To create is divine, to reproduce is human.

Dream About a Ring by Václav Švankmajer, 2011

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:19:26 -0400

Dream About a Ring by Václav Švankmajer, 2011

Imaginary Portrait of Lautreamont at the Age of Nineteen...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:12:09 -0400

Imaginary Portrait of Lautreamont at the Age of Nineteen Obtained According to the Paranoiac-Critcal Method by Salvador Dali, 1937

David Tudor and John Cage in Japan, 1962.

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:19:09 -0400

David Tudor and John Cage in Japan, 1962.

I’m actually going to start updating this again.

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:18:39 -0400

I’m actually going to start updating this again.

Feliks Topolski’s portraits of literary greats, 1961: Aldous...

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 14:22:00 -0500

Feliks Topolski’s portraits of literary greats, 1961:

Aldous Huxley
E.M. Forster
Graham Greene
W.H. Auden

aronbirtalan: portraits | 2012 Set of digital portraits done in...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:15:07 -0500

aronbirtalan:

portraits | 2012

Set of digital portraits done in September 2012.
Reykjavik, IS.

I’ve spent most of my last few years being constantly on the go, always adjusting myself to different environments, meeting new cultures, set of rules and most importantly engaging with new groups of people. During this time, I found myself identifying my own persona in an ever changing way, always adjusting some of my features to fit the expectations demanded by the situation. I started working with the idea of bending portraits just a while ago, as a metaphor of one’s identity being in a state of constant flux.

Dali and Man Ray by Carl van Vechten

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 22:30:52 -0500

Dali and Man Ray by Carl van Vechten

Standing Nude with Large Hat (Gertrude Schiele) by Egon Schiele,...

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:49:07 -0500

Standing Nude with Large Hat (Gertrude Schiele) by Egon Schiele, 1910

austinkleon: The end of James Kochalka’s American Elf In case...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 02:25:27 -0500

austinkleon:

The end of James Kochalka’s American Elf

In case you hadn’t heard, James Kochalka is quitting American Elf at the end of 2012. He gave his first interview about it to his local paper:

“‘Elf’ has so consumed my mind for 14 years, I’ve hardly thought about anything else… These 14 years, it’s been the great joy of my life, but it’s also been incredibly painful.”

[…] Kochalka says he’s sad about quitting, but notes, “I felt like I had to make some decision; [‘Elf’] wasn’t meant to be a life sentence. I just wanted to learn something about what it meant to be a human being.”

And did he? “I’ve been so busy drawing it, I’m not sure,” Kochalka admits with a laugh.

This bit reminded me of a commencement speech I read by Nick Flynn, where he talks about the idea of catharsis:

Aristotle, in his Poetics, never promised catharsis for the makers of art, only for the audience. The makers, on the other hand, have to find a way to become the person who can write the poem they need to write (Stanley Kunitz said that). This could be cathartic, or it could destroy you. But you can’t go into it hoping for catharsis.

In the original Greek the sense of the word catharsis was as a daily practice, that we woke up each day with who we were, and each day we had to find a way to carry ourselves through it. This contrasts with our more contemporary idea of catharsis (which I blame on a misreading of Freud) as a one-time event, a revelation, a light coming on in an empty room. In this version, once we find the switch to turn that light on, we then get to see clearly what it was in our pasts (mom, is that you?) that causes us to act the way we do, and then we are able to integrate it (her) into our lives, and we are healed.

And finally, that artists shouldn’t necessarily expect anything from their work:

Don’t expect to get anything from your own work. The [carrot at the end of the stick] is an illusion at best, but more than likely it is a cage. Feel what you feel as you make it, whatever that feeling is. Track it. Trust that you might bring some small cathartic moment to another human being. It might only be one other human being, or it might be a handful. And it might not be now, it might not be for a hundred years. Or ever. Even this has to be enough.

TOP: Triangles Plus One by Imogene Cunningham, 1928 BOTTOM: Two...

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:35:00 -0500

TOP: Triangles Plus One by Imogene Cunningham, 1928

BOTTOM: Two Sisters by Imogene Cunningham, 1928

A Man Ray Version of Man Ray by Imogen Cunningham, 1960

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:54:04 -0500

A Man Ray Version of Man Ray by Imogen Cunningham, 1960

Carolyn Carlson by Jeanloup Sieff, 1974

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:31:48 -0500

Carolyn Carlson by Jeanloup Sieff, 1974

Abundance by Henrie le Fauconnier, 1910

Sat, 24 Nov 2012 21:15:59 -0500

Abundance by Henrie le Fauconnier, 1910

Rene Magritte in Bowler Hat by Duane Michals, 1965

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 17:26:19 -0500

Rene Magritte in Bowler Hat by Duane Michals, 1965

Hidden by Guy Denning, 2011

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 17:48:27 -0500

Hidden by Guy Denning, 2011

tomatoeyes: Danny Arter captured by Trish Ward and styled...

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 16:43:18 -0500

tomatoeyes:

Danny Arter captured by Trish Ward and styled by Scott Robert Clark for this editorial inspired by Austrian painter Egon Schiele, for the lastest issue of The Hunger magazine.

The Cellist by Antonio Giulio Bragaglia, 1913

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:55:00 -0500

The Cellist by Antonio Giulio Bragaglia, 1913

The Laugh by Umberto Boccioni, 1911

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:43:58 -0500

The Laugh by Umberto Boccioni, 1911

The Mendicant by Guy Denning, 2011

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:33:08 -0500

The Mendicant by Guy Denning, 2011

Portrait of him as a Young Man by Guy Denning, 2012

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:28:55 -0500

Portrait of him as a Young Man by Guy Denning, 2012