Original idea: Michael Ackzien
Title image, logo creation & information on "Water, Earth, Air and Fire": Eser Dilmen
Organizers: Michael Ackzien, Eser Dilmen & Sylvie D.
Layout: Sylvie D. & Michael Ackzien.
26 Authors:
Michael Ackzien, Javier Molina B., Anne Brigaud, Rivail ., Wolfgang Barth,
Renato Pozzoli, Helena Layzu 🙂 BD, Fátima Seehagen, Shivangi M., Eser Dilmen,
Thierry Butler, _gute75, Waldemar Seehagen, Alec Stewart, Pietro Asproni, Andy Royce,
Emmanuel Geitz, André Breton, Michel Duquesnoy, Chrysanth von Steinbuechel-Rheinwall,
Christian Barthold, Gamze Altıntaş, Lina Doenmez, Anahata ., José Bongianino, Sylvie D.
From 16 countries:
Germany, United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Italy, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Turkey,
Spain, Scotland, United States of America, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Canada.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Aer (Air)...................Aqua (Water)...................Terra (Earth)...................Ignis (Fire)
Description: Königslutter Imperial Cathedral, Obergaden, The Four Elements:
Aqua (Water), Terra (Earth), Ignis (Fire), Aer (Air),
Date: circa 1890
Date: circa 1890
Source: Companion through the Kaiserdom Königslutter, Braunschweig 2011, p. 34
Author: August von Essenwein (1831-1892); Adolf Quensen (1851-1911)
Research: Michael Ackzien
Air – the Fleeting Memory of Humankind
Since the dawn of time, it has swept over us – invisible, untouchable, yet indispensable. Air is more than a physical element: it is the breath of life, the bearer of voices, scents, and memories. In mythical antiquity, it was seen as a divine force, an unseen current that permeates the fabric of the world. Philosophies regarded it as the origin of movement, consciousness, and inspiration.
In ancient Greece, Hippocrates studied the qualities of air, speaking of “miasma” – unhealthy vapors that could carry disease, an early link between atmosphere and health. Centuries later, the image shifted: during the Industrial Revolution, air became both the fuel of progress and its victim. Smoking chimneys, steaming locomotives, and choking smog turned the skies over cities into a grey, poisonous canopy. Even in Roman times, airborne lead from smelting and industry clouded the air, long before its mental and physical toll was understood. Today, billions breathe polluted air – laced with fine dust, exhaust fumes, and industrial emissions. This invisible burden shortens lives, weakens bodies, and hangs as a silent witness over civilization.
Yet air is not only the bearer of our mistakes. It reminds us to restore balance – and opens the path toward what lies beyond the four classical elements: the fifth element, the quintessence. In many cultures, it symbolizes spirit, harmony, and the invisible thread that binds all things together. Perhaps in rediscovering it lies the key not only to healing the air, but also ourselves.
- Michael Ackzien
Quellen / References
Hippokrates:
Über Luft, Wasser und Orte (De aere aquis et locis) Miasma-Theorie:
Sources / References Hippocrates:
On Air, Water and Places (de aere aquis et locis) Miasma Theory:
Eine Studie zeigt, dass die Verwendung von Blei im Römischen Reich den IQ in ganz Europa senkte:
Roman Empire’s use of lead lowered IQ levels across Europe, study finds:
Der Große Smog von London oder der Große Smog von 1952:
The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952:
𓇢𓆸
WATER, AIR, EARTH & FIRE have no boundaries !..
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Flight into the Dusk
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Nubes y lago
"I have followed Alfred Stieglitz's motto: "It is not what I see but how I see it". Post processing is for me essential to give each photo the "how I see it" part of the saying above.”
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
The man on the bench
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Inversion weather
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
The Pulse of Life
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
"Air - an unseen wanderer, restless yet tender, weaving silence into motion.
It lifts, it bends, it frees; turning stillness into stories whispered through the grass."
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
From United States of America
🜁
Thierry Butler
The Air I Breath
The Air Around Me: The air around me is a ceaseless companion—unseen, ever-present, and essential to every walk of life. Air is a symphony of molecules, a delicate mixture that supports life itself. Though I cannot see air, I am never unaware of its touch Breathing is the most natural act, so automatic that I rarely think about it. Yet, with each breath, I am reminded of my connection to the world. The air around me is more than a passive substance; it is animated by mighty forces. Sometimes, I think of the air as a vast highway for sound. Without it, voices, music, and the rustle of leaves would be silent. So, embrace this most natural element, and live on.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
A Fleeting Breath
The subtle presence of air as a bridge between silence and life. A break in the dark clouds reveals an iridescent sky—a fleeting breath of paradise, where silence gains color—a reminder that even in the shadows, light and harmony are present.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Pure air
For the ancient Romans and Greeks, air was often associated with purity, what could be purer than children in front of soap bubbles, which are themselves filled with air?
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
In silence spun from cedar breath,
the forest floats between two worlds
each tree a spine of fog and light,
each breeze a whisper none can hold.
The sky forgets its heavy weight,
and mist becomes a quiet hymn,
where stillness moves and shadows drift,
and air reveals its secret limbs.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
"Ehécatl, god or lord of Air in Mexica cosmogony." Digital painting.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Vue sur les collines d´Atlapexco, Huasteca de l´état d´Hidalgo, Mexique.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
This work is a demonstration performed at my academy. Subject: That day, the students were tasked with creating a triptych from individual pieces, designing them individually, and assembling them.
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
"Freedom of the Air"
Acrylic painting, by Lina Doenmez
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Pran Vayu
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
From Argentina
🜁
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸 𓇢𓆸
Our friend Helena Layzu informed me that Shawn Kosel talked about our Air project today (September 9, 2025) in his stream. Here's the link:
Thank you sincerely to Shawn Kosel and to Helena Layzu!!
Congratulations to all of us!
- Sylvie
