Growing up as an engineer, "Logic" and "numbers/equations" were probably the only things that ever made sense. Time and again, I have visited art museums in big city, and come home ashamed at my inability to appreciate art. I visited the Paul J. Getty Museum in Santa Monica today and returned abashed at my ignorance for the various art forms. The fact that I visited the museum with 4 other undergraduate mechanical engineers who were more interested in appreciating beauty of a different kind, didnt help the cause a wee bit.
To me, Rembrandt is a group that wrote the title song for friends "I'll be there for you", Picasso is the software used to organise photos on your desktop and Modern art is conjured by amateur engineers dabbling with straight lines and circles, or the work of a pachyderm in a Thai zoo spraying colors instead of water throught the trunk.
I have always spelt art with a silent 'f', and have failed miserably at correcting my spelling, inspite of my efforts to educate myself about it through my limited discussions with Pramila (my sister in-law). Until a while ago I used to consider some forms of art as a total waste of time and money. I guess my abysmal knowledge of the subject was mainly responsible for this attitude, but I am slowly making an effort to change this indifferent behaviour.
There have been times when I have been totally incapable of taking part in a conversation due to this handicap. I have, however, always been in awe of artists, and people who patronise art and possess substantial knowledge about the same. I dont know what generates this awe, is it the talent or mastery of some kind or is it plainly because of my illiteracy..i'll never know. Sometimes I believe that a little knowledge of art is prequisite towards a well rounded and pleasing personality. I perceive that being endowed with such taste/talent as some kind of magic formula to liberate me from the clock work orderly events of a scientific background and lead me to a timeless, fancy-filled world.
As I have time and again repeated, when you are young, you (I speak for myself ) have this delusion that loud music, girls, alcohol and fast cars are the only cool things in life. Probably its true, but it has never had a soothing effect on the way I behave, and hence I strongly feel that a recourse to some form of arts is needed to add maturity and wisdom to my age. Albeit this late realisation, I have started making efforts towards cultivating this facet of human behaviour......it remains to see whether I will meet any success though !
9 comments:
I don't think anyone should make oneself appreciate art. I appreciate beauty, but I can't appreciate art for arts sake. I can't make myself call something beautiful just by being in awe of the greatness of the painter. Sure Picasso is nice, but Frank Miller is way better. I know people like me will be considered an ignoramus by the pseudo-intellectual crowd, but I know it is complete bullshit when another snobbish art "connosieur" pays $25,000 for some random dabs of paint by Congo the Gorilla, or for that matter pays over a 100 million dollars for a Picasso. All the logic in the world can't explain the price of that painting. I wonder why you feel ashamed. It is upto us engineers and other 'rational' people to serve as a balance to all the tripe that these guys try to pull over us.
There was an arts festival at penn state. Did you ever go to that, when you were here? Saw a nice punch line there. "People in tin houses should not throw can openers!"
I did go to the arts festival and enjoyed it tremendously. You think I hate all art. I do not. My point is that I will be the sole judge of what I like and what I dont like. I dont need somebody expecting me to like something just because he thinks it is great. If you call that throwing can openers, then so be it.
I have a suspicion that Pointy wrote this entire post just to include the silent F in art PJ.
I totally agree with Mudit. I think Pointy came up with the pj first and for a change coz he was ashamed to put it up for public consumption he wove a farcical ARTS story around it. BTW the software's name is Picasa not Picasso.
abey o shekhawat...i was directing my comment at pointy!! that art expert did'nt ever go to the local arts fest...
I made a pre-emptive strike anyway. :)
If I wanted to make my PJ known, I would have called up Totti..he would have plagiarised it, and informed all of State College about it (I have a suspicion that he has already done that).
Lack of knowledge of arts has been responsible for my critical and indifferent attitude. I seek art education not just to appreciate beauty, but also for constructive criticism and evaluation. I am not advocating blind worship of arts or artists.....I am just asking myself to be better informed before forming false impressions..
..About arts fest...dude I was in Hammond..so I used to check out the God's Art form everyday at the festival - Human beauty
" I seek art education not just to appreciate beauty, but also for constructive criticism and evaluation..."
Its official now. Pointy is incapable of making simple sentences.
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