FINAL: An interpretation of Claes Oldenberg's "I am for an art...."

Claes Oldenberg's "I am for an art...." is at times masterful in its presentation, making incredible metaphors and painting very vivid and very cool images in my mind as I read it.  But this is one of those things that seems to make its point and gets it across to its audience but then beats us over the head with it to the point where I don't want to read about it anymore.  

It seems to me that Oldenberg is open to any sort of art and has a somewhat fuck you attitude towards conventional society, and in many ways seems to be in an underlying tone, asking or rather telling us what the meaning of life and art is to us.  

Lines like: "I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap & still comes out on top.", has a powerful confidence about it that breaking out and being unconventional and making yourself unique from society is the thing to do.  I like it, and I can connect to that.  

Others like: I am for art that is put on and taken off, like pants, which develops holes, like socks, which is eaten, like a piece of pie, or abandoned with great contempt, like a piece of shit.", that right there is so multi-layered and so thought provoking.  From pants that develop holes, like socks, which is eaten like a piece of pie or abandoned with great contempt like a piece of shit.  That is just brilliant.  That is deeply developed and thought provoking work that starts at one end, delves deep and just smacks you right in the face.  That is probably my favorite line in the poem.  It has this uncanny, masterful attitude that grabs the listener, ties them down to a chair and really gets in their heads. A really powerful usage of words.

This line right here: "I am for an art that comes out of a chimney like black hair and scatters in the sky. ", is one of the lines in the poem that is visually stimulating.  I can just see smoke rising from a chimney and seeing it dissipate into the sky as it comes out.  These three lines for me are powerful, thought provoking and visually powerful all in one.  

But then there are lines that are so downright random, and confusing that it brings this piece as a whole down from what it could have been.  

Lines like: "I am for the art of sailing on Sunday, and the art of red and white gasoline pump.", just make me scratch my head and wonder what Oldenberg is trying to say.  

The one right below it, like this line: "I am for the art of bright blue factory columns and blinking biscuit signs.", is another example of just being random and leaving the reader of the poem feel cold and empty because these lines begin to not make sense after a while.  

This one takes the cake though: "I am for Kool-art, 7-UP art, Pepsi-art, Sunshine art, 39 cents art, 15 cents art, Vatronol Art, Dro-bomb art, Vam art, Menthol art, L & M art Ex-lax art, Venida art, Heaven Hill art, Pamryl art, San-o-med art, Rx art, 9.99 art, Now art, New ar, How art, Fire sale art, Last Chance art, Only art, Diamond art, Tomorrow art, Franks art, Ducks art, Meat-o-rama art.", that's when I just tossed my hands up in the air and gave up.  This unique style that was once interesting is beginning to get tedious at this point.  Oldenberg seems to get really self indulgent with his work by this point by writing anything, absolutely anything that comes to mind.  Oldenberg took a good thing, worked with it and then ran it into the ground.  It's just way too much by this point.

I really liked this style of writing when it did work though.  When each line sort of took you on a mini journey in its own right.  It was like something I hadn't really seen before.  It felt original, it felt fresh.  But there was just no filter on Oldenberg's writing.  He just sort of kept going and going until he just couldn't write anymore crazy, bizarre, random ideas.  

The subjects he was talking about though were just so broad, that it seemed like he was really searching for what life as an artist and life in general, meant to him.  I don't know why I keep coming back to that notion over and over again, but it just seems like with the attitude he had while writing this project, with the wide variety of subject matter he discussed, he had to be searching for something.  The meaning of life as art is a broad subject, but this is a very broad poem.  It seems like to him that a great many things are indeed art, ranging from the art in bloody rabbits to the art of the washing machine.  

The statement, "I am for an art" begins each line.  Each way of art, or way of life that he discusses, he champions.  I believe that some lines have meaning, while others are just pointlessly random.  Oldenberg's initially powerful poem turned into an over the top sort of way too "artsy" project to me that just went on for way too long and dragged out what it was trying to do for 10 lines too many.  

I figured that this is an ambitious project, and that I should try my hand at.  Right my own sort of unique poem.

Here goes:

That which is true, isn't real.

That which is real, isn't true.

Spread eagle, laying under the dark and powerful overcast sky.

Eyes wide, not with fear, not with anger, not with love, but with wonder.

A rain drop falls on the eye.  

He blinks twice.  The drop begins to trickle slowly down a face.

Lighting streaks across the sky followed immediately by a clap of thunder.

Something compels him, he stands slowly.  

He stands with arms by his side.  

He stares at the sky, a sky that gets darker as each second passes.

There is something strange about the air as it blows gently, caressing his naked body.  

He stands admiring the beauty around him.

He has escaped to a place where he has found hope.

Away from a world that did nothing but hold him back.

It begins to rain as he steps forward.

Sadness and envy have left his body.

There is peace in his heart.  

There is love all around him.  

He has found the one place he has always needed.

He had lost trust, but has gained it back through the strength of those important to him.

Before he was numb, now he is back.

Now he is alive.  

What they gave him, saved him.

What he gained is what is most important.

Step after step.

Breath after breath.

Everything becomes clearer and clearer.

The rain stops, the sun shines through the clouds.

He stops, looking towards the sun.

He smiles as the clouds fade and he is emitted in light.

Whether or not there is fate

Whether or not there is God

He will always have what matters to him

And he will do all he can to keep that until the day he draws his last breath.

A sense of connection, a sense of peace is all he wants.

He blinks twice. 

It is back.

(Photo courtesy of Zach Strum)

  

    

Public Artwork, stranger's reactions, critics

About two years ago, I compiled a bunch of footage I had shot over the course of the year when I was first seriously getting into making movies into a bizarre collage.  The collage itself has an underlying meaning that is very difficult to understand unless you look really hard, but I really just made it as an experiment, and I wanted to combine film with my favorite song ever, Comfortably Numb.  

I shot a lot of the video at my high school and some of the other footage I shot at home that I took from some shorts I made earlier in the year as well.  I had never intended to make a super collage of all these films, but just felt like doing it one day and did.  The goal was just to make a fun little experiment but I was surprised of the critical reaction I got from the film.  

I posted the film on Youtube.  I got some good responses (I remember) from some people I had communicated with online about Pink Floyd, saying that they thought it was interesting as a whole, even if they didn't get it and they liked the chaotic style of the whole thing and thought it blended together really well.  My dad loved it because of how absurd it was.  He said he loved the shots, loved the music and really liked the feeling he got from it.

But the internet is harsh place.  This video I made has gotten over 1000 views surprisingly and five responses.  I used to be one of those people that would give constructive criticism on small time Youtube videos, I usually wouldn't tear a video a new one, but man, some of these people really don't like this movie.

One response really stuck out to me though, "This video is terrible. It has no point. The only thing that saves it remotely is the music by Pink Floyd."  

That kind of hurt, I mean I know I shouldn't take things personally from people I don't even know, but I was just thinking to myself, like, give a guy a break.  This isn't some professional film or anything, I mean you don't have to like it, but there's no reason to publicly trash someone's work online.  I can even see where the person is coming from.  Yes it's confusing, yes it's really, really weird, but it's supposed to be.  It's supposed to be kind of stupid and fun and silly.  It's not really meant to be taken seriously.  And I think I made it as something for people to just mindlessly enjoy.

I did get a couple of good responses, one guy said, "That was incredible, truly awesome."  Another said, "Wow, man.  That was amazing.  I love Pink Floyd as well."  

Another person commented that they just love the band, and I hope that this song added to that love.  The most recent comment I got was, "gay as a bitch/// great song, pink floyd is the ebst".  Whatever that means.  That's really just another example of an ignorant person online with nothing constructive to say and is just mouthing off for the sake of mouthing off.

It's interesting how you can really love something you've done and then have someone else completely and utterly hate it.  It just goes to show that everyone's way of thinking is so incredibly different.  While those comments kind of hurt, it's something I just need to brush off.  People on the internet and in real life are brutal, they don't care about your feelings when they talk about your work and will say whatever comes to mind.  

Some of my favorite artists like Kevin Smith (Clerks. and Chasing Amy) and David Jaffe (God Of War, Twisted Metal series) say they argue with people on the internet all the time, but feel like in the long run it doesn't matter, and they shouldn't get so worked up over what some random person says on the internet about their work.  I totally agree with this.  While there are some good people online, there are so many trolls out there, that they will eventually just make you feel worthless about yourself.  

Another thing is that no matter how good you think something is, there is always going to be someone out there who doesn't love what you love and you have to learn to face those people and deal with it.  What they say and what they think doesn't matter, as long as deep down you realize what you truly love and what you're passionate about.  This situation just reinforces that notion for me.  

To judge for yourselves, here is the infamous Comfortably Numb music video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54H2cpEvQlo  I would post it here, but the video screen on Blogger is just way to small.  

Inspiring Artists

Many of the artists I admire that inspire me do not draw or create paintings, nor are they at the top of their game really anymore for the most part.  Artists like Bob Dylan, Roger Waters and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and the Floyd themselves aren't at the top of their games anymore.

My favorite filmmakers, Peter Jackson, David Chase and David Simon have really already achieved their magnum opuses with The Lord of the Rings, The Sopranos and The Wire respectively.  

Others such as my favorite game designers, Hideo Kojima and David Jaffe, even though they have created their best work in their careers already, they have a mighty long way to go before they run out of steam creatively.  

One thing I never take into account though with all of my heroes who create contemporary art is that artwork itself, drawing, and painting help those works come to life and give them a sense of identity.  Games especially rely heavily on concept art when they are being created so that everyone on the creative team has an idea about what they want from the project and where the project is going.

I decided to look up some of my favorite creations' concept art and really, really enjoyed what I saw.  

The concept art for The Lord of the Rings films really blew my mind.

Here are a few drawings from renowned concept artist Alan Lee, who director Peter Jackson asked to help make concept art for the film after he himself worked with author J.R.R. Tolkien on the books.  

A drawing of the tower of Orthanc in which the evil Saruman, (Christopher Lee) conspires with the dark lord Sauron to try and enslave the earth.  

 

A drawing of a rendering of when Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) capture Smeagol aka Gollum (Andy Serkis) and force him to lead them to Mordor to destroy the Ring of Power.

Here is a rendering of the Mines of Moria, a place that the Fellowship of the Ring visit in the first film in the trilogy.  

The Elf city of Rivendell from the first film, "The Fellowship of the Ring".

Perhaps Alan Lee's age wouldn't allow him to fall into this particular category of artists, but I think his work is simply astounding.  Incredibly detailed, with beautiful colors that can either be very vibrant or very dark.  This concept art was very key to how Peter Jackson and his production designer, visual effects team, and others made the sets for the films.  Lee's work is masterful here, and he really shows a powerful command of the subject matter, and his passion for the story of The Lord of the Rings really shines through here.

An artist that would fall into this category is concept artist Yoji Shinkawa who designs the characters and look of the Metal Gear Solid games.  Shinkawa's work like Lee's, is vital to the vision of the director coming to fruition.  Shinkawa works heavily in designing the characters in rough sketch works that have a sort of brutal grittiness that captures the essence of the games. Here is some of his work from all four Metal Gear Solid games.

A sketch of Solid Snake and Meryl Silverburgh from Metal Gear Solid.  Two characters that stand together and fight together no matter what the odds are.  In the background are some of the adversaries and friends they encounter along the way of this legendary first adventure.

A really nice shot here of series protagonist, Solid Snake.  Dark and in your face, Shinkawa's style in this sketch personifies his artwork.  There's no underlying meaning, it's in your face, it's powerful and it captures what Shinkawa is trying to say through the guidance of series creator and director, Hideo Kojima.

A very cool drawing of the threat in "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty", Metal Gear Ray landing and standing very menacingly.  The design of Ray is very intimidating and I really like the white part of the background that indicates the force behind Ray's landing.  Very well done.

The cover work for the special edition of "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater".  Perfectly captures the main character of this game, Naked Snake, aka Big Boss' emotions throughout the game which is not letting the people of his life in, and also really gets good emotions from the women in his life, EVA on the left and The Boss on the right.  I like the fact that Big Boss is colored in and EVA and The Boss are sort of like shadows in the background that are always watching him.

This image here is some of Shinkawa's best and most interesting work.  I haven't seen in any of his other paintings such vibrant uses of color.  This seems to be the closest thing he comes to an expressionistic painting.  The lonely shot of Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3 is captured beautifully.  The bright, red colors really make this one stand out and the black dots that I assume are the sky add an incredibly dark tone to a very beautiful image.  Really can't stop gawking at those reds and pinks.  This is beautiful work right here.  

Shinkawa returns to his older ways of sketching here in a nice profile shot of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.  Captures Snake's feelings and has very distinct and somber feel to it.

Shinkawa's work has become relevant to me because of my recent passion for this series since last Summer.  Really enjoy his work and I'd say he is definitely one of my favorite artists.  Love his style, and I love the characters he draws.  He seems like a man who is very passionate about his work, and is a big help to Kojima in terms of how the characters look in the game.

Other artists who's work I really admire are Cecil Kim and Andy Park, concept artists for the "God of War" games.  Probably the most blood thirsty and most action packed video game series of all time, God Of War is a series created by one of my favorite game designers, David Jaffe.  God Of War is an ancient Greek mythic tale centered around main character Kratos, who is betrayed by the Gods.  Out on a quest to avenge the loss of his wife and child at the hands of Aires, Kratos will stop it nothing until he defeats all of the minions of Aries and Aries himself, trying to become the first mortal to ever kill a god.

Jaffe, inspired heavily by great action films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and needed to give his game a huge, grand, epic feel.  He enlisted the help of concept artists Cecil Kim and Andy Park to help him map out the feel for the game.  They acted as storyboards in some ways for the development team working on the first game.  To me, these works are very surreal and impressionistic, but I think that could definitely be up for debate.    

Really nice use of the blood, and in a kind of over the top manner, really like the look of the cyclops.  Kratos is incredibly blood thirsty here.  This definitely feels like a painting that was painted in a time period that we would have studied in class this year.

Same would go for this painting.  The background especially reminds me of many paintings we have studied over the year.  

Flat out bizarre work right here.  One of the many beasts that Kratos must defeat on his epic journey.  Really a disgusting background of strange hues creates an uneasy feeling and the detail of this creature is masterful and sickening.

Those are three artists, Shinkawa, Kim, and Park, that are on top of their games.  

I have to say that over the course of my life, I don't think I've given visual artists enough due for creating the artwork that really gets what the director wants on a page and really lets the rest of the creative team know which direction that the character design or the environment design is heading.  Concept artists and directors have to work hand in hand.  I have a much broader appreciation for that relationship, and will remember that in the future for my own work.

Reynolda House Adventure

About a month ago, some friends and I went to Reynold house to see the art exhibit.  There were a few works that stuck to me such as Chauncey Ryder's Phantom Lake.  A really peaceful work that is just a very surrealistic lake that lies just beyond a small forest.  The painting is at sunset and the colors of the sunset create this really, really nice peaceful mood.  I seriously remember just sitting down on a cushion and just staring at this painting for a good ten minutes and admiring its beauty.  It really was just a place I'd really like to go and just relax.  It's such a nice and peaceful setting that I don't think can ever really be replicated because although it's very simple, it's also very sweet and serene.  It's hard to really describe without actually being able to show the painting on here since I was unable to take a picture of it at the exhibit.

The point is, is that I found a really beautiful painting that really spoke to me.  It made me want to find this nice place and just relax by the lake.  It seemed like a slice of heaven.  I also found what the display said to be spot on about the painting: "...Suggests distinctive balance that he struck between reality and imagination".  It's a place that looks real, but it's only a place that we can really see in our dreams.  

I looked high and low online for a picture of Phantom Lake but could find none.  Instead, I did stumble upon this, which is definitely in the same style as Phantom Lake called Mount Lovewell, near Hillsborough, New Hampshire (1920).

Same sort of peaceful style, really like this guy's way of working with landscapes.  He does a great job at making simple images look beautiful and majestic.  

Another artwork that I really liked was Charlie Rosen's "Beck's Point".  Another sort of surreal landscape painting that encompassed an icy shoreline that looked very barren and bleak.  The opposite of what Phantom Lake is.  It's long winding mountains while waves crashed upon the side seems to send a rather ominous message.  I think what really struck me was that this was the first painting I saw after Phantom Lake and just the stark contrast between the two was pretty insane.  From peace to death.  A place I'd love to go, to a place I would really never want to go. 

Once again, I couldn't find a picture.  Beck's point is not online, but I found a painting similar to it: Floating Ice Winter Morning Delaware River

 Definitely in the same spirit as Beck's point.  Sort of cold and lifeless but at the same time, there is an eery beauty about it.  

The thing about Reynolda House that struck me was not the exhibits, but rather, it was something else.  The actual part of the house that was on display blew my mind.  There is a swimming pool, a bowling alley, a squash court, a shooting gallery, a bar area, an organ, an extremely large living room, sun porches, over ten bedrooms, a pool table, a ping pong room, I mean the list goes on and on.  The vast size of this place was just ridiculous.  It also had about four floors in total, including the attic which had some very creepy old dolls on display that sort of messed with my friends' and I's heads.  

 There were some very nice pieces of art in the main area as well.  There was one of a huge jungle in the foreground and a mountain in the background that was especially impressive.  I was actually able to find this online.    

But just the size of this place, all the furniture and items in this place was just insane to me.  Just when you thought you couldn't find anything else in the house you'd wind up in a whole other area that would take you ten minutes to explore.  We spend at least a good hour and a half just exploring all of the old rooms and pieces of furniture and art work in Reynolda House.  The trip itself turned into a really fun, really nice experience.  I was happy I went.  I was happy that I saw Phantom Lake too, that painting was just so nice to me and I sort of just lost myself in that painting, which was a very nice feeling.

  

Reynolda House is a place that is a must for anyone.  Whether they like art like this or not, I think everyone will find something to appreciate at Reynolda House.