Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας
DIES IRAE
Edition of 3
Technique
Collector's edition of Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας containing :
• A cardboard-back hand-bound edition of 45 pages printed on 170g BFK Rives.
• 17 embossed digital prints on 270g BFK Rives.
• Grey cardboard box.
Dimensions
• Cardboard-back hand-bound edition, 20 x 15 cm.
• Embossed digital prints, 22,5 x 31,5 cm.
• Cardboard box, 45 x 34 cm.
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Technique
L'Édition limitée d'Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας contient :
• Un livre d'artiste relié à la main de 45 pages imprimées sur BFK Rives, 170g.
• 17 tirages sur BFK Rives gaufrés, 270g.
• Une boite en carton gris.
Dimensions
• Livre d'artiste, 20 x 15 cm.
• Tirages, 22,5 x 31,5 cm.
• Boite en carton, 45 x 34 cm.
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WORDS
"La lumière sèche, dit Héraclite, crée l’âme la plus sage et la meilleure. Nous sommes au temps des âmes humides. L’arbre a disparu. La femme a perdu son visage. Toutes les fenêtres sont fermées. Les dieux ont déserté les hommes - qui en ont perdu jusqu'au souvenir même de leur créateur ».
« L’homme est dans la faille géante de l’abandon du divin ».
Ce n’est pas l'homme qui a abandonné le divin. C'est le divin qui l'a abandonné.
Mais, malgré le délaissement où ils le laissent, malgré la déshérence où ils sont eux-mêmes, quelque chose pourtant les retient et les relie l'un à l'autre. Le divin demeure et résiste. L'homme, lui, est condamné à la révolte et à l'espérance. Sans quoi il tombera dans la nuit solitaire aux yeux aveugles. Il est condamné à parcourir le chemin à rebours vers ceux qui l'ont engendré pour regagner ses forces. Pour marcher vers la vérité. L'homme a désappris à croire. Devant la certitude de la démolition de son monde, il ne lui reste le choix qu'entre réinventer l’éclair sombre des destinées ou celui de se laisser détruire par l'absence de lumière.
"Nous ne jalousons pas les dieux
Nous ne les servons pas
Ne les craignons pas
Mais au péril de notre vie
Nous nous émouvons d’être de leur élevage aventureux
Lorsque cesse leur souvenir".
Ces mots sont des mots d'espoir.
Car chez l’homme, l’espoir est ce qui meurt en dernier.
Toujours.
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Translation I
« The dry light, says Heraclitus, creates the wisest and the best soul. Here comes the time of damp souls. The tree is gone. The woman lost her face. All windows are closed. The gods have deserted the men - who lost every memories of who their creator was ».
« The man is in the giant flaw of the abandonment from the divine ».
This is not the man who abandoned the divine. It is the divine who abandoned him. But beside the neglect in which they are left, beside the wander in which they are themselves, something yet retains and links them to each other. The divine remains and resists. Man is doomed to revolt and hope. Or he will fall into the blind-eyed lonely night. He is sentenced to walk the path down to those who have led to recover his strength. To walk to towards truth. Man has lost his faith. Faced with the certainty of his world's demolition, he is left with the choice between reinventing the dark lightening of destiny or letting himself destroy by the absence of light.
« We are not jealous of gods
We do not serve them
We do not fear them
But at the risk of our lives
We are stirred to be of their chancy keeping
When they are no more remembered of ».
These words are words of hope.
Hope is what dies last.
Always.
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Translation II
« Arid light, says Heraclitus, creates the wisest and the best soul. We are now living in the time of sodden souls. The tree has disappeared. The woman lost her face. All windows are closed. The gods have deserted men - who have lost all memory of their creator ».
« Man is in the giant crevice of abandoned divinity ».
It is not man who abandoned the divine. The divine abandoned him. But, despite this neglect, despite the dormant state, something still binds them. The divine remains and resists. Man is doomed to revolt and hope, lest he fall into the blind, lonely night. He is sentenced to walk down the path towards those who help him regain his strength. To walk to towards truth. Man has lost his faith. Faced with the certainty of his world's demolition, he is left with the choice between reinventing the dark lightening of destiny or letting himself be destroyed by the absence of light.
« We are not jealous of gods
We do not serve them
We do not fear them
But at the risk of our lives
We stir ourselves to be of their adventurous stock
Lest we forget ».
These words are words of hope.
Hope is what dies last.
Always.
***
Alexander The Great's life reminds us that we all are the kings of ourselves. And that a king is not made for pleasures. His only duty is to raise his kingdom. To make it stronger than it was when he received it. And to dedicate all his strength to widen its power.
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MMXXII © ARNO BOUCHARD