The Tower of Babel
This is a pen and ink drawing, a visual journalism rendering of a University faculty meeting. I had a vision that the Virgin appeared and she said in Italian she could not understand and truth was not spoken by these people seeking power So she decided to make every one speak in a different language so that they could not communicate anymore and disband.
Origin
6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
Story
The word is from the Hebrew Bābhél, from Akkadian Bāb-ilu, literally: Gate of God. It is also similar to Balal which in Hebrew means "to confuse" The Zigurat, was built in Babylon. It was designed to reach into the heavens, and to touch the sky, bring them glory and power in Mesopotamia. The tower and the city building was frustrated by God who made all the builders speak different tongues. As a result they disappeared into the world trying to find their own tribes and the tower was never finished.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder. De Toren van Babel. Oil on Wood. 1563
Zomakorva. Sanguine #1. Pez de Jade. Lima. Peru. 2023
Zomakorva is a young architect who makes graphic novels. I am very interested in following his work for inspiration.
Wizard of OZ
There is a scene in the movie were the scarecrow wish he could have brains, the Tin Woodman longs for a heart and the cowardly lion needs bravery. In the long journey traveling with Dorothy and Toto they all survived because of the scarecrow good sense, the tin man kindness and the lion bravery.
My experiment in graphic novels transportes the viewer to a world of robots were they also want the same things as the scarecrow, tin man and lion. They are Chinese manga robots.
The life drawing of Esteban Whuking, a master of Kung Fu. He is a childhood friend in the China town in Lima. In the drawing I made him appear as a buddhist monk and speaking out loud a saying by Lao Tzu. Grand master and writer of the E Ching.
知者勿言。 说者不知。 闭上你的嘴。 保护你的感官。 锻炼你的敏锐度。 简化你的问题。 掩盖你的亮度。 与地球上的尘埃融为一体。 这是深刻的结合。
This is a quote from Tao Te Jing (Dao De Jing) Chapter 56 first section:
first section of Chapter 56 from Tao Te Jing by Lao Tzu
first section of Chapter 56 from Tao Te Jing by Lao Tzu
" Those who know, do not talk.
Those who talk, do not know.
Keep your mouth closed.
Guard your senses.
Temper your sharpness.
Simplify your problems.
Mask your brightness.
Be at one with the dust of the earth.
This is profound union. "
William Betsch, 1940- 2023.
William Betsch and Darby Bannard during a faculty meeting at the University of Miami. 26, August, 2011.
Life drawing during a faculty meeting at the University of Miami. I redrew the visual journalism ink drawing and made into a graphic novel by using Magic Realism and surrealism.