So Many (Art) Books, So Little Time
Read the article this discussion is about
-
Jo Murphy
- gret
-
Jo Murphy
- gret
- jerrib
- gret
- Fort_Spunky
This archived discussion is "read only".
For the corresponding "live" discussions, post in the active topic forum here.
»
Jo Murphy
- I Would Love The Chance Just To Read.
"This heavy tome goes right on up to the artists and works of the late-20th century. The book was published in 1990, so it covers all we know as American Painting up until then."
I confess I didn't know what a 'tome' was. I could see it must be an interesting word and so I looked up Google. Bastard Nation???
"A singular unified presence of like-minded individuals who share the common uniqueness of being something "other" by definition of legal status adoption."So I guess it means all different nations who have escaped to another nation and trying to build an identity...tension building an identity but trying to keep authenticity of old culture as well.
Yes. Australia is like that. We were always the "Convict Nation" and I am beginning to see how important art is when it comes to recording history. So much recorded in pictures that wouldn't have been recorded otherwise.
As we struggle with refugees here (how strange to have a convict nation that can't even conceive of seeing the problem from a humanitarian angle...oops ...now I am gunna be in trouble!)
I have begun to see the value of art in a crystal clear fashion.
I had it in my head that in times of trouble how dare I be dealing in luxuary items such as murals and garden projects. I should be out there fighting for????
Hmm!
The projects give us a chance to work together despite our cultural differences as well as to keep a record of the struggle for survival.. Something like Kathe Kollwitze ...
...like Eyore "I'll just keep plodding along will I?"
"I won't get caught up in the politics I'll just do what I do best..mind my own business nothing ever changes any way...the rich get richer and the poor get poorer...!" LOL.
The section of American Art that I have really studied is the migration of European Artists et al
after the Second World War. That's fascinating.
And the seemingly exagerated value of art in times of real trouble. You can kinda pick up this idea in the movie "Tea With Mussolini" ...The world is falling down around us but we'll just keep on buying and selling paintings will we?
What was the point of all that?
Art history is fascinating. History is fascinating. And that we don't actually learn our lessons from history is fasciniating. Long live Squizzy for president!
Great review thanks,
Jo
http://www.busywomen.com.au
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/mura...
-- posted by Jo Murphy
» gret - Re: I Would Love The Chance Just To Read.
In response to message posted by martine3038:hmmmm... Dear Jo, All I can suggest is that your tome and mine must come from different languages. My little deskside dictionary says that a tome means: 1) a volume forming a part of a larger work; and 2) a book, esp. a large or scholarly book. MF or L, from Gr. tomos, section, roll of papyrus, segment. But then, what did Google get their def. from? I will have to go take a look. My father and I wrote very long letters when I was away in college, and he threw words at me with careless abandon - if he thought I might have forgotten them or maybe not yet learned them. "Tome" came into my head by way of his "voice," if I dare admit it, even though he has been deceased since May of 1972. It seems to be OK to "hear" the voices of our parents, don't you notice? I used it in its 2nd meaning. Now I have to go find Google's! Thanks for reading this, Jo, and for paying attention!
-- posted by gret
»
Jo Murphy
- Well Then That Must Be A "God Thing"
We call it a 'God Thing' when we make a big mistake and get it right anyway! LOL
Like getting a caution on your licence and suddenly realising what an effect rushing helter skelter was having on your health.
I got it wrong but it was a catylyst for my expression of what is on my mind lately.
That is that I'd better be "stayin' outa politics ifn' I know what's good for me!!"
Always erred on the radical side of politics.
Said the Master:"To be public-spirited and belong to no party,
to move without being bound to any given course,
to take things as they come,
have no remorse for the past,
no anxiety for the future,
to move when pushed,
to come when dragged,
to be like a mighty gale,
like a feather in the wind,
like weeds floating on a river,
like a mill stone meekly grinding,
to love all creation equally
as heaven and earth are equal to all
—such is the product of Enlightenment."On hearing these words, one of the younger disciples cried, "This sort of
teaching is not for the living but for the dead," and walked away, never to
return. Anthony de Mello, SJ
This is it in a nutshell. If I'd lived in Kathe Kollwitze's time they would have shot me dead for audacity. That was yesterday. Now however I see it is all about role models and providing opportunities for people they just never would have had if you hadn't stayed calm, mello and perhaps a lil' courageous in a hidden and silent kinda way.
Jo,
http://www.busywomen.com.au
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/mura...
-- posted by Jo Murphy
» jerrib - As I would be, Gretchen
I love it when I find something so charismatic and on clearance as this!As an aside: It reminds me that I didn't keep track of a notice about one of our art galleries displaying a unique perspective on American Art that has not been done on the west coast. Guess it was my loss to lose the notice.
But the book you'll have forever. You must really have a large bookcase. Wow! My coffee-table-sized books are collecting dust as I keep collecting them.
Book lovers unite! Art lovers unite!
We have a place called Half-Price Books and I love to see what's new there. But it's even more fun to get books in the mail. I see amazon.com finally made a big profit. They should. I'm their best customer!
I can just see you pushing it down the street! Maybe that's why your body hurts!
-- posted by jerrib
» gret - Re: As I would be, Gretchen
In response to message posted by jerrib:Awww, Come on, Jerri!
I am a true bibliomaniac for some books! The built-in bookcases are full, the free-standing bookcases are full, so now the history of the Gold Rush is piled on the hearth (we can't light the woodstove any more!), the bedroom walls have them piled there (the ones I want to sleep with, or fall asleep with), my husband's are piled on the coffee table (he got there first) and on the floor, and the table behind the sofa hasn't been seen in years, except for its legs! I keep threatening to get rid of some of the old ones, or those I don't love any more, but it doesn't happen. I take them out to box up, and feel bad and put them back. Our tastes do change. I don't want to keep ALL of them... We need professional help! (At least, most of Ron's go back to the State Library!) It is a hard life, ain't it? It's my parents' fault! They loved to read and made me love to read, blast it.
Thanks for checking in, Jerri. Our house is on a strong foundation, so we should manage...
-- posted by gret
» Fort_Spunky - Art Books
Hi Gretchen,I suffer from that same malady--love of books. Thanks for sharing this one with us. It sounds terrific and all for only $20!
Don't know how I missed this article earlier, but I'm glad I stopped back by to read it.
Linda
-- posted by Fort_Spunky
Please follow the guidelines set forth in the Suite101 Posting Etiquette when adding to the discussion.