At the end of 2014, information was reported in many media - the All-Seeing Eye will flare up over the Moscow City towers. For many, this news caused outrage, bewilderment and rejection, although it was only about the installation, timed to coincide with the release of the next Hollywood blockbuster.
International Business Center
The international business center, dubbed Moscow City, is located on Presnenskaya Embankment. Some buildings have already been built and put into operation, but work continues in many areas.
Numerous high-tech towers sparkle with a mirrored surface, and at night, brightly illuminated skyscrapers rise above the city, visible from many points in Moscow.
And it was on the roof of one of these towers that the Glow team decided to exhibit an art object called The Eye of Sauron. The site for the installation was to be the high-rise complex of the IQ-quarter complex, which has not yet been commissioned, consisting of three towers.
Why did you need such an installation?
In recent years, the release of many high-profile film premieres has been accompanied by various large-scale events designed to draw attention to the emerging picture. Airplanes are painted in the colors of the outgoing film and painted characters on them, post huge posters, create video installations on the walls of buildings. In this series, the All-Seeing Eye of Sauron, burning in the night over Moscow, looks quite logical.
The installation of this art object was timed to coincide with the release of the final part of the Hobbit movie trilogy created by Peter Jackson. This outstanding director from a small children's book created a large-scale film with a large number of special effects and battles, which must be watched on the big screen.
The hobbit and his adventures
The Hobbit is a worldwide trilogy. The action of both the book and the film takes place in the fictional magical world of Middle-earth. Here, in addition to people, elves, gnomes, evil orcs, goblins and even dragons live. And if all of these characters have repeatedly been presented in various fantastic works or computer games, then the hobbits are unusual creatures. These short men with hairy feet and habits of zealous homebody were invented by Professor Tolkien, a man who largely created the fantasy genre as such.
"The Hobbit" is a trilogy in which Bilbo Baggins becomes the main character , who, contrary to common sense, went on a dangerous journey in the company of gnomes and an old wizard. The purpose of the campaign was the Lonely Mountain, once the possession of the Dwarves, but captured by a dragon named Smaug.
As the company progressed toward the goal, more and more formidable dangers arose for the company, and in the final part of the trilogy, the main adversary was not the formidable Smaug, but the combined forces of orcs and goblins.
From another opera
Surely the reader is already wondering what role is played in the whole story of The Eye of Sauron. Paradoxically, absolutely nothing. So where did the Eye of Sauron come from? The fact is that this image is taken from another Tolkien work, also filmed by Jackson.
The plot of The Lord of the Rings is a sequel to The Hobbit. Here the main role is also given to the hobbit, only not Bilbo, but his nephew named Frodo. During his journey described in The Hobbit, Bilbo found a magic ring. And it is precisely it that becomes the driving force of the next, larger and more adult book of Tolkien.
The screen version of The Lord of the Rings was carried out in 2001-2003. She brought Peter Jackson not only the title of one of the best directors of our time, but also numerous awards, as well as significant profits. A few years after the release of this picture, also consisting of three parts, Jackson refused to shoot the prequel, the same "Hobbit", but as a result agreed.
Great mage and villain
What is the meaning of the All-Seeing Eye? The embodiment of evil in the world of Middle-earth described in The Lord of the Rings was the sorcerer and magician Sauron. He was not a man, but a powerful spirit, Maya, who took on a human form. Long before the action of both books, he was defeated and disembodied. Over time, he regained his strength, but could no longer take physical form. His incarnation was the fiery "All-Seeing Eye."
This "Eye" tirelessly watched its slaves and conquered peoples, it embodied the concentrated willpower of the sorcerer.
But even the All-Seeing Eye could not make out everything. As befits the legends, the evil was destroyed, Sauron fell and his “Eye” was destroyed along with all his magic.
The All-Seeing Eye in the film
In Jackson's painting, the created image of the Eye was a blazing eye located at the very top of the sorcerer's citadel in Mordor, the land of evil and fear. Here eternal darkness reigns, in which the “Eye” glows with a bright ominous beacon, watching everything around. This is a territory of death where everything dies and falls into decay.
In fact, Sauron was not all-seeing and omnipotent, otherwise a small group of brave representatives of different peoples of Middle-earth would not have been able to defeat him. And the "All-Seeing Eye" embodied the ability of the sorcerer to turn his attention to individual people and attract them to his side, playing on their weaknesses. The victims of the insidiousness of Sauron, turned into his obedient puppets, were many strong and proud rulers and magicians who turned away from good.
The All-Seeing Eye as an Art Object
Why was this image chosen by the creative team to create the installation on the roof of the tower? There are two reasons for this:
- This image is much more famous among fans of Tolkien, Peter Jackson and fantasy in general, as he repeatedly appeared in the mega-popular Lord of the Rings. There are no such vivid and memorable images in the new trilogy.
- A bright eye glowing in the night, regardless of context, looks extremely impressive and certainly should have attracted universal attention.
The physical embodiment of the All-Seeing Eye
The creation of this facility was supposed to be a demonstration of modern technology. It was planned to create an inflatable eye as a frame on which a video installation of the burning Eye is projected. The creation of the design was supposed to be given by GiveAR, a company specializing in the development of virtual reality objects.
According to the creators of this installation, the Eye of Sauron was supposed to appear only for a short time, and then disappear, which was to show the victory of the forces of good over evil. However, this idea was not destined to be fully realized.
But the Russian Orthodox Church is against it!
The announced action sparked a lively discussion. If fans of the book and the film reacted to the idea, basically, positively, then other opinions were divided.
The Russian Orthodox Church categorically opposed, whose representatives condemned such an object. The Russian Orthodox Church saw in this installation a demonic image. The All-Seeing Eye is a symbol of evil and oppression, the appearance of which over Moscow can bring negative consequences.
Representatives of the Moscow City Hall also did not approve of the venture. And their arguments turned out to be stronger - because the approval of the authorities is required to coordinate the installation of such facilities.
Political Background
A significant part of those who were categorically against the temporary appearance of the Eye of Sauron referred to the already negative perception of Russia by many Western countries. And the appearance of the "All-Seeing Eye" above the high-rise tower visually could turn Moscow into Mordor.
At first glance, such a judgment seems frivolous. However, everything is not so simple. The fact is that the "Lord of the Rings" was created during and immediately after the Second World War. Although Tolkien himself subsequently constantly denied these parallels, it is hard not to see in Mordor an allusion to Nazi Germany. And during the Cold War, the Soviet Union was occasionally associated with Mordor, contrasting it with a positive and noble West. Indeed, in the geography of Tolkien, the East has always been a land captured by evil, and only good forces from the West could resist it.
And now, at the time of the next confrontation between Russia and the Western states, though not so sharp and obvious, our country again claims to be the universal evil. So there is a certain reason for such a ban - there is no need to give political opponents an additional reason to accuse Russia of all sins.
In addition, the All-Seeing Eye could be associated with another famous work, Orwell's 1984. It was from there that the famous expression "Big Brother sees you." And the fiery eye, able to find any person in a huge megalopolis, could well give rise to jokes about total control in the country.
The show did not work
As a result, having received a large number of negative feedback, as well as rejection from the Moscow City Hall, the creative studio was forced to backtrack. The loud and scandalous action was canceled.
However, a loophole was found. On the wall of one of the towers of the IQ-quarter complex, albeit for a short time, a sparkling and frightening image of the Eye of Sauron still appeared. How to see him? This could not be done without the help of special tools. Smartphones and tablets capable of recognizing a QR code (a type of bar code) could see on their screens a glowing image of the "All-Seeing Eye."
Was there a boy?
It is possible that all the fears of the protesters were in vain, and in fact, no installation was planned to be erected. There is no reason to refuse the version that all this hype was a banal PR company of a company that creates similar effects of virtual and augmented reality. Indeed, thanks to the scandal, many first learned about the existence of GiveAR, which managed to attract attention so brightly.
This version is also supported by the fact that by the time the installation was refused, its physical form had not yet been created.