a fairy tale:
There exists very little social significance of clouds in our history. We talk of stars, we talk of planets - even the moon and others. But do we have extensive texts on the clouds?
Clouds give a much needed texture to the otherwise blue sky. Have you ever imagined the size of the sky - how big is it? It is the clouds that vanish and become the sky. Perhaps the intermediary phase between the sky and the earth (as per the big bang). They come together and go apart. They give us a focus to look at the otherwise infinite sky. We stare at clouds - deformed lumps of gas - and imagine multiple shapes through our gestalts. Sometimes fields of cotton, sometimes angels flying across, sometimes mountains or sometimes letters in the air. Clouds make us realize that we flow in time. That we move.
In summers, winters and rains, it does its job interestingly well. In its density, it consumes the scorching summer sun. Through its voids, it shows how light beams reach the earth. Through its threshold, it softens the light. In the rains, it contains water. Unlike the suns, moons or the planets, it holds no ego. It is ready to dissolve and melt. It is generous to take every one in. It leaves no room to explore. The planes dash through it. The birds fly within it.
And sometimes, they bring out unknown colours of the sky. Orange, yellow, purple - and the grey-black-white of the cloudy nights. All so titillating. It gives meaning to the 'wait' on specific festival days, by hiding the moon.
Marianna Hillmer, my German friend, after reading this post further added that I must see William Turner's paintings - and how beautifully it fits this post. Here are some paintings borrowed from various sites:
Historically, clouds have always been associated with confusion, unsurity and unclarity. They depict the storm, rough times, and unstable environment. It is only through the clouds that the sky can be moulded, twisted, skewed...Interestingly, it fits in the modern day terminologies of information technology - after the chaos theory. We today extensively use 'cloud computing' for communication purposes. It refers to a diverse set of end users that the computing caters to.
In modern plays, clouds are used to hide you, make you invisible or secretly bring up a character on stage. Thus they are associated with mystery and magic. Conceptually, they refer to something that 'appears from thin air'. They appear and disappear. Thus they allow time for magic to happen on stage.
And one could keep counting. Now am I romanticizing a bit too much?
There exists very little social significance of clouds in our history. We talk of stars, we talk of planets - even the moon and others. But do we have extensive texts on the clouds?
Clouds give a much needed texture to the otherwise blue sky. Have you ever imagined the size of the sky - how big is it? It is the clouds that vanish and become the sky. Perhaps the intermediary phase between the sky and the earth (as per the big bang). They come together and go apart. They give us a focus to look at the otherwise infinite sky. We stare at clouds - deformed lumps of gas - and imagine multiple shapes through our gestalts. Sometimes fields of cotton, sometimes angels flying across, sometimes mountains or sometimes letters in the air. Clouds make us realize that we flow in time. That we move.
In summers, winters and rains, it does its job interestingly well. In its density, it consumes the scorching summer sun. Through its voids, it shows how light beams reach the earth. Through its threshold, it softens the light. In the rains, it contains water. Unlike the suns, moons or the planets, it holds no ego. It is ready to dissolve and melt. It is generous to take every one in. It leaves no room to explore. The planes dash through it. The birds fly within it.
And sometimes, they bring out unknown colours of the sky. Orange, yellow, purple - and the grey-black-white of the cloudy nights. All so titillating. It gives meaning to the 'wait' on specific festival days, by hiding the moon.
Marianna Hillmer, my German friend, after reading this post further added that I must see William Turner's paintings - and how beautifully it fits this post. Here are some paintings borrowed from various sites:
Historically, clouds have always been associated with confusion, unsurity and unclarity. They depict the storm, rough times, and unstable environment. It is only through the clouds that the sky can be moulded, twisted, skewed...Interestingly, it fits in the modern day terminologies of information technology - after the chaos theory. We today extensively use 'cloud computing' for communication purposes. It refers to a diverse set of end users that the computing caters to.
In modern plays, clouds are used to hide you, make you invisible or secretly bring up a character on stage. Thus they are associated with mystery and magic. Conceptually, they refer to something that 'appears from thin air'. They appear and disappear. Thus they allow time for magic to happen on stage.
And one could keep counting. Now am I romanticizing a bit too much?
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