quotes from my readings

o'keeffe:

"i used to think that somebody could teach me to paint a landscape. i hunted and hunted for that person and finally found that i had to do it myself"

(found in georgia o'keeffe museum collections book)
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inness:

"the greatness in art is not in the display of knowledge, or in material accuracy, but in the distinctness with which it conveys the impressions of a personal vital force, that acts spontaneously, without fear or hesitation"

"...no man's motive can be absolutely pure and simple. his environment affects him.
the true artistic impulse is divine. the reality of every artistic vision lies in the thought animating the artists mind. this is something which comes home to him as a satisfaction-fails to make a representation corresponding in the satisfaction felt in his first perception."

(found in book a sense of place: the artist and the american landscape)

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related quote from poem:

"the landscape imagines me"

spanish poet jorge guillén

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it is in vain to dream of a wildness
distance from ourselves. there is none such.
it is the bog in our brains and bowels,the
primitive vigor of nature in us, that inspires
that dream. i shall never find in the wilds of
labrador any greater wildness than in some recess
of concord,i.e. than i import into it.

thoreau

this poem is cited in landscape and memory (simon schama). schama cites it prior to his introduction and represents it as his closing text. this book is prety much a personal journey/reflection that is systematically identified to specific landscape paintings. in relation to "my thing" with landscape/art, this book contributes little. i had hoped for more of conceptual/theoretical perspective toward landscape painting >>> sorta psychoanalysis of landscape painters in relation to the period in which they painted. what past influences & changes had taken place & how was this manifested in the work. was the dif in brushstrokes a reaction or rejection to something/someone or embracing a new truth? barbzon & swedenborgian had a huge impact on landscape painting over the past 150 years, yet seemed neglected here. it is more about the author& history/details & less about the genre & it's mindset. which is perfectly ok, just not what i was looking for. will continue to search & hope i find books that goes beyond western european art to include a more global & multicultural perspective. + the evolution of, relationship to, & identification with the landscape.

guess there is some new simon schama art dvd it is called: simon schama's power of art
guess he is the ken burn's of british history & art??? i must say that i get edgy when one's name is part of the title. when it is picked up by netfliks i will rent it.


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my take on this stuff:

all of this reflects the great zen-ish quote from a cheesy sci fi movie :

"wherever you go, there you are."

buckaroo banzai

meaning:

we are the sum total of our life experience. this is what we bring to the table in the here & now, yet, what ever is past > is past, you are not there anymore >>>so leave it & be present.

i'm not zen or whatever, yet this seems simple/wise

how we perceive an event is a combo of physical state as well interpretive choice. we filter everything >> conscious or un (in a symbolic interactionism fashion). knowing that we filter allows us to reassess and actively choose the results.

so according to the above quotes: the landscape/wildness portrayal is us/me /you.

no problems there...


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