Jan022013
A photo set dedicated to looking at art: (view slide show instead)
The viewer completes the work of art. • Marcel Duchamp
For an interesting dialogue on the value of repeated and prolonged looking at works of art, read James Elkins’ 2010 Essay on “How long does it take to look at a painting?” along with the follow-up comments from readers.
Steve
Jan 12, 2013 -
Apropos to the subject, you should check out the new music video What the heck is Art? (Gangnam Style Parody)
Steve
Jan 12, 2013 -
Opps, forgot to include the youtube link for “What the Heck is Art?” Here it is: http://youtu.be/vSTLOFCxU-8
Susan Striepe
Mar 21, 2013 -
James Elkin’s article uses the term “devotional images”, which I think is poignant. Studying icons/paintings was combined with prayer during the Byzantine era. People at that time had a religious experience that was facilitated by the painted icons. The role that these paintings played was so significant that there were religious wars fought around them—iconoclasts versus the iconodules in the 8th century C.E. Just looking at art was incendiary!
As we moved towards a more secular world as a result of the humanist traditions that re-emerged at the time of the Renaissance, devotion evolved into aesthetics. Both underlying principles were essentially the same—art was somehow transformational. I’m not sure that art is experienced that way today.
I wonder if the people that James Elkin’s mentioned that repeatedly visited artworks used it as a point of reference to track their fluid and fast paced lives?
Sharolyn
Apr 25, 2013 -
Recently in a teachers’ meeting, we discussed the ideas of Charlotte Mason. I realized I had not been showing my 1st-6th grade art students nearly enough quality art for them to digest. I sat down and collected pictures of famous paintings and pictures of my friends’ paintings and shared them with my 1st graders.
The pieces that got the strongest reaction and the 1st graders unbiased responses can be found by
following this link-
http://artistecommon.blogspot.com/2013/04/first-grade-oohs-ahs.html