I ran across an article called "How to Behave In An Art Museum" linked to on Andrew Sullivan's blog this week.
Particular quotation:
Your friend comes to visit. You go to whatever exhibit you found on the New York Times website that morning while he was sleeping. At the museum, he talks about the pictures in a voice loud enough to make you uncomfortable. He asks, “What do you think makes this painting so powerful?” Or, “What do you think this artist is trying to say?” The questions are not stupid. It’s just that you can’t think of how to answer them without sounding stupid yourself. Should you say, “I think the vibrant use of orange really enhances the composition”? Or, “She’s critiquing commodity culture, while also reveling in it”? No! Intellectual conversations, as a woman I briefly dated once admonished me, are like public displays of affection—fun to be in, but mortifying to observe, and in a museum you know you’re being observed. But refusing to answer your friend’s questions is no solution either. You’re paralyzed. And you’re not even sure what you’re afraid of. You’re not sure whether your replies will make you look like a philistine or a snob. Which would be worse? Which are you more qualified to be?
Good Lord.
I'm having difficulty articulating the extent to which this person annoys me.
I'm not sure what's worse; the sort of modern artist who feels that something is more profound when it's projected on the ceiling, or all the people who feel like they're being graded if they don't say the right things about it.
Perhaps the author would be more capable of having something profound to say if he wasn't so worried about sounding profound for the other museum-goers who, if they are even remotely aware of his existence, are probably just wondering why this guy looks like a high school student who has forgotten his cheat sheet?
Dear author: just go to the damn museum, look at the pretty pictures, and for the love of God and little Fishes, get the hell over yourself.
It's funny... the author talks about the decline of High Culture, as if High Culture is anything but a modern phenomenon. This division of high and low culture seems to have crept in sometime in the 19th century. Before then, art appreciation was linked inextricably to your social standing or to religion. People were exposed to great art because 1) they were rich and could afford it, or 1) they were in church, where either the institution itself or its noble (read: rich) patrons had put it there. People wanted to be conversant with great art because it was such a potent indicator of not just social status, but of financial status.
Now, of course, as the author points out, it still is, but it's an entirely different measure: whether or not the viewer has imbibed enough of the current level of study, enough of the vocabulary, to measure up as one of the Educated Elite. The actual opinion of the artwork is not nearly as important as the words one uses to talk about it; this sort of Emperor's New Clothes orthodoxy is the death of original thinking when it comes to art. One almost envies the 17th century patron who could say, "I don't care, I just don't like it. Do it over or I don't pay."
If all you're doing is coming up with something that's so abstruse that only other properly educated experts can get anything out of it, how is that not simply intellectual masturbation? How is that so very different than the Klingon Language Institute? I'll tell you: the Klingon Language Institute doesn't take itself seriously, and the Art World is the Universe's major supplier of Taking Itself Too Seriously.
If art is supposed to hold the mirror up to human existence, what good is it if most of the existing humans can't understand it?
And, for the record, no, I don't think that art should be a race to the bottom. I do think art should be challenging, but the hallmark of a truly great artist is that his or her work can be appreciated by intellectuals and plebians alike. Everyone laughs at Shakespeare, everyone admires the Mona Lisa, and Beethoven's 5th is the most overplayed piece of music EVER for a reason. All these can be, and are, appreciated by complete neophytes and experts at the same time.
As long as, of course, they're not taking themselves too seriously...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Lunchtime Blogging...
Brought to you by my laptop and my tethered Android. Oh, the heady freedom!
It's a nice sunny day out here on the park bench outside my building. A little bit chilly, in the breeze, but give it a couple of weeks...
So anyway, today I ran across a friend's post that stated that a friend of his was looking for work in the professional field of radical geography.
Radical geography?
Previously, I would've defined "radical geography" as something akin to what happened in Christchurch, NZ, this week, but according to the wikipedia entry on Critical Geography, Radical Geography:
...emerged during the 1970s and 1980s as the inadequacies of behavioralist methods became clear. It sought to counter the postivist quantitative methods with normative techniques drawn from Marxist theory: quantitative methods, it argued, were not useful unless alternatives or solutions were given to problems.
The final and, arguably, most successful of the three schools was humanistic geography, initially formed part of behavioural geography but fundamentally disagreed with the use of quantitative methods in assessing human behaviour and thoughts in favour of qualitative analysis. Humanistic geography used many of the techniques that the humanities use such as source analysis and the use of text and literature to try to ‘get into the mind’ of the subject(s). Furthermore, Cultural geography revived due to humanistic geography new areas of study such as Feminist geography, postmodernist and poststructuralist geography began to emerge.
My first reaction: "Wait, what?"
My second reaction: "No, seriously, what?"
My third reaction: "We are still talking about borders and land formations here, right?"
My fourth reaction: "Ok, the next academic who gripes at me about the incomprehensibility of computer jargon will get snarked at with extreme sarcasm."
In all seriousness, I hope the friend of my friend finds a job soon. And that I might get to meet them someday, so that they can explain what it is they do using the small words. :)
To quote Larry Colen:
Twas Unix and the C++
Did compile and load upon the VAX:
All Ritchie was the Kernighan,
And LISP ran in GNU EMACS.
"Beware the Jargontalk, my son.
The Mac that talks, the dull PC.
Beware the Amiga, and shun
The voluminous PDP."
He took his listed code in hand:
Long time the pointer bug he sought--
So rested he by the Coke machine,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in nerdish thought he stood,
The Jargontalk, with awk and grep,
Came geeking through the COBOL wood,
And edlin'd as it schlepped.
One two! One two! And through and through!
The line printer went click'ty clack!
And with a meg of memory dump,
He pulled an allnight hack.
"And hast thou slain the Jargontalk?
Telnet to me, my nerdish boy!
Copyleft GNU! Callooh! Callay!"
He deroffed in his joy.
Twas Unix and the C++
Did compile and load upon the VAX:
All Ritchie was the Kernighan,
And LISP ran in GNU EMACS.
It's a nice sunny day out here on the park bench outside my building. A little bit chilly, in the breeze, but give it a couple of weeks...
So anyway, today I ran across a friend's post that stated that a friend of his was looking for work in the professional field of radical geography.
Radical geography?
Previously, I would've defined "radical geography" as something akin to what happened in Christchurch, NZ, this week, but according to the wikipedia entry on Critical Geography, Radical Geography:
...emerged during the 1970s and 1980s as the inadequacies of behavioralist methods became clear. It sought to counter the postivist quantitative methods with normative techniques drawn from Marxist theory: quantitative methods, it argued, were not useful unless alternatives or solutions were given to problems.
The final and, arguably, most successful of the three schools was humanistic geography, initially formed part of behavioural geography but fundamentally disagreed with the use of quantitative methods in assessing human behaviour and thoughts in favour of qualitative analysis. Humanistic geography used many of the techniques that the humanities use such as source analysis and the use of text and literature to try to ‘get into the mind’ of the subject(s). Furthermore, Cultural geography revived due to humanistic geography new areas of study such as Feminist geography, postmodernist and poststructuralist geography began to emerge.
My first reaction: "Wait, what?"
My second reaction: "No, seriously, what?"
My third reaction: "We are still talking about borders and land formations here, right?"
My fourth reaction: "Ok, the next academic who gripes at me about the incomprehensibility of computer jargon will get snarked at with extreme sarcasm."
In all seriousness, I hope the friend of my friend finds a job soon. And that I might get to meet them someday, so that they can explain what it is they do using the small words. :)
To quote Larry Colen:
Twas Unix and the C++
Did compile and load upon the VAX:
All Ritchie was the Kernighan,
And LISP ran in GNU EMACS.
"Beware the Jargontalk, my son.
The Mac that talks, the dull PC.
Beware the Amiga, and shun
The voluminous PDP."
He took his listed code in hand:
Long time the pointer bug he sought--
So rested he by the Coke machine,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in nerdish thought he stood,
The Jargontalk, with awk and grep,
Came geeking through the COBOL wood,
And edlin'd as it schlepped.
One two! One two! And through and through!
The line printer went click'ty clack!
And with a meg of memory dump,
He pulled an allnight hack.
"And hast thou slain the Jargontalk?
Telnet to me, my nerdish boy!
Copyleft GNU! Callooh! Callay!"
He deroffed in his joy.
Twas Unix and the C++
Did compile and load upon the VAX:
All Ritchie was the Kernighan,
And LISP ran in GNU EMACS.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Totally punting.
Things I Have Learned This Week:
L. Ron Hubbard's wife was named Mary Sue. This amuses me.
Some older Adobe programs will be irreparably damaged when you patch up newer yet mostly unrelated Adobe programs. This can take a long time to figure out.
The word "Hello" is a relative newcomer to the linguistic scene.
"Pushing Daisies" is a good show.
Meh. I'm tired. The Heir Apparent's birthday was today. I'm too tired for thinky thoughts.
L. Ron Hubbard's wife was named Mary Sue. This amuses me.
Some older Adobe programs will be irreparably damaged when you patch up newer yet mostly unrelated Adobe programs. This can take a long time to figure out.
The word "Hello" is a relative newcomer to the linguistic scene.
"Pushing Daisies" is a good show.
Meh. I'm tired. The Heir Apparent's birthday was today. I'm too tired for thinky thoughts.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Netbooks and Linux: a bit of tech blogging...
So am seriously tempted to buy one of the little netbooks and load Linux on it, just to play. The original plan was to do his with my Macbook, (note to my PC snob friends: I don't want to hear it, it was a hand-me-down. Do you turn down free laptops? Cos I don't.) but the Macbook has so completely insinuated itself in my life (complete with hipster cover) that I dread messing with it.
Some websites recommend trying it with the very clever expedient of loading Linux on a big thumb drive, tweaking it there to get the hardware drivers working correctly, and then running the load on the actual hard drive. (I can't believe you can do that with a thumb drive, that's so cool!)
The HP minis are reasonable price-wise, and seemed to work well at the high school I used to work at.
Something to think about..
Some websites recommend trying it with the very clever expedient of loading Linux on a big thumb drive, tweaking it there to get the hardware drivers working correctly, and then running the load on the actual hard drive. (I can't believe you can do that with a thumb drive, that's so cool!)
The HP minis are reasonable price-wise, and seemed to work well at the high school I used to work at.
Something to think about..
Sunday, February 13, 2011
How quickly we become accustomed...
So I just finished Eric Flint's 1632. It tripped my "What Happens Next" button, and now I want to read the sequel.
See, I've read at least a little before falling asleep nearly every night for almost 35 years; that's why the Kindle and I are perfect, because it has the potential to greatly reduce the teetering pile that threatens to topple over on me and my husband while we're sleeping. The Kindle further reduces domestic tensions by having it's own cunning little book-light, so the room stays dark and my husband can sleep.
So I go to Amazon to place my order, and THE SEQUEL ISN'T IN KINDLE FORMAT. OH THE HUMANITY.
I have to ORDER it and WAIT until WEDNESDAY. WEDNESDAY! But I want it NOW! NOW NOW NOW!
It's not fair. :)
I rather liked the book, though. It got a bit anvilicious, from time to time, and some of the characters seemed a bit caricaturish (looking at you, John Simpson) but it was quite good, and the author clearly knew his stuff. There was a definite hint of O HAI I WROTE A FIX-IT FIC FOR TEH SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LET ME SHOW YOU IT!
Incidentally, I think history classes should put a lot more emphasis on the 17th century. As centuries go, in European history, it is an Epoch of Suck surpassed only by the 14th. I've actually heard people argue that Christianity is better than Islam because different factions of Christianity have co-existed without ever having gone to war.
*blink*
Em. No.
It was a meat-grinder. It was awful. Even in the Colonies, the Pilgrims and Puritans persecuted away merrily, sure in their belief in the Righteousness of their Faith, and the Absolute Justice of their Cause. Remember, kids, Rhode Island exists because that's where you went when Massachusetts was going to burn you at the stake. The Founding Fathers' insistence on the Separation of Church and State was so profound because those decades of slaughter were still pretty fresh in the collective memory.
Incidentally, can anyone recommend a good biography of Gustavus Adolphus? Clearly I need to read more about him...
See, I've read at least a little before falling asleep nearly every night for almost 35 years; that's why the Kindle and I are perfect, because it has the potential to greatly reduce the teetering pile that threatens to topple over on me and my husband while we're sleeping. The Kindle further reduces domestic tensions by having it's own cunning little book-light, so the room stays dark and my husband can sleep.
So I go to Amazon to place my order, and THE SEQUEL ISN'T IN KINDLE FORMAT. OH THE HUMANITY.
I have to ORDER it and WAIT until WEDNESDAY. WEDNESDAY! But I want it NOW! NOW NOW NOW!
It's not fair. :)
I rather liked the book, though. It got a bit anvilicious, from time to time, and some of the characters seemed a bit caricaturish (looking at you, John Simpson) but it was quite good, and the author clearly knew his stuff. There was a definite hint of O HAI I WROTE A FIX-IT FIC FOR TEH SEVENTEENTH CENTURY LET ME SHOW YOU IT!
Incidentally, I think history classes should put a lot more emphasis on the 17th century. As centuries go, in European history, it is an Epoch of Suck surpassed only by the 14th. I've actually heard people argue that Christianity is better than Islam because different factions of Christianity have co-existed without ever having gone to war.
*blink*
Em. No.
It was a meat-grinder. It was awful. Even in the Colonies, the Pilgrims and Puritans persecuted away merrily, sure in their belief in the Righteousness of their Faith, and the Absolute Justice of their Cause. Remember, kids, Rhode Island exists because that's where you went when Massachusetts was going to burn you at the stake. The Founding Fathers' insistence on the Separation of Church and State was so profound because those decades of slaughter were still pretty fresh in the collective memory.
Incidentally, can anyone recommend a good biography of Gustavus Adolphus? Clearly I need to read more about him...
Monday, February 7, 2011
To Fly
I love long car trips. I love the feeling of staring down miles of open road, going fast with some good music on the stereo. It used to take people days to complete trips that I can do in hours; I've come to think of it as putting on my seven-league boots.
Until I saw this.
Now I want a pilot's license.
Until I saw this.
Now I want a pilot's license.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
You didn't need the next three hours, did you?
TV Tropes
I have to tell you, I'm committing a slight breach of netiquette in even linking directly to That Site. It is a time-suck extraordinaire, not so much a wiki walk as it is the pop-culture equivalent of Ulysses' trip home.
But I found this wonderful bit of of trivia: apparently, when reviewing the new BBC Sherlock Holmes' adaptation, a writer for Auntie Beeb assumed that Watson being a veteran of the war in Afghanistan was part of the modern updating of the story.
NOPE!
It's Afghanistan. Mind you, throw a dart at a timeline, there's probably a war in Afghanistan that year.
(Can I say that I adore the update? Also? Benedict Cumberbatch. Not only is his name fun to say, he's got a really nice voice. Apparently, he's done some books on tape that I will clearly need to find to soothe my commute...)
I have to tell you, I'm committing a slight breach of netiquette in even linking directly to That Site. It is a time-suck extraordinaire, not so much a wiki walk as it is the pop-culture equivalent of Ulysses' trip home.
But I found this wonderful bit of of trivia: apparently, when reviewing the new BBC Sherlock Holmes' adaptation, a writer for Auntie Beeb assumed that Watson being a veteran of the war in Afghanistan was part of the modern updating of the story.
NOPE!
It's Afghanistan. Mind you, throw a dart at a timeline, there's probably a war in Afghanistan that year.
(Can I say that I adore the update? Also? Benedict Cumberbatch. Not only is his name fun to say, he's got a really nice voice. Apparently, he's done some books on tape that I will clearly need to find to soothe my commute...)
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