For as long as humans existed, so did the argument over the definition of “art”. What constitutes art, what do you consider art, and why Picasso’s attempt at the destruction of all things holy is considered an art, while my three-year-old’s doodling is just that: doodling. I am no authority on the matter. Neither do I claim to be. I am just one guy trying to decipher the deeper meaning of everyday things to enjoy life a little more than yesterday. And that is where the statue of Gefion comes into play. The goddess of agriculture, abundance, and fertility, who one day realized that there is just too much ice-cold water in Denmark to allow people to farm. What they needed for a good life, for agriculture, abundance, and fertility was land and good land for that matter. Gefion had to act. She found some ox, tied one end of some strong ropes to them and the other end to some piece of land underwater, and pushed them to pull. Gefion took the island of the water for those in need of land to have some, and that is why she is now praised and being placed in front of thousands of tourists. One can look at Gefion as a piece of art, one can see Gefion as one of the statues that sit in every city – a dime a dozen, or one can see Gefion as the symbol of Copenhagen, as the creator. Those who lived on this land thousands of years ago thanked Gefion for what she did. Now with the grace of manmade nitrogen that allows higher crop rates, some of the farmland is free, you have the luxury of standing on a piece of concrete where those people plowed and farmed for millennia, and Gefion connects you to history – To those behind you. Be thankful, have a moment of Zen, and let the history flow through you. Connect to everyone.
You then walk around Copenhagen and admire the beauty of the canal. I have a motherland and a home, and I have experienced different reactions depending on where people come from. Some look at the canal with regret wishing Copenhagen had been their hometown. Some others just respect beauty. Rarely does one see the blood, sweat, and toil of thousands of Swedish prisoners of war who started digging after King Christian V visited Amsterdam and ordered a similar canal. Hardly anyone thinks about the Dano-Swedish wars or about the fact that these two countries fought for thousands of years – practically the entire human history – before a peaceful time started in the 19th century and finally lasted two hundred years. The canal does not represent the peace and harmony that Scandinavians have always embraced. Quite to the contrary, it epitomizes the worst of human nature. It is through connection to those who suffered just as well as those who planned, through seeing good and bad, yin and yang, light and darkness, that deeper meanings arise.
History and mythology are tools for deeper meanings. There, of course, are many more. I have listened to music all my life, but it was just four years ago that a music podcast said “Listen to this song again and this time focus on the drum only. Then listen again and focus on the low sounds, and a third time, aim for high sounds.” Listening to music has never been the same for me after these simple sentences. I shall continue to explore the tools and the deeper meaning. Life is too short.
That was interesting.