watched the szukalski doc (netflix) this weekend – it was so beautifully made, and it got me thinking a lot, about a lot of different things :
the value of 'genius' and a reexamination of what it means to us when we call someone a genius and in turn how we (collectively, as a society) treat them
not just how to define a legacy but also the idea that we have no control over our own legacies – no control over how those who come after us adopt our work/our stories, define them, and keep them alive
our relationship to social constructs and the limitations of trying to live a life that rejects those constructs
the relationship between being able to fight for one’s beliefs and their ability to consider/care about humanity as a mass of individuals
what is it like to understand that religions were created by powerful men and be disenchanted about all of that, but to still feel a personally historical and deep connection to those religions/the cultures that exist within religious systems
what is the answer to the following question : is szukalski a successful artist?
how can one be simultaneously anti-establishment and nationalistic? i don't think it's truly possible – it seems like szukalski lived in a version of the world that blinded him to some basic human realities and truths
i want to know so much more about his relationship with politics and history and how he reckoned his own ideas and visions with those things – also the relationship between his art and those contexts, and how he formed his sociopolitical identity accordingly; also a better investigation and explanation of how that changed, if it ever did; this reason behind his eventual reformation – and more importantly, confirmation of it
basically would love an in-depth psychological breakdown of this man because wow
so many other questions keep flashing through my head – and i guess i really wouldn't care if his work wasn't so mesmerizing/impactful (he literally taught himself how to draw and sculpt, and never used models..... all these ideas and images came from his head.....)
