Art Np2

"Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed."                                                                                                                          Khalil Gibran Is photography art?  I think it is. These pictures tell an affective story. Boy from Little Yugoslavia Serbia Children In Little Yugoslavia Bosnia Years Later Filip Horvat Photography Quotes from Brainyquotes.                                                                         ...

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."   Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. I found this on  Jonathan Johnson's On Art Blog  on The Guardian .  This piece is a brass head with crown.

"Militarists say that to gain peace we must prepare for war. I think we get what we prepare for. If we want a world where peace is valued, we must teach ourselves to believe that peace is not a "utopian vision" but a real responsibility that must be worked for each day and every day in small and large ways. Any one of us can contribute to building a world where peace and justice prevail.   Jody Williams  Activist, writer, teacher, Nobel laureate.   More information on Jody Williams. Lafayette Clayworks  is located in New Jersey.

Sorry, I forgot to post this yesterday.  My son moved out again and I just never thought about the blog.  So it's being posted on Thursday.  Better late than never, eh? "A world in which elves exist and magic works offers greater opportunities to digress and explore."    Terry Brooks  Nene Humphrey 1990 by George Andrews, The Dot Man  Oil On Canvas.

BEAUTY BEFORE TRUTH My colleagues and I in fundamental physics are the intellectual descendants of Albert Einstein; we like to think that we too search for beauty. Some physics equations are so ugly that we cannot bear to look at them, let alone write them down. Certainly, the Ultimate Designer would use only beautiful equations in designing the universe! we proclaim. When presented with two alternative equations purporting to describe Nature, we always choose the one that appeals to our aesthetic sense. "Let us worry about beauty first, and truth will take care of itself!" Such is the rallying cry of fundamental physicists. The reader may perhaps think of physics as a precise and predictive science and not as a subject fit for aesthetic contemplation. But, in fact, aesthetics has become a driving force in contemporary physics. Physicists have discovered something of wonder: Nature, at the fundamental level, is beautifully designed. It is this sense of wonder that I wish to s...

Pablo Picasso, Photograph: AP, 1953 "From Lord Byron to Dylan Thomas and beyond, the famous philanderers of the art world may have had a touch of mental illness to thank for their behaviour, psychologists report today." "A survey comparing mental health and the number of sexual partners among the general population, artists and schizophrenics found that artists are more likely to share key behavioural traits with schizophrenics, and that they have on average twice as many sexual partners as the rest of the population." "Daniel Nettle, a psychologist at Newcastle University, and Helen Clegg, at the Open University in Milton Keynes, carried out the survey in the hope it would answer a question that has been puzzling scientists for some time. Schizophrenia is so debilitating that those with the condition are often socially isolated, have trouble maintaining relationships and so reproduce at a much lower rate than the general population. But cases of schizophrenia ...

Go to the National Gallery of Art website, search the painting collection and select five paintings containing what you consider to be the most interesting hand or hands. E-mail the information back to this blog. The most creative and interesting submissions will be posted. Your selections may be from paintings from any era or style, single or multiple figures, narrative or not. There are no restrictions on the number of hands or what they are doing. The hand or hands may be a single detail or from the entire painting.  Link National Gallery of Art, Washington DC  Jacque-Louis David, Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, 1812, NGA

For many adults, the Etch-A-Sketch by the Ohio Art Company holds significant memories of their childhood drawing experiences. For children of a certain age, it is still holds delight and mystery.  How many times did you try to make a steady diagonal line or remove enough of the silver to reveal the drawing mechanism behind the screen? Did you ever try to completely clear it? Click on the link below to 'etch' with an online version.  Link Link History

This is a relief gypsum sculpture guarded the throne room at the palace of Ashurnasirpal II in Nimrud (ancient Kalhu, the Assyrian capital) and is dated 883-859 BC. Click on the image, carefully look at the pictorial space and study the visual cues indicating space and position. Is the space shallow, deep, both? What are the relationships between the head, torso, hips and legs? Is he walking, standing, or both? Is he facing us, turning away, or both? How much space is between his torso and and the deer? Is it shallow, deep, or both simultaneously? If you look long enough at the image,  a tension between the 2D and 3D begins to occur - an oscillation of the pictorial space. To see this, the way we view the image must be an active - and not a passive - process. What can we take from this experience and apply to our own pictorial efforts? Link British Museum Image © Trustees of the British Museum

Similar to Felice Varini, British artist Julian Beever uses a specific point of view for his work to convey meaning. What tools does he use to create these elongated chalk drawings? Link web site Link Wiki

This painted image (or installation) was created by the Swiss artist, Felice Varini. At first, it appears as a photograph of a simple white interior space with red circles drawn on it. In reality, it is a projection/construction painted on the interior that presents this experience from a unique view point. You might say it acts on our sense of the second and third dimensions and offers the viewer unique spacial experiences. What do you think? Link More Images Link Wiki

"But, after all, the aim of art is to create space - space that is not compromised by decoration or illustration, space within which the subjects of painting can live."  Frank Stella Pictorial Space is elusive to most, ill defined to some, and oversimplified by others. What is it, anyway?   The Concept of Space in Twentieth Century Art by Christopher Tyler and Amy Ione tackles this topic.  Link  Article Link  Frank Stella

The great Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, writes an essay on the purpose and meaning of Art. Link  Essay Link  Biography

Rock Star Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona specializes in fine art by... Grace Slick - Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship Ronnie Wood - The Rolling Stones Ringo Starr - The Beatles Janis Joplin  Jerry Garcia - The Grateful Dead Paul McCartney - The Beatles Jimi Hendrix  How does celebrity, in any field, shape and color the transmission and comprehension of ideas - visual or otherwise? Are there expectations and qualitative implications? Are we able to see the work for what it is? Conversely, how does lack of celebrity influence the communication and comprehension of ideas? Does it matter? Link

This may be the most definitive definition yet! What are your thoughts?

This looks to be the mothership of interactive drawing sites - very active!  What do you think about interactive drawing?  What does one learn from these collaborative experiences? Link

Interesting sociological insights into shared and anonymous online behaviors. Draw Pad V2.o lets you draw live with others on a shared drawing pad. Select different colors, line widths, chat live with other visitors via webcam or keyboard. "Join the fun and draw online with other connected users in our shared drawing rooms. Start drawing anything you like or help other users finish their own drawings. Create a free account to draw using your own nickname." Link

Words like "nice, inspired, juxtaposed, -isms, duality, investigate, en plein air" are used with some authority all the time in the art world. What these terms might really mean and does usage sometimes cloud our understanding? Funny and thoughtful insights into the strange language of artspeak by Jason Brockert. Link

In a fascinating discussion, Paul Rand says, "All art is relationships, all art." He confronts these basic questions: Q. What is design? A. Design is the relationship between form and content. Q. What is form and content? A. Content is the idea and form is how you treat the idea. How do we talk about these important questions that results in better paintings, better design? What do you think? Source: Paul Rand, Conversation with Students, by Michael Kroeger & Paul Rand, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008