Creativity you do like

If it's not Hastings related post it here! Politics, religion, whatever you like!
User avatar
Richard
Posts: 3347
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:36 pm

Creativity you do like

Postby Richard » Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:10 pm

Do you want to hear or see creativity for its own sake?
Or with a message attached?
Do we need to hear/see a message?
Does it make it more meaningful, this implies we are searching for something?
Or are content to seek pure enjoyment for the sheer pleasure alone?

User avatar
seahermit
Posts: 1107
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:53 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby seahermit » Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:48 am

I suppose that "The Hay Wain" (not my kind of art but still a splendid work in its own right!) is enjoyed by many people for the sheer visual and nostalgic pleasure it gives. Good luck to them, but I prefer artworks which have more depth of meaning or are challenging, though not necessarily an explicit message.

As for WHY creative people do what they do, what consciously or subconsciously they are trying to achieve, that is almost as difficult to define. The feeling of fulfillment when some endeavour works out well is impossible to explain to a "Philistine" but I suppose it is on several levels - the satisfaction at finishing the product and all the pieces falling into place, as well as realising that (often without intending to!) you have expressed some thoughts/emotions/desires from deep inside your consciousness.

Do you lie awake at night pondering these questions, Richard?!

User avatar
seahermit
Posts: 1107
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:53 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby seahermit » Sun Jul 04, 2021 2:24 am

These are the products of my creativity yesterday - I took the photos as mementos of an idyllic sunny afternoon on a shore which I love and find perennially fascinating. But maybe they are also "shouts" - unrestrainable sentiments which had to be expressed, relating to the peace and solitude of the shingle beach and (for those seeking it) a haven to find some peace of mind and
respite from the crazy world.

On days like these, I find it hard to see why anyone would want to live in any other part of the country - or the world, amongst the mosquitos, the snakes and the bed-bugs!
Attachments
STADE 7.JPG
STADE 3.JPG
STADE 1.JPG

User avatar
Richard
Posts: 3347
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby Richard » Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:20 pm

Great images seahermit.

The history of visual Art- fine art painting - from religious story-work depictions to bourgeois images of pleasing pictures is a legacy of course.
Whistler, Constable and the French Impressionist went from the studio and tried and trusted copying of older styles to painting in the open air.
Depth of meaning and/or challenging?
Creativity includes a lot more than visual art alone.
How deep do we have to go to appreciate and understand a piece of music, a literary novel or pictorial work?
The potential for analysis and interpretation may make it more enduring but nothing wrong with instant gratification, even if that soon wears off, it has its place.
Styles and tastes change but the written forms of art seem to have more to offer even if at first they are difficult to understand.
Dickens, Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Tolstoy, these are not works that unfold very easily to the uninitiated.

User avatar
seahermit
Posts: 1107
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:53 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby seahermit » Mon Jul 05, 2021 12:53 pm

One could say volumes about the attraction of artworks, in whatever medium! The initial visual impact is only the first thing to happen of course, like noticing an attractive woman .. You have to put in a little effort to really get to know a person, likewise some attempt to appreciate an artist's craftsmanship and to understand what he was trying to do is often rewarding and satisfying in a way which some people wouldn't understand.

When I was young (not long ago), I saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. It is quite small - but I was captivated and overwhelmed at how beautiful it was, couldn't tear myself away and sat on a bench in front of it for half an hour. I was surprised at my own reaction .. but THAT is the power of art!

User avatar
Richard
Posts: 3347
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby Richard » Mon Jul 05, 2021 8:34 pm

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous examples of the sfumato (Italian for “smoky”) technique in action, particularly around the subject's face. One notices the soft transitions between light and dark tones and the lack of hard edges.
No eyebrows or eyelashes are evident and neither is a wedding ring, yet the painting is suggested to be that of the wife of a wealthy merchant or nobleman who never actually received the portrait.
It was neither signed nor date by the artist, possibly because it was unfinished at the time of his death in 1519.
Leonardos' youger rival in his time was Michelangelo, a deeply religious man as opposed to the scientific genius of Leonardo.

User avatar
seahermit
Posts: 1107
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:53 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby seahermit » Tue Jul 06, 2021 3:46 pm

Someone once wrote that, because the Mona Lisa has been seen by multitudes of voyeurs and tourists, it is no less beautiful for that.

True, but there are of course many other outstanding artworks - by Rembrandt, Goya, Titian, Van Gogh, one could list them forever. The Mona Lisa has been subjected to a good deal of "promotion" over the years and people are told that it is the most beautiful painting, so they accept that!

I suppose, if I decided to put a great painting (or a copy) on my wall, it might be a Turner seascape. I like Carravagio - his paintings also hit you between the eyes, but not quite in the same way as the Mona Lisa ...

User avatar
Richard
Posts: 3347
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby Richard » Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:37 pm

The Mona Lisa is certainly a very famous painting.
I hate to think that this alone makes it special somehow.
I like 'The Girl with the Pearl Earring' by Vermeer, 'Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian'.
Giorgione: 'The Tempest' is a mysterious painting without clear meaning.
The Tempest - Giorgione.jpg

User avatar
seahermit
Posts: 1107
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:53 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby seahermit » Fri Jul 09, 2021 3:06 pm

I assume the painting above is the Titian. Wow! Proper art. Achieved by someone who spent a lifetime honing his skills - instead of a person who spent five minutes at art school and then offered an "unmade bed" to a trendy London exhibition.

User avatar
number9
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:42 pm

Re: Creativity you do like

Postby number9 » Fri Jul 09, 2021 10:30 pm

seahermit wrote: instead of a person who spent five minutes at art school and then offered an "unmade bed" to a trendy London exhibition.


That would be Tracy Emin CBE RA worth now over £8 million so some say.

For me the Mona Lisa is a bit overrated, I don't really like the background and I prefer some of Leonardo de Vinci earlier work such as the unfinished Portrait of a Musician.


Return to “Non-Hastings Chat”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests