10 August, 2008

Kitsch, Art, Evil

I read somewhere recently that kitsch is evil. My understanding was that the author hated prettified things. To a small extent, I agree - especially when it involves the cutification of sex. Like Bratz dolls. I've also noticed that artists over time have presented all kinds of sexual situations - including S&M and other non-mainstream - by couching them in either Biblical or other mythological contexts. Like, these people are kissing, but the guy has wings, so it's ok. It's outside the realm of reality.

But I really hate plain stuff that looks as if it was made by a machine. This is a bit embarrassing, but I'd rather have a cheesy thing that's made by machine but looks handmade, than a handmade thing that's so perfect it looks machine made. Especially if it's uncomfortable. Case in point, that darling of modernism, the Eames chair. Bleh. I don't care if it has great lines, it hurts my back and it looks so--- inhuman.

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The Door is Open

I took this phrase from two sources:
the U2 song "Gloria", and my favorite Rumi poem:

"The Breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you
Don't go back to sleep
you must ask for what you really want
Don't go back to sleep
People are going back and forth
Across the doorway where the two worlds touch
The door is round, and open
Don't go back to sleep"

I have spent a fair amount of my life wide awake and dreaming, other times sleeping where my dreams were so vivid I wanted to go back and figure out how to make them real. How do I bring dreams into the waking world - dreams of creativity, of joy, of peace, of fun? How to take the shadow of my psyche and use it to heal myself and others instead of hurt?

I have eclectic taste - possibly insane taste - ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. I like silly humor more than I like sarcasm. I have a lifelong interest in why the heck the world is the way it is... cause and effect? G/d/s? Quarks? Who knows. Even if I thought I knew, that would be faith. The intersection between faith and knowledge - a dangerous and blurry place.

As the Firesign Theater states ".... a force that can only be used for good... or evillllll..." but I don't remember what they were talking about, was it a time machine?

I'm blessed with brilliant and creative friends; you'll find links to their blogs, art and ideas here. I'll add my own art and interests as time permits. Daring to put ourselves out there is one of the greatest challenges many artists face. Creating is easy, sometimes it happens all by itself. Communicating... hard.