There's a bit of magic in everything

Happy Halloween, all!

On that note and in the tradition of my artist quote entries on Love and Positivity, I thought I'd share some artist quotes on Magic...This is a holiday of magic and witchcraft, after all. ;)

"I don't think that there is anything that is really magical unless it has a terrifying quality."

- Andrew Wyeth

"Mastery is the rudder, Mystery is the sail and Magic the wind to move you in your chosen direction." - Jack White (musician)

"If you take any activity, any art, any discipline, any skill, take it and push it as far as it will go, push it beyond where it has ever been before, push it to the wildest edge of edges, then you force it into the realm of magic." - Tom Robbins

"Painting isn't an aesthetic operation; it's a form of magic designed as a mediator between this strange, hostile world and us, a way of seizing the power by giving form to our terrors as well as our desires." - Pablo Picasso

(Yes, this pointillism piece IS a Picasso...its in his museum in Barcelona. I've seen it in person - Fantastic!)

"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning..."

- Joseph Priestly (English theologian, philosopher, educator, political theorist)

"Painting is like magic to me. You touch the paper with colors and an image appears! A realist will tell you it's not magic at all but a science of understanding colors and textures. I'd rather look at painting as magic!" - Brenda Grounds McCart

"I am interested in making the simple profound, so my own backyard can be inspirational. I just walk out my door and it's all there. By painting simply, magic happens."

- Peter Fiore

"I see painting as an evocative magic, and there must always be a random factor in magic, one which must be constantly changed and renewed." - William S. Burroughs

"The stars were my best friends. The air was full of legends and phantoms, full of mythical and fairy tale creatures, which suddenly flew away over the roof, so that one was at one with the firmament." - Marc Chagall

What is Art?

Ohhh, dear readers, with a loaded entry title like that one, you know this post might be a little controversial. And in fact, I'm not even going to answer the question for you. You have to answer the question for you. Every single person in this world has a different interpretation of art.

Whether you think THIS is art...

Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa.

Or perhaps think that THIS is art...

Marcel Duchamp. The Fountain.

It really depends on the eye and interpretation of the viewer.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines art as "a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination." Dictionary.com defines it as "the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. The class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria." Wikipedia defines art as "the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect." Even our dictionaries can't come up with one, solid, unified definition!

Here's how a few artists define art:

• "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." - Edgar Degas
• "Art is whatever you can get away with." - Andy Warhol
• "Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which Nature herself is animated." - Auguste Rodin
• "Art is literacy of the heart." - Elliot Eisner
• "Art is skill, that is the first meaning of the word." - Eric Gill
• "Art is the Queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all of the generations of the world." - Leonardo da Vinci
• "All art is but imitation of nature." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
• "Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing." - Marc Chagall
• "Art is a lie that helps us realize the truth." - Pablo Picasso

Why do I bring this up now?

Well, in talking with some lovely, lovely art aware friends, some "Art" controversies have popped up in the media lately, so I thought I'd share them with you. It's always good to know the current events!

Event 1: If you have assistants make your art for you, is it YOURS to sign and take credit for?

Jeff Koons. Balloon Dog.

The Wall Street Journal Online posted an article called The Art Assembly Line on the 3rd of this month. I suggest you take a look at it to get the full scope of the article and to understand the points of view. In summary, the article begs the question...If an army of assistants really do the production work for an artist, is it fair and legitimate for the artist to claim the work?

Before leaping to your first conclusion, try to envision both sides. The critics, and I'd say most of us, probably think that if an artist claims a work (and is getting paid for it), they should have actually had a hand in making it. But sometimes a person's technical proficiency may not be able to meet the high standard of their ideas. In that case, I think it's fair for an artist to employ help. Once again harkening back to my beloved Dale Chihuly, once he lost use of one of his eyes from a car accident, he didn't have the depth perception and skill to keep blowing glass. It would have been dangerous for him and those in his studio to continue. But should he really give up his dream and career because of an accident?

Michelangelo once said, "A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." And Henry McNeill Whistler said, "An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision." And I will remind the Court (that's you) that artists employing assistants has actually been a practice for a very, very long time...

And then sometimes the artist isn't involved in the process at all (as the article points out). And sometimes they maintain creative control, but the assistants can get greedy and argue copyright since it was their hands that actually did the laboring. Sometimes artists can't meet demand without help. There are a lot of facets of this issue.

What do you think?

Event 2: Are a 4-year-old's abstract paintings really worth $27,000?

This topic comes from a NYTimes article, "Your Four Year Old Can't Do That," also published this month...but press on this topic has been running for a while.

This little girl, Aelita Andre, of Russian-decent and living in Australia with her two artist parents, has been showing her work in galleries since she was 22 months old. Story is, her work was accepted for a show and only AFTER the fact did the gallery manager find out her age. Since then she's become a kind of sensation as a child prodigy, her artwork met with accolades and described as referencing the "'automatism' and 'accidentalism,' branches of surrealism extensively practiced by Salvador Dalí and Picasso." Her website includes a list of acclaim for the little girl's work and her work has sold...and sold for a lot.

But of course, as the world tends to be skeptical, her growing fame has been met with the likes of "My child could do that" and critics pointing out that despite the sometimes elaborate names (The parents have to be involved with that, I'd think...), there's not likely any deeper meaning behind the art. If you put a canvas and a ton of brushes and paints down in front of any four year old, wouldn't you expect something similar? How is she so different?

Feel free to browse through her gallery, found here. What do you think? Do you think it's exceptional? Do you think anyone could do that? Could YOU do that?

At very least...her parents are P.R. WIZARDS and hey, she's got a good start on her college fund, right?

"When the sun rises, it rises for everyone."

I thought this might be a good time for another 'Quotes' entry. I know I've been under a lot of stress lately - Work, money, relationships, homesickness, expectations of others. And I know I'm not alone! Every single person has their difficulties each and every day. Sometimes it can be hard to remember the positive things when things are hard...but those are really the things most worth holding on to.

Last 'Quotes' entry, I shared Artists speaking on Love & Art. Today, I'd like to share a little artistic inspiration on Positivity. (Okay...so most of these quotes are not by artists...but they're important!)

Positivity

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." - Henri Matisse

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances." - Martha Washington

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction." - Pablo Picasso

"I am only one; but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do." - Helen Keller

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." - Albert Einstein

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

"Your heart is a sun -

Joy its stars

Faith a moon, shining in your darkness..."

- Terri Guillemets

"A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world; Everyone you meet is your mirror." - Ken Keyes, Jr.

"Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato

"Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same." - Francesca Reigler

"If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want." - Oscar Wilde

"These then are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact." - William James

* * * * * * * * *

And the wisdom that has gotten me through SO much thus far in my life...

Thank you to my dear friend for this:

"It's easy to look down sometimes, I know, but you're just too special for that. So keep your chin up." - Benjamin Bower

Paintings by Vincent Van Gogh; Tulips photo taken by my Dad at IU.

United we stand

"The holy Quran tells us, 'O mankind! We have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.' ...The Talmud tells us: 'The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.' The holy Bible tells us, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.' ... The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth."

- Barack Obama, to Cairo University, June 2009

This is obviously not art related...but I thought this would be important to share, given the recent current events. As world citizens, we need to learn to work together, respect each other, to find peace. Maybe it will never happen, but we need to try. Let us remember that that man is NOT the face of Islam and that all of us, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Agnostics, Atheists and all others of faith, share this earth and should work every day to contribute to the joys of life, not the tragedies.

Let's remember those who were lost on 9/11 and let them finally rest. Let's be thankful this evil man met justice, and have pride in all of those who had fought and died to make that happen. Let's be united for once, because people of all nationalities, all political parties, all races, all ages and genders contributed to this day.

But let's not be like him. Let's not relish another's death. Even if its deserved.I'm not saying "Don't be happy" or relieved, or satisfied, or glad that he's gone and no longer a threat. All I'm hoping is that we don't let ourselves become blood-thirsty like he was.

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

Andy Warhol was a funny guy

On Friday, a friend of mine and I attended a talk on Andy Warhol in honor of IU opening their "Shot by Andy Warhol" special exhibit. This show displays roughly 79 of Warhol's polaroids and photographic prints from an original group of 150+ endowed by the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. This program curated and distributed groups of roughly 150 photographs to all over the United States, including to USCalifornia, where our speaker, Associate Professor of Art History and Director of the Contemporary Project atUSC, Richard Meyer, was from. It was an absolutely delightful talk and though I'm not huge on contemporary art or any of that, I did come away knowing one thing...

Andy Warhol was a funny guy.

So, rather than give you a background on Warhol, which I'm sure many of you know...I just wanted to share some of the things Warhol has said (and some examples of his celebrity portraiture...Bianca Jagger, Sylvester Stalone, Debbie Herry). Hopefully you'll find them intriguing. :)

"But I always say, one's company, two's a crowd, three's a party."

"I am a deeply superficial person."

"I had a lot of dates but I decided to stay home and dye my eyebrows."

"I have Social Disease. I have to go out every night. If I stay home one night I start spreading rumors to my dogs."

"I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're beautiful. Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic."

"I always think about what it means to wear eyeglasses. When you get used to glasses you don't know how far you could really see. I think about all the people before eyeglasses were invented. It must have been weird because everyone was seeing in different ways according to how bad their eyes were. Now, eyeglasses standardize everyone's vision to 20-20. That's an example of everyone becoming more alike. Everyone could be seeing at different levels if it weren't for glasses."

"Muscles are great...everyone should have at least one they can show off."

"I never think that people die. They just go to department stores."

"It would be very glamourous to be reincarnated as a great big ring on Liz Taylor's finger."

"When I got my first television set, I stopped caring so much about having close relationships."

"Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery."

"I like to be the right thing in the wrong place and the wrong thing in the right place. Being the right thing in the wrong place and the wrong thing in the right place is worth it because something interesting always happens."

"What's great about this country is America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same thing as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All Cokes are the same and all Cokes are good."

Artists on Love and Art

"Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art." - Konstantin Stanislavsky

"When you paint, you forget everything except your object. When you are too much engrossed in it, you are lost in it; and when you are lost in it, your ego diminishes and love infinite appears. And when love is created, God is attained." - Meher Baba (The Perfect Master by Charles Purdom)

"For in truth great love is born of great knowledge of the thing loved." - Leonardo da Vinci

"Have pity, mean girl. I can't go on. I can't go another day without seeing you. Atrocious madness, it's the end, I won't be able to work anymore. Malevolent goddess, and yet I love you furiously." - Auguste Rodin writing to his lover, Camille Claudel

"Throughout the time in which I am working on a canvas I can feel how I am beginning to love it, with that love which is born of slow comprehension." - Joan Miró

"No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love." - Edvard Munch

"Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman, we don't start measuring her limbs." - Pablo Picasso

"A lady friend of mine asked me, 'Well, what do you love most?' That's how I started painting money." - Andy Warhol

"Love is one of those experiences that is utterly exciting and yet at times most bewildering; certainly not too different from our own personal experience of art, as it is created, observed, and contemplated." - Kirk Wassell

"One's art goes as far and as deep as one's love goes." - Andrew Wyeth

"Love art. Of all lies, it is the least untrue." - Gustave Flaubert

"For where these is love of man, there is also love of the art." - Hippocrates

"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known." - Walt Disney

"I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." - Vincent Van Gogh

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Quote of Today

From my American art reading...

"The love of art is the constant craving of the individual soul for those expressions of beauty, truth, and goodness so replete in the handiwork of the Creator; a taste for something better than what is merely earth, earthy; a penchant for those glorious talismans which out live time."

- Mrs. J. H. Layton, July 1861