Above all else, a cityscape is lonely. If you are walking across the sand dunes of the Sahara, you are alone, but probably not lonely. If you are crossing the road in Tokyo City Centre with another 100 people, even if you are caught in the interims of a conversation, there is the chance you will feel lonely. Nothing spurs on the feeling of loneliness more than several hundred, several thousand, several million bodies around you. Loneliness is a lack of access-cityscapes express this. Loneliness is when almost infinite choice (many people, many meeting places) is compounded with the crushing feeling of not knowing what the right choice is-cityscapes express this. How can you ever know when or where you will meet the right person to strike the right conversation with? When I look at a cityscape I think, experiences overflowing upon experiences. All those little window lights, all those little streets, all those cars on their way to somewhere(and the experience of travel itself), all those are collectivities of human experience.
It is difficult to express the beauty of the cityscape. It is difficult to express the simultaneous awe and crushing blow; on the one hand you have raw, visceral human experience multiplied by millions and on the other hand it is covered by the cold touch of the concrete, the calculations of the architect. So much heaving, breathing substance leaves you breathless.
Taf tikteb ħafna int, Abi. Nieħu gost ġenwin naqra l-affarijiet tiegħek għax int reflective u kapaċi toħroġ il-ħsibijiet u is-sensazzjonijiet li tħoss b’mod sabiħ tant li l-persuna li tkun qed taqra tħosshom u tifhem dak li tkun qed tikkomunika bil-kitba tiegħek.
ReplyDeleteGħandi faxxinu kbir bis-cityscapes jien ukoll. Dawn is-sensazzjonijiet fuq livell personali li ktibt int naħsibhom u nħosshom kwazi l-istess bħalek. Inkredibbli kif mill-konfuzzjoni ta’ nies jintisġu ġo xulxin toħroġ imbagħad dik l-armonija: iċ-ċivilta’, l-ordni soċjali, l-istrutturi ġganti tal-arkitettura spettakolari.
Waqt li kont qed naqra fakkartni f’żewġ films li rajt xi snin ilu. Lost in Translation (2003) u Vive L'Amour (1994). Jekk għadek ma rajthomx tihom daqqa t’għajn għax it-tnejn films tajbin. It-tnejn għandhom dak il-feeling ta’ loneliness f’nofs belt mimlija bin-nies. It-tnejn iħarsu lejn il-problemi ta’ nuqqas ta’ konnessjoni fonda bejn il-bnedmin. Kellimni dwarhom.
Imbagħad għandi mod ieħor kif inħares lejn belt metropolitana bħal Tokyo jew Midtown Manhattan fi New York. Għandi ħabta nippersonifika/nanima lin-natura (fejn in-natura hija il-materja u il-liġijiet tal-fiżika li jiddefinixxu kif taġixxi din il-materja) u naraha bħala forza ħajja li dejjem tiżviluppa f’kumplessità iktar sofistikata, iktar elaborata, dejjem tikber u tevolvi. Il-belt metropolitana naraha bħala l-quċċata tal-manifestazzjoni ta’ din il-forza ħajja. Bħal li kieku il-kosmos kien organiżmu wieħed u il-belt kienet parti mill-moħħ fejn ikun hemm l-iktar attività. Jew ġieli nara l-belt bħala organiżmu ħaj mostruz, li dejjem qiegħed jara li kollox miexi sew u dejjem jadatta, jiżviluppa u jikber, bin-nies qishom iċ-ċelloli ħomor tad-demm fil-vini tal-belt.
Hawnhekk jinfetaħ l-istagħġib tiegħi bħal par idejn li lesti li jilqgħu kollox; bħal petali ta’ fjura li għadhom kemm jinfetħu għall-ewwel darba; bħal għajnejn ta’ tarbija li għadha kemm titwieled.