European Landscapes versus Asian Landscapes

Ogata Korin, Chrysanthemums by a Stream, c. 1700
Having been so deeply embroiled within Europe's fine traditions, I've 

lately begun to synthesize my knowledge of Far Eastern art with our 

current studies. The key to landscape painting of China and Japan, 

especially pre-19th century, lies in its deceiving simplicity but also 

its inherent complexity and lush personality. The painting appeared 

not so simple as to confuse my perception of it, but instead, gave me 

the clearest and upfront representation of a stream and its adorning 

chrysanthemums. No true background lies in the frame, just 

golden squares brightening the rest of the composition. There is an 

odd depth to it which is not the "traditional" European kind which 

points itself out and is wholly "realistic." But this depth works within 

its composition and is not necessarily true to life, but is not strange 

and alarming either. That is an admirable quality of this sort of art; it 

can be perceived as having three dimensions to it or it can be seen 

as two flat dimensions. This ambiguous nature as it shifts back and 

forth lends itself to a "mysterious" or at least spiritual, even playful, 

enigmatic identity. Everything hints at the photorealistic qualities of 

each item present but lets the viewer fill in those gaps with their own 

imaginations. What I truly appreciate about Ancient Eastern Art 

stands in its non-condescending attitude towards the viewer; the art 

speaks for itself without overtly shouting its meaning or over 

populating its world with needless complications and copious 

symbols. The art's heart and soul glitter like distant islands on the 

sea and invites anyone to explore and dream within this 

floating world I am presented with.  

Bernini and Caravaggio to Beautiful Agony - Petite Mort

In my experience, I find that when someone (this might be shocking to some) orgasms, the physical response as well as facial expression demonstrates this combined paradox of showing sexual pleasure and also conversely, resembling death. Perhaps its too easy to use this closeness of those emotions, but it works nonetheless. Many filmmakers and artists exploit this value of the petite mort (little death says it all), often in a glaringly blatant way, for example in the Matrix Reloaded, Neo sees his lady love orgasm then has a "vision" of her dying with an identical facial expression. 

For those who would like to "research," there is a website that actually records examples of people experiencing a petite mort. Called Beautiful Agony, I think some of it may not be free, but having just looked over it, an alarming amount of the participants look to be in large amounts of pain. 

This photo entitled Orgasm by Spinmenson on deviantart.com, perfectly shows this painful ecstasy. 

I know. This post makes me feel kinda dirty. 

When I look in the mirror what do I see? Caravaggio???

(not the best picture of me, but it has an ambiguous facial expression)

The color and pose reminds me a fair amount of a Caravaggio painting. Interestingly enough, this photo was taken before I read about the assignment. I really don't know what I was thinking when I took this photograph. Was it pride? Was it self-love? Was it curiosity at the mirror revealed of me? Or was it a dare for the viewer to linger over my feature, my expression?

I would not really have wanted to have been Caravaggio. His story is pretty cringe worthy. The only thing I want to share with him is an early squalor in life and perhaps the luck of being celebrated and renowned for my art later in life. Also, perhaps his ability for lovely and compelling portraits in his wonderful paintings. 

Wat Thai DC in MD - My Life as a Buddhist

As a child, I had a friend who was a Thai Buddhist. I went with her to temple a few times, my most vivid memory being the Thai New Years celebration, which occurred during the spring. Most of the time we were indoors, preparing for her "goddess dance" by playing Magic the Gather (a trading card game) or outside at the food vendors or praying, giving incense to, or placing gold leaf on the multitude of Buddhas, gold and stone. The image above is the outside of the main temple and to its left is the school building. Yes, just like Christian churches, Sunday school and school in general is held at the temple. 

The moment that I hold with me the most is meditating with my friend inside the main temple. We were the only ones inside and we sat on our calves, sideways, to pray. We chanted what she had taught me aloud, in the direction of the golden Buddha ahead.

For some silly reason the photos won't load any larger.

 Anyway, the golden Buddha was quite large and had a monk's orange/gold robe draped across his shoulder. There was a smaller golden Buddha seated underneath him, with the almost Christ-like blessing hand position. Even smaller versions sit to his left and right, some golden, some black, some even other Boddhisatvas. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTSTKdXExsk 

This video shows the interior during worship hours. 

The image of the Buddha has always been an intriguing one to me. I was quite young when I was first exposed to it, I'd say 6 years old. (Personally, I find Buddhist imagery much more approachable and serene than a lot of old Christian imagery. Funny, considering that Buddhists believe life IS suffering.) The elongated ear lobes to show intelligence. The third brain, or braided bun atop his head. The closed lidded expression and subtle smile. Truly, this man is at peace. Underneath the robe, Buddha sits in the Lotus position (and is actually on a lotus flower), that of Enlightened state and his hands rest over each other, folded up and opened, as to receive holy light and truth. A golden chandelier of sorts hangs overhead and flowers sit around him. He sits upon a throne that resembles a chest on places belongings within, which golden knockers on the side. 

The temple space did not feel foreign or strange to me. It looked modern and clean, and this makes sense considering it was built and founded in the 70s. The outside does not really illuminate what is inside and the inside does not really either, save for the Buddhas, portraits of monks and abbots, bookshelves full of sutras, and other assorted bits of iconography. The space was open, the ceilings were high, and I felt invited. Which sort of explains my short term conversion to Buddhism and my complicated religious beliefs in general. 

The funny thing about meditation in Buddhism is that the pursuit of meditation is to achieve the sense and realization of pure nothing. My friend told me to think of darkness, emptiness, and silence, and told me I'd be okay then. I could see the nothingness but once I reached it, the Golden Buddha would come to me in my meditation and sit still in my mind. Perhaps my issue was my upbringing surrounded by iconography and potent imagery, that caused me to see Jesus or the Cross everywhere. I could not escape that tendency and failed to become Enlightened. 

Sistine Ceiling - what's up with Lucifer and his chimera body???

When I saw this section of the ceiling, I was immediately drawn to it. Its Adam and Eve being seduced by the Serpent and thusly, being expelled from Eden at sword point. What weirded me (yeah I know, fake word) out initially was Satan's body. He's both man and snake. His human part is deceptively attractive, rightfully, and then it melts into anaconda-like huge tail manifestation. You don't even see what he's giving Eve, but perhaps that isn't the point. His depiction is rare in art. Either he is wholly serpentine or he is humanoid (mostly not), but not both at once. Michelangelo was a genius to create something so unnerving! <- Redundant comment here. Then there is the immediate shift to Adam and Eve's expulsion. Eve looks ultra masculine here, I laugh at her, but I know that Michelangelo's back must have hurt something fierce while he was painting all this. Quite a bit of the Ceiling is cause and effect scenes or perhaps one scene shown with its antithesis. Its very aesthetically pleasing, the comparisons shown on the ceiling. If it was all one mass of events without any referential points, it would be quite a "hot mess." But even in the most hectic of scenes, the Ceiling manages to be clear and Michelangelo achieved this by delineating and grouping things so as to properly inform the observer. He also made things beautifully, but not too intricate or complex, another way for him to avoid back pain. I'm sorry he had to go through all that physically pain, but he created something that will live on (hopefully) forever in the human concsiousness (sp?) as one of the greatest and largest works of art of written history. 

 Just to be silly, in the second half of this portion, it looks like Adam is saying "Piss off!" to the angel. Made me laugh.