Day 3. Levon’s Cave

On Google and Yandex maps.

Going down:

Looking around:

Depth: 28 meters.

If we knew what this was, we’d still not know what this was. Strange. Very strange.

A man named Levon started digging a cellar and hit solid rock (well, he was chiseling through softer rock). He tried digging around to find soil, but couldn’t find any.

Then he had a vision telling him to dig a big cave. So Levon started digging.

And he worked every day for 23 years.

He told his friends, “I’ll have a wine cellar here — I’ll treat you to wine.” And he told his family, “Be patient, it has to be this way.”

And then came the day when Levon carried out his last bucket of stones. A truck came and took the last load away.

That same day, Levon died in that very last truck with the stones.

Now Levon’s family gives tours here and tells the story of their father.

Going up:

Anton: “Ok.” Meaning — he liked it.

My take? It’s an example of titanic effort without meaning. I look at it as a designer. Let’s see the result. Aesthetically — crude. Engineering-wise — uninteresting. Artistically — meaningless.

If it had artistic or engineering value — if there were some interesting discoveries in it — maybe. But there’s nothing here besides 23 years of one man’s labor.

If it had been made, say, 4000 years before our era — maybe it’d be fascinating. But it’s from the 21st century.

The result is what matters. The process can be as complex and massive as you want — but if the outcome’s bad, nobody cares.

18 August 2024