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Lewis:
Prometheus doesn't mind helping the people. He knew it was
wrong to allow them to constantly suffer. He gave them the fire
that gave them the power to create art, the power to live
instead of just existing.
Keith:
Prometheus is like a role model for me. I admire his courage.
Zeus is bogus, and Prometheus knows it. I feel like I am a
Prometheus, and I don't care if your name is Zeus or whoever,
nobody has a right to hold me back from my chance of a lifetime
to do what I've got to do.
Tim:
Do you think Prometheus is just out for his own glory? Why is
he doing and going through all this? Eddie, Rolando, Bryant
and Sara - I have one question for all of you. Why have your
created this workshop in a run-down storefront on the South Side
of Chicago? Why are you really doing all of this? Are you a
bunch of wide-eyed goody-goodies? Why work with these
teenagers? Why don't you just go and get paid?
Bryant:
I here on a quest to learn and grow. Growth is in this for
everybody involved. Everyone is always learning here and this
is a power that keeps pushing us forward, expanding who we are
and what we are all capable of. It all depends on what your
values are. Sure, money is necessary to survive, but life isn’t
just about survival. Life isn't just about making money. Much
of what goes on here is more valuable than money. You see, I
know I'm getting paid, just not in cash right now. But I know
what I'm gaining here, and I can see it turning into financial
gain down the line. This is my work! I'm all about meeting and
learning from other people in order to learn more about myself.
Then I can deal with people in general. I'll find out what I
truly want by finding out who I truly am. It's about wanting to
make your mark on the world.
Nikita:
I'm for Prometheus because he couldn't just sit back and let
the people suffer and stuff.
Tim:
But he knew, he knew, he knew what he was getting into. Look at
our translation:
Bright, heavenly light and rushing, soaring winds
River fountains forever laughing
ocean waves And Earth - our mother
and you
the ever-vigilent eye of the Sun
Look at what the Gods will do to one of their own!
This is the humiliation and torture
I must endure for centuries to come.
The new oppressor from above
Forged these chains of degradation.
Oh God, I feel the agony now, and forever
When shall this hell storm be over?
But, what am I talking about?
I always knew this would happen.
I knew what I was getting into.
And I know what I have to go through.
I am willing to suffer the consequences.
You don't know like I know.
You can't fight Destiny.
Destiny! He calls his fate Destiny! What's destiny?
Nikita:
Something you can't change.
Margaux:
Something you have to go through.
Tim:
Something you just have to go through. Prometheus knew he was
in for it. Fate had determined that somehow, somewhere, someone
would have to mediate between the Gods and humanity. Is
Prometheus a good teacher?
Margaux:
He's not teaching. He gave people something, but he didn't show
them anything.
Tim:
Do you all agree with Margaux? Any arguments?
Nate:
I have an argument. Prometheus had the teacher spirit. I mean,
why else risk his ass for this, you know? Think about it! He
could be hanging out with his boys on Mount Olympus, dancing
with Venus and Aphrodite and all those other beautiful
goddesses! But instead, he takes a chance for his little friends
here on Earth and he ends up tortured and in chains. He's laying
bound down on this rock and he's thinking," I knew this was
coming. How come I didn't handle this better? I could have
slowed all this down." But no, he decided to go forward with
his teacher spirit, his program, no matter what the risk.
Tim:
Have any of you read the essay " A Knock At Midnight" by Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? It's from his book THE STRENGTH TO
LOVE. I want you all to read it. Rev. King in a moment of
great, excrutiating crisis. His house has been bombed.
People are phoning death threats in to his family everyday. He
deeply doubts that the civil rights movement will continue to
victory. He can't sleep, so he's sitting at his kitchen table
drinking coffee, worried to death when a quiet, still voice
speaks to him and tells him that everything is going to be all
right - that he must continue down the road he has chosen and
that he will be covered and protected. In his essay King tells
us that at that moment he found an assurance and peace and
courage stronger than any he had ever felt before.
Evan:
Prometheus was like that. He did what was right, because the
people were ...were...
Tim:
Dumb? Stupid? Foolish?
Evan:
No, not that! They needed help because they just didn't know
how to do anything for themselves, how to help themselves.
Cori:
I'd like to comment on this whole story. I think this ancient
story relates to these days and times. The story is a metaphor
and it's telling me something powerful. Prometheus is like many
of the leaders who came before my generation: Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, all those figures who rose up and
tried to teach the people. The people on Earth in the days of
Prometheus were in the same condition as much of the African
American community today. We're longing for knowledge, wisdom
and understanding. Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding - those
are the flames of fire that Prometheus wants to give the
community. And just like all revolutionary liberators,
Prometheus was persecuted, criticized and treated wrongly just
because of his will to do right. I think Prometheus Bound
relates to everything that's still going on today.
Eddie:
I'm with Prometheus all the way. Now, what are we doing here?
Cory is right when he sees the story relating to what is going
on today. Prometheus made a gift of energy to the folk on Earth
and he was willing to pay the price. Look, just coming down
here to work with teens, I've been almost mugged twice on the
train. I had a guy practically die in my arms right in front of
the studio here. But I'm still here. I still keep coming back
because I know I have something to give you guys. The reason I
do this is because when I was your age, I got the opportunity to
work with Tim and another artist from New York, Keith Haring.
They gave me a creative work experience that I would never have
gotten otherwise. That's why I want you guys to have the same
quality of expereince that I have had. That's why I'm here.
Tim:
What's great about about what we've made today - these little
paintings of "luminous petals"- is that - if they are taken
care of - they will never die. I will die. You will die. But
these things may never die. That's the power and magic of art.
If you want to survive, not as a body but as a voice, a
culture, an affirmation of spirit, then you draw and paint, you
write, you make poetry and song and dance. You make the
invisible visible. You make an idea concrete in material.
Malcolm X cannot die, because we have his recordings and
speeches and writings and inspiration. Rev. Dr. King will never
die because he was anointed with a fire that will never be
extinguished. A genuine Promethean fire never goes out, it
burns on forever, and that is why Power finds it so
dangerous.
Sara:
The reason I come to do this because I identify with the
process that proves that you can make ideas concrete and that
you can make a work of art that someone would be willing to pay
thousands of dollars for, works that are worthy of inclusion in
museum collections. Why not? The world is made up of people
just like us. The people at the top are the same as people who
can't figure out how we can make ideas concrete and valuable
and available to the the rest of the world. I have come to
this realization in my life and it just thrills me to come to be
a part of this realization with other people.
Tim:
Why are you all here today?
Eddie:
I'm here to teach.
Nico:
I'm here to learn as much as I can... and to get a little bit of
the spotlight!
Nate:
I'm here to learn how to be a managing studio artist and to
control the direction of my life.
Margaux:
I'm here because I love the beauty of art.
Lewis:
I'm here because I want to learn how to do art more better.
People say I'm already good, but I want to become better and to
do art better than others.
Nikita:
I 'm here to learn about airbrushing and design and how all that
stuff goes...
Evan:
I'm here to learn artmaking and to use it as tool for creating
my own future.
Cori:
I 'm here to make my contribution to Freedom, Justice and
Equality through art.
Rolando:
I'm here to teach. I'm here to learn.
Keith:
I want to learn every technique of art making I can. I want to
learn about everything, every style of art available.
Sara:
I'm here to join with you guys, because you are pioneers. We're
going to conquer uncharted territories.
Tim:
And I guess I'm here because I like to start fires.
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