# Nietzsche vs God > [!INFO] Surfacing > **Author**: Nikita Stulikov > **Teacher**: Leon Johnson > **Challenge**: Designing surface for a shield that God uses to defend from Nietzsche > **See also**: [[NEPOBJEDIVI/NARRATIVE/Characters/Dancing Stars|Dancing Stars]], [[NEPOBJEDIVI/GAME DESIGN/Nancy Drew -- Dread of Time|Nancy Drew -- Dread of Time]] | Front | Back | Side | | --------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/Screenshot_front.png]] | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/Screenshot_back.png]] | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/Screenshot_side.png]] | ## Design Decisions ### Symbolism **Golden dragon** "*Three metamorphoses of the spirit do I designate to you: how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child*", writes Nietzsche. Camel takes the weight of old values on its back until it turns into a lion, who fights a dragon covered in **golden scales**. "*The values of a thousand years glitter on those scales, and thus speaketh the mightiest of all dragons: 'All the values of things -- glitter on me. All values have already been created, and all created values -- do I represent'*". Religion, primarily Christianity, is an old value for Nietzsche. To kill a god, is to refuse the value of a religious dogma. When the dragon is defeated, the lion turns into a child who creates new values. **Tears** The dragon weeps. Nietzsche associates religion with **sorrow** because it robs life from silly, idiotic happiness, and replaces it with sublime guilt and penitence: the value of life is in the afterlife (see further in *Fortunate Isles*). Nietzsche calls religious labourers, "the prophets of death". His alternative is "gay science" (joyful wisdom). That is philosophy, a science of good living. Religion taught people to feel guilt and sorrow, and Nietzsche argues that human has yet to learn happiness. "*With upraised breast, and like those who draw in their breath: thus did he stand, the sublime one, and in silence <...> Far too long did he sit in the shade; the cheeks of the penitent of the spirit became pale; he almost starved on his expectations. Contempt is still in his eye, and loathing hideth in his mouth. To be sure, he now resteth, but he hath not yet taken rest in the sunshine.*" - Nietzsche F., "The Sublime Ones" **Fortunate Isles** [Fortunate Isles](https://nepobjedivi.website/FortunateIsles#Fortunate+Isles) (originally an Ancient Greek mythos), is a common trope in Friedrich Nietzsche that refers to unrealistic pursuits -- the paradise, the city of god (St. Augustin), etc. "Fourtunate Isles" are painted at the back of the shield, facing the wielder to **remind them what they're standing for**. At the same time, Fortunate Isles **obscure the wielder's view**. Nietzsche argues that religion shifts people’s focus from life to the afterlife. That is, religion obscures the most real thing people have with unrealistic pursuits ("the prophecy of death", see *Tears*). The depiction of the Isles features a palm that transform into the word "**Time**". [[NEPOBJEDIVI/GAME DESIGN/Nancy Drew -- Dread of Time|Time makes life, and time ends it]]. This word disrupts the eye-flow suggesting that the island is not just an island. To make the picture more disquiet, I added a **god's eye** that observes the flow and the growth of time. **Weight** I chose **bronze** as a basic material for the shield to make it heavier and thereby represent the weight of a religious burden. Bronze is a solid enough material for a shield, and it's more valuable and heavy than iron. God is old, and the bronze turned green. **Arrows of longing** This shield is a [targe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targe), that is a shield designed to **deflect arrows**. There's a famous Nietzsche's quote: "*human is a rope, tied between beast and overhuman*". It is usually misinterpreted in an evolutionary sense: human is destined to evolve into an overhuman. Another line from "Zarathustra" hints toward a possibly more accurate conceptual understanding: "*human in an arrow of longing toward the overhuman*". The overhuman evokes sorrow much like death does: both mark an insurmountable limit. An arrow never reaches its target: it aims toward a mirage on the horizon of human existence. The targe shield **protects from the arrows of longing**. ## Maps | Roughness | Smoothness | | ----------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/GS_Roughness.png]] | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/Smoothness.png]] | | **Height** | **Normal** | | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/HeightMap.png]] | ![[KITS/TOYS/NietzscheShield/Normal.png]] | ## Reference - Nietzsche F. (1882) "The Gay Science" - Nietzsche F. (1883) "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"