Family Tree: Connections 2
Now that I’m back from Shanghai, I’m going to look at the connections you’ve sent me. But before I do, I wanted to tell you some things one of my colleagues pointed out: ‘Progress’ is neutral. You can’t say Progress is ‘anti-civilization’. Also it is naive to believe in the possibility of a utopian world. You have to live with reality. Get a life! [I hope the simplified version of the Family Tree makes the marriages clearer,
I replied: Look carefully before you comment; you need to understand the kind of Progress we mean, it’s mechanistic (tick-tock) and it marries Quantity – and that means once people accept increase in material terms they stop thinking. They believe that the future will take care of itself, that things will keep getting better.
Know also that the word Progress in connection with civilization has only been around for a couple of hundred years – I guess they used to think that civilization depended on stability.
Anyway, that’s what happens on the side of the better parallel world, Stability marries Quantity; and the most important feature here is Hierarchy of Values who marries Art and Learning. That should be at the apex of aspiration and can I say that for 1,000 years China had exactly these values and a sustainable environment. There was terrible famine, poverty and invasions but with science perhaps these might be prevented.
It’s not automatic that their child Delight in Difference should marry Equal Opportunity but it is possible if they share their aims – and acknowledging the prestige of Art and Learning. Delight in Difference, means respect for other people’s differences and talents so that everyone is fairly rewarded and that, for example, not only skills but menial work is shared and well-paid. This is a hope which is worth stating. When you set out your aims you then have the chance to achieve them. We have a sense of Purpose because we know where we are going. Purpose then marries true progress which is Human Progress.
And now, my reply to the criticism about a utopian world: Of course the left hand branch doesn’t exist. But it is necessary and sane to try to state your aims in the light of what is possible and exciting. Otherwise, where are we going? The right hand branch is easier to understand because that is our world: it exists; it has no aim. Money? Money is a means, not an end.
Vivienne Westwood seminar at Shanghai Donghua University
Dear Mrs. Vivienne Westwood:
Do you like my album？ [My orb] from hunan & tanuki.
In this album, I put into many of my understandings and means to describe your works. Most of your works in this album I already got collected! And in this album, you can find the attention and honor from me (a designer and illustrator from China)!
I only pray you would get a bit to know me, to know in China, there is a couple (my wife and me) through my album. Heartfeltly wish every luck and happiness to you and Andreas Kronthaler, wish your brand be known and loved from the bottom of heart by more and more people!
Comment by Hu nan &Ta nuki on 26/10/2011 at 12:33 pm
Dear Hunan and Tanuki
Thank you for your good wishes. Sorry for being so long in replying to you. I’ve been terribly busy since I got back from Shanghai. I’m very impressed by your interest in my fashion and your drawings which are really, really pretty.
My wish for you is that you open your eyes to more and more of the world – one idea would be to try to draw from life; it will open your eyes to so much more. And please visit your national museum and try to look at original Chinese paintings as often as possible. I think these are some of the greatest achievements of human genius.
Comment by Vivienne on 22/11/2011 at 9:48 pm
Dear Vivienne,
One phrase which really stuck out to me here about Progress was
” We have a sense of Purpose because we know where we are going. ”
I truly agree that the problem of Progress being married to Quantity is that society seems to believe that as long as quantities of anything are increasing then so called ‘Progress’ can occur. This leads to complete ignorance as to where this ‘progress’ is taking us. There is no real aim except consumption and money. And as you so rightly stated at the end of the piece, “money is not an end, but a means to an end’.
The sooner we dissociate Progress and Quantity from each other the better. The development of speech and language does not happen in huge quantities. We learn a few words at a time. No child tries to swallow the entire dictionary because Quantity makes Progress. Baby steps. One word at a time. As a society we need to relearn this method. One problem at a time. This way we have a purpose, something to aim for.
And I so truly believe that our biggest problem at the moment really is Climate Change. If we all tried to tackle that instead of trying to solve 1000 problems all at once we might be better off. We would be better off.
I do hope I haven’t rambled on too much Vivienne and I enjoyed the post as always!
Sincerely,
James
Comment by James Emmett on 26/10/2011 at 9:03 pm
Dear Mrs. Vivienne Westwood,
I think this is an important message for all of us:
“Man is troubled and in the end is lost; he is troubled and before he is established he is brought down. He burns like fire and as a reed is made into ash. Like a storm he is puffed up and like dust he is settled to the ground. Like a flame he rises and like smoke he is dissolved. Like a flower he is beautified and as grass he is tried out( … ). The troubles are his and the joys go to others( … ). The care is his, but the happiness goes to another. The sorrows are his, but the pleasures are for others( … ). O what a great tragedy is our unworthiness! O what a great triumph is human meanness!”, Kings look with attention and a philosophic disposition upon the body of the dead Look, and be no longer proud. Leaders, observe and imagine no more in haughtiness. The secular leader is usually presented with power because of his authority. And yet he, too, fears the cup of death. He agonizes over death just like everyone else. Behold, he has become altogether miserable; the one who was just before a fearful man is now a dead man. Behold, he is being led as a condemned man. Who? He who was yesterday feared by the condemned, behold, is now troubled and shaken; all his wisdom and power is defeated and he has become altogether stupefied.”
“Look carefully upon the dead; see lying there those who were kings; see in their relics those who were nobles; see the fearsome sight of the relics and say: Who is the king and who is the noble? Who is the soldier and who is the general? Who is the rich man and who is the poor man? Who is the young man and who is the old man?”
When you see a funeral procession, orphaned children following, a widowed wife wailing, servants mourning, friends downcast and grieved, recall the briefness, the worthlessness and the nothingness of present things. Think that they differ not at all from shadows and dreams. Ponder over these things and do not marvel at the flower of the human appearance. Be not impressed by the outstretched neck, nor by the impressive garments, the horse and all those who follow; rather consider where all this is going to end.” “I recall to mind the image of the dead who in just a short while was standing before me. But now I do not see anywhere that image. Where is the beauty of the face? Behold, it is blackened. It is darkened; it has lost its freshness and vibrant life; it is distorted. Where are the eyes that would send out signals and have a lovely shape? Behold, they are dissolved. Where is the comeliness of the hair? Behold, it has fallen. Where is the outstretched neck? Behold, it is broken. Where is the fleeting tongue? Behold, it is silent( … ). Where are the myrrhs and perfumes? Behold, they have become a stench. Where is the gladness of youth? Behold, it is gone. In one word, where is man with his many fantasies? Behold, the) dust has again turned to dust.”
St. John Chrysostom
May God bless you, Madam,
From Poland with love,
Agnieszka
Comment by Agnieszka on 26/10/2011 at 9:40 pm
Dear Vivienne,
I really enjoyed reading this, and I just wished that people would understand the difference between what is right, and what is easy.
It is so easy to fall onto the consumer treadmill, but I strive everyday to try and show others around me just how easy it is to get off of it too.
The first time i read your manifesto, I literally just stopped everything I was doing, threw my mobile phone aside and went for a walk.
I didn’t come home for about 5 hours. I didn’t eat or drink anything and just realised how so many things in my life that I thought were at such a high priority, didn’t matter or mean anything at all to me.
You’ve changed my life completely, and I have faith in everybody else that has read your manifesto and actively follows your work and your words of wisdom (maybe a term too far but I find them fantastic), and that they themselves now have a moral obligation to become a freedom fighter and pass on this knowledge and way of life to the others around them through word of mouth.
Because after all, person to person contact and interaction can never be replicated in any way, no matter how much technology there is.
Also i thought i would also share a drawing i recently did of Leonard Peltier, which i plan to scale down and send to him, I hope you and the manifesto readers like it. (I love it when people ask me who he is when they see the drawing, .. another example of how explaining something person to person has an effect on subject matter.)
http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltoupkYxlV1qcs02go1_1280.png?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1319892872&Signature=IGQGxmgRvQfWzvAbwvCg4aT8rdo%3D
Comment by Sam Varnham on 28/10/2011 at 12:54 pm
Dear Vivienne,
I saw a picture of your son Ben in the Daily Mail visiting St Pauls Cathedral. I have never done anything like this before- contacting a famous person- and have since familiarised myself with your work and your son’s struggle to present his photography to an appreciative audience. How lucky you both are to be so intelligent and creative. Hormones in abundance in both of you!
The reason for my interest would you believe is because I saw the dog that was with him. Can you possibly let me know what breed it is and if it is easy to get a dog like that. I am asking because I lost mine in May. Looked just like your sons!. I took mine from a rescue centre and never knew where she came from. I have since taken on a dog from Wales which was in a dreadful state of nerves. It had been beaten to make her run faster and hunt at night, while during the day was locked up in a shed. There are some terrible stories of the cruelty to animals, particularly the farmers in Wales, but one can’t rescue them all. I see your son has a wonderful kind heart and hope that you will just drop me a small line to say where a dog like his can
be found. Moyra
Comment by Anonymous on 03/11/2011 at 9:10 am
Vivienne westwood… I love you
Comment by Gabiee on 04/12/2011 at 11:58 am