Rilke’s Razor
Rilke’s Razor, Jung’s version
1990
razor, velvet, wood, brass, mirror
10 x 13 x 2 inches
Rilke’s Razor was directly inspired by two passages from the Duino Elegies and by Archaic Torso of Apollo. The Archaic Torso poem brings into association Rilke’s love of classical Greek sculpture. The famous last line “you must change your life,” gives some credibility to the power of art.
from the First Elegy translated by David Young:
Beauty is only
the first touch of terror
we can still bear
and it awes us so much
because it so coolly
disdains to destroy us.
from the Second Elegy:
Creation’s spoiled darlings
among the first to be perfect
a chain of mountains
peaks and ridges
red in the morning light
of all creation
the blossoming doghead’s pollen
joints of pure light
corridors
staircases
thrones
pockets of essence
ecstasy shields
tumultuous storms
of delightful feelings
then suddenly
separate
mirrors
gathering the beauty
that streamed away from them
back to their own faces again.