At a lunch before things kicked off, I was going in and
out of consciousness during a speech by sculptor David Smith's daughter when she dropped the most poignant bomb: that her father refused to teach drawing, disallowed coloring books (or anything within an outline) and would not permit the use of crayons.
There is often a zeitgeist that emerges
during periods
of significant cultural change — a new
consciousness that emerges
out of the shifting historical circumstances.
First, there's Geoffrey (1938), a young and naïve schoolteacher who enlists
during WWII -LRB-»... there would be, he imagined, an intense but brief struggle in Europe») only to find himself in Nazi - occupied Poland in an unspeakable situation; Billy (1859), an industrious Englishman who works his way
out of poverty and gets caught in a love triangle; Elena (2029), an Italian scientist whose ground - breaking work in the field
of human
consciousness doesn't seem to eliminate her loneliness; Jeanne (1822), a simple - minded French servant who comes to know God and embraces change; and Anya (1971), an American, Joplin-esque musician whose talent and thirst for freedom send her on a glorious yet self - destructive path.