Shiny Happy People, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise
November 26, 2011 Martha Thomases 1 Comment
Lisa (not her real name) was back in the cancer hospital. The seven-year-old had a bone marrow transplant and been in-patient for four months. After being home for a while, she spiked a fever and had to stay overnight, with her mom at her side.
She woke up that morning and said, “Mommy, mommy! I need art!”
Don’t we all?
My college art teacher delighted in asking us, “What is art?” and then striking down our definitions. Ultimately, he said, art is what an artist does, which seems like a great definition if you’re an artist, but not much use for the rest of us.
To me, art is something that makes me see the world in a new way. And the older I get, the more valuable that is.
I don’t just mean something that makes me consider another point of view (although that’s also quite valuable). I mean something that makes me question reality. For example, Cubism caused me to think about seeing something moving while looking at a fixed image. That’s fairly mind-blowing. Classical music makes me notice the passing of time, both mathematically and fluidly. Dance makes me consider how expressive the human body can be. I’m sure you have your own list.
As we enter the season of shopping frenzies, when people are told to spend as much as they can or their families (and the economy) will fall apart, it’s important to remember that Lisa is right. We need art. Not just East Coast elitists like Lisa and me, but all of us.
Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, hopes everyone survived Black Friday with your souls and your wallets intact.
Mike Gold
November 26, 2011 - 1:32 pm
Art? How long have you been in Al Qaeda?
Elizabeth
November 26, 2011 - 2:49 pm
Reminds me of the joy of putting together lots of pictures from my daughter’s life and enjoying the artistry of it while I remembered and had new thoughts at the same time. Out of the mouth of babes….that would be you and Lisa!
pennie
November 26, 2011 - 3:00 pm
Art? Thought he was your son…J
Funny but I remember that discussion we had about your art prof’s definition in the Oberlin cafeteria. I thought it was tremendously humorous. That was right before I went to photograph a portrait of the 145-year-old well-respected Director of the Allen Art Museum for Art Forum. Haven’t thought about that one in eons.
All that aside, we need art. Naturally, my favorite is the stuff that starts out not consciously trying to be art but gets there anyway. And this from a girl whose favorite book is Ulysses. Go figure.
Mike Gold
November 26, 2011 - 6:00 pm
Ulysses is akin to Frank Miller’s version of 2001 A Space Odyssey.
pennie
November 26, 2011 - 6:36 pm
Mike,
Okay, I’ll “bite.” Talk to me about this please..
MOTU
November 26, 2011 - 7:12 pm
Without art, what else is there?
Steve Atkins
November 26, 2011 - 9:27 pm
@ MOTU – Everything else that people who have little-to-no-imagination want everyone (save themselves, of course) to do.
It never ceases to amaze me how many dreamless try to crush the dreams of others under the self-inflicted BS of making those dreamers “do something useful” or to “get a real job”.
Let THEM pull a 32-page comics story, a 20-page short story, a song, or a film out of thin air. Then, and only then, may they speak a word to me about it.
@ Martha – Excellent column, as always. Thank you. 🙂
@Mike Gold – What are your thoughts about Cream’s “Tales Of Brave Ulysses”?
Mike Gold
November 26, 2011 - 9:31 pm
2001 — the movie more than the book — made very little sense once the acid wore off. Frank has a tendency to, ahhh, macho things up. I’ve never been able to figure out, or care about, Ulysses: it strikes me as an overly macho story that makes very little sense.
But it works for you, and that’s really what art is all about. There’s no right or wrong, there’s just what the creator does and how each of us as individuals respond to it.
But I acknowledge the late great Allan Sherman’s take on it:
“And the head coach
Wants no sissies,
So he reads to us
from something called
Ulysses.”
Mike Gold
November 26, 2011 - 9:34 pm
Steve, I love Cream. Lyrically, a lot of their stuff perfectly captures the sensibilities of Ulysses. And I reference my response to Pennie directly above. Except that “Tales” made more sense to me than either Ulysses OR 2001 A.S.O. Or anything Frank did in the past five to ten years.
Although I don’t think Allan Sherman ever worked with Cream. Maybe Ginger Baker…
Steve Atkins
November 26, 2011 - 10:49 pm
Mike Gold –
Being a major fan of all things Eric Clapton, I am also a Cream fan. Although, I would have liked to have seen where Blind Faith would have gone, if they had not collapsed.
I tend to look at the film 2001 like this: Kubrick is presenting to the viewer the live action, sci-fi version of FANTASIA. As someone who watched a lot of Dario Argento’s work, I discovered that his much-talked-about brilliance was due to his visual style and sensibility. His “stories” make no damn sense whatsoever. But, it enables me to enjoy the film without getting too hung up on the narrative.
Now, THE WALL, on the other hand….:)
Allan Sherman. The original “Weird Al.” My father had his album My Son, The Celebrity and My Son, The Nut (with his best known parody “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh/ A Letter from Camp”). That’s a good memory. Thanks.
Pennie
November 27, 2011 - 5:52 am
Mike,
I go the other way with Ulysses. Far. Between Molly’s defiance, soliliquy,and general behavior displaying attitudes far less accepted then compared to now, I think that a strong feminist theme is central. But that has always been one of my chief attractions to Joyce. We both know about the groundbreaking stream-of-consciousness that paved the way for the Beats and others. The other personal attraction is my love of Hellenic and Celtic mythologies intertwining.
That, and so much more. But, I certainly respect your opinion.
Cream remains one of my all-time faces for so many reasons. I bumbled into the old Cafe Au Go Go in 1967 or ’68. The sign outside advertised: “Fresh Cream.” I sat about five feet away from Clapton and Bruce, it was possibly the most awesome and raw display of musicianship I ever saw. And I think you understand I’ve seen a lot.
Mike Gold
November 27, 2011 - 9:25 am
Steve, I think Weird Al is the son of Allan Sherman and Spike Jones. Some of Al’s stuff still kills me — his squeeze box medley of Rolling Stones songs, his Bohemian Polka… Nice guy. I had lunch with him 20 years ago at a NYC deli called Pastrami and Things. We both ordered “Things.”
Pennie, discovering Cream was a bonding thing for me. My then-best friend had an after school job at a record jobber and he’d listen to new stuff while working. When Fresh Cream came out — actually, a few days before release — he sampled it and brought it home. (I wonder if he paid for it? Job perk, I suspect.) He immediately called me and a couple other friends. “You GOTTA hear this.” We assembled in his bedroom and left huge, huge fans.
Too bad about Ginger. The good news is that he’s still alive. The bad news is that he’s dangerously insane. Possibly the most influential drummer in rock history.
pennie
November 27, 2011 - 4:25 pm
Mike, I agree. Ginger, Jack and what-his-name on guitar were musician’s musicians. They did more respectively to influence the scene, collectively and individually than…many others. Ginger embraced world music long before it was cool. He has that big drug thing in his portfolio like Keith but not KR’s nine lives and genetic cockroach time-line.
pennie
November 27, 2011 - 4:29 pm
You got me thinking…just listen to Jack Bruce’s bass turns in the live “Spoonful.” Not to mention Ginger on “Toad.” And ole what-his-face on the live classic “Crossroads.” I burned through so many copies of Live Cream I could open a Discount Records branch…
R. Maheras
November 27, 2011 - 6:29 pm
Art is a great outlet for the soul, and I’m thankful I figured that out and was able to teach myself to cultivate it. Whenever I can, I try and encourage others to draw/create because I learned a long time ago that most don’t even realize they possess any latent creativity.
Steve Atkins
November 27, 2011 - 7:57 pm
@ Mike – Did you have a Coke, Mike? You know what they used to say, don’t you, Mike? “Things Go Better With A Coke.”
@ pennie – Perhaps if you will take a moment to stop listening to the four-day live version of “Pressed Rat And Warthog”, you might scroll up and notice that you do, in fact, know at least 50% of Eric Clapton’s name. 🙂
…”Pressed Rat And Warthog”…now THERE’S a Pixar franchise waiting to happen….
Mike Gold
November 28, 2011 - 11:51 am
Steve, I believe the line was “things go better with Coke.” This line became subject to consecutive interpretation and was pulled.
Like DuPont pulled “Better Living Through Chemistry” after the Yippies held an acid test in 1969 at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
And that long version of Pressed Rat And Warthog only SEEMED like it was four-days long. Actually, they didn’t do it that night.
pennie
November 28, 2011 - 6:05 pm
@Mike–NSme, er NSU.