Vladimir Martynov - Opus Prenatum (2014)

The interrelationship between consciousness and surrounding reality that takes shape in the zoneof opus prenatum is precisely the opposite of the similar interrelationship that is formed in the zoneof opus posthumum. If, in the zone of opus posthumum, consciousness perceives still existing surrounding reality as no longer existing, then, within the zone of opus prenatum, surrounding reality that no longer exists is perceived by consciousness as a new reality not yet born but clearly signifying its birth. This is a way out, this is that space in which the possibility of a beginning emerges – the beginning of a certain inconceivable novelty. That is why it is not possible to speak of an endin isolation. The very thought of an end is virtually inconceivable and absurd when divorced from the thought of the beginning. The end and the beginning represent an indissoluble dialectical and alchemical unity,in which one constantly overflows into the other and vice-versa. Indeed: where does the end endand the beginning begin? Where is the line separating beginning and end? On closer examination any reference to it becomes highly problematic. Instead, we can speak of two buffer zones, within the space of which end and beginning inter-penetrate. These buffer zones are the zone of opus posthumumand the zone of opus prenatum, connected by a certain alchemical interaction.

However, on the other hand, in this alchemical interaction, in this continuous transformation of one into another, the emergence of certain critical points is entirely possible, to which we can point and say: “This is the end” or “This is the beginning”. The presence of these points is extremely useful and even extremely salutary for us, since, without them, we would probably think that nothing at all is happening in the worldand certainly never have suspected the existence of an alchemical torrent of transformations, the delayed flow of which is perceived by our consciousness with as much difficulty as it is to focus on the movement of a clock’s hands. In our life these points fulfil the role of signals sent in order constantlyto remind us of the end, the beginning and their unbreakable bond. One such signal was unquestionably the recent sensation associated with the calendar of the ancient Mayas and while, for most people, this sensation remained just that, my own attitude towards it is the more serious the flimsier it has provedin reality. At any rate I know beyond question that the date 21 December 2012 marks the end of the time of the zone of opus posthumum and the beginning of the time of the zone of opus prenatum.