Good points there scrim!
but i politely beg to differ/show the flipside on some of these comments
Cave painters, France 60,000 -80,000 BC - were not outcasts of society, they were the center of society.
Really? I guess Food and Shelter weren't that much of a big deal,eh?
There's a popular theory that the cave paintings (transferring thoughts into a solid physical representation) was caused by the long period of time in a cave with lack of lighting-sort of a sensory-deprived hallucinatory state that caused the cave-dweller to see images on a wall (concentric circles-moire patterns/animals he has hunted) He was merely drawing what he saw in his mind-it was after that the connection was made between a pictorial representation and a physical object-which is why they would symbolically "attack" the image with their spear heads....
That said-ABSTRACT thought and Artistic thought developed along the same time.
You place TOO much emphasis on this
We tend to believe that the ritual was the mos important and the shaman or seer was the "center" of their society..
I'm not convinced..
yet....
the Venus of Willendorf and other sculptures show the prominence of CREATION -as seen thru childbirth..... Early man probably treasured food/shelter/and reproduction kind of an early hierarchy of Needs (a la Maslow).
Most of the examples are craftsmen
Even an artist was a craftsman back then
Respecting their talent and learning all they could about it
and everything else....
Creativity and Curiosity are not exclusive to "artists"
These days since computers do everything, societal architects like to divert all creative minds into a pool of loser parasites who all need meds. Artists have been trivialized into nothing more than homeless, starving weirdo's.
Again. not true....
there are always examples of sellouts/turncoats who define success by money and fame-but is that the TRUE artist?
Artists are trivialized because there are so many of them
and so many of them have no business in the business
they jumped on the bandwagon for self-glorification
and since the arts are pretty open and forgiving to oddball approaches
it's hard to invalidate ANYTHING as art....
Warhol had a big hand in that mixing of pop-culture and fine art
he blurred it and the floodgates opened....
Now everyone considers themselves an artist of sorts
and the dilution of the arts begins....
Before WW2 artists were never seen in this sick negative light associated with mental illness-
something the Reich imposed on any non-conformist.
Just think, if Hitler was welcomed as a student and sold lots of work, 11 million lives may have been spared? His feelings about art changed everything associated with art.
THE ARTIST AS
Visionary
Sensitive Prophet
and madman
was actually formed during the Romantic Period
Here's a quote from Wikipedia
"In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education and natural history.
The movement validated strong emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror and terror and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature and its picturesque qualities, both new aesthetic categories. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble, made of spontaneity a desirable character (as in the musical impromptu), and argued for a "natural" epistemology of human activities as conditioned by nature in the form of language and customary usage."
This is where Goethe and many others began the artist as tortured genius theory...
The Symbolism movement took it even further
relating intense scenes/situations from outside myths and inner-reflections...
Hitler could have been a frustrated mail carrier and still have accomplished all the horror and death he is famous for...
Hitler was an A-hole and a frustrated artist...
ONE example...
Our last president was a businessman.an oilman
without an artistic bone in his body
and look at all the death and misery he brought
not only to his own country
but other ones as well....
You should read that previous article again... It merely explains the close similiarity between schizophrenia and creative thinking
Everything is connected
but it all doesn't affect everything at once....
I agree in that our modern society probably nurtures this instability....
Now, what were we talking about?
oh yeah... kid-punching!
[ Edited by: little lost tiki 2010-06-16 11:43 ]
