Loneliness among the clouds

Since we were children, we had the semiotic conception that dreams are represented as a cloud, or several. We also have a primordial need to dream that we can fly inside of it; some have that opportunity, many others don’t. However, when that desire happens, once they start their flight, that can be from land or from the top of a roof or a mountain, or some high place.

As far as I know, one of the most desired longings has been the ability to fly, not in dreams, but in what is called ‘reality’. Thanks to advances in science and technology, we are now in the possibility to do that through airplanes, helicopters, parachutes, parapentes, drone bikes, and squirrel suits. Surely, I’m forgetting others, or they are classified programs. But even with all that, we remain grounded, not by gravity, but by time, trends, and the cruel amnesia of fame.

Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the sea of fog, 1818

Nonetheless, life takes care to bring our feet back to land and reminds us that dreams while we are alive are not forever. Carl David Friedrich’s story is one of the best examples, a bright artist who achieved success and became a “rockstar” of romanticism. After a while, his hits were no more; he was out of fashion. His paintings were the object of mockery, even by Goethe. More than 100 years after his death -what a surprise in art!- his work was rediscovered.

From my POV, “The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” is the best synthesis of him and his own life as an artist. Do you still doubt it?

Loneliness among the clouds