Art and Things: 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Visual Analysis 3 - Beautiful and Sublime

Visual Analysis 3

What is beautiful and what is sublime? The translator wants to divide them into two categories. However can the view not be taken in which the two are combined to form an overwhelming appreciation of both views? I think they can. The difference in enjoyable qualities has been separated by the author. One is the physical pleasures of the world in beauty and exercising experiences and the other is the appreciation of solitude and the coming of tranquility. One can see the intrinsic beauty in the sublime and the sublime in the beautiful. It is all viewed through the eyes.

Some say you can view the soul through the eyes. This may still be a form of seeing physical beauty. The viewer gazes into the deepest part of face, the pupil, and sees the depth of the soul. Can you really see the depth of one’s spirit through the pupil? This observation of the soul may be just the perception of the viewer. All you really see is the cornea, if you can see that deep. However the Chinese believe the chi is directed and channeled through the eyes. This makes sense as the eyes are the general directors of the body motion and kinetics. So it is possible that what is projected out the eyes is then connected to the one looking and vice versa. So in a way a very distant circuit connection has formed and a transmission of energy has occurred. What lies encoded on energy has more meaning than any word or sound. So what is appreciated is pure energetic beauty, but the sublime is still there. The translation of energetic meaning is still only what you as the viewer’s perceive it to be. It is an educated guess or a hypothesis based on the perception of the connection of overlapping energies. Energy peaks and troughs in waves much like the guessing of meaning. The circuit connection still exists and the peak is the elation of beauty and the trough the sublime moment of doubt. This is the moment of doubt in which the viewer is not exactly sure what is being transmitted is the message that the viewer needs. This moment of doubt can become overwhelming. Then hollow tubes of speech are thrown forth from the mouth encoded in waves of speculation. These tubes either reinforce the notion or further confuse the message. Either way tubular interaction confuses the energy translation. Affection reinforces the circuit connection and fills the hollow tubes that mold the spaces of the moment. This then creates another more intense circuit connection and the cycle continues again on a different level.

Now that energetic waves have been defined I will speculate more on stimulus. I must first set variables of emotional states. The sublime is a defined as a, “sensitivity of the soul”; and the beautiful defined as, “enjoying pleasures after their own fashion.” In regards to the sensitive soul it is understood that a lighter stimulus will have a less drastic effect upon mood. Compare a sunset of slow stimulus to a rave of loud forced sensation. This is the splendid beautiful garden and not the whorish advertisement of physical beauty. Therefore less energy is needed and the wave peaks and troughs on a less drastic scale. This still does not properly define the appreciation for the trough, but possibly the vibration of the trough. Why does someone enjoy the trough of joy? Perhaps the emotional median amplitude is lower than that of another person. This may be a result of a conglomeration of personal experiences throughout one’s life. This would make sense if the experiences of one’s life have been harsh and intense, for example having stress median amplitude of 50 where the norm is only 5. The only logical solution is to decrease the median. Stimulus is presented in waves of enjoyment are now taken in the lesser value as the soul strives for equilibrium. Still the sunset can be appreciated in the waves expressed by another’s eyes as equilibrium is found in the extended trough. In that extended trough is the beautiful garden where splendid beauty is found in the organization of the soul. But is it only the perception of the viewer that sees only what he wants to see? One may never know without the input of appropriate affectionate stimulus.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Visual Analysis 2

Understanding the real world is a difficult process. Sometimes it is easier to have a visual overlay to help process events that occur. Cultures form similarities and easily are linked together. “Panache- words and code modules, bits, bytes and temporal arbitrage. Follow the vector across a narrative arc and feel how the net’s architecture resonates with the convergence on many cultures and styles.” (DJ-Spooky) At first glance this seems to be just a statement on the reach of global communication through the internet. However could the reference to the net mean the whole unit rather than the device of communicative movement? Code modules are the digital equality to words. To code meaning is a form of poetry. This is a hidden game in which the artist needs the viewer to discover the true meaning. Words are a way of encoding thought. The more intricate the code the deeper the meaning becomes. Art can have the same interpretation. All these encoded meanings then compete and barter for space within the computer of the mind. Now that communication has been rooted in the brain and is exploding out of thought we must address the kinetics of speech. Vector crossing narrative arcs are the algorithms of speech. Therefore the vector is implied direction and kinetics of conversation itself. Each coded word spewing forth with motion then hanging in a function block poised to execute and steer conversation into a tangent curve leading towards the next block. These processes usually exist between two parties addressing each other and the algorithm of conversation becomes the mathematical equation that molds shape and the form of the moment. The combination of other parties conversing over each other is the net whole of the woven infrastructure of communication. Then the architecture becomes evident as one algorithmic intersection occurs and changes the form of the conversational moment. But, what structural material composes the form being governed by conversation? The deep rooted sensation and emotions that brew as a result of stimulating conversation are the structured material that needs to be formed. Once formed that shape is stored away in the brain waiting for another stimulation of algorithmic motion to add to its form and complexity.

Due to the distance and spaces in between cultures the shape of communication changes. The way the culture has evolved over time directs how and in what way the mind works. In the Arab world it is from right to left. In Europe and America left to right building syllables that form sectioned meaning. In the Orient right to left, left to right, and up and down are the pictorial processes of hieroglyphs. This pictorial process formats and trains the mind n a visual basis. This training perhaps prepares the mind to intake more idea, instead of sectioned meaning that must be constantly exploded and rejoined in sentence structure. The visual intake ability has greater influence on the ability to perceive reality, dissect its meaning and understand the motion of its changes.

Visual Analysis 1

I will use Itten’s principles to analyze Picasso’s Guitar on Mantelpiece.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artexplorer/5065661567/

On page 38, Itten begins to address the principles of light and dark tonal values. He begins with contrast between white, black and grays. In the guitar piece we notice that a black outline is given to the mantle. This provides a border to the whole of the composition. Picasso uses a contrast of dark to light. The brilliance of tonal shifts is muted and gradual on the left border. This gives the space defined implied recession. On the left the muted brilliance of blue from the shift of black provides a sense of warm. The color blue is a cool color and should have the opposite effect, but when darkened towards black the appearance is warmer. This effect is advanced with the addition of the warmer red on top of the cool muted blue. Itten states, “all colors are equal in darkness to blue”; perhaps this is the reason for the black border between the blue and warmer red. Notice at the top of the composition the blue and red are adjacent to each other and seem to blend. The blending becomes more pronounced by adding an overtone of black on top of the red in the upper left corner. Notice the absence of dark overtone on the portion of red that borders the blue. This pronounces the blend and is equivalent to the black border by providing a border of contrasting brilliance. This contrast further extends down edge of the black as well. Since, “all colors are equal in darkness to blue”, the overtone contrast is necessary to define boundaries between blue and red. The red blue color contrast is one of the most severe but is muted by the similarity in brilliance. Itten states; “Equality of light-dark relates color to each other, tying or bracketing them together.” The opposite is occurring in the hearth of the mantle. Blue is selected as the color to portray both the mantle and the hearth. The light-dark principle acts to contrast instead of linking colors together. A lighter grey overtone is applied upon the hearth distinguishing it from the mantle. The same is occurring between the back of the fireplace and the hearth. A lighter grey is applied on the back of the fireplace. This also cools the blue even more and brings it forward on the composition.

On the right we see the direct contrast between the black and white with no grey overtone. This is also evident in a linear vertical fashion moving up the right side of the mantle. There is contrast between black and white then the guitar is portrayed in a lighter tone contrasting against the mantle and darker shadow area to the right of the mantle. Then above the guitar is the illuminated break in the mantle. This contrast is severe with shadow overtones portraying this area as recessed behind the mantle. Itten states, “Cold colors seem transparent, weightless.” This is evident in the contrast between the mantle and background where the mantle appears to float above the warmer red.