Metal

“The metal element is the essence of Jin and corresponds to the West, autumn and the color white. Now is the time of Metal, when energy enters nature, man, animals. A lull and a longer energy break commences, when everything that has accumulated over the summer and the element of Fire has been horded, collected to prepare for the upcoming winter, which comes after Metal – the period of autumn, soothing and silencing.” – Marija Vrebalov

“Melt down the universe and refashion it”– is a phrase used in some rituals with multi-layered meanings.

The history of metal, as far as we know, begins with the use of copper about 11,000 years ago.

It is an integral part of our lives, on a daily basis, without even being aware of it.

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Tracing a Renegade

Half a Century – The Wild Bunch

Look around you: the torrents of blood are being spilled so cheerfully as if it were champagne – a delirious and disturbingly accurate observation of the world of one of Dostoevsky’s characters, happens to be stereotypical and only partly applicable to Sam Peckinpah’s oeuvre, as violence in films of such an ingenious type is one of the central topics, yet not the most important one. The nonconformity of expressive individuals in transitory times and their disobedience to the modern rules that most often result in a loss – are the basis of the poetics of the melancholic Sam.

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Earth

“Earth is well known as an element and almost equally important for all of the human race, over all continents and meridians. She is ‘Mother’. We come from her and to her we will return. She is stable and constant, she is home to foundations, both symbolic and actual. She is the source of life. We plant in her, build on her, make from her.” – Marija Vrebalov

Life consists of cycles. Birth, growing up, aging, dying. A year consists of cycles, seasons, depending on where we live. A day consists of cycles. Everything in nature, both animate and inanimate, consists of five basic elements, as they are grouped by ancient cultures like the Eastern ones. These are Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire. From ancient times, the description of the elements given by different cultures, their significance, impact, effect on man and his environment, has greatly overlapped within the symbolism of each individual element.

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Departure of a Fallen Angel

Roy Batty (2016–2019)

“What we do in life, echoes in eternity.” is the most striking line in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. Its pomposity and grandeur is inevitably reminiscent of every most important character’s vocabulary in all of Scott’s films. This is, naturally, an allusion to Roy Batty, Rutger Hauer’s brilliant interpretation in the legendary Blade Runner.

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FIB CHRONICLE

“Some creators seduce and beguile but others choose to inform and affect with confrontational shock tactics…” – Win Wiacek

Graphic Novel by Nemo Balkanski

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Graphic Novel Reviews and Recommendations by WIN WIACEK

The most wonderful thing about the comics medium is the limitless ways stories and art can be combined to educate, elucidate and entertain. For every Hergé there’s a Harvey Pekar, for every Alfred Bestall a Johnny Ryan (and John Ryan too) and so on, and there are comic strips to suit literally every age and temperament.

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