Reflecting on the General Theory of Relativity [III]

Reflecting on the General Theory of Relativity [II]

Reflecting on the General Theory of Relativity [I]

Tripartite Model: "What is art?"

The Tripartite Model reframe of the perennial question "What is art?"

First, I argue that it's actually multiple questions, not simply one:

Rational | analytical, logical, quantitative

How do you define art? What is the nature of art? What are its characteristics? How do you create art?

Non-rational | creative, intuitive, qualitative

How do you experience art? What does art mean to you personally? What emotions does art evoke in you?

Meta-rational | spiritual, philosophical, metaphysical

What is the purpose of art? What does art even exist? How does God, religion, or transcendence figure into art?

Second, I argue that each of us contributes to answering the multi-faceted question of "What is art?" and that only as a collective can we truly find its equally multi-faceted answer.

Theory of Knowledge: What is art?

What is art?

It's that question that often preoccupies me, not just in viewing all sorts of artwork in front of me, but also in creating whatever sort of art catches my fancy.

In this mini-lecture, the speaker identifies three aspects or parameters of what is art:

(1) The intentionality of the artist
(2) The quality of the art, the skill of the artist
(3) The response of the audience

It's a thoughtful, engaging little lecture, one where the speaker offers his viewpoints to us yet also asks us numerous questions.

Ra Paulette shapes New Mexico sandstone

Lee Cowan: "Do you think you're obsessed with cave digging?" 

Ra Paulette: "Would you call a child being obsessed with play?"

Jen Jen Reynolds posted the above video and the following notes:

In the high desert of Northern New Mexico, you can hear the sounds of a man entranced in his work underground in a cave. You will see a small entry that opens into a cavern, where Ra Paulette has spent the last 25 years carving New Mexico’s sandstone into magnificent art. He’s spent years doing this work with the company of only his dog. 

When asked if he is a man obsessed with cave digging, he gives the really thoughtful response: “Is a child obsessed with play?” He waxes on to say, that when you love what you are doing, you are driven to do it all the time. He sees his majestic pieces as environmental projects; his goal is to inspire people such that they open up emotionally, in response to the enormity and power of what his carvings evoke. 

It can be said that he has created magic in the underground caves that he has carved. They are at once intimate and overwhelming. Interestingly, Ra doesn’t see himself as an artist, but simply as a man expressing his sense of wonder in a passionate way. I would beg to differ with his opinion that he is not an artist. What he has created, is livable art of unbelievable power. 

The video you are about to watch tells the rest of his story, and gives you a tour of his magnificent caves. Unbelievably, his work had no notoriety until a filmmaker asked to do a documentary about Ra. Called “Cave Digger”, the film ended up winning an academy award! Please share your reactions to this story of peaceful man who’s purpose was a dedication to his craft. I can guarantee that you are about to view something you have never seen before.

I was taken by how Ra Paulette had dedicated his life to art:

I used to love rock-climbing, because I loved the feel of the mountain on my hands and fingers. It was a way to get intimate with it. That's also how I see Paulette's love for what he does: just his hands, and some low-tech or non-tech tools, and the sandstone. In a way the question about obsession was silly and dense.

Then, it's overwhelming in that his work is literally towering, even otherworldly - maybe a scene from one of the "Alien" films. Overwhelming in that he has devoted years and years of his life to his art; and I do hope he has more than plenty of life left to finish his magnum opus!

Finally, I bet he and Georgia O'Keeffe would've gotten along famously, maybe even become lovers. She, too, loved the New Mexico landscape.

What is art? Teresa Herrera on affecting us

Teresa Herrera suggests that art is "something in the world that exists that affects people" and "makes you sensitive to things around you."
 

What is art? Eric Hullquist on engaging us

Eric Hullquist defines art = imagination + skill, which arouses an emotional response and engages us in some way.
 

What is art? Leon Botstein on transforming us

Leon Botstein argues that art is "the fingerprint of our existence in the world, that has its impact on things we transform through the use of our imagination."
 

Cindy Foley - Thinking like an Artist

What is the purpose and value of Art education in the 21st Century? Foley makes the case the Art’s critical value is to develop learners that think like Artists which means learners who are creative, curious, that seek questions, develop ideas, and play. For that to happen society will need to stop the pervasive, problematic and cliché messaging that implies that creativity is somehow defined as artistic skill. This shift in perception will give educators the courage to teach for creativity, by focusing on three critical habits that artist employ, 1. Comfort with Ambiguity, 2. Idea Generation, and 3. Transdisciplinary Research. This change can make way for Center’s for Creativity in our schools and museums where ideas are king and curiosity reigns.

Cindy Meyers Foley is the Executive Assistant Director and Director of Learning and Experience at the Columbus Museum of Art. Foley worked to reimagine the CMA as a 21st century institution that is transformative, active, and participatory. An institution that impacts the health and growth of the community by cultivating, celebrating and championing creativity. Foley envisioned and led the charge to open the 18,000 sq. ft. Center for Creativity in 2011. In 2013, the museum received the National Medal for Museums in recognition of this work. Foley guest edited and wrote chapters for Intentionality and the Twenty-First-Century Museum, for the summer 2014 Journal of Museum Education.

In 2012, Foley received the Greater Columbus Arts Council Community Arts Partnership award for Arts Educator. She was a keynote speaker for the OAEA (Ohio Art Education Association) 2012 Conference. She is on the Faculty of Harvard University’s Future of Learning Summer Institute.

Foley is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and The Ohio State University. Prior to joining the Museum, she was with the Institute of Contemporary Art at the Maine College of Art, the Portland Museum of Art, and the Wexner Center for the Arts.

"Artists realize that ambiguity is part of the process. They take it, they identify it, they tackle it head on," says Cindy Foley.
 

Katerina Gregos - Why Art is Important

Katerina Gregos is convinced that contemporary art has an important role to play in society, as one of the last frontiers of free expression. Today, artists and cultural practitioners, rather than politicians, are leading some of the key discussions about the state of the world. Contemporary artists challenge each and every one of us to reinterpret social and political events, and crack cemented opinions as well as dominant narratives propagated by the media and those in power. As an internationally respected curator, Katerina has curated a number of exhibitions dedicated to exploring the relationship between art, politics, democracy, the new global production circuits, and human rights. Let yourself be inspired by Katerina’s talk at TEDxGhent 2014, and find out what contemporary art can contribute to society.

"No great artist sees things as they are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist," Katerina Gregos quotes Oscar Wilde.
 

Linda Nathan - Why Art Matters

An internationally recognized teacher, author, and speaker on school reform, Linda Nathan is the founding headmaster of Boston Arts Academy, Boston's first public high school for the visual and performing arts. Under her guidance, BAA has won state, national and international awards and recognitions, and consistently sends over 94% of its graduates on to college. Dr. Nathan is the author of the book, The Hardest Questions Aren't on the Test: Lessons from an Innovative Urban School, and is currently executive director of BAA's Center for Arts in Education. In this talk, she explores the importance of the arts as key to a complete educational experience.

"I learned early in my training as a young teacher, that there was something about the arts, that could bring people together, across racial divide, across linguistic divide, across socioeconomic differences," say Linda Nathan.

Raul

"When you drum, you can't lie. Drumming comes from the heart. Drumming is my soul. When I drum, I'm at peace. And I want to do something in the homeless community, that will give those men the same experience," say Raul.
 

My Poetry, My Art

My Poetry: One of my collections is The Song Poems. The concept is simple enough: I watch a YouTube video of a song I like, then let it carry me wherever and however it may. "Kiss the Rain" is inspired by the lovely piano piece from the South Korean musician, Yiruma.

The Art of Kim Kwang Min

Musical Arts: "Time in a Bottle" is a classic love song by Jim Croce, and became a #1 hit in 1973 three months after he died. Here, Kim Kwang Min plays a lovely piano rendition of it. The art is how he gives it a personal touch. It may be an emotion, a memory, or an image, which he expresses through the music of this song. Whatever it is that is within him, he has now delicately woven into the song, which inspired whatever that was within him. This is art.

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
'Til eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

[Chorus]
But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

The Art of Alanis Morrisette

Like anyone would be
I am flattered by your fascination with me
Like any hot-blooded woman
I have simply wanted an object to crave
But you, you're not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight

Must be strangely exciting
To watch the stoic squirm
Must be somewhat heartening
To watch shepherd need shepherd
But you you're not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight

Like any uncharted territory
I must seem greatly intriguing
You speak of my love like
You have experienced love like mine before
But this is not allowed
You're uninvited
An unfortunate slight

I don't think you unworthy
I need a moment to deliberate

Reference: Uninvited, by Alanis Morrisette.

Musical Arts: This song is from the romantic fantasy City of Angels. Alanis Morrissette offers a very disquieting, profound read of the love in this film. Meg Ryan is the object of fascination for Nicholas Cage, and is perplexed yet charmed by it. Ryan is superb in the role, as she conveys complex emotions with her eyes, lips and inflections. An artist of an altogether different genre, Morissette works this same complexity from a darker view. Yes, in the song, the lady admits to really liking Cage's fascination with her, but this is laced with cynicism, even anger. Morrissette characterizes this lady as fiercely independent and intelligent and also as a lady who is not entirely hardhearted and who is willing to reconsider how genuine his attraction really is. All in all, a tour de force effort by both Ryan and Morrissette.

By the way, the lyrics to this song is probably easier to recite. It seems rather difficult to sing. An unfortunate slight and Like any uncharted territory are like tongue twisters. At a number of points, Morrissette has to strain to sing the dysrhythmic music of the song. In a way, though, this mirrors perfectly the disquieting theme of its lyrics. And, above all, Morrissette sings it superbly!
 

Keep the Tripartite Model in Mind

(image credit)

At first blush, I say, Yes, indeed follow the light of your intuition.  Follow the light of your intellect and your purpose, too.  In other words, keep the Tripartite Model in mind, which encourages us to approach things and situations from analytic (Science), creative (Art) and spiritual (Religion) perspectives. But on second thought, we ought not categorically dismiss that darkness of convention.  There may be gems of insight there.  Moreover, those who are in that darkness may need others' help in walking them to the light and bringing the light to them.  Intuition is one fine source of light, but it isn't the only one.

Art has Value

Preface

As Dr. Ron Art took sufficient shape for me to launch it via a Facebook page three years ago, I wanted to share my Art Manifesto.  This manifesto isn't just a set of beliefs about art, but also a proposal about the very nature of art.  Physicists work at discovering the immutable laws of the universe, and in a similar way I work at crystallizing some fundamental truths about art.  More broadly, art is an integral component of The Tripartite Model, along with science and religion.

My Art Manifesto

1. Art is cross-art by nature
2. Art is always autobiographical
3. Art is sensuous
4. Art is synesthetic
5. Art is never completely original
6. Art has value

Dr. Ron Art is a sizable complex with five main wings, under which several projects are at various stages of progress:

• Poetry in Multimedia 
• Shakespeare Talks! 
• Dramatis Personae 
• Art Intersections 
• T'ai Chi Empower

My Art Manifesto is the undercurrent for these projects.  This is the last of six articles, where I introduce this manifesto. 

(image credit)

A talented artist friend

When I lived in Dubai, a Filipino friend invited me to his first solo exhibition.  His paintings were astounding, both in breadth (they were huge) and in theme (they were profound).  His creative talent wasn't narrowed to painting, but extended to photography, sculpting and performance.  At this exhibition, for instance, we all wondered where the hell he was.  Two hours into it, and he still hadn't shown up.  Then he arrived, wearing exactly what he wore in a sizable self portrait, including clown makeup, and pulling the same red wagon depicted in that photograph.  He was like the Pied Piper, as he snaked through the crowd, picking up odd things on the floor, and us opening up, making way for him, and regathering behind him to follow along.  It was a tour de force show.

I was equally astonished, however, at how much he low-balled the pricing of his pieces.  It was par for the course for a lot of Filipinos in Dubai, that they hardly saw their true worth and hardly demanded it.  They smiled at whatever pittance they received, because after all they were the happiest people in the world.  But being dead bottom on the salary scale in an Arabian Business survey was emblematic, I thought, of how people and companies took advantage of their low salary expectations and how Filipinos themselves reinforced it with their acceptance and passivity. 

On the face of it, my artist friend was the same.  So a few days later, I got together with him, and asked him point black: If someone were to offer him 10 - 20 times more than the pricing he had set for any of his pieces, would he accept it?  I was glad to hear his response:  yes.  I wanted to advocate for him and to serve as his talent agent, and his response suggested that we had something to work with.  Had he said no, instead, there would have been little reason for us to go forward.

Art as the royal road to wealth

Consider the following documentary on very expensive paintings:

If this documentary doesn't take your breath away, then you may have little or no breath to begin with.  Certainly each artist may dream of a multimillion dollar windfall for his or her art.  For the vast lot of us, however, eking a living out of what we love most is a daily struggle or an impractical option altogether.

But how to determine art value?

A few years ago I spoke to a German friend, who at the time was pursuing her PhD in marketing and focusing on pricing as a specialty.  I asked her how the value of art was determined.  We chatted a bit, but mostly she just sent me a wealth of articles on the subject.  Evidently art pricing wasn't something she had looked into, as she really wasn't able to advise me.

I gathered the following were pricing determinants:

• Talent and renown of the artist
• Promotion, sales and marketing efforts
• Historical, social and political context
• Art market trends for particular genres
• Whim, ego and wealth of the art aficionado-collector

Over time, as my thinking advances and my knowledge grows, I will elaborate on these and other determinants. 

Dr. Ron Art in perspective

It took a few years to clarify the concept, create the platform, and launch it in earnest.  So when I spoke to the foregoing friends, this wide-ranging endeavor was still in its infancy.  I wanted to create art and engage others, but I also wanted to promote, negotiate and sell it.  (a) I've been posting stuff in methodic fashion, across Google+, Twitter and Facebook, and (b) writing articles like mad across several Blogger, Tumblr and Pinterest profiles.  (c) Plus I am working on specific projects, at various stages of progress:

• Poetry in Multimedia.  Searching for a multimedia publisher for `The Song Poems
• Shakespeare Talks!  Staging `A Midsummer Night's Dream in the community
• Dramatis Personae.  Writing my play `The Room, as advocacy against housemaid abuse
• Art Intersections.  Planning my photography project `Real Beauty
• T'ai Chi Empower.  Teaching students and coaching leaders on T'ai Chi  

I'm not yet at the point of formulating the pricing for whatever I'm going to sell, but I'm getting there, for sure. I have struggled, admittedly, and that may continue, but for me there is little that is ennobling about struggling or suffering. I appreciate its inevitability, and I do my best to learn from it. But I plan to get past it and delve even more into art, and I plan to become wealthy at it.   

Art is simply not something to dish out for nothing.

Art is Never Completely Original

Preface

As Dr. Ron Art took sufficient shape for me to launch it via a Facebook page three years ago, I wanted to share my Art Manifesto.  This manifesto isn't just a set of beliefs about art, but also a proposal about the very nature of art.  Physicists work at discovering the immutable laws of the universe, and in a similar way I work at crystallizing some fundamental truths about art.  More broadly, art is an integral component of The Tripartite Model, along with science and religion.

My Art Manifesto

1. Art is cross-art by nature
2. Art is always autobiographical
3. Art is sensuous
4. Art is synesthetic
5. Art is never completely original
6. Art has value

Dr. Ron Art is a sizable complex with five main wings, under which several projects are at various stages of progress:

• Poetry in Multimedia 
• Shakespeare Talks! 
• Dramatis Personae 
• Art Intersections 
• T'ai Chi Empower

My Art Manifesto is the undercurrent for these projects.  This is the fifth of six articles, where I introduce this manifesto. 

The four points I've written about so far in my Art Manifesto - (a) art is cross-art by nature, (b) art is always autobiographical, (c) art is sensuous, and (d) art is synesthetic - came to me five years ago, but this fifth is a recent inclusion.  I crystallize it here.

We are all inviolably connected to each other, and we belong on long, billowing ribbons of life, since the beginning of life itself.  So while we may pull things together in a novel fashion, while we may take a radical leap of creativity, and while our work may strike others as duly original, the fact is we are never fully alone or isolated from others in the world.  Our art may be original to some extent, but never completely so. 

Literature

Consider the famous reflection by the English poet and cleric John Donne (Meditation XVII):

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.

American novelist Ernest Hemingway drew from Donne for the title From Whom the Bells Tolls.  William Shakespeare, Donne's contemporary in the late-16th, early-17th centuries, drew quite a bit from his predecessors, and they from their predecessors, too, for instance, for `Romeo and Juliet:

• The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke, and Palace of Pleasure by William Painter were primary sources. 
• In turn, for his narrative poem, Brooke may have translated the Italian novella Giuletta e Romeo by Matteo Bandello.
• There are characters named Reomeo Titensus and Juliet Bibleotet in the works by Pierre Boaistuau, who translated some of Bandello's novellas into French, such as Histoire troisieme de deux Amants, don't l'un mourut de venin, l'autre de tristesse (The third story of two lovers, one of whom died of poison, the other of sadness, rf. A Noise Within).
• One Bandello story was La sfortunata morte di dui infelicissimi amante che l'uno di veleno e l'atro di dolore morirono (The unfortunate death of two most wretched lovers, one of whom died of poison, the other, of grief, rf. A Noise Within).

So one of the most famous works in literature and theater follows quite a lineage of art.

Film

`Stoker is very stylish 2013 film by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, and in its simplest, most obvious theme it is about the coming of age of a young lady.  But it's more complex than that, and quite a lot move and shift in the interiors of this family.  The acting - led by Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, and Nicole Kidman - is simply superb. 

For the purpose of this article, I want to highlight American film talent Wentworth Miller, the screenwriter for `Stoker.  The name didn't ring a bell to me.  But because I love film, and I am obsessively curious about the background and crew, I Googled him.  I found out that he played the younger Coleman Silk in another beautiful, very curious 2003 film The Human Stain, also starring Kidman and Anthony Hopkins.

[Miller] used the pseudonym Ted Foulke for submitting his work, later explaining "I just wanted the scripts to sink or swim on their own."  Miller's script was voted to the 2010 "Black List" of the 10 best unproduced screenplays then making the rounds in Hollywood.  Miller described it as a "horror film, a family drama and a psychological thriller".  Although influenced by Bram Stoker's Dracula, Miller clarified that Stoker was "not about vampires.  It was never meant to be about vampires but it is a horror story. A stoker is one who stokes, which also ties in nicely with the narrative."  Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt also influenced the film. Miller said: "The jumping-off point is actually Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. So, that's where we begin, and then we take it in a very, very different direction."

Reference:  Stoker.  

I have been enthralled with `Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) for a long time.  I watched that Hitchcock film (1943), and it too was superb.  I'm sure the inspiration for Miller is a bit more intricate than we can know, but an evocative name like "Stoker" and a conniving character like Uncle Charlie are the threads that stitch Miller to his creative predecessors.

  

Poetry

The influences to my poetry are many, but Shakespeare, and poets WH Auden and John Ashbery are prominent.  For example, my latest poem - Swan Song of Ophelia - is about one of the most tender yet enigmatic women in Shakespeare.  Auden wrote a breathtaking commentary on The Tempest, titled `The Sea and the Mirror, which in turn inspired me to write a long poem about a patient I worked with, who committed suicide.  Ashbery, along with surrealist painter Salvador Dali and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, were instrumental to the poetry I wrote in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

But let's take one from my collection The Song Poems.  The idea is simple:  I take any music video I like from YouTube, then I let it take me wherever it wishes to take me.  These poems are an account of these journeys.

The following are the specific music videos that inspired me to write this song poem:

  

 

Nowadays social media, technology devices, and digital content all extend and tighten the ties that connect us to one another.  What I've captured here is just a small sampling of my argument that art is never completely original.  To come back to Donne, none of us is an island onto himself or herself.  There is no person born and raised in complete isolation, and biologically we are forever bound to our parents.   

Art simply gives us the means, the knowledge, and the opportunity to do what creative thing we wish to do with whatever and whoever came before us.

Art is Synesthetic

Preface

As Dr. Ron Art took sufficient shape for me to launch it via a Facebook page three years ago, I wanted to share my Art Manifesto.  This manifesto isn't just a set of beliefs about art, but also a proposal about the very nature of art.  Physicists work at discovering the immutable laws of the universe, and in a similar way I work at crystallizing some fundamental truths about art.  More broadly, art is an integral component of The Tripartite Model, along with science and religion.

My Art Manifesto

1. Art is cross-art by nature
2. Art is always autobiographical
3. Art is sensuous
4. Art is synesthetic
5. Art is never completely original
6. Art has value

Dr. Ron Art is a sizable complex with five main wings, under which several projects are at various stages of progress:

• Poetry in Multimedia 
• Shakespeare Talks! 
• Dramatis Personae 
• Art Intersections 
• T'ai Chi Empower

My Art Manifesto is the undercurrent for these projects.  This is the fourth of six articles, where I introduce this manifesto. 

I have this pet idea that (a) we work at art is sensuous, that is, heightening our five senses for any stimuli around us.  Then (b) we cross the usual pairing of sense and stimulus, and now it's art is synesthetic.  Synesthesia is a neurological condition, where sense-stimulus pairings are scrambled, for example, hearing colors or seeing music.

Some synesthetes often report that they were unaware their experiences were unusual until they realized other people did not have them, while others report feeling as if they had been keeping a secret their entire lives.  The automatic and ineffable nature of a synesthetic experience means that the pairing may not seem out of the ordinary. This involuntary and consistent nature helps define synesthesia as a real experience. Most synesthetes report that their experiences are pleasant or neutral, although, in rare cases, synesthetes report that their experiences can lead to a degree of sensory overload.

Though often stereotyped in the popular media as a medical condition or neurological aberration, many synesthetes themselves do not perceive their synesthetic experiences as a handicap. To the contrary, some report it as a gift—an additional "hidden" sense—something they would not want to miss. Most synesthetes become aware of their distinctive mode of perception in their childhood. Some have learned how to apply their ability in daily life and work. Synesthetes have used their abilities in memorization of names and telephone numbers, mental arithmetic, and more complex creative activities like producing visual art, music, and theater.

Reference: Synesthesia.

That's stupid.  Numbers don't have colors, they have personalities!

Of course, synesthesia isn't the purview of art alone.  I love what Alex relates at the end: Fellow synesthetes have very different orientations to numbers, so their gatherings have the makings of a friendly fight.

I don't view synesthesia as a medical problem, though it can be, if a person is disturbed by it and it affects his or her day-to-day functioning.  By and large, though, synesthetes who may or may not be artists clearly find it pleasant and normal.  I imagine that in general established artists or would-be artists have a greater degree of synesthesia than non-artists. 

Imagine the creative possibilities

Five years ago I was at Happy Hour with a couple of friends in Dubai, and I must've mentioned synesthesia.  They didn't know what it was, so I explained it and mentioned it as a hallmark of art.  I met them in an acting class, so like me they were artistic sorts and they were duly intrigued by its being an art manifesto.

I promised to write a poem about it:

They say, true synesthesia is involuntary –

Like twitch of muscle fibers, firing of nerve cells,

Molecular activity of momentary

But frequent ringing of cross-stimulating bells.

But I do not conceive this as neurologists

For science claims too much of human mantelpiece,

Or relegate to armchairs of psychologists

(Though I am one) this cross-emotional release.

So, dear, who truly owns this synesthesic power?

The artist!  Let’s begin with sight.  For eyes have might

To hear the music in Picasso, feel the hour

Shorten upon the skin from images at night. 

Consider hearing.  Enter Mozart opera –

“The Magic Flute” singspiel that is a rousing texture

On fingertips, a harlequin to camera

Of colors from dramatic notes-and-words admixture.

Now, smell.  The fragrant hyacinths across the field

May give rise to a spread of roasted lamb, merlot

And crème brûlée – for flavor is as much the yield

Of fragrance as of succulence, tied with a bow.

Taste, then.  Cold water on the palate in the heat

Of equatorial summers is to bathe in springs

Collecting from the mountaintops, down to their feet,

Where rushing, falling is what water also sings. 

 

Last but not least, is touch.  For lovers, all the world

Is synesthesia.  Were they simply left alone

To stroke each other’s face, we’d see the cherubs twirl,

Hear oud play, breathe perfume, lap Häagen-Dazs’s cone.   

So, there, the sensual artist is the king and queen,

Whose living fully rules each momentary scene.

Synesthesia © Ron Villejo

So how about synesthesia in short film, music video, and training and education?

I love the bits about listening to fruits and vegetables, meat and eggs, then himself.  Toasting, cooking and eating books.  Herds of cats coming out of the speakers.

The lyrics and singing are terrible, but the visuals and music are catchy.  The Hindu holiday of Holi - the festival of colors - is a nice touch.

I like the notion of metaphor as seeing the similar in dissimilar things.  But imagine the work of researchers in synesthesia, applied as training and education for all art students.  There is evidence that our brain is very plastic, that is, pliable and changeable.  So we could adopt neurological applications for children, teenagers and adults, and thereby build up their artistry, creativity and innovation, and reshape their (our) brain for a meaningful good. 

Art is Sensuous

Preface

As Dr. Ron Art took sufficient shape for me to launch it via a Facebook page three years ago, I wanted to share my Art Manifesto.  This manifesto isn't just a set of beliefs about art, but also a proposal about the very nature of art.  Physicists work at discovering the immutable laws of the universe, and in a similar way I work at crystallizing some fundamental truths about art.  More broadly, art is an integral component of The Tripartite Model, along with science and religion.

My Art Manifesto

1. Art is cross-art by nature
2. Art is always autobiographical
3. Art is sensuous
4. Art is synesthetic
5. Art is never completely original
6. Art has value

Dr. Ron Art is a sizable complex with five main wings, under which several projects are at various stages of progress:

• Poetry in Multimedia 
• Shakespeare Talks! 
• Dramatis Personae 
• Art Intersections 
• T'ai Chi Empower

My Art Manifesto is the undercurrent for these projects. This is the third of six articles, where I introduce this manifesto.

Touch

Nicholas Cage as Seth and Meg Ryan as Maggie in `City of Angels (1998) have a moment at the library.  She feels him hold her hand and run a finger on her palm.  She had questioned his feeling that she was an excellent doctor, and had tacitly dismissed such praise from the stranger.  In one regard, this beautiful, poignant film is her story, she who is first baffled and skeptical, then shifts from science (analytical and skeptical) to art (experiential and authentic).  At the end, she glides on a kind of ribbon of religion, where she lives life fully, with the wind in her hair and the sun on her face.

Taste

As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste... as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy. 

From a passage in A Moveable Feast, by Earnest Hemingway, which Seth reads.

Sight

There is quite a lot in the following clip from `A Beautiful Mind (2001), where Russell Crowe as John and Jennifer Connelly as Alicia go a first date.  The visuals in general are arresting.  But if we believe that God is truly an artist, then the visuals of a Marc Chagall painting are as transcendent as Alicia sees it and also as stunning as she is.  At her behest, the geeky genius John sees a certain artistry in the cosmos. 

Self Portrait with Seven Fingers (1913), by Marc Chagall

Sound

Charlotte Church sings `All You Can Be, as the love theme, in a hauntingly beautiful voice.  In fact, the soundtrack James Horner is in and of itself sensuous. 

Scent

`Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is an unfortunate title for this lush and lavish 2006 film.  Indeed Ben Whishaw as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille does kill, in an effort to capture the intoxicating but elusive scent of a woman.  But his killings are simply one part of a rich story about his ungodly heightened sense of smell.  In reality, of course, we as the audience do not smell what he smells.  But through the filmmaker's craft and our imagination, it was quite easy for us to smell all that captivated Jean-Baptiste.

Finally, my poem on a stunningly fragrant, long lasting Casablanca Lily:

Not all pieces of art will engage our five senses equally.  But if we give free reign to all of our senses, then art as a whole rewards us with an inviolably sensuous experience.