“Wherever the Dionysian prevailed, the Apollonian was checked and destroyed.” Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy

This animation is inspired by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche’s book The Birth of Tragedy, and specifically his ideas on Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo is the God of reason and rationality—of the intellect and thought. Dionysus is the god of the irrational and chaos—of emotions and instincts. Nietzsche establishes his aesthetics theories from the archetypes of Apollo (order) and Dionysus (passion) and offers, specifically that art is based on polarities and tensions rather than delight and imitation. The main character in this animation is a sculptress who travels through Apollonian and Dionysian states.