DAILY PHOTO: Formosa Boulevard Metro Station, Kaohsiung
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Category Archives: Art
The Painting by Wang Wei [w/ Audio]
Afar, colorful mountains. Near, silent waters. Spring 's gone but flowers remain. People come but birds aren't startled.
Original: 遠看山有色 近聽水無聲 春去花還在 人來鳥不驚
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DAILY PHOTO: Bangalore Street Art
BOOKS: Bohemians: A Very Short Introduction by David Weir
Bohemians: A Very Short Introduction by David WeirMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This book examines the brief life of the Bohemian artistic lifestyle, exploring how it came about, what it looked like in its heyday, what led to its demise, and by what / whom it was replaced (e.g. the Beats.) It is an intriguing examination of the subject. I will say, there were points that I felt the book had become lost in the weeds, but at other points I found it fascinating. I concluded that my own calculus was to find it interesting when it discussed the lives and works of artists who are still deemed to have relevance and influence today (e.g. Baudelaire, Picasso, and Whitman,) and not so much when it was elaborating on artists and works that have fallen into obscurity among the general populace (e.g. Henry Murger’s Scenes of Bohemian Life.) So, that may be more a reflection on me than on the book.
The author touches upon the fictional influences that inspired Bohemianism, the places where the lifestyle thrived (e.g. Paris and New York,) the philosophy and – particularly – the political philosophy of the Bohemians (e.g. often Anarchists or – at least – anti-government.) One of the topics that most interested me is how the successor artistic communities differed from the Bohemians.
If you’re interested in who the Bohemians were and how they differ from other artistic communities (before and after,) this book is well worth the brief read required.
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Green Fairy [Free Verse]
Bohemians gathered around the absinthe bottles, the light hitting the bottles shone a radioactive shade of green. That green light threw blotches against walls & floors & people & anything else there was to illuminate. The more they drank, the less green the mottling -- not because the empty glass was clear, & didn't refract, or spray green, but because the splotches turned every color -- every color there is -- and the colors danced around the increasingly amorphous surfaces. Until, at last, everyone was asleep, and visions of Green Fairies danced in their dreams.
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DAILY PHOTO: Budapest’s Tiny Sculptures
PROMPT: Family Member
Describe a family member.
Eyes: two; Ears: two; Nose: one, but with two entrances; Legs: two; Arms: Two; Head: one, but mostly symmetrical to a sagittal plane…
I’ll stop there. I don’t want to offer so much detail that an AI renders a fake photo and steals this person’s identity.
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DAILY PHOTO: Murdeshwar’s Giant Shiva
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PROMPT: Favorite Artists
If one means “arts” in the broadest sense of the word, I’d have to say William Blake, because I like both his poetry and his graphic artistry, as well as his particular brand of madness.
If you mean visual artistry (which people often do when they use the term without a qualifier,) I generally enjoy fantastical and imaginative art, but not so fantastical or imaginative that it requires / shows no skill. So, artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Francisco Goya, Hieronymus Bosch, and M.C. Escher top the list.
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DAILY PHOTO: Four Iconic Chicago Sculptures
Tiger Riding for Beginners 