The Unfinished Calabro
by Marcello Cua
by Marcello Cua
Dear All,
This story by Marcello is offered with a degree of sadness and difficulty. It speakes to a disaster foisted upon the region, that is just now
beginning to be rectified. Unfortunately, Calabria has been scarred, and it will take a great deal of effort to repair the damage that has been
done.
Marty
Calabria is one of the most beautiful regions of Italy. It is the most fertile land of the south, with wild imposing forests, craggy mountain peaks
above the sea, and 800 km of coastline. It has the splendid pristine Ionic Sea which bore “Venus” (goddess of love) and the Tyranian coastline
with its indented beaches and plentiful olive groves. It has some of the richest and most diverse vegetation of the Mediterranean area, a variety
of climates from deserts to the impenetrable forests of the Apennine Chain with rivers waterfalls and tranquil lakes.
Along with these immense natural resources one can also find historical and archaeological treasures extending from the plain of Sybaris,
(where there once rose a large and flourishing city), to the archaeological sites of Cauolina and ancient Crotone (with the temple of Era Lacinia
encircled by diggings never completed), to the mount of Tirolo, (that was, according to some historical sources, the land of the Phoenicians) and
the only peak from which one can see both seas cited by Homer.
To all this we must add a kind of malady, something like a blasphemy, that have been constructed by modern man.
This grinding contrast between what God has created and what men have come to do, reaches an apex here that perhaps can only be found in
the countries of South America, or elsewhere in the so-called Third World.
The `unfinished Calabria’ is placed side by side with the ‘finished’ albeit equally awful. In fact, entire cities and small villages have been
encircled in concrete for reasons unknown by nameless builders.
In aesthetics, the terminology `not finished' usually means an art work intentionally not finished. In this case, the artist chooses not to finish
some part of the work, to give the observer the liberty of creativity, to complete the painting, the sculpture or whatever else with his own
imagination.
In other cases, one leaves a un finished part in order to emphasize the contrast with the parts too finished and therefore stimulate in the
observer, a greater aesthetic experience as it happens, as an example, in the experience of the SUBLIME. Famous, among many art works not
finished, is the statue of the Rondanini of Michelangelo. This work might be considered sublime, contrary to that of the Pietà that is in the
basilica of St Peter in Rome where Michelangelo, at a young age carved from marble the Pietà extremely finished that we can consider beautiful
in the higher sense of the term, but not sublime.
The case of the un-finished `Calabria', is different. There is not only no aesthetic intention by those who leave their houses incomplete, but, on
the contrary, it is impossible to raise to any artistic sense that could be imagined anything beautiful or picturesque etc. Here we are in front of a
radical reversal, an absence of taste, and an impediment to perceive the laws of the spirit that govern beauty.
The `unfinished Calabria' is an unconscious ugliness that derived from the inability to go beyond the merely useful. That is, as one tried to
create functionality without regard for form, people were indeed driven by a kind of ‘fantasy of ugliness’.
This is a modern phenomenon. Until forty to fifty years ago, Calabria, while not building examples of high architecture, had tight-knit cities
worthy of respect.
With the industrial boom of the 60’s, the Calabrians found economic well-being and began to construct frantically. The ancient `trophy ”, of
wonderful terracotta tiles manufactured locally, were quickly replaced or covered with asbestos and fake tiles, followed by sheet metal after the
asbestos was outlawed. The beautiful doors fashioned from the chestnut tree or other Sila woods like fir, were replaced by anodized aluminum
fixtures recalling mortuaries and the beautiful stone walls alongside of the streets were pulled down and replaced with crude concrete. The
degradation was complete and perhaps irreversible. This disgraceful mishap of construction is seen in the huge building complexes fronting the
beaches and extending along the entire Ionian and Tyranian coast lines.
Placed side-by-side, along with this ‘disaster of bad taste’ is the calamity of the emigrants wherein Calabrian men emigrate to Switzerland or
Germany, fill their bank accounts with hard-earned money, then return to begin construction of a huge three or four story house to assure an
apartment to every son. Only to find later that all too often that the family has failed to flourish!
The unfortunate immigrant completely uprooted from his home, often miscalculates the time and expense required to construct the dream house
for the sons and the accumulated monetary treasure. From this lack of healthy realism, the now infamous `unfinished Calabria' is born. The
immigrants return from Switzerland, begin construction and, naturally, the money begins to run out after the foundations and iron work are in
place to build the next level. But what happens? With the money gone the father is required to leave again to make more money and if one may
say “leaves the palace with the iron pylons fully exposed and the concrete floor without cover. Etc.
This detached sense of ‘ugly’, by the average Calabrian, is associated with a complete lack of civic responsibility, in which, the builder behaves
as if he were the only one the world, building only for himself. That is to say, as if the dishonor left by the incomplete structure, were not seen by
others. This coarse Calabrian individual is the degenerated product of changing times when ‘medieval’ cultural and social conditions changed
quickly during the last fifty years, without consciously taking the time necessary to assimilate new cultural models. Indeed, the result has
become the `unfinished Calabria'.
The faces displayed by the ‘uncultured’ Calabrians, have endured progress similar to survivors rebuilding after the annihilation of their earlier
beautiful lives. They have been violated and robbed for centuries by the numerous foreigners who were also being replaced. And finally, they
have been violated from the effects of so-called ‘progress’.
Ciao!
©copyright 2008 Property of MJSturino,LLC
Any reproduction with-out the owners express written consent is strictly prohibited
This story by Marcello is offered with a degree of sadness and difficulty. It speakes to a disaster foisted upon the region, that is just now
beginning to be rectified. Unfortunately, Calabria has been scarred, and it will take a great deal of effort to repair the damage that has been
done.
Marty
Calabria is one of the most beautiful regions of Italy. It is the most fertile land of the south, with wild imposing forests, craggy mountain peaks
above the sea, and 800 km of coastline. It has the splendid pristine Ionic Sea which bore “Venus” (goddess of love) and the Tyranian coastline
with its indented beaches and plentiful olive groves. It has some of the richest and most diverse vegetation of the Mediterranean area, a variety
of climates from deserts to the impenetrable forests of the Apennine Chain with rivers waterfalls and tranquil lakes.
Along with these immense natural resources one can also find historical and archaeological treasures extending from the plain of Sybaris,
(where there once rose a large and flourishing city), to the archaeological sites of Cauolina and ancient Crotone (with the temple of Era Lacinia
encircled by diggings never completed), to the mount of Tirolo, (that was, according to some historical sources, the land of the Phoenicians) and
the only peak from which one can see both seas cited by Homer.
To all this we must add a kind of malady, something like a blasphemy, that have been constructed by modern man.
This grinding contrast between what God has created and what men have come to do, reaches an apex here that perhaps can only be found in
the countries of South America, or elsewhere in the so-called Third World.
The `unfinished Calabria’ is placed side by side with the ‘finished’ albeit equally awful. In fact, entire cities and small villages have been
encircled in concrete for reasons unknown by nameless builders.
In aesthetics, the terminology `not finished' usually means an art work intentionally not finished. In this case, the artist chooses not to finish
some part of the work, to give the observer the liberty of creativity, to complete the painting, the sculpture or whatever else with his own
imagination.
In other cases, one leaves a un finished part in order to emphasize the contrast with the parts too finished and therefore stimulate in the
observer, a greater aesthetic experience as it happens, as an example, in the experience of the SUBLIME. Famous, among many art works not
finished, is the statue of the Rondanini of Michelangelo. This work might be considered sublime, contrary to that of the Pietà that is in the
basilica of St Peter in Rome where Michelangelo, at a young age carved from marble the Pietà extremely finished that we can consider beautiful
in the higher sense of the term, but not sublime.
The case of the un-finished `Calabria', is different. There is not only no aesthetic intention by those who leave their houses incomplete, but, on
the contrary, it is impossible to raise to any artistic sense that could be imagined anything beautiful or picturesque etc. Here we are in front of a
radical reversal, an absence of taste, and an impediment to perceive the laws of the spirit that govern beauty.
The `unfinished Calabria' is an unconscious ugliness that derived from the inability to go beyond the merely useful. That is, as one tried to
create functionality without regard for form, people were indeed driven by a kind of ‘fantasy of ugliness’.
This is a modern phenomenon. Until forty to fifty years ago, Calabria, while not building examples of high architecture, had tight-knit cities
worthy of respect.
With the industrial boom of the 60’s, the Calabrians found economic well-being and began to construct frantically. The ancient `trophy ”, of
wonderful terracotta tiles manufactured locally, were quickly replaced or covered with asbestos and fake tiles, followed by sheet metal after the
asbestos was outlawed. The beautiful doors fashioned from the chestnut tree or other Sila woods like fir, were replaced by anodized aluminum
fixtures recalling mortuaries and the beautiful stone walls alongside of the streets were pulled down and replaced with crude concrete. The
degradation was complete and perhaps irreversible. This disgraceful mishap of construction is seen in the huge building complexes fronting the
beaches and extending along the entire Ionian and Tyranian coast lines.
Placed side-by-side, along with this ‘disaster of bad taste’ is the calamity of the emigrants wherein Calabrian men emigrate to Switzerland or
Germany, fill their bank accounts with hard-earned money, then return to begin construction of a huge three or four story house to assure an
apartment to every son. Only to find later that all too often that the family has failed to flourish!
The unfortunate immigrant completely uprooted from his home, often miscalculates the time and expense required to construct the dream house
for the sons and the accumulated monetary treasure. From this lack of healthy realism, the now infamous `unfinished Calabria' is born. The
immigrants return from Switzerland, begin construction and, naturally, the money begins to run out after the foundations and iron work are in
place to build the next level. But what happens? With the money gone the father is required to leave again to make more money and if one may
say “leaves the palace with the iron pylons fully exposed and the concrete floor without cover. Etc.
This detached sense of ‘ugly’, by the average Calabrian, is associated with a complete lack of civic responsibility, in which, the builder behaves
as if he were the only one the world, building only for himself. That is to say, as if the dishonor left by the incomplete structure, were not seen by
others. This coarse Calabrian individual is the degenerated product of changing times when ‘medieval’ cultural and social conditions changed
quickly during the last fifty years, without consciously taking the time necessary to assimilate new cultural models. Indeed, the result has
become the `unfinished Calabria'.
The faces displayed by the ‘uncultured’ Calabrians, have endured progress similar to survivors rebuilding after the annihilation of their earlier
beautiful lives. They have been violated and robbed for centuries by the numerous foreigners who were also being replaced. And finally, they
have been violated from the effects of so-called ‘progress’.
Ciao!
©copyright 2008 Property of MJSturino,LLC
Any reproduction with-out the owners express written consent is strictly prohibited
