Valente Academy LawArt 2018_03_04_Labyrinths and Coils

Valente Academy INTANGIBLE TURNING TANGIBLE Valente Associati GEB Partners is a leading firm providing legal, tax, and strategic management consulting services. (www.gebpartners.it) LABYRINTHS AND COILS “Daidalos” by Louis Valentin Robert 2018 for example, it is said that his sculptures Daedaleus, whose name is generally coupled gave the impression of being alive, with his son’s name, Icarus, was one of the as if they were about to get up greatest craftsmen of his times and perhaps of and walk, had they not been all times, if it’s true that to every myth there is fastened to pillars by chains... always a kernel of veracity. Greek mythology tells us that Daedalus was the creator of the famous labyrinth he designed and built for King Minos of Crete.  The reason he was requested to build the The same may be stated Labyrinth was to avoid that the Minotaur when (monstrous half-bull and half-human creature) powerfully communicative could escape. bronze sculpture King Minos, who was especially notorious for portraying Daedalus himself. his ingratitude, instead of thanking him for The proportion of his entire body is flawless as having built the Labyrinth, thought to imprison one would expect from an artist since – whether Daedalus, along with his son Icarus, so that he this is true or not – it is said that we somehow could never reveal the secret of how the maze contribute to our own appearance as we grow was built. towards adulthood, and that our appearance Daedalus being the genius and free spirit he reflects our inner self and, in this case, we have was, could not be imprisoned for too long and an artist’s mind and soul to whom proportion found a way to escape: of course, we could and beauty were his absolute raison d’etre. extraordinary creative impulses or compulsions craftsman ever. His attitude is that of determined self- often rather quick-tempered and may even be He built wings for himself and for his son.  confidence in himself and in his artistic The wings were a great success as they actually abilities, clearly indicated by the urn he allowed both, father and son, to fly and is exhibiting, while the elbow resting on the consequently escape. anvil also discloses his other interests that The rest of the story we all know is that, probably involved heavier work and a just as since Icarus did not heed his father’s consummate craftsmanship. advice, he flew too close to the sun and his The anvil without the hammer may reveal an beautiful wings made of wax melted, leaving artwork just being conceived or in the making, him to plummet into the Aegean, with given his many and most variegated interests. consequences that may be easily guessed. Going back to Daedalus’ invention of the wings There are always two sides to every story and he fashioned, such innovative contraption the ingenious mind is no exception. was absolutely unprecedented and quite Daedalus did not only have a prodigious astounding, as it fulfilled one of man’s most mind but he also had the necessary talent and ancient aspirations, i.e., the ability to fly. craftsmanship that allowed him to turn his ideas And his inventions were too many to be all into concrete forms. recounted here. But genius generally expresses To those who were able to admire his statues, itself in extremes, or in creative outbursts that admiring this not expect any lesser exploit from the greatest may be either constructive or destructive: such extremes would, consequently, demand proper self-monitoring of one’s own self-control to achieve some kind of balance, and especially if such creative impulses are not properly channelled for constructive purposes. As a rule, it would seem that people driven by – and Daedalus was surely among these – are extremely irrational on occasion, with bursts of anger and violence, exhibiting an exaggerated sense of self-importance and self-infatuation to the point of not being able to bear the thought of anyone outdoing them. This was, without a doubt, Daedalus’ case. His nephew Perdix, who dared to surpass his uncle with his own inventions, paid his resourcefulness with his life, since it is said that Daedalus – who should have been more than happy with his overabundant intellectual gifts – in a fit of artistic envy, caused his nephew to fall down from the Acropolis and was thereafter obliged to leave Athens. Very interesting how Daedalus attempts to give his son a notion of balance, insisting not to fly too close to the sun Copyright © Valente Academy