Looking-Glass World

Reflections on the Challenge

When you notice you are walking uphill, lengthen your stride. When you get home, immerse yourself in a piece of DaVinci's work. Consider how it resonates with your feelings and experiences. Using mirror writing, make a note of your reflections.

• Experiences

  N had accomplished the three parts of the challenge. Living uphill, he took the opportunity to quicken his pace during his regular walks, making it a rigorous exercise. Once home, he delved into the study of Leonardo Da Vinci's art, focusing on two specific pieces: 'The Last Supper' and 'The Vitruvian Man'. Throughout the month, he explored various materials about Da Vinci, including a significant portion of a particular book. An intriguing element caught his attention in 'The Last Supper', the details of which he decided to reveal later. The final part of the challenge, mirror writing, proved difficult at first, but with practice, he began to find it a bit easier, though it didn't come naturally to him.

  T had found that the act of lengthening her stride while walking uphill changed her usual resentment about exerting more energy into a feeling of victory. This had made her reflect on why she typically resents using extra energy. When she explored DaVinci's works, she was surprised by how much she didn't know about him, despite her art college background. She specifically compared the colour sensitivity of DaVinci's "Virgin of the Rocks" in the Louvre to the one in London, finding the former superior.

  

  Da Vinci - Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre)

  L had been walking uphill, where he took the opportunity to lengthen his stride. The effort invigorated him, making him feel more alive. Upon returning home, he expanded his exploration beyond DaVinci's art to include writings and inventions. He found the Codex Arundel, but noted the challenge of locating an English translation from the Italian original, particularly given its mirror writing. L tried his hand at mirror writing and found it difficult but insightful. His research into DaVinci supported his own interest in multiple arts, as he composed music and engaged in life drawing.

• Responses

  J asked T about the differences in colour between Leonardo da Vinci's painting in London and the one in the Louvre, questioning if this discrepancy held significance. T replied that the variance in vibrancy and energy between the two paintings possibly had to do with the motivation behind their creation. She speculated that the commission-driven creation of the London painting might have affected its quality, but also the Louvre painting had been sensitively restored.

  T asked L about his comment on multiple arts. L said this was because da Vinci did so many things, including painting and writing. T resonated with Leonardo da Vinci's multidisciplinary approach, lamenting the lack of such breadth in modern education. L added that today's educational systems would have forced a da Vinci to choose between art and science. N emphasized the extraordinary cultural climate of da Vinci's time, highlighting how he saw connections between seemingly disparate fields.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 30 cont.

With acknowledgements to Harold Good

• Passage

  My dear and beloved Grandfather… be kind as always and tell me something more about the three-centred beings breeding on that planet which is called Earth ...

  He began thus: I was on that planet for the sixth time just before I received my full pardon and permission to leave that most remote solar system situated even almost beyond the reach of the immediate emanations of the Omni Most Holy Sun Absolute, that is, just before my return here to the centre of the Universe to the place of my arising, to the immediate bosom of our COMMON UNI-BEING-ENDLESSNESS.

  This time, circumstances unexpectedly so came about that I had to exist there among these peculiar beings a fairly long time, namely, a little less than a year of our time, or, by the time calculation there, more than three hundred years...

  I observed them particularly attentively at those periods when there proceeded among them their chief particularity, namely, their processes of ‘reciprocal destruction.’

  And I observed so attentively at these periods because I wished to make unquestionably clear to myself the causes

• Discussion

  T contrasted human "reciprocal destruction" with the concept of art, highlighting its current relevance by mentioning the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

  L said Earth's distance from the universe's centre might influence human behaviour and briefly touched upon the symbolic meaning of Beelzebub's six visits.

  N focused on the relativity of time, discussing how Beelzebub's year equated to over 300 Earth years and what this implied for the perception of human achievements, using Leonardo Da Vinci as an example.

  J talked about the objectivity of time, stating that regardless of how time is experienced, the essence of conveying ideas remained consistent across different realms.

• Passage

  Well, my boy, once while watching as usual this process of theirs ... I saw this time that, without moving from their place, they did with a certain thing something which resulted in a tiny puff of smoke, whereupon a being from the opposite side immediately fell down either totally destroyed or with one or other part of his planetary body mutilated or destroyed forever.

• Discussion

  T focused on the advancement of weaponry described in the passage, noting how a "tiny puff of smoke" could result in a person far away falling to the ground. She highlighted the impersonal nature of modern warfare as a central point.

  N likened the observational approach in the passage to an anthropological viewpoint. It is satirical in the manner of Gulliver's Travels. He emphasized how the narrative critiques the increasingly disconnected nature of warfare, where in the present day combatants are reduced to mere dots on a computer screen.

  C argued that the passage portrays destruction as a reciprocal act— if someone tries to destroy you, you must destroy them in self-defence. She saw this as a key factor in understanding the violence observed in the text.