Pleasure Domes

St. Basil's (1908)

The Shavian "life force" and Freudian "death instinct" constitute the intrinsic polarity of all human life. Will flirts with creation and destruction. Consider the cost of Putin's dream of Empire. It's ironically the same dream entertained by Peter the Great in the mirage of gold cupolas still gracing Moscow's skyline today? On a microcosmic level human appetite totters precariously between pleasure and pain while beauty and good intentions swerve down the drain. Take desire itself as a template. Is it love? Is it mere lust? Is it only selfish or can one selflessly desire the best for the other?

Listen to "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson

and see the invite for Hallie Cohen's show, Mi Ricordo: Roman Watercolors, opening on February 29