0

Generations of youths before me have seen Europe as a destination for freedom, history, hedonism and learning. The Continental Tour has such a Victorian ring that I can't help but think of the health sabbaticals the wealthy embarked upon at the discretion of their physicians. This trip is to recuperate, revitalize and revisit parts of myself that have suffered during the arduous sojourn that has been my drastically difficult existence. Don't mind me at all, I'll just be over here swooning.

Europe, for me, is magnificently dense. The density does not only refer to the number of people in the small continent, but also the amount of history, architecture, infrastructure, art and the final notion of culture. I hope to explore part of the European continent by looking through my own peculiar lens. To start, I want to look at the use of bikes. Many people, myself included, have preconceived notions on the place of bicycles in a society. I want to learn about the ways in which a self-propelled, compact vehicle affects lives; and on the flip-side, how the needs of the people effect changes in "bike culture". Secondly, I want to taste the regions I travel through. Some would look to wine, or grandiose cuisine to encapsulate a place. My tastes are more simple and selfish. I like cheese. Cheese is cheap and available, and definitively regional. More importantly, I can consume it without having a hangover. Along with transportation and food, there is one more aspect to look at: art. Not Art in the sense of Degas or Mozart, not modern, nor historical, but functional. Art that can be beautiful, but also basely functional. This is probably the hardest subject to define, as art can be seen in everything. Specifically, I want to know about the use of glass, and possibly ceramics. It is easiest for me to give examples: stained glass windows, or mouth-blown vessels, hand-crafted plates, beading. I suppose that the object itself exists beyond its creation. Art is created, but then becomes static - it can not perform actions beyond it's visceral impact. A statue is not intended to do anything but be  enjoyed. Functional art is created, and then used dynamically until its destruction. The function ranges from self-decoration to shelter.    

I intuitively feel that these separate and diverse constructs are linked. Obviously, the advent of mechanical advantage and simple machines links many physical human pursuits. However, there is also a base anthropological link to explore.  Transportation, food and decoration have been a part of us since the edge of self-awareness; changing with individual break-throughs and group labour. Civilization, survival and society have been the encompassing, grand, corollary.