InfinityOnTheHorizonLine

​                                                                                                               November 20, 2022 A. M. French     I’m convinced of a few things. Whether these ideas ae factually and materially  true  or not is immaterial to me. Facts may remain in the timeline on the page as to colors on the face of a canvas. The test comes from practice. This is my practice, perhaps a belief system, who can tell? ...

 After understanding the nature of abstraction and imitation, I am stuck with the same question I had when observing Picasso's painting of a bottle of rum: Can I create a piece of abstraction that could compete with, or even defeat perfect imitation paintings like those of Cezanne?  The reason for even considering such a question has come about from discussions in class. We have analyzed O'Keefe, Picasso, and Cezanne respectively. O'Keefe and Picasso's abstractions have led us to greater conversations and there is a feeling that they have been more moving than the ones with pure (and perfect) imitation.  Now, If i created an abstract piece of art through chalk on a class blackboard, would it be just as enticing as something with perfect imitation as Cezanne? (Disclaimer: This is just a thought experiment to understand a broader concept)   If i argue in favor of my abstraction, my rationale would be something like this: First, my abstract art would be a child of ...

​ Vincent van Gogh’s “Bridge in the Rain” painting is a study of a 19 th  century  print by Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige  called “ Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake ”.  Van Gogh took inspiration from  Hiroshige for the form and content of his painting, but the emotion conveyed by the Dutch painter is  far different from the original. I chose to talk about these two pieces of  art in particular, because  th eir differences  distinctly manifest the color theory which Kandinsky spoke of in  the sixth part of his essay .   Even from the  first glance, the Van Gogh painting appears to depict a gloomy  tempest, while  Hiroshige’s print  tells the story of getting caught in  a  light but  sudden burst of  spring  rain.  Van Gogh’s painting  is brewing.   The  storm  has been on the horizon for a long time, slowly building  to such great immensitie...

I was incredibly intrigued in our discussion on O’Keefe’s cross paintings to find, what I felt like, was a flip-flopping of interpretation in the conversation. At first, it seemed, like any other conversation, that we each held different opinions or were inspired in different ways by the paintings. But as we continued to explore different cross paintings in juxtaposition to one another, it felt as if two sides, two primary ways of interpretation were forming. Most obviously, this split arose in Mr. Connelly’s mention of the Black Cross with Red Sky being placed across from the Black Cross with Stars and Blue in the O’Keefe museum. Immediate reactions to the red sky of the second painting were obvious, but I felt myself confused. Where others had felt peace in the cross imagery, now they felt disruption. (Interestingly, the peace seemed renewed within the last painting we viewed of the Church Steeple, although possibly corrupted by a feeling of simplicity). As I viewed the Black Cross w...

                          In an attempt to slow the burn-out caused by a long semester, I chose to stay here in Santa Fe over our Thanksgiving break rather than go to the trouble of traveling home. The goal was to get my life right in the span of four days. I envisioned cleaning my suite from floor to ceiling, getting through all my laundry, and starting my last math paper of the semester. I did none of those things. Instead, I slept through my morning alarms, spent too much time and money at Savers, and made Thanksgiving food. Not the plan, but on the whole a success. However, one thing that my empty days allowed me to do was visit the O'Keeffe Museum.                          On the whole visiting the Museum was wonderful and really enhanced my already deep appreciation of her artistry. One of the elements of being able to take in her ar...

  video taken by me at the base of the campanile  I've been meaning to post this for a while. Giotto features quite heavily in Dow, and his Campanile-- the bell tower he designed to stand alongside Florence's Santa Maria del Fiore-- was among the first things I remember being mentioned. Dow isn't kidding; it really is one of the most lovely buildings in the world. The tower means a lot more to me now than it might have otherwise: this summer, I was lucky enough to study at the Rome Institute of Liberal Arts, and after the program ended I stayed in the country for a while to explore. I heard many bells, but none so beautiful and thunderous as this. The 20-story climb to the top wasn't easy in the 112 ° heat, but it was so, so worth it. More to come.