1/20/09

Edfu

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEdfu -- 18x14in. -- mixedmedia/canvas
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11 comments:

Indie said...

I like this one, Headwrapper. Is it too aesthetic to add that I love this color combination?

Anonymous said...

No, I am into aesthetics. I am kinda old fashioned in that way, I like doing "art for art's sake"... There's still a few of us around. Did you ever read Gautier? And weren't your pre-raphealites heavily into that concept too?

Indie said...

Yes, I am unashamedly interested in aesthetics; I was just covering my tail in case you expected more depth or appreciation for symbolism from me.:)

No, Gautier is new to me, but I will check him out. I just read his bio on wikipedia. Sounds interesting.

headwrapper said...

Gautier's Mademoiselle de Maupin is a good one.

As for 'appreciation of symbolism' --appreciation is not "knowing". I feel that once one uses a symbol of which the "real" meaning is "known" by all.... then all of the mystery is gone and the symbol loses its life, ie its potency for unleashing and transforming psychic energy. It becomes merely a sign. That's the danger of a rationalistic approach to the language of symbols which tries to find the 'true' or objective meaning behind the image. It's an attitude that does violence to the autonomous nature of the psyche.

I think that if aesthetics can arrest the attention, taking consciousness out of its mundane routine, there is then an opportunity in that time-stopping moment for the "meaning" of the symbol, or that is to say, the archetypal energy which the symbol alludes to, the mystery, to arise from the viewers subjectivity and create a relationship between the unconscious and the conscious.

Aesthetics is subjective, 'in the eye of the beholder' etc. and could be seen as a symbol itself. Perhaps symbolizing a harmonious co-existence of opposing forces within a field... or something, but to analyze that idea too far would, again, put us in danger of the reductive approach that I warned of above.

thanks for your feedback.

jojo roxx said...

hi rueban...the art is WAAAAAAYYY over my head(wrapper)but wanted to stop by and say high anyway, jj

Indie said...

Exactly, you put that so perfectly and eloquently. We are creatures that deeply understand symbols. We dream in symbols! Symbols are the back door to the consciousness.

And what you said about a rational approach reminds me somehow of something I just taught in a linguistics class, the power of words. In the Jewish faith it isn't right to use God's name; rather they use Yahweh, because to invoke God's name might call down his wrath. Like in Harry Potter and the one-who-must-not-be-named. Like blessings and curses and spells that invoke the powers of nature. Or Rumplestiltskin who kept his name secret because once the maiden knew his name, she would have power over him.

Anonymous said...

I'm just sort of feeling my way though it day by day --no less in over my head than you JoJo.

The Rumpelstiltskin illustration is timely, synchronistic even, and hits home for me. Just half an hour ago I was being questioned by a 'beautiful maiden' about the meaning of this and that symbol in several of my paintings. My attempt to explain (or give name to) what the intention was behind the images helped her, as well as me, to better understand what I was trying to say with my art, but at the same time I realized that if we weren't careful it could have tended to take the power of mysterious attraction (or something like that) away.

I'm really fascinated by the symbolism in fairy tales. Did you ever hear of the Axiom of Maria? Jung wrote of how it relates to the fairy tale motif of the third daughter/third son, with the forth being represented by the "other" ie the frog/beast/prince/dragon etc...
"from the Third comes the One as the Fourth.

Indie said...

No, that's all new to me, but I will have to look into it. I love mythology thanks to Joseph Campbell.

Anonymous said...

Another nice piece Rueben, thanks - and thanks for the comment you left me recently. Your comment here about "art for art's sake" fits with the "meaning" idea as well - who can take away the importance and meaning of "art for art's sake" for you (or for me)? No one.

Beverly Kaye said...

This is one of your best paintings! Very striking and strong.
If I hit the jackpot or remarry very well, I'm gonna be knocking at your door.

headwrapper said...

Thanks Bev, may we all hit the jackpot soon.

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