The Plastic Face Force to Portray
Assume the statuary position For you are amongst the gods of heaven. You and your wife will be consecrated In grandiose splendor for all to see. Diorite and canon of proportions Are created for you and you alone. You portray strength, power and divine will This will be known for all eternity. But times do change and so does the palette of choice And time requires motion, love implies fluidity And somewhere along the line, you have to single out someone amongst the pantheon To spend a moment amongst the secret gardens And offer sacrifices of lilacs and papyrus reeds Even so, eternity is our aim And the height must be carved into stone Nature is always under your command. Matter is made higher by your order Memory shall have immortality And the future forever will praise you. Who?
Date of First Draft: 20 September 2001
Commentary: This was inspired by a lecture given in my Art History 251 (Art History I, Survey) by Professor Adam Cohen about the history of Egyptian art. It namely a reflection of how the Pharaoh was portrayed throughout Egypt's long history. The first and third stanzas reflect the Old and New Kingdoms with the use of diorite and portraying the ruler in a very standard way that conveys immortality and power. The second is the Middle Kingdom with the revolutionary change of religion caused by Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton (reigned 1353-1335 BC) and therefore a change in the portrayal of people (more natural than artificial). The last one is a kind of homage to Ozymandias. The title is from the NIN song "The Day the World Went Away."