One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. — Goethe
EppsNet Archive: Art
The Problem With Van Gogh is He Did Not Know What Sells
Here’s an article by some artistic nobody on the subject of Art That Sells: Top Themes, Subjects, and Mediums for Best-Selling Art. “As an artist,” he says, “I like to know what sells.” Right! Leave the starving artist shtick to some other starry-eyed clod. The article delivers on its promise, enumerating the most popular genres, themes, subjects, media, colors, sizes, etc. Van Gogh, to my knowledge, did not sell a single painting in his lifetime. He did not “know what sells.” It saddens me to think that if only we could reverse the hands of time and make the information in this article available to him, perhaps he could have made something of himself and still been alive today. Read more →
Robotic Artist Has Solo Show at Oxford
This Robot Artist Just Became the First to Stage a Solo Exhibition. What Does That Say About Creativity? Time A robot painter has a solo exhibition on display at Oxford. Van Gogh has asked that his gun be sent to Hell so he can shoot himself again . . . Read more →
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. — Picasso
A Question for Michelangelo
In the fresco The Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, we all fix our gaze on the finger that gives Adam life, but who is that naked girl God is casually yet lovingly caressing with his other hand? Read more →
A Visit to LACMA: Picasso, Rivera, Modern Art, Renaissance and Reformation
Here are some photos from a recent trip to LACMA . . . We started at the Picasso and Rivera: Conversations Across Time exhibit: From there, we visited a modern art exhibit — The Serial Impulse at Gemini G.E.L — a celebration of the renowned Los Angeles print workshop Gemini G.E.L founded 50 years ago in 1966. For example, here are some black rectangles by Richard Serra: Josef Albers also painted a bunch of rectangles (squares, actually) but took things a step further by using different colors: Ellsworth Kelly really pushed the envelope by using not only different colors but different four-sided shapes (e.g., trapezoids and parallelograms). I had a couple of thoughts on the Gemini G.E.L. exhibit juxtaposed with Picasso and Rivera: Some people need to get serious. Some people should be ashamed of themselves. Rather than end on that note, here are are a couple of pieces from… Read more →
Huntington Library
Man Ray Chess Set
Really liked this Man Ray chess set at MOCA . . . white has played e4 and waits forever for a response that’s never coming . . . Read more →
At the MOCA With a Rothko Fan
My niece and nephew were visiting from Texas . . . I asked her what she thought of the Rothko exhibit at MOCA (see photo above) . . . Keep in mind she’s a petroleum engineering major from Texas . . . “I love Rothko!” she said. “I used to have a Rothko calendar.” I admit that threw me off a little. I had expected a lukewarm and/or noncommittal response . . . “Did you find it had a certain ‘sameness’ about it?” “No, he used more figures in his earlier paintings.” “Oh . . . you know, I’ve never been to a museum with someone who actually knows about the art.” “Ha ha, I don’t know that much, I’m just a fan,” she said. Read more →
MOCA and the Broad
My niece and nephew were visiting from Texas . . . my niece in particular wanted to see the Infinity Mirrored Room installation at the Broad, so off we went. (Scroll down for photos.) Unless you reserve tickets well in advance, entry to the Broad is handled via a standby line, which, when we showed up Saturday morning, was about an hour wait, i.e., the museum opened at 10 a.m. and we got in about 11:00. Because the standby line is in direct sunlight, Broad staff thoughtfully hand out umbrellas to anyone in the queue who wants one. (They do ask for the umbrellas back when you enter.) The Infinity Mirrored Room is an experiential artwork . . . one visitor at a time enters the room for 45 seconds. It requires a separate reservation which you can make, pending availability, after entering the museum. Once you get signed up… Read more →
The Ceiling Seems Very Low
I don’t know if this is good news or bad news. It would help to know what “trains” means but I read the article and it doesn’t say. Reporters need to be more inquisitive. Can someone with no knowledge of computer science or programming be “trained” to teach computer science or programming? What would that entail? How long would it take? Can someone who’s never played an instrument or listened to a piece of music be “trained” to teach a music class? Can someone who’s never picked up a drawing pencil or visited a museum be “trained” to teach an art class? Can someone who doesn’t speak Spanish be “trained” to teach a Spanish class? The ceiling on any of these approaches seems very low compared to hiring actual programmers, musicians, artists and Spanish speakers . . . Thus spoke The Programmer. Read more →
Art is Not a Brassiere
Do not imagine that Art is something which is designed to give gentle uplift and self-confidence. Art is not a brassière. At least, not in the English sense. But do not forget that brassière is the French for life jacket. — Julian Barnes, Flaubert’s Parrot Read more →
Teaching Computer Science
Tomorrow is my first day as an AP Computer Science teacher at Corona del Mar High School. It’s a volunteer gig through the TEALS organization. Only about 10 percent of U.S. high schools offer computer science classes and at most of those schools, it counts as an elective, like Home Ec or Wood Shop, not as a class that can be applied toward graduation like math or science. The most popular AP exam in 2013 was US History — 439,552 students took the AP US History exam. Only 31,117 students took the AP Computer Science exam. That’s about the same number as the AP Art History exam. I don’t want to denigrate the study of art history, but given the ubiquity of computers and software and programming in daily life, the study of computer science seems more likely to enable a person to be self-supporting and to contribute to the… Read more →
EppsNet at the Movies: The Monuments Men
This movie is getting killed on Rotten Tomatoes — 34 percent as I write this. Granted, it’s not in 3-D, doesn’t have robots or aliens or other really fake-looking bullshit, and despite being set during World War II, has only a minimal amount of violent action. (If you like that kind of thing, fear not! We were shown previews for Pompeii, Spiderman, X-Men, some Tom Cruise sci-fi thing . . . rest assured there’s plenty of crap in the pipeline.) The Monuments Men tells an interesting story in an entertaining way, with memorable scenes and characters, and the best female role I’ve seen in a movie since Come Back, Little Sheba. Rating: The Monuments Men Director: George Clooney Cast: George Clooney Frank Stokes, Matt Damon James Granger, Bill Murray Richard Campbell, Cate Blanchett Claire Simone IMDb rating: ( votes) Read more →
What is Love?
My wife tells me that LACMA has free admission today for Presidents’ Day, and if I want to go, she’ll come along as my arm candy. I enjoy art museums; my wife doesn’t. If she had clammed up about the free admission, I would never have known about it. That’s what love is . . . Read more →
Some Links
HealthCare.gov’s Account Setup: 10 Broken Usability Guidelines McKayla Maroney Was Doing The “Not Impressed” Face At Age 8 Most Popular Paintings & Photos From Getty’s Online Art Collection The Tweeting Bra Versus Breast Cancer Read more →
Husband Descending a Staircase
Pictures of Food
Years ago, if you wanted to show your friends a picture of your food, you’d have to break out the palette and the easel and paint one. Time-consuming! Nowadays, with the likes of Facebook and Instagram, it’s just point and click! Another way life gets better and better thanks to computers . . . Read more →
I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart. — Vincent van Gogh
A Good Picture
My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person. — Andy Warhol Read more →