PlinyTheElder

Chris Berens

Plinius the Elder

mixed media on paper
12 x 12 cm 2020

Plinius looks a bit grumpy but is intensely misunderstood while he is in fact a gentlest of creatures.

His twin Nigidius wrote about him in the first century of the Common Era: “I do not like Plinius. No one does. Plinius is thought to be a very bad omen, being as it is a funereal bird. Besides that, he lives in deserts and in terrifying, empty and inaccessible places. Its cry is a scream. If it is seen in a city, or during the day, it is a direful portent, though several cases are known of Plinius perching on private houses without fatal consequences.” This is of course a textbook example of the strategy of an evil, envious twin and is not taken seriously whatsoever.

Plinius has an allience with Accipiter the hawk, another misunderstood creature with a pungent scream, who came to his aid after this defamation. Plinius is not fond of the island of Crete. He went there once but was very soon to leave.

PLINIUS is an introvert. He is a very melancholic being. He deeply empathizes with the grieving, the heartbroken and the sad and enjoys the silence of solitude. He prefers the night-time and rarely seeks out crowded places. He keeps you company in your darkest hours. He will not ask what’s wrong, he will not tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. He will just be there, sitting calmly and silently by your side.

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