A Study in Pink » The Reichenbach Fall

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nihtern:

Hound biting stag. Medieval painting on wood. Zillis, Canton Graubünden, Switzerland.
“The earliest preserved, figuratively painted wooden ceiling in Europe can be seen above the nave of St Martin’s Church in Zillis…. At the edges of the ceiling…on the borders of the world, swim mythical fish-tailed creatures….”
Source: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/renzodionigi/3353207463/

nihtern:

Hound biting stag. Medieval painting on wood. Zillis, Canton Graubünden, Switzerland.

“The earliest preserved, figuratively painted wooden ceiling in Europe can be seen above the nave of St Martin’s Church in Zillis…. At the edges of the ceiling…on the borders of the world, swim mythical fish-tailed creatures….”

Source: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/renzodionigi/3353207463/

(via medievallove)

I spoke out of turn once too often: wardoggie: I spoke out of turn once too often: wardoggie: “Art becomes...

wardoggie:

I spoke out of turn once too often: wardoggie: “Art becomes so specialized as to be comprehensible only to…

wardoggie:

“Art becomes so specialized as to be comprehensible only to artists, and they complain bitterly of public indifference to their work. For since the…

Oh no, I didn’t mean for you to think I was trying to start an argument! I just misunderstood some of what you said and rambled on. : ) I feel rather silly for misunderstanding you…. but if anything, I was just thinking out loud and used your post as a catalyst. 

Also, thank you so much for the link! I will be sure to check it out.

I really hope you don’t have any hard feelings. I tend to be a bit of a rambler about things I’m passionate about and can go on forever for no real reason. It was more-so for my own benefit and organizing my own ideas about the text rather than directed at anything you said, really. And, even if you did disagree, I would have been very interested in hearing your thoughts regardless. It’s an interesting subject to think about. 

Dad: Why do you think they do that?
Girl: Because the companies who make these try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff instead of stuff boys want to buy.
[x]

(via imaginetheending)

I spoke out of turn once too often: wardoggie: “Art becomes so specialized as to be comprehensible only to...

wardoggie:

“Art becomes so specialized as to be comprehensible only to artists, and they complain bitterly of public indifference to their work. For since the artist in such times has no need to say much, but only to be notorious for some small originality and consequently lauded by a small…

Kandinsky actually scorned the creation of “art for art’s sake” in his essay, so I’m kind of confused about why you mentioned it. It is also something that I see kinda as bullshit as well, as it is a philosophy of privilege more than anything.

Kandinsky also does not (from what I’ve read so far, anyway) deride art made by commission or for sale or about it being a commodity. He is much more interested in the spiritual creation of the piece, rather than the reason behind it. Michelangelo’s Pieta may have been a commission, but when I saw it in person it left an everlasting impression on me. The reason for its creation was irrelevant; the soul etched into the piece and the emotion emitting from the carving, the unique depiction of Mary and Jesus that allows you to question why Michelangelo chose to illustrate the scene the way he did, makes it a true icon of its time and a brilliant piece of art. 

My post was also made from a painter’s point of view, a painter who is in a time and country where the privilege to express emotion and vision is allowed outside of a limited scope.  As an artist I am definitely interested in getting my work out there, in selling it and being able to make a living. I mean, I’m an illustrator for crying out loud… that much is obvious. But when it comes to my personal work that is free from the restrictions of trying to make a living, when I am making work that has no reason to exist other than my own weird obsession with image-making, I personally feel a need to create things that are more than just what will allow my work to be “appreciated” by critics or my audience. It is not for art’s sake, but for a more personal emotional need. 

Artists such as Murakami and Hirst, who also have this privilege, have no “soul” in their work as their art is not only mass-produced, but created by people other than themselves. Their “battle for success” as Kandinsky infers, is completely materialistic. Which is fine, really. But the art lacks the personality, purpose and air that comes from artists and artisans who truly display themselves in their work, no matter their medium or their reason for creating it, and reeks of being obsessed with material gain. A lot like a really bad, flashy movie with no substance made by an already wealthy director for no reason other than what can be overly gained by making the work.

In this way, I have difficulty taking their work seriously and it scarcely affects me on a personal level. Let alone on my art. I do not really mind that other people find genius in their work, but I cannot call it good art. It does not mean that it can’t be fun to look at or anything, it is just lacking.

After all, it is not difficult at all to find vast personality, purpose and beauty in pottery and statues made for practical use in early history, religious art, and even in art and literature made purely for propaganda, but with people like Hirst I find nothing. Kandinsky’s reaction to the work of his time just sort of resonated with me. 

TL:DR  art for art’s sake is bullshit but contemporary modern art is so soulless, materialistic and off-putting that many people who are not artists or collectors usually walk away from modern art museums going “what the hell did I just see?” Since Kandinsky felt that modern art would help remedy this, I find his essay kinda ironic. 

“Art becomes so specialized as to be comprehensible only to artists, and they complain bitterly of public indifference to their work. For since the artist in such times has no need to say much, but only to be notorious for some small originality and consequently lauded by a small group of patrons and connoisseurs (which incidentally is also a very profitable business for him), there arise a crowd of gifted and skilled painters, so easy for the conquest of art appear. In each artistic circle are thousands of such artists, of whom the majority seek only for some new technical manner, and who produce millions of art without enthusiasm, with cold hearts and souls asleep.

Competition arises. The wild battle for success becomes more and more material. Small groups who have fought their way to the top of the chaotic world of art and picture-making entrench themselves in the territory they have won. The public, left far behind, looks on bewildered, loses interest and turns away.”


- Kandinsky, Wassily; Concerning the Spiritual in Art.

I find it quite interesting that while this essay was originally written to promote the spiritual ideal of non-representative art and critique the problems with representative painting, these issues alleged by Kandinsky are now clearly present in the world of contemporary modern art.

I am looking at you Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami. 

layla & stitch bffs

Storyboard-like mural inspired by The Odyssey for a client. I didn’t have the time within the deadline to paint this one, so I digitally colored it instead. Since digital is rather foreign to me, hopefully it didn’t come out too bad.

Storyboard-like mural inspired by The Odyssey for a client. I didn’t have the time within the deadline to paint this one, so I digitally colored it instead. Since digital is rather foreign to me, hopefully it didn’t come out too bad.

pbstv:

“That manic kid in that silly wolf suit has made my life pleasurable.”
In 2002, the PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown talked to Maurice Sendak about his roots as an artist and his interest in exploring children’s perceptions of everyday life.
Read the interview and Maurice Sendak’s full biography from American Masters.

This man was a great influence on my art. While I’m blessed to know that I got to see his originals in NYC, I’m saddened that I will now never get to meet him. RIP.

pbstv:

“That manic kid in that silly wolf suit has made my life pleasurable.”

In 2002, the PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown talked to Maurice Sendak about his roots as an artist and his interest in exploring children’s perceptions of everyday life.

Read the interview and Maurice Sendak’s full biography from American Masters.

This man was a great influence on my art. While I’m blessed to know that I got to see his originals in NYC, I’m saddened that I will now never get to meet him. RIP.

(via pbsthisdayinhistory)

soupsoup:

helencho:

ashleyamorris:

No Reservations premiere night drinking game created by myself for Matt & myself.. April 9th!

This is fucking awesome!! Hope you guys got pretty shitty. 

For your No Reservations season premiere viewing pleasure.

soupsoup:

helencho:

ashleyamorris:

No Reservations premiere night drinking game created by myself for Matt & myself.. April 9th!

This is fucking awesome!! Hope you guys got pretty shitty. 

For your No Reservations season premiere viewing pleasure.

progress of my take on the capitoline wolf.

progress of my take on the capitoline wolf.

leepaceified:


“Never ask for what ought to be offered.”
Winter’s bone // Jennifer Lawrence



beautiful film.

leepaceified:

“Never ask for what ought to be offered.”

Winter’s bone // Jennifer Lawrence

beautiful film.

(Source: austeneyre)

I love this man.

(Source: areyouinearnest, via eurohist)

(Source: vitall)