Light Against Darkness: Better to Light a Light Than to Curse the Dark
Column for the magazine PRO města a obce (For Towns and Municipalities), December 2020.
This year is bowing towards its end, and a strange feeling of incompleteness prompts more than one reflection. The magic of numbers speaks of a time of transformation, enlightenment and hope. Perhaps in a time when things we took for granted are under threat, the meaning of Christmas joy returns to itself. Festivity is a piercing of time, here and now; the joyful event of “KAIROS” makes us forget “CHRONOS”.
In an age of distanced living, when words, music and dance have fallen silent, light becomes not only a metaphor but a hope. The bringing of Christmas into our homes and streets – sometimes so abundant as to become a nuisance – is welcomed this year. Perhaps even more than at other times, poetic, lyrical and tender decoration meets expectations, for it gives meaning back even to our rational understanding of the world. From this point of view, the demands on decoration have in fact been changing for a long time – it should tell a story and captivate.
Christmas decoration has its own laws and undergoes a development similar to other aesthetic fields. From the initial effort to fulfil a basic function, through the desire to astonish with a volume of light, it seeks its means of expression in a more sophisticated message: playfulness, humour and substance. The figures in Christmas compositions need not be animated; the content of the message matters more. We do not impress by technical skill – that is a prerequisite – but by individuality and originality.
Christmas decoration, as industrial design or similarly oriented creative work, can satisfy the customer on various levels: the basic, the more creative and the most exclusive. The Czech environment is relatively conservative, and traditional work and orientation mostly win a greater response, but that does not exclude the presence of other attributes. Exclusive creation demands more – the concept of a city, the decoration of a major shopping centre, which then cultivates the environment and may give rise to further demand.
The poetic is a sought-after category beyond the borders of the Czech Republic as well. The fairy-tale world of metaphors is understandable regardless of latitude and does not require a seemingly intelligible context. Christmas stories in the Czech rendering are well received throughout Central Europe. But home is home, and the most beautiful Christmas tree is ours, at home, in the square – or so, at least, we hear after the festive lighting from various corners.
Many trees will light up by themselves this year, and perhaps more often than ever we shall go out to them as to a torch. The decoration may be simpler, less showy and less animated, and so return to its original meaning. Through light decoration we are connected with the world, though the most precious to us is the heart of our republic, because we would like to support and spread the idea of a time of enlightenment and hope. Not to astonish, but humbly to return to a world where things are for themselves, towards themselves.
How, then, should we hallow the coming time? Humbly, unostentatiously and joyfully. And from the viewpoint of a maker of Christmas decoration? Exactly so: there is no need to impress with mass and volume; on the contrary, it is desirable to restore the meaning of light and of the story it tells. Light against darkness – better to kindle a light than to curse the dark. Christmas decoration with the ambition to become more than industrial design seeks a form of message so that it may speak. Even a fairy tale that is told can cultivate and be poetic; the trend remains balance and sensitivity.