Readers Letter . . . .
June 28th, 2011
And now the good news about the dragon sculpture
Dear Editor,
‘GOOD NEWS! – SAFETY AND BEAUTY AT THE SCULPTURE AT NEWCASTLE EMLYN. MOST PEOPLE REALLY ENJOY IT . . . GO HAVE YOUR PICNIC THERE WITH A BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF THE RIVER’
What a different headline that would make to the one in last weeks paper which said ‘VANDALISM FEARS OVER SCULPTURE’! The article was reporting ONE person’s point of view (based upon no actual event) which was sent to the town council!
The new headline I have given here is indeed, an accurate picture, from my perspective, of the ‘Spirit of the Dragon’ sculpture which was installed in the castle in January. I visit the site at least four times a week, so I am probably as well informed as anyone to report a story.
I am very tired of ‘sensational/negative journalism which seems to want to stir up fears and dramas where non exist (all right, except from one person!) Is bad news and scarey stories what we, as readers really need? People have now stopped me in the street saying ‘ I am so sorry. . isn’t it terrible what is happening to the sculpture?’ They have read a couple of articles published in this and another local paper.
Well, this is what is happening. A mum and her family having a picnic, teenagers sitting there chatting, visitors taking photos, people walking their dogs, children patting and stroking the dragons tail, hearing your voice echo when sitting inside the oak, and recently, appreciation of the colours and story pictures within the newly installed Golden Dragon Mosaic,
Strangely, we do not have to wear ‘vandal proof’ vests nor carry arms to protect ourselves from raiding and destructive ‘vandals’ with their weapons of mass destruction!
It is true I collect a few bits of rubbish when I visit, just to keep it tidy up there (as there is no litter bin) and I invite others to do the same. It is true that two people have written a message in biro to each other inside the seat…which is already naturally fading. But REALLY does that constitute the word ‘Vandal’ being headlined?
I was misquoted in the article as saying ‘the installation has been made as ‘vandalproof as possible’ No, I never!! I had described the hard wearing materials that had been used in the careful making of the mosaic, as information for the town council re long term durability.
I do not use the word ‘vandal’ It comes from 455AD when Germanic invaders (from Vandal) raided Rome, who had themselves previously raided and destroyed and occupied other countries. It is the language of warfare, to demonise and make others ‘evil or bad’. It is currently used as a word for anything from bored teenagers, (by the way, OUR OWN teenagers, who currently have no youth club) who direct their energy into directions of mischief or destruction, or OUR adults who drink too much on a Friday or Saturday night at OUR pubs and cause damage. Also of others in OUR community who, for whatever reasons, damage other peoples property (which understandably causes us annoyance, despair and frustration in the financial cost and energy to replace and repair.)
We might even be interested in discussing a quote from Neitzsche that ‘I also know what it means to fight against culture’ or ‘the criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture’?
Let us be more precise and up-to date in our language and not be pulled into language of warfare and which provokes fear and hatred of others.
At the Heart of the Dragon Festival on July 2nd, the Dragon Sculpture and Mosaic are to be surrounded with hundreds of joyous and creative people who have made Golden Dragons. Merlins prophecy will be read, telling of healing and renewal..‘polluted rivers being cleared’ and a new prophecy towards peace making in our world.
Now THERE is positive action to transform destructive damage of our own environment.
May that clear away the concerns caused by one persons fears and newspaper articles.
Yours sincerely,
Pamela Gaunt
Artistic Director of Heart of the Dragon
Newcastle Emlyn
PS Re. that E Davies seeing the sculpture as a ‘huge phallus’ well…art is in the eye of the beholder…so, go look and see what YOU think! A Phallus or an Egg? or a Dance of Creativity between both??!!
All I know is that I went there for a picnic the other day. Now I normally love a cold sausage, but somehow looking at the sculpture, I didn’t fancy putting it in my mouth.
And I don’t know why, but a poem called “A supple wreath of myrtle” by a poet I had never heard of before called Robert Hass came into my head. Here it is:
Poor Nietzsche in Turin, eating sausage his mother
Mails to him from Basel. A rented room,
A small square window framing August clouds
Above the mountain. Brooding on the form
Of things: the dangling spur
Of an Alpine columbine, winter-tortured trunks
Of cedar in the summer sun, the warp in the aspen’s trunk
Where it torqued up through the snowpack.
“Every where the wasteland grows; woe
To him whose wasteland is within.”
Dying of syphilis. Trimming a luxuriant mustache.
In love with the opera of Bizet.
Now, how weird is that?