ART IS MY LIFE!

"The “re-” gestures—such as reblogging and retweeting—have become cultural rites of cachet in and of..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:50:13 -0400

“The “re-” gestures—such as reblogging and retweeting—have become cultural rites of cachet in and of themselves. If you can filter through the mass of information and pass it on as an arbiter to others, you gain an enormous amount of cultural capital. Filtering is taste. And good taste rules the day: Marcel Duchamp’s exquisite filtering and sorting sensibility combined with his finely tuned taste rewrote the rules.”

- Kenneth Goldsmith, Why Conceptual Writing? Why Now? (via untilasinglesolitonsurvives)

"We need, in love, to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily; we do..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:24:56 -0400

“We need, in love, to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily; we do not need to learn it.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke (via kitty-en-classe)

Is an art print the same as an art piece? No, definetely not!

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:47:00 -0400

People are more interested in buying prints of works but not the pieces themselves. I think mainly there are 2 reasons: lack of funds and lack of knowledge. It is not secret to anyone that there is an economic and financial crisis going on. Art is not cheap, because it’s price has very little to do with costs. The factors for determining the price of an art piece are more related to the artist background and reputation. So, art is expensive and people have no money to pay for it. So they buy prints…..

Hold on a minute! Expensive designer clothes and glasses are not cheap either. But since those things are important to have in order to (or to pretend) to have a certain social status, people buy them. Art is not the powerful symbol of status that it used to be. Why care some much about status? I think Andy Warhol is a prophet and this clearly shows why he was one. When he made the Campbell soup piece he was trying to tell everyone that they were NOT MAKING ANY efforts to be original or extraordinary, that they were all the same. People don’t know any better to try and educate themselves on what art is. And why should they? Let’s be like everybody else, let’s buy whatever anyone else is buying. Art takes a part of your life to understand (yes it is that complicated) so why bother? Simply because it has benefits that go beyond decoration. Aesthetic pleasure is not something academics made up to describe what one feels when looking at an art piece. It is real. As beautiful and noble a feeling as love is.

One factor that contributes to the current situation is how quickly art’s language changes and how people can get lost. But if you take the time to understand art you will figure what which movements speak to you and which don’t.

An art print is not the same as an art piece. It can only reproduce the look of the piece but not the details in the brush work or drawing. Art, true art, that can make a person cry is hidden in those details waiting for someone to see it.

The system has not changed, there are probably more artist like Van Gogh out there.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:26:00 -0400

People always regret Van Gogh’s art was not appreciated in it’s time. However very little is done in order to avoid this from happening. In fact, it is my perception that it has become increasingly difficult to sell art.

There is a very small group of people interested in art. In the current economic crisis investing money in art is high risk and it is even a higher risk if the artist is not well known.

Artist struggle to get their work in the galleries or to win a contest but not all of them are lucky enough to get their big chance this way.

The more innovative the language the more difficult it may to get noticed.

The target market for art is a small group of collectors. How do you reach them?

Art supplies are becoming a luxury. Prices are extremely high. How do you afford them?

That is why I think the system has not changed enough in order to appreciate innovative artist’s art while they are still alive. And it is a shame that 50 years from now we will have to read about artist’s that just like Van Gogh were not appreciated but made amazing art.

"When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people."

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:33:45 -0400

“When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people.”

- Abraham Joshua Heschel (via liquidlightandrunningtrees)

Happy Birthday Van...

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:49:00 -0400

Happy Birthday Van Gogh!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VanGogh-Irises_1.jpg

Van Gogh, Irises

Gaudi's Buildings: Painting, Sculpture and Architecture blend to represent the forms of nature

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 21:46:00 -0400

Gaudi’s architecture is not ordinary architecture. Some have gone as far as to call him God’s architect (1). His use of color complements the organic shapes of his buildings. For those of you that don’t know Gaudi was a famous Spanish architect of the XIX century.

You are probably wondering how you can blend painting, sculpture and architecture. The answer is not an easy one. I inserted a picture of the inside of “La Sagrada Familia”, one of Gaudi’s masterpieces.What makes it extraordinary is his use of shapes and colors. His use of both elements is not for utilitarian purposes but for expressive motives. If you are wondering if he was just an architect that used color, in his journal they found this quote: “The colors used in architecture must be intense, logical and fertile ” (2). Meaning color was not an optional or secondary element.

As in his use for shapes almost all authors agree that they were inspired by nature (3). But his work is more than just the work of an architect that is inspired by nature. There is an expressive element regardless of the fact that he says in the previous quote that the use of color must be logical. Standing in front of his work one can not be indifferent. His use of color is just as good as any artist, his shapes are as good as any piece made by a sculpture. I think he did not rationally decide to add those elements, he was guided by his intuition to make those choices and intuition (not reason) is the mother of all artists.

To some people say Gaudi is God’s architect but to me he was much more an artist than an architect. Why? Only an artist would translate the forms and colors of nature into stone. In doing so, (probably unintentionally) he blended painting and sculpture with architecture.

Source for image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7455207@N05/5491325900/sizes/m/in/photostream/ Attribution of image: SBA73 Under CC License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

(1) http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57573476/gods-architect-antoni-gaud-237-s-glorious-vision/

(2) http://www.jmhdezhdez.com/2012/07/frases-citas-quotes-antoni-gaudi.html

(3) Cuito and Montes, Gaudi toda su arquitectura pg. 189 http://books.google.com.do/books?id=1c03N2Vwh5wC&dq=gaudi&source=gbs_navlinks_s

"I think things are beautiful when you don’t plan them, and you don’t have any expectations, and..."

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:30:59 -0400

“I think things are beautiful when you don’t plan them, and you don’t have any expectations, and you’re not trying to get somewhere in particular.”

- Alison Mosshart (via hellanne)

The spiritual power of art: paintings that have a life of their own

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 16:00:17 -0400

You think a canvas is just a figurative or abstract representation of an artist’s thoughts and feelings? It is not just a representation, it is the feelings and thoughts themselves. This is not just my opinion.

On thrusday I met two of the most accomplished female artists in the Dominican Republic: Soucy Pellerano and Rosa Tavarez. They told stories of their lives as artists but the thing that for me the most interesting was when they told stories of people crying in front of their paintings or even couples having more arguments in the room where a specific painting was in.

The Museum curator interrupted these two legendary figures in order to establish that she herself had very similar experiences with certain paintings. She recalled back when she started working as a curator she was asked to remove a painting from the library. When she asked why, she was told the librarian would cry because her desk was in front of that painting.

I am sure that you are all thinking this is not enough evidence. But I recall Michangelo talking to one of his sculptures and asking it to speak. Art is not an ordinary thing, it was spiritual powers, whether you want to believe it or not.

Art is dead but not because Marcel Duchamp said so.

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:20:11 -0500

Marcel Duchamp stated art had died. Why? It was no longer necessary for the viewer to interpret forms and colors. The artist comunicates with objects that mean something. Art is in the mind he said. What if the viewer refuses to get into the artist’s mind? What then? That is what I think is happening now. So let’s fast forward to 2013. People don’t have enough money to buy art. This is not just an observation of mine. Art gallery owners I interviewed for my thesis all agreed this was a main issue.

I did not agree. If people had real interest in art they would find ways to buy it. You think a mail man can’t build a very good art collection? Guess again. Dorothy and Herbert Vogel were not rich. They lived in a small flat, and yet managed to acquire an amazing collection of modern art. If people really would understand art, if they could be moved by art they would make sacrifices in order to buy it.

But why are they not moved by art? In all schools they teach it, museums are filled with it, books that talk about it are available …so what is the excuse they have? It simply is not a trend.

Regardless of that situation I am impressed at how many artist are still creating great pieces, but I wish they had a bigger audience. Is that possible?

The horrors of life, the beauty of art

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 16:07:21 -0500

One of the strongest statements ever made with art were Otto Dix’s paintings. This german artist focused on depicting war as it really was with no idealization. The result is not beautiful in a traditional sense. But who said art was about beauty?

Art is about expressing one’s self. It is about honesty not beauty.

The genesis of cubism (part 2)

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 18:28:56 -0500

Picasso did not create cubism in one day. It was several months of experimentation and more than 800 skethes. This alone is evidence that Picasso was not a “thieve”. Some art critics have called him that because he was influence by Cezanne, African Art and Greek Art. But what he took from these three sources he combined in ways no one had ever seen before.

After all those months of hard work all he had to show for them was one art piece called “les mademoiselles davignon”. Why was this work different from everything Picasso had done before and most importantly different from all of the works that inspired him.

To answer the first question, that art piece was the first time Picasso had ever tried depecting three dimensionality on a two dimentional surface. If you look at the art piece closely the faces seem to be facing you and at the same time they are a side face portraits. He had never tried that before.

To answer the second question, that art piece is different from Cezanne’s work because he suggested geometric forms of objects he depicted but Picasso took a step further by using the influence of African and Greek Art and making objects look like pure geometrical forms.

A revolution started with that painting. Picasso would never be the same artist again, even in Guernica you can see he still applies what he learned from this period of experimentation. Art would never be the same, because cubism influenced a new generation of artists.

"A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts."

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:27:54 -0500

“A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.”

- Jean-Jacques Rosseau (via philosophy-quotes)

"We did not come to remain whole. We came to lose our leaves like the trees, The trees that are..."

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:49:47 -0500

“We did not come to remain whole.
We came to lose our leaves like the trees,
The trees that are broken
And start again, drawing up on great roots;”

- Robert Bly, from “A Home in Dark Grass”

(via litverve)

The genesis of cubism (PART 1)

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:29:00 -0500

Picasso was not an ordinary artist. Before he created cubism he knew he was capable of amazing thigs. That is why, I think, he moved to Paris with his best friend. Why Paris? Because in the same way the body needs food, artistic inspiration needs ART.

Picasso started to change his academic style by incorporating impressionism in his work. He had commercial sucess, sold every art piece he made. Until….until the day in which his best friend killed himself.

The pain had an impact in his art. He would only paint elongated figures in blue. No one wanted to buy this new art he has created. Picasso nearly starved to death. After a 3 years of blue paintings, like a phoenix rising from his ashes, the pink period was born. The tones of blue were replaced by tones of pink, although the figure were still eloganted they were not beggars, they were clowns.

This is not the end of the story. The only constant in Picasso’s work is change. He felt the need to change again. And so he did. But this time he created a style that we now call CUBISM.

The world is breathing, can't you tell?

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:36:55 -0500

The first transformation that occurred to me, caused by constantly observing art, was that every object I looked at had a different meaning depending on my mood.

"Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture,..."

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:45:46 -0500

“Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (via generic-eric)

"If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets."

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:43:39 -0500

“If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets.”

- Haruki Murakami (via masturbacja)

Oh my god! I have 20 followers! THANK YOU! In order to...

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:23:00 -0500

Oh my god! I have 20 followers! THANK YOU!

In order to celebrate I decided to create a very simple video about artistic styles.

"One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:32:09 -0500

“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”

- Sigmund Freud

(via mbacani)