Of blood and terror
caught upon the minds canvas
This work is my self
---
who be i tonight
friend or foe
i so easily interchange
---
I leave this record
for posteriority
the assholes to come
---
for left i look down,
for right lifts me once again;
yay, consternation.
---
Two faces in one
Human discord on display
Who are you today?
---
one great artist said
"Light is a great temptation."
I cover white light.
---
last chance for a verse?
creativity revolts
one more basket case
---
In the masculine realm of the outer
I move in strides of determination
Wide eyed, alert and lacking fear
I am indeed master of my destiny
Moving in strides of determination
I don’t see the trees weep
Wide eyed, alert and fearless
Of all but the space within
My persona carefully maintained
Which with brush captures the luminous light
Yet avoids this vast emptiness within
As if to be this space would equal sin
Oh this huge space which spins within
That provides the impulse to capture unfolding scenes
Wide eyed, alert and lacking fear
Except to confront the inner body's tears
The vastness of the divine within
Which biblically has been taught as sin
Prevents me from seeing the trees weep
And leads me to another sip of gin.
35 comments:
I'm going out on a limb here with another experiment.
This is a self portrait of a famous artist. I don't expect anyone will recognise him. I'll happily admit that a couple of weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to place him either. I did know his most famous works but had never connected them or put a name to them. But lately there was a documentary on him on the teev and all the gaps were filled in. He was far more interesting than I knew.
I shan't name him and if anyone here knows who he is just keep mum. We don't want to ruin the experiment.
Which is... This is quite an expressive portrait. It is how the artist wishes us to view him. Okay, so how do we view him? Or more exactly how do we view him, knowing nothing about him apart from what he has conveyed to us here?
Dig it, we're fortune tellers, phrenologists, mug punters making a wild stab, whatever. All we know is what he's given us here. See how you go!
PS. I've cropped in on what was originally a medium close-up, ie. it showed him to his waist. But you're not missing anything beyond a conventional framing. The only thing of significance in the painting is his face, and you have that.
PPS I'll hang fire, what with knowing who he is. I'll pile in at the end of the week.
Oh! And last week was brilliant and marvellous. When I said we were spoilt for choice, I wasn't fooling. Of course, I take all the credit for your haiku what with having made such an inspired choice with the picture. Ha! Bloody genius, me!
And bugger discussing what was chosen and why. It's a tough gig picking the best, especially with last week's lot, and if anyone doesn't like the choice - to hell with you! (Hey Susana, do you like the new me? No more Mr. Niceguy. Unless anyone objects that is...)
who be i tonight
friend or foe
i so easily interchange
portrait with a twist
a hint for Francis how to
bring home the Bacon
attempting to be teachers pet she proceeds with haiku:
who be i tonight
friend or foe
i can so easily become either.
And then wanting to see how nasty teacher can be i was tempted to try a different format which goes by the name of a paitun.
have no idea why i persisted because in the end it is really shitty but i have to honour a few hours wasted time by posting:
In the masculine realm of the outer
I move in strides of determination
Wide eyed, alert and lacking fear
I am indeed master of my destiny
Moving in strides of determination
I don’t see the trees weep
Wide eyed, alert and fearless
Of all but the space within
My persona carefully maintained
Which with brush captures the luminous light
Yet avoids this vast emptiness within
As if to be this space would equal sin
Oh this huge space which spins within
That provides the impulse to capture unfolding scenes
Wide eyed, alert and lacking fear
Except to confront the inner bodies tears
The vastness of the divine within
Which biblically has been taught as sin
Prevents me from seeing the trees weep
And leads me to another sip of gin.
naturally blonde?
only my hairdresser knows
for sure, he confides
matching lips and coat
that ought to tell you something
if you can read lips.
I put my best lip
forward but I never smile
in public--risky!
for left i look down,
for right lifts me once again;
yay, consternation.
florid? i hope not. to me, it would mean ornate for the sake of impressing, without underlying meaning, or significance; flowery language.
then again, i am writing from florida, so perhaps nobody is just a letter off?
complexion florid?
well I certainly hope so
ready for faceboook
From monkeys we came?
Would Davey Jones say maybe
Reincarnation
Two faces in one
Human discord on display
Who are you today?
Super cool.
Thanks Susana, I liked that a lot. When I said on the front page that one could write anything they liked in the comments, I meant it.
Along those lines, and particularly in the beginning, people were all over the shop with the only consistency being minimalism. That's cool, I am happy to receive whatever.
And earlier when I said we were 'phrenologists' (people who read skulls) that was out of despair at not remembering the word I really wanted which was 'physiognomists' (people who read faces).
And Grey John, yes, 'florid' was me being sideways cryptic, and by no means a comment on your writing style, ha ha. It's just a useful thing to know, what with having two Johns.
Anyway, so far we're doing very well. At the end of the week I'll fill you on this fellow and where his head was at. Or my take on him anyway. Ciao ciao.
look down, am i done?
just one more mighty effort;
ugh, constipation.
I thought my pursed lips
Made me look kinda, uh, coy
but not really eh?
Of blood and terror
caught upon the minds canvas
This work is my self
You showed me your cards
Now I know my strategy
May I have this dance?
**************************
Did hear that right?
She says she Loves my haircut!
Hmm, what does she want?
bravo, susana!
edit:
Did I hear that right?
the deeper I look
the more obvious it is
I am not happy
the Fauntleroy look
it takes money to have this
I'd rather have dreads.
a true self-portrait,
where are my admirers?
forced to paint alone.
I am at a loss
This haiku I can't fathom
Who is this artist?
The pic reminds me
Of someone I once studied
but years have gone by!
coals of ambition,
with art merely a ladder,
upon which I climb
I've looked far and wide,
that perfect subject to paint;
alas, it is I.
nobody loves me
this discovery enrages me
I paint over it
one great artist said
"Light is a great temptation."
I cover white light.
Yeah okay, I admit it. This is the second time I've tried experimenting and you wouldn't call either of them a raging success. Good thing I do them sparingly!
Anyway tomorrow I'll have a brief spray explaining this fellow and pop up a new pic as well.
Between me and you,
subtle manipulations.
You are here for me.
Prior to an experiment comes the desire to get a result, an expectation.
Don't know about you but when I used to have expectations they mostly fell short of the lines.
And thank you Su! Which is to say, 'Yep'.
Well, the expectation here was to see if an impression of this fellow could be derived from his picture. The answer 'yes' would have been really something. Whilst the answer 'not really' isn't quite as exciting, it's still instructive.
Hmm... how about this - every picture here is an experiment. Or rather each picture is a question in a big experiment, the topic of which is loosely 'what art says to people'. The only difference with the 'declared' experiments is that I change the rules ever so slightly.
Not that anyone here ever paid any attention to rules anyway. I never did!
Otherwise back to those five words 'what art says to people' - this is an infinitely complex thing. There's inputs and outputs, intentions and unintentions, truth and falsity, mindfulness and mindlessness, geez, the list is endless. And each of those things can variously be applied not just to the artist but to the viewer, and everyone else in between, me as fellow exercising his taste included. Like I said, it's complex. And fascinating. And... it never pays to get me started on this because there's no end to it. So I'll jump off.
Oh, and not forgetting of course, that it's always nice to break the routine.
Okay tell us already about this artist.
Please.
last chance for a verse?
creativity revolts
one more basket case
Arrrh! Debbn Maid!
Very good. But this fellow, in spite of his promises to the contrary, escaped the basket.
Sorry Su, not done yet. Back in a couple of hours.
perhaps the artist's other self portrait would have been more revealing? maybe it is more realistic?
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8_ENa7sVpug/SaLXT6rbRQI/AAAAAAAADvc/u3A2_7DNxYg/s1600-h/1382.jpg
Thanks John! In scrabbling around his art I missed that one. Interesting huh?
And yes, I'm feeling guilty that I haven't written him up yet. I've been over at Xymphora's brawling.
If anyone wants to jump the gun his name is Jacques-Louis David (pronounced da-VEED). Very interesting fellow.
Post a Comment