Search for Beauty 2021

 In thinking of beauty I am sure there are not many people who think of the brain. The brain is characterized as many things, but beautiful has rarely been one. The vast abilities the brain has are what is admired, but on a scientific level not an abstract one. The intricacies of all its systems makes it truly a marvel to look at. The way that something so small can do so much is another incredible feat that should be appreciated as well. The interconnectivity of the neural pathways in the brain makes up its own artwork, if mapped out on a canvas it could sell for millions. No one thinks to look at the brain that way however and it is thought to be scientific and therefore not capable to overlap with the abstract. I think part of my fascination with the brain is that it is going outside the box and defining itself in new ways.

     When the visitor from Turkey came to our class, I experienced something I never had before. I had never listened to Turkish music before, let alone had it performed live for me. The sounds that came from his instrument were unlike any other I had ever heard. It was foreign to me, yet it felt familiar. I immediately connected with this music and realized that I did not have to speak Turkish in order to enjoy the music. The meanings of the words come second to the feelings that the sounds evoke in you. You are not caught up trying to understand the narrative being told by the performer, instead you just listen and appreciate it. The songs that the performer sang did not sound like the music that we listen to in America, but it did not matter. It was so interesting and beautiful to experience something new in such a personal way.

 Before this class began I never truly looked at all the beauty that exists around me in the world on a day to day basis. After starting to read for this class and also in listening to class discussions, I realized that not just the obviously beautiful had qualities that demanded to be seen and appreciated. This really opened my eyes to the beauty I was lucky enough to see daily. I feel that after taking this class I will forever be more perceptive of the world around me. Finding the beauty in things that others may not see, and for that I feel lucky.

Food is something that most humans can instantly recognize from past stimuli: smell, look, and ultimately taste. Using differing techniques to generate experimental and revolutionary culinary designs using chemistry is the backbone of molecular gastronomy. Seeming almost alien, these lab-esque edible delights are created and presented in mystical fashion. The biggest draw towards hibachi restaurants like Benihana is the fact that the chef is cooking your meal right in front of you, but the magic behind gastronomy is the almost scientist level chefs using ingenuity to chemically create beautifully vibrant spheres that explode in your mouth and taste like the best soup you've ever had in your life. I think its beautiful how there are master chefs who can cook the most wonderful tasting dish you've ever had in your life, and there are master chefs that are borderline chemists creating the most wonderful tasting packing peanut you've ever tasted. In their own ways, they are bot...

 Over Spring break, my brother and I sat through and experienced the video game Outer Wilds  together. The game is about exploring a small solar system and learning about your alien species as well as a alien precursor civilization, the Nomai. It is challenging to talk about the Wilds because it is a game of discovery. Any knowledge going into the game can spoil or dampen your experience. The less you know, the greater the adventure will be. Additionally, the game relies upon a great mystery factor that revolves around what the player can do and what they know. The game can be beaten within 30 minutes if the player knows how to beat it, but the adventure lies in solving the steps to reach that conclusion. Together we have sunk about 18 hours of play to solve the mystery of the small solar system, and we thought that the experience was absolutely beautiful. The game has heavy themes of accepting the past and striving for a brighter future, even when that future is alien or unkn...

 In multiple classes we have been able to look at many pictures of gorgeous architecture. I have always been a huge fan of architecture and also history which made me feel right at home when we were looking at all those photos. Seeing the famous sites in such detail and right up close and personal was breathtaking to me. The skill which I was getting to see was magical, the skill used to create anything of such beauty and intricacy. 

 One day in class we talked all about the idea of magic and how it can be applied to the beautiful. I was fascinated by that comment and was very happy when the conversation continued. The magic of the world can be extended to be considered as beauty. The relationship can go both ways, magic can be beauty and beauty can be magic. I think that is a fascinating idea to consider, the way it can become both shows the versatility and the abstractness of the word. The conversation turned quickly to how magic and science can go hand in hand and that only served to further fuel my fascination. Magic being abstract, but then being tied to science made me become invested. In my educational life I have always been taught and told to believe in science, but magic as an abstract makes the concept of the similarity is very intriguing to think about. 

      The Pollock movie that we watched in class evoked a lot of emotions for me for many reasons. Seeing a struggling artist, both literally and  figuratively, in the opening scenes was hard to watch. This man is so broken and incomplete, yet he creates beautiful art. I have never been a fan of abstract art; I just never really understood it. I would always think "that's just a bunch of shapes, colors, and lines, I could easily do that". After watching the movie and seeing his art, I developed an appreciation for abstract art. I still don't fully "get" abstract art, but I think that might be the point. This beautiful art is not meant to be understood- it is up to everyone's own interpretation. I grew to appreciate the fact that I do not understand it, but can still enjoy it and it's complicated simplicity. 

     I also went to see the Trial of God at CNU a few weeks ago and had an interesting experience with that as well. The narrative of a man being so disgusted and hurt by the actions of the world that his only response is to hold God accountable by "putting Him on trial" is a thought-provoking story. It was a beautiful sentiment; this man's heart was so totally broken that he had no other option but to blame God and wonder why. It broke your heart to see this anguished father so confused about what had happened to his daughter and the rest of his community that he had to blame God because he had no one else to blame. As an audience member, I was awestruck by the tangible pain that each character was expressing. It was not a happy play or a heartwarming story, but it was beautifully tragic, 

     I went to see Brundibár when the Children's Opera came to perform at CNU and it was a very interesting experience. Hearing young children sing beautifully while also conveying a heartbreaking story was a lot to take in. Knowing the history behind this historical opera, it felt almost inappropriate to sit there and enjoy it. Historically, the children would perform this at a Concentration camp. After the kids would perform, they would then be killed. This contrasts drastically with the mood that the performance elicits in you. There were bright colors and happy, singing children. This opera does not tell you that the kids die in the end, but I knew the history behind it, and therefore had strange feelings. It was beautifully heartbreaking and confusing all at once. 

 I went to this event with some friends, really not expecting too much other than that I would be jealous of the performers abilities to dance. How wrong I was, the amount of beauty, along with skill, that was shown was breathtaking. The ability of those individuals to choreograph the routine, learn the routine, and perform in a large crowd. The synchronization that was achieved by those on stage was truly an awe to witness. The ability to create a dance that is able to all flow together, but also fit with the music is truly magical to see. It is an insight into the artist's mind and being able to witness that on the stage is not something to be taken lightly.

  Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles are tales fundamentally about the Subl ime and terrible truth  that lay  behind the  surface  of things . Oedipus is a contradiction. He saved Thebes  from the horrible sphinx by cracking its riddle and bec omes a  king. Yet, he is also the infection which plagues the  Thebans .  Through his wisdom, Oedipus ascended to great heights yet it was also his wisdom which led to his downfall. A major theme within these plays is how  the appearance of things can be deceptive. The woman who shared Oedipus’ bed was his mother. The man he killed was his father. Yet, these were truths he could not see with his eyes.  At the end of  Oedipus  the King, he blots out his eyes because they are  u ltimately so   misleading .  I n  Oe dipus at Colonus , he is exiled as the impurity that  plagues  Thebes but comes to be a blessing for the Athenians....

  Gerardus Van Der Leeuw, in his book, Sacred and Profane Beauty, speaks of  a  split in the activities of humans. Originally, art , play,  religion  and work were all united. Gradually, they came to be separated.  Today, I think, the split has become particularly bad. People no longer think of going to church as  an  aesthetic experience. Likewise,  very few people think of going to  an  art museum as something sacred. Much of the world’s gr eat art was produced for religious purposes. Religious art had the function of making the divine truly present.    Since the protestant reformation in the west, Churches gradually lost their sense of beauty. The use of  Iconography  fell  under  suspicio n  and Churches eventually ceased being a grand works of architecture. This is an  unfortunate  state of thing s. Religion without  beauty is dull. Art without the sacred falls  into decade...

  Jane Ellen Harrison, in her book, Ancient  Art  and Ritual, describes how art began as a communa l magical ritual. Eventually, there was a distinction between those who performed the rituals, the performers, and those who watched, the audience.  From this, art as we know it was born.  Most people  don’t  think of art  as  something you  participate  in. Rather, it is commonly held that art is something to be  observed  from a distance.  Must be art be like this? Is there a way to bridge the gap between art and the observer?  Lewis in his  essay   “Weight of Glory” writes that “We want … to be united with  the  beauty  we see.” If good art is meant to beautiful, and if beauty is a reality we are meant to be united to, shouldn’t art  be something we are called to  participate  in? It is difficult to over come the gap between observation  and participation. It would be ...

  In my last post   I touched on briefly why Plato might have been suspicious of art. I think  Plato’s suspicion of art, also un der girds the concept of idolatry found in many religions.  An idol distracts and takes one’s attention away from the real thing.  Furthermore, an idol can often be a distortion of the real object. In  Plato’s image of the cave   the shadows  on the wall the prisoners watch   are no t only images of something real, but distortions. An Idol is not only a  distraction  but can also be misleading .    However, must art always be   idolatrous? There is a Taoist parable about people coming to focus on  the finger which points to the moon rather than the moon itself. While the finger  that points to the moon can be a distraction, it can also be of aid in  directing one’s attention to the moon.  Gerardus Van Der Leeuw makes the point that art ought to point beyond itself . ...

  In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates recounts a conversation with  Diotima , a priestess .  In it she describes a divin e  ascent.  One may begin by loving the beauty in a particular body. From there, one can ascend the ladder and begin to love the virtues found within an ind ividual. Finally, one comes to love and be filled with beauty itself. The encounter with Beauty itself is the highest achievement a man can hope  for and the best way a man can become immortal.  Beauty is eternal and never increases nor diminishes. In becoming enraptured in the vision of the beautiful,  a person   is  able to  produce what is  truly good  and beautiful in the world. All other things, which men hail as being good,  pale  in comparison with the full splendor of the Beautiful itself.    I think  Diotima’s  image of a ladder of love best gets at why Plato is suspicious of art . All art  seeks  to create...

  A question that  emerged  during the class discussion  of  Kandinsky's work was the question  rega rding  the value of abstract art . According to  Kuspit , Kandinsky wanted  to distance  himself from the materialistic assumptions of the day .  Good art did not come from arranging all the parts together  correctly but   emerges  when it is successful in capturing something . For Kandinsky, there was something he  sought  to capture in his work. He  attempted  to do this by bypassing form as much as possible.  However, is this  really possible ?  Can the meaning of an artwork be  maintained  without the use of form?    Art, as  it  primary end, is not meant to capture form. This would be  the materialistic assumption of Kandinsky's day. By form, I mean , roughly, the  shape of things .  Often in our materialistic age,   people assume...