Just liked this a lot
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Saturday, January 2, 2010
A Little Culture for the New Decade
"we've all lost our way trying to feel good" by Simon Birch
Just liked this a lot
Just liked this a lot
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
All the Pretty Colors...
This site is awesome:
http://labs.ideeinc.com/multicolr
You can choose up to 10 colors and it will find photographs from Flickr's "Creative Commons" (i.e. public domain photos) that are saturated in those colors - so you can essentially make your own photomosaic. It's incredible.
also - check out my new desktop background - take a good look before you blow it up into the bigger version:
http://labs.ideeinc.com/multicolr
You can choose up to 10 colors and it will find photographs from Flickr's "Creative Commons" (i.e. public domain photos) that are saturated in those colors - so you can essentially make your own photomosaic. It's incredible.
also - check out my new desktop background - take a good look before you blow it up into the bigger version:
Monday, September 17, 2007
I Love this Tree...
It is such a gorgeous moment. I want this piece on canvas, stretched at least to 5'x 5' and hanging in my room.
I woke this morning to the sound of some serious slamming. I have no idea what the fuck it was, as the noise had been coming from outside. I rushed over to the window, after fighting my way out from underneath my futon cover that I had apparently decided to use as a blanket, looked out and saw.....nothing. I wish there had been something sweet going on out there. As it stands, I am awake way the hell before I wanted to and have no idea if I am going to be able to get back to sleep.
Today is a work day. I have to remember to get the rest of my schedule when I go in. I would have totally remembered what it was if I had not walked to work a little drunk to get my schedule. That is the kind of time that you just do one thing really quick and then get the fuck out.
No idea if I am making much sense, but I could not care less.
FUCK! I AM SOOO TIRED RIGHT NOW!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
What is Art?
Holy shit, I'm really going there...
Trust me, you get a lot of time to think about weird things like this when you have no one around, no money, and no car. True story. So if this turns out anything like I hope it will, get ready for quite a bit of philosophy...
This train of thought begins with somewhat of an identity crisis I've been having recently. In addition to the fact that I don't think I'm happy with my life as a homosexual (whole different story there, but worth mentioning in this context), I've been having real issues with my decision for higher education. Because I've examined myself, and I truly believe that what I desire is to create art, and I do not think I am capable of doing so to the extent that I would like.
Having made that statement, I don't want it to color the rest of my writing. I am happy with my talents as a musician, and the success I have achieved. But this is something different.
I consider myself to be not an artist, but an interpreter. Art, in my mind, is something you must create. I listen to my favorite music groups and realize that I would trade just about anything to have that level of creativity - my brief forays into composing and writing have been mostly fruitless, and painfully derivative of the things I already know. I am intelligent, and able to analyze everything I see, and hear, and take in, but my ingenuity stops there.
Besides my friends and family, I have only been able to find one aspect of life that I consider to be a source of support, and that is music. It is difficult for me to describe with any sense of scope the way I feel when I hear music I enjoy. Feelings of manic euphoria that make it impossible to keep from grinning, and moving to the rhythm. Unexpected eroticism that seems almost primal in its nature. Pyrotechnic bursts of color that seem to be exploding somewhere in my head. Rushes of emotion so intense that I find myself choking back tears for no other reason than the way one sound leads into another. I have often told friends that the only reason why I still use drugs is the way in which my perception of time is slowed down, so that I feel like I can listen for every tiny nuance that makes the music so important to me.
Based on my upbringing and genetics, it is not surprising to me that musical arts should be the form with which I identify most strongly. But I would imagine that the same would be the case for someone who was inclined more toward the visual arts or language arts (or any other - I thought those were the three most generalized descriptions of art forms).
But what is art?
What is it about what I hear that moves me in the way that it does? What is it about any piece of art that moves people in the way that it does? And more interestingly, what is it that causes us to react so completely differently to the same work?
I do not profess to appreciate every song, and every painting, and every photograph, and every novel, and sculpture, and play, and opera, and poem (the list goes on and on). I think that it is in our nature as human beings to judge that which does not speak to us. Consider, for instance, how quick we are to vehemently denounce a whole genre that we do not enjoy, and how offensive it can be when someone calls a favorite into question. I'm not saying it's something that (typically) breaks up a friendship, but think of the way you felt the last time someone said they thought your favorite book was trash, or your favorite band was terrible. It is almost as if it calls a portion of our being into question - as if someone is telling us that the things we feel or the facts in life that we are so certain of are incorrect. Conversely, what substance does a piece of art have if we do not feel anything when we see, hear or read it? Art is only worth what we make of it - the instant that someone says that they believe something is inspired, it becomes so, and as long as there is one person in the span of time who ever thought that, it should be impossible for anyone to ever strip it of that description.
I have a real issue with reviewers. I know that there definitely is a fine line between something that is well written and something that is not - and I think the artist knows it at the time as well, whether a masterpiece or not. However, what right does anyone have to say that they believe that a piece of art is "good" or "bad". Certainly, they can say if they like it or not, and reasons why, but who would dare to be so bold as to profess that they know better than the artist him or herself.
I believe that art is linked with the soul, for lack of a better term. The moments that we find beauty in are more than mere opinions based on our experiences. It is like a sixth sense, as tangible to us as the smells, and sights, and tastes we experience on a daily basis. It is something we know without question, but are unable to explain why.
I would make a request here for anyone who reads this to be slow to judge someone based on their artistic taste. As we proved here a few months ago, even the four of us, being best of friends, have startlingly different top ten artist lists (for music, that is). Remember that the same thing that speaks to your emotion so clearly speaks to others as well.
Trust me, you get a lot of time to think about weird things like this when you have no one around, no money, and no car. True story. So if this turns out anything like I hope it will, get ready for quite a bit of philosophy...
This train of thought begins with somewhat of an identity crisis I've been having recently. In addition to the fact that I don't think I'm happy with my life as a homosexual (whole different story there, but worth mentioning in this context), I've been having real issues with my decision for higher education. Because I've examined myself, and I truly believe that what I desire is to create art, and I do not think I am capable of doing so to the extent that I would like.
Having made that statement, I don't want it to color the rest of my writing. I am happy with my talents as a musician, and the success I have achieved. But this is something different.
I consider myself to be not an artist, but an interpreter. Art, in my mind, is something you must create. I listen to my favorite music groups and realize that I would trade just about anything to have that level of creativity - my brief forays into composing and writing have been mostly fruitless, and painfully derivative of the things I already know. I am intelligent, and able to analyze everything I see, and hear, and take in, but my ingenuity stops there.
Besides my friends and family, I have only been able to find one aspect of life that I consider to be a source of support, and that is music. It is difficult for me to describe with any sense of scope the way I feel when I hear music I enjoy. Feelings of manic euphoria that make it impossible to keep from grinning, and moving to the rhythm. Unexpected eroticism that seems almost primal in its nature. Pyrotechnic bursts of color that seem to be exploding somewhere in my head. Rushes of emotion so intense that I find myself choking back tears for no other reason than the way one sound leads into another. I have often told friends that the only reason why I still use drugs is the way in which my perception of time is slowed down, so that I feel like I can listen for every tiny nuance that makes the music so important to me.
Based on my upbringing and genetics, it is not surprising to me that musical arts should be the form with which I identify most strongly. But I would imagine that the same would be the case for someone who was inclined more toward the visual arts or language arts (or any other - I thought those were the three most generalized descriptions of art forms).
But what is art?
What is it about what I hear that moves me in the way that it does? What is it about any piece of art that moves people in the way that it does? And more interestingly, what is it that causes us to react so completely differently to the same work?
I do not profess to appreciate every song, and every painting, and every photograph, and every novel, and sculpture, and play, and opera, and poem (the list goes on and on). I think that it is in our nature as human beings to judge that which does not speak to us. Consider, for instance, how quick we are to vehemently denounce a whole genre that we do not enjoy, and how offensive it can be when someone calls a favorite into question. I'm not saying it's something that (typically) breaks up a friendship, but think of the way you felt the last time someone said they thought your favorite book was trash, or your favorite band was terrible. It is almost as if it calls a portion of our being into question - as if someone is telling us that the things we feel or the facts in life that we are so certain of are incorrect. Conversely, what substance does a piece of art have if we do not feel anything when we see, hear or read it? Art is only worth what we make of it - the instant that someone says that they believe something is inspired, it becomes so, and as long as there is one person in the span of time who ever thought that, it should be impossible for anyone to ever strip it of that description.
I have a real issue with reviewers. I know that there definitely is a fine line between something that is well written and something that is not - and I think the artist knows it at the time as well, whether a masterpiece or not. However, what right does anyone have to say that they believe that a piece of art is "good" or "bad". Certainly, they can say if they like it or not, and reasons why, but who would dare to be so bold as to profess that they know better than the artist him or herself.
I believe that art is linked with the soul, for lack of a better term. The moments that we find beauty in are more than mere opinions based on our experiences. It is like a sixth sense, as tangible to us as the smells, and sights, and tastes we experience on a daily basis. It is something we know without question, but are unable to explain why.
I would make a request here for anyone who reads this to be slow to judge someone based on their artistic taste. As we proved here a few months ago, even the four of us, being best of friends, have startlingly different top ten artist lists (for music, that is). Remember that the same thing that speaks to your emotion so clearly speaks to others as well.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Some More Thoughts on Hollywood Trends
I'm not going to start this with a flowery introduction - read Kiznox's Voltron post for an introduction.
It's a pretty scary time to be alive right now. I know that sounds cliche, and maybe it is an unoriginal thought, but considering people are finally acknowledging global warming is a real issue (16 straight days over 90 degrees in Michigan, arctic animals' depleting habitats, tornadoes in NYC, etc.) and seeing as how most of the world is either impoverished, at war with each other, or both, life as we know it has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Actually let me rephrase that - our perception of the world has taken a turn for the worse now that we're finally realizing what's happening to our planet. The following franchises/novels/comics/whatever else have recently been or soon will be turned into technologically advanced films:
Transformers
Voltron
Spiderman
Superman
Fantastic Four
Bridge to Terabithia
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lord of the Rings
The Golden Compass
The Dark is Rising
X-Men
There are many others, but are you noticing a pattern? Hollywood is demonstrating its technical prowess not through new stories, but through characters and stories that are from a simpler time in our lives. Few people want media that's new and challenging - we want media that will satisfy us and make us smile without having to question anything
At this point things will start getting a lot darker here... be forewarned, but I have been thinking about this a lot recently
Maybe this is all part of a self-inflicted catharsis in response to the world around us. We are a society that does not want to have to think about problems until they're catastrophes. Does anyone really believe that 9/11 came out of nowhere? Or that just this year the world's weather patterns have gone nuts? Or that Minnesota is the only state that has a bridge in a state of disrepair? Those are just a few very obvious examples, but we certainly did a great job of leaving those issues to someone else until they became a big problem.
I have often bemoaned the potential death of the album (still alive and kicking in my book, by the by). But this is more than just a selfish annoyance at the cookie cutter nature of some popular music, although that's part of it. Music, as well as film, is an art form, and I consider a well-crafted album to be along the same lines as a great symphony. Now I'm by no means comparing Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor to Mozart or Mahler, but it is the same idea - creating a work of art. The same is true in any other medium - painting, sculpture, poetry, photography, computer art, anything; I do not believe, though, that the dwindling number of great works in any of these categories is due to a lack of talent in the field - but simply it is not what we want anymore. Instead, we want something that is big and flashy and exciting that costs a lot and gives us instant gratification. We are being stared in the face by the possible demise of our entire world. I am not such a pessimist that I believe the world is going to nuke itself into oblivion in the next week, but I think this is the first time in the history of man that we are actually realizing that it is possible for us to become extinct. It may take a long time, but as a lot of research is finding that the growing birth rates which we were so concerned about because of overpopulation are now slowing down to the point that LESS children are being born per year in many places. I don't know if anyone saw "Children of Men" (a fantastic apocalyptic film about the state of the world if a pandemic of infertility were to occur) but if you have, it certainly makes you think about the implications of these statistics. To get back on topic (sorry, took a little quick detour there), the human race is more concerned with the functional than the inspired today. It has been a very long time since there has been an artist who has gone from being wholly unpopular in their lifetime to being considered a genius posthumously. We base success and talent on financial gain, and then flog ourselves for not giving away our money to people who could probably use it more than us.
Maybe it's because we're afraid it's not gonna make a difference where it goes in the long run.
Hollywood knows that ignorance is bliss, and so it's marketing towards that end - make the people happy, show them a world where someone can swing out of the sky and save us, or come from the far reaches of space to do the same. And now that we can, why not make it look amazing at the same time? It's like a new twisted form of religion - not one that people actually believe in, but that we all keep hoping we can.
OK I dove way too deep on this one and may have ended at a different place than I began, but this wasn't supposed to be a five paragraph essay. G'night all
"...to sleep perchance to dream, to dream perchance to wake no more..."
It's a pretty scary time to be alive right now. I know that sounds cliche, and maybe it is an unoriginal thought, but considering people are finally acknowledging global warming is a real issue (16 straight days over 90 degrees in Michigan, arctic animals' depleting habitats, tornadoes in NYC, etc.) and seeing as how most of the world is either impoverished, at war with each other, or both, life as we know it has certainly taken a turn for the worse. Actually let me rephrase that - our perception of the world has taken a turn for the worse now that we're finally realizing what's happening to our planet. The following franchises/novels/comics/whatever else have recently been or soon will be turned into technologically advanced films:
Transformers
Voltron
Spiderman
Superman
Fantastic Four
Bridge to Terabithia
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lord of the Rings
The Golden Compass
The Dark is Rising
X-Men
There are many others, but are you noticing a pattern? Hollywood is demonstrating its technical prowess not through new stories, but through characters and stories that are from a simpler time in our lives. Few people want media that's new and challenging - we want media that will satisfy us and make us smile without having to question anything
At this point things will start getting a lot darker here... be forewarned, but I have been thinking about this a lot recently
Maybe this is all part of a self-inflicted catharsis in response to the world around us. We are a society that does not want to have to think about problems until they're catastrophes. Does anyone really believe that 9/11 came out of nowhere? Or that just this year the world's weather patterns have gone nuts? Or that Minnesota is the only state that has a bridge in a state of disrepair? Those are just a few very obvious examples, but we certainly did a great job of leaving those issues to someone else until they became a big problem.
I have often bemoaned the potential death of the album (still alive and kicking in my book, by the by). But this is more than just a selfish annoyance at the cookie cutter nature of some popular music, although that's part of it. Music, as well as film, is an art form, and I consider a well-crafted album to be along the same lines as a great symphony. Now I'm by no means comparing Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor to Mozart or Mahler, but it is the same idea - creating a work of art. The same is true in any other medium - painting, sculpture, poetry, photography, computer art, anything; I do not believe, though, that the dwindling number of great works in any of these categories is due to a lack of talent in the field - but simply it is not what we want anymore. Instead, we want something that is big and flashy and exciting that costs a lot and gives us instant gratification. We are being stared in the face by the possible demise of our entire world. I am not such a pessimist that I believe the world is going to nuke itself into oblivion in the next week, but I think this is the first time in the history of man that we are actually realizing that it is possible for us to become extinct. It may take a long time, but as a lot of research is finding that the growing birth rates which we were so concerned about because of overpopulation are now slowing down to the point that LESS children are being born per year in many places. I don't know if anyone saw "Children of Men" (a fantastic apocalyptic film about the state of the world if a pandemic of infertility were to occur) but if you have, it certainly makes you think about the implications of these statistics. To get back on topic (sorry, took a little quick detour there), the human race is more concerned with the functional than the inspired today. It has been a very long time since there has been an artist who has gone from being wholly unpopular in their lifetime to being considered a genius posthumously. We base success and talent on financial gain, and then flog ourselves for not giving away our money to people who could probably use it more than us.
Maybe it's because we're afraid it's not gonna make a difference where it goes in the long run.
Hollywood knows that ignorance is bliss, and so it's marketing towards that end - make the people happy, show them a world where someone can swing out of the sky and save us, or come from the far reaches of space to do the same. And now that we can, why not make it look amazing at the same time? It's like a new twisted form of religion - not one that people actually believe in, but that we all keep hoping we can.
OK I dove way too deep on this one and may have ended at a different place than I began, but this wasn't supposed to be a five paragraph essay. G'night all
"...to sleep perchance to dream, to dream perchance to wake no more..."
Friday, August 3, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Young Woman Holding an Acoustic Guitar Behind Her Back...
Take a long look at this picture. It is more than just a woman with a guitar. Think for a minute about the shapes, the universals in this photo. The guitar itself is more than just wood and string. In the guitar it is easy to see the shape of a woman, the universal female. It is also intriguing to note that she does not face the camera. This strengthens the idea of this woman representing All women. Notice that the background is out of focus, unrecognizable, and incredibly simple. This simplicity is apparent throughout this entire piece.
It is because of the universals, the simplicity, the vagueness of this picture that a Young Woman Holding an Acoustic Guitar Behind Her Back can be powerful, soft, and beautiful.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Do a bit of research..
And figure out who The Red Hood is. I had no idea how far the rabbit hole went.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Been listening to Rilo Kiley a bunch tonight...
Really grooving on the anti-optimist gruff of her soothing voice. It has been really entertaining to hear everything that her body can do running on zero sleep and no alcohol.
I am pretty sure that I am in a completely loopy state. Usually when I am up this late I am just laying and watching the tele, still completely shitfaced, or at least dozing in and out of conciousness. Not tonight. Hell no. I do not have the time for that tonight.
I must be feeling pretty weird, because this painting makes a hell of a lot of sense to me at the moment.
Its almost as if the colors are dancing together, falling all over each other's borders and mixing in a weird cosmic bowl of, well, whatever kind of cosmic bowl colors tend to mix well in.
I guess what I am truly saying is that I do not believe Australian doctors when they try to tell me that yawning is not a sign of being tired, but rather the brain just trying to cool off. They are fucking morons. And Australian, so probably ex-cons. Is this making sense to you?
Monday, July 9, 2007
Think about it...
Andy Warhol surely did. Hell, he came up with a collection of this style of art. (though I have no idea what to call it, each piece is vibrant and linked with a stong quip) Interestingly enough, Warhol is the same guy who came up with this:
So I would have to conclude that pretty much anything can be art. Right? Somebody, give me an idea on this one. I am pretty unsure as to how to handle this artistic quandry. It would seem that just about any idea shaped and declared becomes art. Would we call a thumbtack art? It could be art if a group of them were fashioned together...oh fuck it. Just enjoy the wonderful art...
...while I drink.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Is this Art?
Seriously, I am confused. I mean, The Stranger has an entire article about this Cris Bruch character, but I am at a total loss. Check out some of his work. One of the pieces is actually a demolished shopping cart. WhaFuck?This, however, is totally art. And fucking sweet.
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