L’Artiste was still wearing his unique tunic. He must have copyrighted his appearance as I haven’t seen any other puppets taking up the fad.
When L’Artiste sat down, Devil shuffled the cards to make us believe the questions are random, but honestly, when you’ve heard today’s questions one wonders if Devil rigged it. Isn’t it just a tad suspicious that L’Artiste, of all candidates, got the two questions posted by German artist Jürgen (or was it Buchalov?). But then does it really matter? This round is an exercise about how fast the candidates can think on their feet and finding out more about their personalities.
The first question didn’t go down too well though. Devil read out:
1. Where do you want to be in five years’ time?
As soon as the question was read out, L’Artiste jumped up from his seat shouting indignantly. “What sort of question is that?… Where do you want to be in five years’ time?” He shook his head while pacing up and down. “I am not in a job interview here, am I? How dare you ask me this middle management crap! I am an artist and if I am still alive in five years time, of course I want to be an artist. It doesn’t mean I will still do the same thing as I do today. Who knows what my art will be!” He stopped pacing and smiled at Devil “C’mon, Devil, Challenge me! Give me a question with some beef!”
Devil calmly explained again that all the questions were random before reading out the remaining two;
2. What are the three most beautiful things for a puppet?
3. What do you think about ‘Eden’, the special place humans are longing for?
L’Artiste was obviously a little happier with these and remained seated for the rest of the session.
“The second question, what are the three most beautiful things for a puppet? I can only answer from my personal perspective, as we are all different. Number 1 on my personal list is our very close-knit and supportive network. Number 2 is the mutual respect we have for each other and our ability to kiss and make up. We do have our fights, but they never last terribly long. Number 3 is the space we have from each other. If we need to we can have some time out. We can virtually drop of the planet, but come back some time later when we are ready and are welcomed back with open arms.” He paused for a moment nodding slightly a couple of times, then he continued: “Let me summarise this. The three most beautiful things for a puppet are ONE: Friendship, TWO: Friendship and THREE: Friendship. No question about it!”
“The third question is right down my alley, isn’t it? I have thought about it a lot. Ever since I first saw Hieronymus Bosch’s painting ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’ as a little whipper snapper.” He turned to Devil and said with a little wink: “But I can assure you Devil, it wasn’t Eden that attracted me to this painting.”
“Does Eden exist, or doesn’t it? If it really existed, we Dedes certainly would be in it. But let’s be realistic, ‘Eden’, ‘Paradise’, ‘Arcadia’, every culture has such a place, different only in name. They are first and foremost places of harmony. Unfortunately, true harmony is a figment of the imagination. As soon as two people, or puppets for that matter, are in the same place there is potential for dissonance. We Dedes certainly strive for harmony and a good place to live, but I don’t think we will ever achieve it. I strongly believe the reason for our existence is to strive and do our best! After all we are only Dedes, just as humans are only human!
What do you think about L’Artiste’s answers?
dedepuppets 
I am still unable to understand why did he get angry over the first question…
He is an artist… He goes with the flow! I think he really over-reacted. He took offence as he thought the question is typical for a Human Resources Department in a large company. He does not want to have anything to do with big corporates. He is a free spirit.
Good for L’Artiste even if he reacted a tad too strongly. His first question did sound like an HR question and who wants to be a part of something that only uses half their brains and soul anyway? I suspect at this moment that he doesn’t want to win, but likes to present himself as an individual and not be ignored or forgotten. He appreciates the process and moment given to him. Hmm…I don’t think I ever sent a comment where today and tomorrow were simultaneous!
Yes, he is in the competition for the experience and the process. Personally I think he would be rather embarrassed should he win.
Re: Tomorrow is today, I guess that is as close as we can get time-travelling. Or try flying from Auckland to Raratonga (preferably on your birthday) and you can start celebrating again.
It’s a strange feeling craving the attention, but being embarrassed by it when it arrives.
This is very well said…. I can relate to that :)
Endlich traut sich mal jemand sich gegen diese blöde Frage Nr. 1 aufzulehnen. Ich sehe mich in 5 Jahren z. B. noch immer gerne am Sofa liegen!
Da stimme ich doch voll zu.