In 256 BC the Chinese engineer Li Bing to stop the catastrophic flooding of the Min river built grass bon fires and poured cold water till the granite cracked. It took decades and after 2300 years it still works. This dam is just a few miles from the school that collapsed . The Djianagyan capital river dam.
To do this he had first to over come the superstitions of the local people. He put on an elaborate duel between two bulls and through the medium of the bull the deity was subdued.
Now in our enlightened times any idea for a building with the aid of computers can be quickly built. Cement that no longer needs to cure for years, new building materials, medals and plastics allow artists to go beyond the limits of art.
Robert Raushenberg said "A lot of people try to think of ideas - I'm not one. I'd rather accept the irresistible possibilities of what I cannot ignore." The purely visual pleasure of light and shade is trumped by the Intellectual; consumer glut is celebrated, the highest art is to parody: bits of news paper,cigarette butts, condoms (hee hee) glued to the canvas. Dernier cri : Removing the skills of the craftsmen, "Anything I do will be an abuse of someone else's aesthetics." and "knowing more only increases your limitations."
One knows only their own activity.
