's a Manitoba thing), I'm sure he wouldn't mind the late birthday greeting either - and I'm seventeen (17) days late. I imagine a nice friendly crowd of well wishers hanging in the parking spaces wishing Fantz a happy birthday. Hey, I'm going to make it this time!
A nice dedication to Franz Kafka and while I am here - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIP!!!!! :o)
Kafka, ok but he has gone, now its your turn, go on writing and do your thing! Congratulations to your special day, may your next year will be bright and happy!
Hey! I like this a lot, both the picture and the story. By the way, Kafka was good, but you're better! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
:hats off to you:
Great and beauty dedication my friend!!!Bravissimo!:DDD.Hugsxx Whylma
cool
I appreciate this work very much.... living now in Prague, the city of Franz Kafka.