Swiss and Switzerland

Now for magnificent train station artwork

kenritley

Here is something truly amazing that most visitors to Switzerland never realize.  The Zurich main train station is BEAUTIFUL – but inside has installed a hideous monstrosity. The Biel/Bienne main train stations is UGLY – but inside has installed an artwork of great beauty.

Recently, I showed how the Zurich main train station adorns itself with a hideous monstrosity. In contract, the folks running the train station in Biel/Bienne really know how to do things. Biel artist Philippe Robert (1881–1930) is responsible for the stunning masterpieces, installed in 1923 and still looking great today:

 

In fact, each of the four walls has a magnificent piece that is all about time, appropriate for a waiting room!

  • La Ronde des Heures / Der Stundentanz  The Dance of the Hours
  • Les Saisons / Die Jahreszeiten  The Seasons
  • Les Âges de l’Homme / Die Lebensstufen  The Ages/Stages of Man
  • Temps  Éternité / Zeit und Ewigkeit  Time and Eternity

This gets back to my previous point. Is it really fair to use the same word “artist” to describe the creators of both pieces?

L’Ange protecteur – die Dicke

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I’ve seen this monstrosity ever since I’ve lived in Switzerland – and it’s always been on my bucket list to look it up and see what it is and where it comes from. It is a “work of art” (and here, “work of art” can be defined as a hideous monstrosity) from the “artist” (which can be defined as “the creator of a hideous monstrosity”) Niki de Saint Phalle, installed here in 1997. It weighs 1.2 tonnes.

My basic gripe isn’t about what’s being shown here, but about the terminology: “artists” like Leonardo and Michaelangelo apprenticed for years and years, then worked their whole lives to create realistic things of beauty. It seems to me that by not putting in this effort – and instead grinding out pieces of less magnificence than those – modern “artists” really need a different term to describe their profession and how they approach it.

I understand that art somehow is an outward reflection of something inner – fair enough. But is it fair to compare an artist like Niki with an artist like Michaelangelo?  To me . . . two different professions – and using the same word a-r-t-i-s-t for both over-inflates the former and denigrates the latter.

The Mt. Niesen Supervolcano is calm – and the tourists and blissfully unaware of the massive dangers

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All geologists and volcanologists now recognize the horrible dangers that the Mt. Niesen supervolcano poses. This volcano, located in the middle of the Berner Oberland, will one day erupt (not if, but when) – and when that happens, most of central Europe will be extinguished, if not by the lava then by a meters-thick blanket of ash.

Although you can often see steam emanating from the cone at the top, today it is quite dormant and calm:

And as this snap shows, the tourists on the boat are “blissfully unaware” of the tremendous dangers that lie just behind them – dangers so real and severe that they will one day lead to Europe’s total destruction! 

Garbage in Bern

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I find this kind of interesting. The word “steit” is written here starting with “st…” but it is pronounced “scht…” – so it is quite interesting why some words in Bärndütsch are written like they sound (e.g. chunnt dri) but other words (e.g. “steit”) are not written that way.

This may be one of those mysteries that nobody probably knows the answer to!

Grebes on a roof

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The city of Biel/Bienne in Switzerland is a strange place – more so, because it has a lake. You see, in any normal city with a nice lake you’d find grebes like this doing what grebes like to do, namely, floating around on the nice lake, diving, and eating some tasty fish.  What inspired these grebes to park themselves on a roof – I have no idea.