The Airplane - Dream and Reality

The Dream of Flight

The concept and aspiration of flight have captivated humanity since the dawn of history. Bound to the earth, humans gazed enviously at the birds soaring above, dreaming of the day they could join them and conquer the skies. Numerous attempts were made to imitate the flight of birds, from mythological tales like Icarus and Daedalus to the daring experiments of inventors throughout the ages. Yet, despite these earnest endeavors, most attempts ended in disappointment and failure. Successes were few, flights were short and unstable, and the dream of safe and efficient flight seemed further away than ever. Humanity realized that conquering the skies required a significant technological breakthrough.

False Dawns

This breakthrough arrived in the form of three remarkable inventions that promised to revolutionize the world of aviation: the hot air balloon, the airship, and the glider. Each sparked great excitement and curiosity, and it seemed that humanity had finally found the way to conquer the air. However, despite their initial promise, within a relatively short period of a few decades, these three inventions proved unsuitable for realizing the full vision. The hot air balloon was at the mercy of the winds, the airship was cumbersome and vulnerable, and the glider had limited control over its flight path. These inventions became resounding failures, leaving humanity disappointed that the technology capable of carrying masses of people into the skies had not yet been found.

The Wright Brothers' Triumph

But then, with the invention of the airplane by the Wright brothers at the beginning of the 20th century, the picture changed completely. The airplane, with its innovative design, efficient wings, and sophisticated control system, finally proved that the skies could be conquered safely and efficiently. It ushered in a new era of possibilities, revolutionizing transportation, commerce, military, and culture. Unlike the failed flying machines that preceded it, the airplane has proven to be a promising invention for over a century, continuing to evolve at a dizzying pace, from piston-engine aircraft to jet aircraft and sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles.

Taking Flight and Expanding Minds

The invention of the airplane not only fulfilled humanity's dream of flight but also opened up new possibilities for spatial thinking and perception of the world. The airplane's complete control over movement in the air fulfilled another long-held dream of humanity: the unlimited expression of perspective, the three-dimensional thinking that deepens our understanding of spatial relationships, a cognitive tool of the highest order. The ability to move freely in three-dimensional space changed the way we perceive the world and the relationships between objects within it.

Dreamers and Doers

Throughout the development of modern aviation, those involved were divided into two types: dreamers and doers. The dreamers envisioned fantastic visions of effortlessly conquering the air, imagining floating cities and fantastical flying machines. But alongside the dreamers were the doers, the engineers, inventors, and pilots who progressed step by step, experiencing failures and losses along the way. Progress in aviation was the result of a combination of bold vision and meticulous work, of wild imagination and complex engineering reality.

Aviation as Ideology or Tool

In parallel to technological development, two social and political approaches to the idea of aviation emerged: aviation as consciousness and aviation as awareness. Societies that championed aviation as consciousness saw it as a dreamlike vision, capable of uniting their underdeveloped nations and propelling them to the forefront of modernity. Aviation served as an ideological tool for shaping national consciousness and fostering pride and patriotism. Societies that championed aviation as awareness saw it merely as a means to advance the individual and society, carefully avoiding its transformation into an ideological tool. Aviation was perceived as a useful tool for transportation, commerce, and research, but not as a defining factor of national identity. This difference in approach highlighted the distinction between dictatorships and democracies in the 20th century, with dictatorships advocating aviation as consciousness and democracies advocating aviation as awareness.

Anthropomorphism:

Aviation's Third Way

Between the world of dreamers and the world of doers, between aviation as consciousness or awareness, exists a third perspective that allows us to understand the significance of aviation and its unique place in the human experience: the perspective of anthropomorphism. While dreamers aspire to transcend the limitations of physical reality and fly on the wings of imagination, and doers focus on realizing dreams through technology and development, anthropomorphism bridges the two worlds. It allows us to perceive the airplane not just as a flying machine, but as an entity with human qualities, a kind of "flying human" that fulfills the dreams of both worlds.

Holistic Experience

Aviation, as perceived from this perspective, is not just physical movement through space, but also a journey of consciousness and spirit. It allows us to experience the world from a new perspective, to rise above the limitations of everyday life, and to feel a sense of freedom and liberation. The anthropomorphism of the airplane allows us to understand aviation as a holistic experience, combining dream and reality, consciousness and action, and the human being with the world. It gives a deeper meaning to the experience of flight, transforming it into a meaningful human journey.

Enduring Power of Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is a powerful tool that enables us to understand human history. Through it, we perceive historical events as the result of human actions, decisions, and their consequences. This approach allows us to understand motives, identify with the past, take responsibility, prevent dehumanization, and understand history as a human creation. Anthropomorphism, despite being an ancient source, remains important today, especially in light of the increasing emphasis on personal development at the expense of social development, which leads to a growing need for people to rely on their immediate tangible environment and seek meaning and support in sources like anthropomorphism, as a response to the social disconnect created by technology.

The Airplane as Icarus

The airplane, with its nose resembling a head, wings spread like arms, and a rear body and tail simulating legs, becomes an anthropomorphism of the human body. This image, echoing "Jesus on the cross" or "a man spreading his wings" against the backdrop of the clouds – a central source of inspiration for anthropomorphism – evokes deep religious and spiritual associations. It reinforces the idea that aviation, as an intense and personal experience reminiscent of spiritual flight, may contribute to the rise of extremist regimes. However, it is important to remember that the rise of such regimes is influenced by many other factors, and aviation and the anthropomorphism of the airplane are only one contributing factor to this phenomenon, alongside other social, economic, and political factors.

Shared Wings of Aviation and Cinema

Feature films, like airplanes, are a clear expression of anthropomorphism. Both are technologies that allow us to experience the world in a new and powerful way, and both use anthropomorphism to create a deeper emotional experience. The airplane, in its human-like form, evokes feelings of freedom and liberation reminiscent of spiritual experiences. Cinema breathes life into characters and stories through a variety of techniques, creating imaginary worlds that feel real. Both create an illusion of reality, use movement, evoke emotions, and enhance the human experience. Cinema, in addition, turns human stories into a collective dream and uses symbols and metaphors to convey complex messages and ideas.

The Domino Effect That Led to World War I

Only ten years and 226 days separated the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903 from the outbreak of World War I, yet the connection between them runs deeper than expected. This decade, which witnessed the birth of the aviation age, was saturated with rising geopolitical tensions, extreme nationalism, arms races, and imperialist competition. These factors, coupled with a complex alliance system and recurring international crises, created fertile ground for the eruption of a global war. The assassination of the Austrian Archduke was merely the spark that ignited the flames of war already smoldering beneath the surface. The Balkan Wars, which preceded World War I by a few years, further exacerbated tensions, influenced the alliance system, and served as a "dress rehearsal" for the great conflict.

World War I erupted as a result of a "domino effect," a chain reaction of events where each event triggers the next, similar to dominoes falling one after another. Both the invention of the airplane and the invention of cinema were based on the understanding of continuous motion, and can be seen as expressions of the domino effect. In both cases, a chain of small, sequential events creates a significant outcome: the airplane depends on constant motion in the air for flight, and in cinema, a sequence of still images creates the illusion of motion and life on screen.

The domino effect that led to World War I was exacerbated by the invention of the airplane, which heightened political instability and impacted the global balance of power. The airplane influenced the military aspect, increased the potential for escalation, and altered the balance of power. Similar to the airplane, cinema also contributed to the domino effect: it reinforced nationalism and shaped public perception of war. Furthermore, both the airplane and cinema, which emerged and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, stood in stark contrast to the prevailing spirit of the era dominated by absolute monarchies. These regimes emphasized obedience, conformity, and centralized control, while the airplane and cinema symbolized freedom, independence, and critical thinking.

This connection between technology, consciousness, and war is also emphasized in Giulio Douhet's book "The Command of the Air," which predicted the central role of air power in future wars. The inspiration for writing the book stemmed from the author's participation in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911-1912. During this war, the author witnessed firsthand the aerial bombings carried out by Italian forces, a first in history. They profoundly influenced his perception of the future of warfare, which he envisioned as based on the subjugation of the civilian rear in cities through strategic bombing.

Today's drone and missile attacks, coupled with the growing use of the internet, are not merely a continuation of Douhet's theory, but also a contemporary manifestation of the enduring influence of the airplane and cinema on the nature of warfare. They underscore how technology and visual media are employed to achieve military and political objectives, and the complex challenges confronting societies grappling with these threats.

The development of man from an ape to the image of the Holy Land

 

Land of Israel with the sword of Jacob

 

Myth, formalism and semiotics

Myths are a universal and interesting cultural phenomenon. They have existed since the dawn of civilizations, and probably have the greatest perseverance, similar to the important of religions. Every culture has created mythical images, which suggests that myth is a fundamental component of human expression. Although Western culture is generally defined as scientific and secular, it also includes many active mythical contents. There are many archetypal symbols, which believers believe to have a divine origin. For example, a bird may be the "forerunner", a high place may be the "place of revelation", and a giant tree "the tree of life".

Mythological origins are central to semiotics, which is the professional field of sign language practice - the basis for brand design. In mythological legends anything is possible. This is also the feeling that a marketer of almost any product tries to instill. Marketing is a mix of products, services and ideas. The marketer seeks measurable results, as an answer to every consumer's search for meaning in modern life.

For the semiotician, any simple object may have a symbolic meaning. Such symbols are, for example, Sigmund Freud's cigar, Charlie Chaplin's walking stick, and Michael Jackson's glove. The symbols can be exchanged in the free market. Despite this, they are endowed with a multiplicity of meaning, and what for one person is in the nature of "reality", for the other is in the nature of "imagination". Barter is conducted according to clear rules of the game. The domain of symbols is never higher than the domain of products, and there is always a product attached to the symbol, otherwise the symbol is not valid. The airplane became by the propaganda artists an object of symbolic significance of the highest degree.

Humans live by the stories they hear and experience throughout their lives. These stories are steeped in common symbols and myths, and involve riddles and answers. They showcase the human ethos, and so do the commercials. The cinematic plot is an expression of this. The cinematic or advertising story is multidimensional, and is integrated into a system of matching symbols, resulting from behavior, myth, tradition, and the like, in the lives of viewers and consumers. The purpose is of creating an integrated narrative in all popular culture.

Because the myths express central cultural values, they appear in all media and cultural channels, both mass and elitist. Myths exist in the world of advertising, propaganda and also in the world of films. Cinema is a place where the use of myths is gaining ground, and incorporating myths into feature films is a major phenomenon. The Hollywood studio film is a product that many people share in the production process. Hence, similar to the myth, it turns to as broad a common denominator as possible.

In the twentieth century, as human society became more modern, technological, and complex, so did the need to use myths in popular culture to define the role of each person in the masses. Cinema is a connection between reality and imagination, and offers a space for transition between them. It is a total art, combining many fields of art, and many movie stars have also become role models. Movie heroes belong to the "superhero" category, which is one of the most important archetypes in human culture. They are at the top along with the archetype of the "family" in its extended definition, as a group of people with close ties.

The seismic change in the political structures of post-World War I Europe spawned the fascist movements and regimes, built on the principles of mythical modernity. Mythical modernity was based on an aspiration for advanced technology, using belief and archetypal conditioning for its application, rather than the enlightened mind. The desire for a mythical fascist order developed during the war. The events of the war, the fall of the dynasties and the political upheavals were the most visible result of a rupture in the old order, and gave rise to fascism.

An influential German thinker was Ernest Junger. Junger, the decorated combat soldier who became an influential philosopher of the Nazi movement, clearly recognized the shocks around him, and preached a new civilian reality, taking an example from the war. Junger described the war in hygienic terms: war is an end in itself, it is the ideal existential situation. The war created a new kind of human being, a new race of warriors who adopted an ethos of military masculinity, discipline, power and heroism, and a fusion of man and machine. Civilian life is a continuation of the war in other ways. Technological and political warfare continues in them and with it human forging intensifies.

The clear symbol of mythical totalitarian modernism in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy was the airplane. The linguistic symbols and metaphors associated with aviation discourse, its perception and interpretation, are many, and the sources that can be relied on in this context are very numerous. They include important cultural events, artwork, books, magazines, propaganda products and more. It was not the aviation itself, but its connections, not the pilot himself, but the concepts involved, that were the focus of attention. They served as a means of revolutionary liberation from the burden of the past.

The social agenda, which has been the focus of attention in fascist regimes, is clarified through the narrative of aviation heroes, and through the vision of the new man that fascism has tried to make a reality through an anthropological revolution. The protagonists were models and prototypes that citizens were required to use in order to shape their lives. The norms and values ​​that the media published as embodied in those heroes permeated the social reality and the world was understood according to their register.

The airplane and the pilot were totems, in the fullest sense of the word of icons with archetypal characteristics. They reflected the desire for order, and they were the epitome of modernity. The spiritual reciprocity between fascism and aviation was unequivocal. It has created mythical modernity, as opposed to liberal modernity.

This worldview fits into the formalist film style, in which directors are interested in expressive and subjective re-creation of their experiences of reality, rather than the way others perceive it. In formalist films one can find a high degree of manipulation, a re-design of reality. Formalist cinema tends to emphasize form, technique, and style of expression.

There is a parallel between marketing characters with the goal of becoming celebrities and states marketing, with the goal of making them more attractive in the international community. Specifically, the image of political leaders is the result of intense professional investment, measured by the field of consumer product marketing as brands. Hitler was an icon in the international community, as was Nazi Germany, which became a brand. The state as a brand exists for the purposes of domestic and foreign policy.

Roland Barth, one of the forefathers of semiotics, examined images through the analysis of the messages they contain, in order to know to what extent visual images create an ideological worldview. Key concepts in the analysis are the "signifier" and the "marked". The "signifier" is what we see, hear, feel. "Marked" is the meaning we derive from the signifier. For example, photography is perceived by us as a reality, but it has an ideological and cultural construction. A photograph of a polished soldier of local descent, against the backdrop of the flag of his country's colonial power, reflects his loyalty and identity which may not actually exist.

Paris Domes - Essay on the Binaric Space in the Parisian Sphere

Paris Domes

 

We were born and raised in cities

in them we breathe and travel

there is nothing inhuman in the city

except for the two of us sometimes

In the heart of the city flows the river Seine

like a silver snake twist and plain

It is a pair in cities everywhere

the full circle and the line of fair

Dialectics takes place

between station and road as circle and line

the square or dome are for peace of mind

and a plot unfold in the alley and boulevard

This design is a key

for everything that exists in the city

a circle or line dominate the space

as in the letters of the alphabet

A central urban circle is the dome

built on top public and state buildings

an important question for the tourist is

which dome to first visit

By the river you can see glass domes

of a huge structure in metal frame

it host important exhibitions

of art, fashion, cars and fairs

The dome most striking of them all

is the cathedral in white color

at the top of Montmartre the mount of arts 

where people for their portraits drawing lust

This dome seems to float in the sky

hovering over the greater city sphere

inside there is a huge fresco of Jesus 

spreading his arms as an airplane

The decorated dome is reminiscent

of invention older then two centuries

which gave Paris premiere

and the hot air balloon is its name

The dome express a view

of the sky is a core 

an inspiration for all mankind

regardless of religion or roots

Another magnificent and large dome

is that of the Opera Hall 

decorated with soul paintings

of people for compassion longing

In Lafayette Gallery department store

there is a huge and colorful dome

it is like in a palace or church 

and give inspiration to the place

Napoleon’s tomb dome

tower on top of all with pride 

It became a symbol 

for France in the first class

On the left bank of the River Seine

is the  impressive Pantheon Hall

with abstract dome and decorations

a shrine for French spiritual giants

Chatelet is a huge metro station

with a transparent glass ceiling

the amount of people passing through

is enormous inconceivably

Paris like any metropolis 

grow on major traffic arteries

the museums are designed the same

for tours along long hallways

The avenues are long and wide

the whole metropolis they glorify

champs Elysees sing in chord

between the Victory Gate and Concord 

Near the historic Bastille Square

there is a long and ancient aqueduct

which has become a green promenade

symbol of how modern France revitalize

Arriving to Paris is through endless tunnel

starting at the airport

it includes many parts

of terminals and transportation passages

The building which symbolize this tunnel 

is the municipal library with the tubes 

in them you ascend in escalators

to the reading halls on all floors

Once you exit the tunnel

Paris unfold in all its glory

with occupants of coffee shops

all along every vacant sidewalk

The square is like macaroon cookie

complicated and difficult to prepare

the bread baguette is like the street

popular and simple to treat and eat

Many Africans live in Paris

who are looking for original content

a reality of a futuristic experiment

based on their digital orientation

Paris is in need for urban renewal

which will contain its suburban sprawl

without it its center is decaying

and the suburbs become negative

Like photography the modern city does not 

reflect human reality correctly

visual appearance is a cheap attitude

insulting the magnitude of history

The colorful Pride Parade is an example

of how human spirit in the city prevail

a world of people participate in it

enriching presence of Paris

Paris preserve its uniqueness

with punctuation in every corner

people are striving to reach it

and it will stay in the peak

The art of local street paintings

is an excellent demonstration of creation

original expressions on the walls

are imaginary treasure maps for all

From its start the city has been personified

as expression of planning and medicine

created for a healthy environment

to embody sights and mind

Chief destination for the tourists

are the great museums

in which many walls are decorated

with Impressionist masterpieces

 

The modern city is a broad subject

foundation of society and creativity

but it is experienced as an image

and is hooked to its bright lights

Man lives in his spatial world 

far more than in his time 

and In-Out are like Yes-No

to define all that is alive

Anthropomorphic maps of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages are the thousand years between the collapse of the Roman Empire, in the 5th century AD, and the era of discoveries in the 16th century. During that long period, people were confined to cities, castles and monasteries, with a sense of loss for the destroyed world. The roads were destroyed and degenerated, the traffic was very limited, and with it the voyages of geographical discovery were canceled.

In the Middle Ages, due to the general decline in the development of civilizations in the West, the cognitive, imaginary, abstract, and anthropomprphic maps became the main cartographic works. They were based on books and maps from the Classical period that survived after the collapse of the Roman Empire. But because of the dangers on the roads, the scholars, gathered in their homes, tried to imagine what the world outside the walls was, in order to create a cognitive tool that would enable them to recalculate their course.

Science became concentrated in the hands of the Church, which sought to shape a worldview in the spirit of faith. For about a thousand years, the maps became a reflection of the Christian worldview, and had distinct characteristics of sacred geometry. This does not mean that the maps were purely cognitive. Over the years, as the general security situation improved, many passengers returned with travel stories, and with the level of education increased, the ability to draw the land in a much more detailed and precise manner also developed.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, a conceptual, religious, abstract and symmetrical world map, known as the T-O map, was estabblished as a concept, among scholars and in popular culture.

T-O maps are based on the map of the world in the form of a skull by Herodotus, but are an abstraction. Their high level of abstraction conveys a message according to which the world is built as a Christian religious idea.

In these maps, the world is a circle - O, divided into two thick lines in the form of T. The Land of Israel at the intersection of the lines. The continent of Asia is all the upper half. The continents of Africa and Europe are in the lower half, right and left. The continents are separated by the T shape, which represent the Mediterranean Sea in the center, and the Black Sea and the Red Sea, and the Nile and Don rivers, on either side.

The classic T-O map was established as the map of the Christian world by Isidore of Seville, the last of the fathers of the Catholic Church, in the 7th century AD. He described it in a 20-volume encyclopaedia that he wrote, which was a collection of all the known knowledge until his time, which was almost entirely from the classical period.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the basic and small schematic T-O maps, which were primitive, were developed into detailed giant maps, drawn with sophisticated techniques. The basic idea in all of them is one: cartographers were sure about the idea that Jesus Christ is also the formal visual image that controls the life of this world. The map of the world, following this idea, was round and neatly divided by the cross. Saints and monsters were painted in different places in the spirit of faith. Moreover, Jerusalem, the city of the Christian Messiah, has become the center of the map, and its central theme. Jerusalem, too was in a T-O shape.

The development of the T-O map in European culture through the ages through various maps:

The Mediterranean, illustrated on the T-O map at the heart of the world, had an anthropomorphic interpretation in the 7th century Merovingian map, in which it is portrayed as a fetus, whose parents, the mother Europe and the father Africa, embrace it on the left and right.

Atlas Beatus includes about a dozen T-O maps, drawn up to the 13th century. The Atlas is named after a Spanish monk from the 8th century who created a prototype of the map, which tried to be true to reality, with the landscape having some natural lines.

In 1234 Ebstorf map was created. This is a huge map, divided into 30 sheets, in a total size of about 3.5 meters by 3.5 meters. The map is very detailed and shows every important geographical element that was known at the time. The map is illustrated in the spirit of the period: illustrations of real places and creatures, alongside illustrations of imaginary places and creatures, combined with written descriptions. Small illustrations of Jesus Christ head, hands and feet, in the sides of the map, are meant to declare that this map has an attempt to combine the details of reality with the abstract and imaginary world.

The T-O map was a source of inspiration for the Crusades. The Crusades, in the 11-13, were also the major geographical journeys of the Middle Ages. They began throughout the European continent, and crossed the eastern Mediterranean towards the Land of Israel. They were probably done without maps, along familiar routes. The journeys were based, in their last section, on Mediterranean-friendly cities, mainly of the Venetian Empire.

The central mapping subject in the Middle Ages in Europe was the city, surrounded by a wall. Civilization was concentrated mainly in citiy-states, which competed against others, therefore meticulously mapped. Many city maps show two similar characteristics:

A. Fortified wall which surrounds the city in a circle, near a sea or a river.

B. The city is crossed by two avenues, along and across.

These maps continued to be a central cartographic subject in the 16th to 18th centuries. The maps shaped the worldview of their citizens according to Christianity, thanks to their similarity to the T-O map.

The invention of the compass, and the beginning of its use in the 11th century, created a significant turning point in European cartography. The compass strongly encouraged the use of ships at sea, so cartographic attention shifted westward toward Britain, Scandinavia, and the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, much larger sailing ships were developed in Europe, which allowed the crossing of oceans. Maritime transportation has become the focus of attention, and with it the lives of seafarers.

O-T is the schema of a sailboat, where the O is the hull and the T is the sail.

In Christian Europe of the Middle Ages, the T-O form became dominant intellectual image of: God, the world, the city, the ship, and man.

In the Middle Ages, the Eastern civilizations, the Muslims and the Chinese, flourished. There were scholars in all fields. The science of cartography also flourished, but it did not approach the level reached in classical Greece.

The Arabs, who were traders based in the Arabian Peninsula, drew maps of the world based primarily on the T-O concept, plus countries on the Indian Ocean shores. Mecca is at the center of the Muslim maps.

The shape of the crescent, the symbol of the Arab world, is prominent in the curved map lines.

On the connection between China and Europe we know mainly through the journeys made by Marco Polo, in the second half of the 13th century. He came to China and spent a lot of time with the emperor. His book, "The Book of the Venetian Marco Polo: On the Kingdoms and Miracles of the East," was published in Europe and created brainstormings. The geographers became eager to find the maritime route to China. The Chinese, based on the shape of the mandala, sketched the world with China and the Yangtze River in its center, and Europe on its western border, back in the 2nd century BC. At the same time, the Chinese also had accurate geographical maps, which showed rivers, mountains, roads and cities.

At the end of the Middle Ages, characterized by the struggle between the monarchy and the Church, education and science gradually became stronger, and the maps became more objective, to a great extent similar to reality. However, T-O remained in use even in the 16th century. 

The most striking example is a map of the world in this style that Christopher Columbus drew for the journey in which he discovered America, at the end of the 15th century. He embarked on a journey from the assumption that the world is a circle of the three continents known in his days, surrounded by water. Columbus thought that if he will  continue sailing west, he would eventually reach India, which was in the east of his map.

.Merovingian map of the 7th century
T-O primitive map, with the Mediterranean shaped as a fetus

Schematic T-O map from the Encyclopedia

 of Isidore of Seville

An elegant T-O map, from Isidore of Seville of the 7th century

A typical Arab T-O map of the Middle Ages, by Ibn al-Wardi, 

with curved lines. Indian Subcontinent is at the bottom right.

T-O maps of the 13th century  from Atlas of Beatus,

which tries to combine abstract world view with reality

Ebstorf map, a huge and detailed T-O map 

from the 13th century

Top part of Ebstorf map - Illustrations of Paradise

Canistris map, from the 14th century, 

shows Europe and Africa as spouses

Christopher Columbus world map, from the end of the 15th century, is a classic T-O map

T-O boat shape