Sunday Morning Thoughts – March 2, 2025

Morning? Okay, this one is late ...

But since a lot of my readers are in the US that won’t matter. And I decided not to care for once. I needed some time to figure things out this morning.

So, do you guys know Jean Tinguely? He’s probably best known for his kinetic art sculptures. I’ve been fascinated with his work for a long time and on Friday I finally made it to the Tinguely Museum in Basel. I was not disappointed. I’m gonna have to go back there. There’s just so much to take in and explore.

My favorite thing were the buttons to press and step on to activate the sculptures. They do need a rest so you can only make them move when the light is green. Patience and such … What struck me was just the sheer number of sculptures they have. It seems almost impossible for somebody to achieve in one lifetime. And there are other sculptures, public ones elsewhere too. I was stunned.

Kinetic art sculpture - Tinguely Museum Basel, Switzerland

And the size of some of them. There’s one you can actually climb onto and be right in the middle of it. It’s mostly made of scrap metal. The one in the picture is not the one you could climb up on but it was one of the bigger ones. They were on a timer. I’m gonna have you look at YT videos yourselves if you’re interested. Whenever the sculptures moved I was far too fascinated to shoot video.

Absolute genius how this all works and how every part is moving. Blown away.

What struck a chord was that here’s this person who just did what he wanted to do. Who created things his way, not according to some rule that was set by people who don’t understand creative genius. It was almost a bit too much for me to take in.

Luckily there was another, quieter part of the museum. Up some steps then down some. I walked out the side that took you down to the gift shop and in terms of architecture, this was my favorite spot in the entire museum.

Passage at the Tinguely Museum in Basel, Switzerland

I could totally see myself sitting there all day. Well, maybe not all day, but wow. That’s the river Rhine on the left. Two of my long-distance hikes took me along the river on the other side. Had I known that this side of the river was a lot more fun I’d have crossed the bridge.

When I saw the path down below through a museum window, I knew I had to go explore. Have you ever seen a path along a river that had this many uses? I don’t think I even caught all of them. Now having walked on the other side of the river where there was hardly anybody, this side of the river was super busy. Very inclusive, very much a place for everyone. There’s even a person sitting on a bench reading a book in the top left corner above the wheelchair.

Inclusive path along the river in Basel, Switzerland

Feeling happy I walked to the Roche Towers and took the bus back across to the old town from there. Well, actually bus and then tram, but only a few of you would have noticed if I’d just said “bus”. Anyway, I quickly went to the art museum gift shop. They have the coolest ever reading glasses and I’ve been meaning to go back there to buy a pair. So very cool.

Anyway, it was a day of spontaneity, and I decided to go see that Dylan movie. I keep getting the name of the film wrong so “that Dylan movie” it is. On the way there I got a cinnamon roll at Cinnamood – soooooooo good.

I was kind of counting on having popcorn at the theater but when I got there, they didn’t have any. It was this very cool theater that had a little café, and they had potato cauliflower soup. That sounded absolutely amazing with temperatures outside in the 30s (around 3°C, I guess). Smallish theater - independent, I think. I’d have to look that up. Loved it.

Anyway, the soup was great. Yummy and just what I needed. There were a lot of pensioners around and it almost seemed like a safe space for them. The movie started at 1.15 PM and it wasn’t crowded. The pace was slow. I liked it.

Why did you not go see that movie when it first came out? I hear you ask. Well, it only came out on Thursday in German-speaking Switzerland. It’s been out for a month in Ticino. That’s Switzerland for you.

Watching a movie without eating popcorn was an interesting experiment. It’s not a short movie either. And there was no popcorn or ice cream break in the middle of the movie. I knew that beforehand. I liked it. I will try watching movies without eating from now on and also try and catch them where they don’t do intermissions.

I walked out of that movie in a daze. I walked past the Tinguely fountain (the theater was right below that) up the hill to a tram stop. I couldn’t articulate what that movie did to me. Even later when I was already on the train, I couldn’t tell a friend what I thought of the movie.

There was something about it.

I might have figured it out this morning. Joan Baez clearly outperformed Bob Dylan by a mile – I don’t think that was only the case in the movie. I’m not really a Dylan fan as such nor do I know too much about the folk music scene. I’m also not old enough to have been alive when all this happened. It struck me though that I’d never heard of Joan Baez. This could be entirely my fault of course as she’s a folk music icon. I get that.

What I don’t get is how Monica Barbaro is an “actress in a supporting role”. I get that it was a movie about Bob Dylan, but does that automatically make any other role a supporting one? Anyway, it just annoys me. Monica totally outperformed Timothée Chalamet in every way. Her performance carried that movie. It would have fallen flat without her.

Good thing I don’t have to watch the Oscars. Or care that much about who wins.

What I realized this morning is that there are so many talented people out there that I don’t yet know about. So many people that are creating beautiful music, art, books etc. So many unsung heroes we never hear about. The *not all heroes wear capes* kind.

For them it’s not all about fame. For them it’s about being true to themselves. It’s about creating something to be proud of. It’s about doing things your own way, not worrying about others, not comparing yourself to others.

This last part is so difficult to achieve. So very difficult.

Have you ever done something you were proud of only to be knocked down by how much “better” others are? Have you ever felt inferior when comparing yourself to others? Did that stop you from pursuing a dream? Did that stop you from appreciating your own work or talent?

I sure did.

I went to an art class yesterday. It was on painting flowers using palette knives and structural paste. Since the theme of the exhibit where I get to show one of my painting is “spring”, I figured learning how to paint flowers might not be the worst thing.

There was a painting that most people tried to copy. It was the painting the teacher showed us the technique on. I’m not good with detail. My fine motor skills might be around, but I tend not to have the patience for those. Either way they are definitely not my strongest skills.

I knew all that going in.

What I am though - is an artist. I did my own thing and the flowers I managed to paint impressed me. They actually do look like flowers. Big smile on my face. Then something got sparked and I bought another canvas – I work fast and wanted to do another one that was totally me. Still, I knew I could do the technique I used on the second one. So, the first one is what I am more proud of. I cropped the picture a bit, but will post the full one(s) as a note later on. I think this would make a nice postcard.

An original Lüthy 😉

A while back I would have looked around at what everybody else was doing feeling bad because I failed. But yesterday it really didn’t matter. My work and theirs had nothing to do with each other. They didn’t need to be compared. I walked around, all impressed by what others were doing, without it taking away the pride I felt in my own work. This was a new experience.

There is no deficit, there are different ways of doing things. Find YOUR way and don’t let anybody tell you it’s “wrong”.

I haven’t actually started writing my second book, but the word “misfit” is in the title. It represents doing things my way and how that has opened up an entirely new world to me. A world of talents I never knew I had. A world of adventure. A world of wonder.

Hugs all around.

P.S.: I think I figured out the video thing. Stay tuned for that.

P.P.S.: I’m still taking votes on which way is up in this painting.