I've had numerous positive comments about the thinking donkey image used in this blog. It was drawn specifically for my blog by an excellent cartoonist, Rob Hooper of Flaming Pencil. The brief was to draw a thinking, skeptical donkey, based on Rodin's The Thinker. In line with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 South African License, you may use the image non-commercially. I do ask that Occam's Donkey be acknowledged and that a link to Occam's Donkey be provided. I can recommend Rob's work strongly.
I would prefer the blog not to become Occam's Ape, but here is another animal thinker, Hugo Rheinhold's Affe mit Schädel (ape with skull):
Image from Wikipedia.
According to Wikipedia:
"Hugo Rheinhold's original inscription "eritis sicut deus" (sometimes wrongly "eritus …."), either suggests that Darwinian understanding may lead to Frankenstinian abuse of life's essence, or a more inclusive innocence that recognises a place for other advanced life‑forms on our intellectual podium, if only we can just accommodate those guests."Another "thinker" I recently came across on a farm in the Northern Transvaal (Limpopo). The two meter high figure was fashioned out of hardwood, probably by an illiterate Zimbabwean illegal immigrant (although you never know with the Zimbabweans, some of them are well educated, their education system was quite good before Mugabe destroyed it). The huge figure of the thinking baboon can be scary when your headlights suddenly illuminate it late at night on a dusty farm road.
I just can't think of any good reason why someone will post a sculpture like this on a farm road. May be it is a commemorate of a life long dream of "ons plasie in die Bosveld" that came true.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right, but do you really need a reason?
ReplyDeleteHi. The quote from Wiki is an excerpt from a pamphlet that I wrote several years ago. I have since updated that piece of writing and incorporated it into a website dedicated to the "Ape with Skull" statuette and its sculptor, Hugo Rheinhold (http://darwinmonkey.com/). The image - which also belongs to me but you can use it :) - is actually of a modern reproduction statue that is very faithful to the original and is now, along with quite a lot of popular merchandise related to the statuette, on sale through the website. atb, j.
ReplyDeleteThe sculpture of the baboon is very unique. I think that it is most appropriate to place it on the farm road. It most possibly means a lot to the owner and must have a special meaning for him. How would this sculpture look in the city? I can think of no reason why this sculpture does NOT belong on a farm.
ReplyDeleteANONYMOUS
Agreed!
ReplyDelete