Ballet Need Help
Dianne Lewandowski
Please forgive the intrusion. I went through the entire list of news
categories, and this seemed like the only one mildly, remotely possible.
I have a pair of ballet pointe shoes from 1949 (they were mine at the
age of 5) and I would like to have them restored. They are in excellent
condition except for age discoloration and a little staining on one toe.
Can someone help me? A reply via e-mail would be most appreciative.
By the way, your discourse on "is it art" was most interesting. I am
completely devoid of any formal art training - even the barest of
"theory" classes. I know what I like, and I design embroidery patterns
for fine whitework. But forgive me - The Chicago Picasso - it's so darn
ugly, and certainly doesn't "speak" to me. Isn't "art" suppose to
enhance my life? Must I intellectualize about it?
Dianne
Brother Alphabet
On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, Dianne Lewandowski wrote:
> But forgive me - The Chicago Picasso - it's so darn
> ugly, and certainly doesn't "speak" to me.
Well, you had a reaction to it, correct?
What do you want it to be, a flower blossom? A little girl's butt exposed
by a playful puppy? Some cute thing that makes you feel all warm and
fuzzy?
"Ugly" is an aspect of appearance as is "beautiful". They are values on a
scale with its center being 'bland'.
Both are defined initially by the viewer.
It is important to be able to see a work from more than one point of
view. People see a work as a whole, without taking the time to see
past the whole into its various parts. Line, motion, color, mass,
texture, scale, etc.
We look in a mirror and see "Face: nose mouth ears eyes lips teeth. Hair.
Neck." Who sees lines and values and hues and testures in the mirror? You
know what color your eyes are, but have yo looked into them lately?
Notice the striations and jagged edges in the feathery depths? Notice the
slight color changes from white to sort of yellow, the tiny capillaries
here and there. Or, the curve of the edge of your nose, the shadows
leading down toward your lips, the various wrinkles and lines that move
and change when you smile or frown...
So, take an 'ugly' painting, or sculpture or whatever...Look past the
whole and notice the texture, the colors, the lines...See if it stays
ugly...It very well might...And that's fine...But see if 'ugly' also has
its meaning expanded a little.
> Isn't "art" suppose to
> enhance my life?
No. Art just is. You may choose to enhance your life by looking at or
learning about art, but art has no job, no duty, no calling. Art is just
itself and you take what you can from it, depending upon what you bring to
it.
> Must I intellectualize about it?
No. Art is not intellectual. Theory is intellectual, and theory is usually
a load of manure. Your role as viewer is your choice. Looking at art with
a critical eye is good, but seeing only the superficial is not so good.
Hutto
-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-
"I paint what I think, not what I see..." - Pablo Picasso
"You're not the boss of me!..." - J. A. Hutto (Pre age 3)
http://www2.msstate.edu/~jah10 + ja...@ra.msstate.edu
Jerry
The Chicago Picasso has an interesting story behind it. Picasso made
the maquette and it was a gift to the city of Chicago. The maquette is
in the art institute of Chicago. The sculpture itself was fabricated by
a major steel company and is made of the same material as the building
that it stands next to. I remember reading stories of how it changed
colors before it took on its finished patina.
I remember when it was first unveiled and it was the subject of much
controversy. The Chicago Sun Times ran a photo competition for the best
photo of the Picasso as everyone searched for trhe womans head and
stories went back and forth as to who the woman was.
Now, as the collection of outdoor sculpture grows in Chicago, most
people take the sculpture as part of the city. Given the conservative
nature of most people I am often suprised that any sculpture ever gets
put permanently in place.
mdeli
>
>On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, Dianne Lewandowski wrote:
>
>> But forgive me - The Chicago Picasso - it's so darn
>> ugly, and certainly doesn't "speak" to me.
>
>Well, you had a reaction to it, correct?
>What do you want it to be, a flower blossom? A little girl's butt exposed
>by a playful puppy? Some cute thing that makes you feel all warm and
>fuzzy?
>
What sort of stupid answer is this?
What's wrong with flowers? Van Huysam and his student Margareta
Haverman painted the finest flowers ever. Then there was Van Gogh
etc.
>"Ugly" is an aspect of appearance as is "beautiful". They are values on a
>scale with its center being 'bland'.
>
>Both are defined initially by the viewer.
>It is important to be able to see a work from more than one point of
>view. People see a work as a whole, without taking the time to see
>past the whole into its various parts. Line, motion, color, mass,
>texture, scale, etc.
...Which Picasso does with a high degree of incompetence.
>
>We look in a mirror and see "Face: nose mouth ears eyes lips teeth. Hair.
>Neck." Who sees lines and values and hues and testures in the mirror? You
>know what color your eyes are, but have yo looked into them lately?
>Notice the striations and jagged edges in the feathery depths? Notice the
>slight color changes from white to sort of yellow, the tiny capillaries
>here and there. Or, the curve of the edge of your nose, the shadows
>leading down toward your lips, the various wrinkles and lines that move
>and change when you smile or frown...
>So, take an 'ugly' painting, or sculpture or whatever...Look past the
>whole and notice the texture, the colors, the lines...See if it stays
>ugly...It very well might...And that's fine...But see if 'ugly' also has
>its meaning expanded a little.
Picasso's ugliness is due to his incompetence not his subject matter.
>No. Art is not intellectual. Theory is intellectual, and theory is usually
>a load of manure. Your role as viewer is your choice. Looking at art with
>a critical eye is good, but seeing only the superficial is not so good.
I presume you are superficiality's final arbiter.
>
>Hutto
>
>-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-=+=-
>"I paint what I think, not what I see..." - Pablo Picasso
He didn't think much and he couldn't paint what he saw.
Mani DeLi
...no skill no art