myth

“Die Welt im Feuer, oder das wahre Vergehen und Ende der Welt, durch den letzten Sünd-Brand translate”

Image | | Paul Greer

or: Depicting the destruction of the earth in several stages:

Depicting the Destruction of the Earth


Depicting the Destruction of the Earth


Depicting the Destruction of the Earth


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“This engraving is one of twelve found in a fine little book, the brainchild of clergyman/semi-scientist Jodocus Frisch (1714-1787), who delivered to the (un-) waiting world his vision of how the earth and heaven will come to an end, there at the end of days.   Die Welt im Feuer, Oder das Wahre Vergehen und Ende der Welt, Durch den letzten Sünd-Brand  (printed in Sorau by Gottlob Heboldm in 1746) is one of very few works that depict (in  illustration) the destruction of the Earth, and even though Frisch illuminates biblically-based theory, the idea of the earth exploding into bits in primordial fire and so on was extraordinary.  The images were done in four colors representing the four elements:  yellow, brown, green and white represented (respectively) fire, earth, water and air. In this image, we see the fire-centric earth encircled by a sphere of water, which is surrounded by a sphere of fire, which in turn is surrounded by a sphere of air,  with much bad stuff happening. “

More to be found at thesciencebookstore.

 

“Harpya” by Raoul Servais (1979)

Video | | Paul Greer

Servais animated the film using 35mm color front-projection of his characters onto a multiplane filmed, black velvet background.


The eponymous Harpy of the film

The Harpy, with its human torso and facial features, can be aligned to Freud’s primal uncanny and Kristeva’s notion of the abject in cinema. The film can also be read as a modern retelling of the femme fatale archetype story – a warning to men captivated by the allure of a dangerous female.