The Art of Life & The Life of Art - When Art Comes to Life
As an artist I am keenly aware how the art I do flows primarily from me, my mind, my heart and my soul.
That then helps us to realize that the state of our soul, our mind and our heart can influence our art to be uplifting or degenerate.
Art for arts sake has always been dubious.
Who hasn't contemplated the art we do as having some life in it?
There is no doubt that the art we produce is unique to us, our mind and our hands. God has gifted us that way.
This article look at some of the ways that we humans have imgained that our art lives and breaths and like us is capable of being right & righteous or sinful.
How Art Reflects the Age It Comes From
The art world is fragmenting. Will we be able to date the art of the future?
Visual art tells you what era it comes from. During different historical periods, certain styles, motifs, and color palettes, dominate—so even if experts don’t know the artist and origin of a piece, they can often pin it to a particular moment in time. In today’s issue, we focus on two very different schools of art that flourished in the early 20th century. An Atlantic video producer shows us how she created a 1930s-inspired animation, and Karen Yuan reports on how Picasso influenced the artistic landscape when his work first arrived in the United States. Finally, we’ll leave you with a question: There are certain characteristics that allow us to date the art of the past, but will we continue to be able to date the art of the future?
—Caroline Kitchener
How to Animate Like It’s 1932
Atlantic animator Caitlin Cadieux explains her process for creating ‘30s-inspired art.
As part of our Atlantic Archives project, I animated an essay by Helen Keller: “Put Your Husband in the Kitchen,” published in The Atlantic in August, 1932. Keller’s story was a stern rebuke of the (predominantly male) “captains of industry” of her day, blaming them for wasteful business practices. Keller posits a businessman named Mr. Jones, fatigued from overwork and overproduction, who agrees to swap places with his homemaker wife. She argues that men would learn far better business sense by taking on the household management tasks that traditionally fell to women.." from the article: How Art Reflects the Age It Comes From
Paintings (& Art) In Movies as Characters & Story
Video from Painting Nerds
"Lots of films lift things from real-world paintings – but how have movies used paintings as integral elements of the story? 00:00 Pre-title 02:00 Introduction 04:11 Film Noir 06:53 Gothic Literature, Fantasy and Melodrama 10:20 Hitchcock: Rebecca 11:32 Hitchcock: The Trouble with Harry 14:01 Hitchcock: Vertigo 16:25 Meet Cute: All the Vermeers in New York 17:30 The Souvenir 19:33 I'm thinking of ending things 21:45 The French Dispatch 24:44 Portrait of a Lady on Fire 27:51 Representation and identity 29:08 The End of the Line: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Artists Jamie Limond and Samuel O'Donnell are Painting Nerds: making short films about looking, thinking and engaging critically with painting." from video introduction
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray, moralfantasynovel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde, published in an early form in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890. The novel, the only one written by Wilde, had six additional chapters when it was released as a book in 1891. The work, an archetypal tale of a young man who purchases eternal youth at the expense of his soul, was a romantic exposition of Wilde’s own Aestheticism. Summary
The story begins in the art studio of Basil Hallward, who is discussing a current painting with his witty and amoral friend Lord Henry Wotton. Henry thinks that the painting, a portrait of an extraordinarily beautiful young man, should be displayed, but Basil disagrees, fearing that his obsession with the portrait’s subject, Dorian Gray, can be seen in the work. Dorian then arrives, and he is fascinated as Henry explains his belief that one should live life to the fullest by indulging one’s impulses. Henry also points out that beauty and youth are fleeting, and Dorian declares that he would give his soul if the portrait were to grow old and wrinkled while he remained young and handsome. Basil gives the painting to Dorian.." from the article: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Night Gallery
Night Gallery (1969-'73) | Revisiting the Gallery: A Look Back
Video from DVDXtras
"Apr 8, 2023
A short documentary from 2008 looking back at Night Gallery, the anthology television series created and hosted by Rod Serling. Includes clips from the show as well as interviews with actors, directors, and composers who contributed to the series.' from video introduction
"For those old enough to remember, Night Gallery was creator-host Rod Serling’s follow-up to The Twilight Zone. Set in a shadowy museum of the outré, Serling unveiled a dark and disturbing collection of canvases as preface to a highly diverse anthology of tales in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction vein.." from the website: nightgallery.net
Ridley Scott Movie "Legend"
Video from kisama56
"The darkness seduce Lily' from video introduction
In the 1985 Ridley Scott movie although not one his best we find that attention to detail that makes this a Ridley Scott movie. In the clip above you will notice the statues moving and watching Lily.
The Living Portraits of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter World
Night Gallary used sequential frames of the paintings as they changed and thus the action was portrayed for example in "The Cemetary". This of course was before the sophisticated special effects and now AI that we have today. Yet they were veery effective visual effects.
One of the fun aspects of Harry Potters world was the potraits in which the subject of the painting could move about from one frame to another and also talk with humans.
The video and article below help explain this magical art.
How Do Portraits Work In Harry Potter? - Harry Potter Video Essay
Video from Bryan Seeker
Hogwarts Portraits
By J.K. Rowling
Hogwarts portraits are able to talk and move around from picture to picture. They behave like their subjects. However, the degree to which they can interact with the people looking at them depends not on the skill of the painter, but on the power of the witch or wizard painted.
When a magical portrait is taken, the witch or wizard artist will naturally use enchantments to ensure that the painting will be able to move in the usual way. The portrait will be able to use some of the subject’s favourite phrases and imitate their general demeanour. Thus, Sir Cadogan’s portrait is forever challenging people to a fight, falling off its horse and behaving in a fairly unbalanced way, which is how the subject appeared to the poor wizard who had to paint him, while the portrait of the Fat Lady continues to indulge her love of good food, drink and tip-top security long after her living model passed away.
However, neither of these portraits would be capable of having a particularly in-depth discussion about more complex aspects of their lives: they are literally and metaphorically two-dimensional. They are only representations of the living subjects as seen by the artist.
Some magical portraits are capable of considerably more interaction with the living world. Traditionally, a headmaster or headmistress is painted before their death. Once the portrait is completed, the headmaster or headmistress in question keeps it under lock and key, regularly visiting it in its cupboard (if so desired) to teach it to act and behave exactly like themselves, and imparting all kinds of useful memories and pieces of knowledge that may then be shared through the centuries with their successors in office.
The depth of knowledge and insight contained in some of the headmasters’ and headmistresses’ portraits is unknown to any but the incumbents of the office and the few students who have realised, over the centuries, that the portraits’ apparent sleepiness when visitors arrive in the office is not necessarily genuine." from the website: wizardingworld.com
Bronze Living Statues breaking the rules.
Video from Jesse Ferguson
"Dec 6, 2015
Patrick Toney and Jesse Ferguson enter Seattle Center to perform as two bronze living statues. Visit site for much more about this and other costumes: http://www.jesseleeferguson.com/#!How...
The Lives Of Living Statues
"We’ve all seen them at one point or another – in a park, at a festival, or practically any place where tourists gather in large numbers. Some of us walk right past them as if they were actual statues while others might stop and stare a while. Eventually, we all end up thinking the same thing – “I could do that!” After all, this has to be the cushiest job in the world. You make money by literally just standing there. What could be easier, right?.." from the article: The Lives Of Living Statues