Boredom and lust

Valya - 080710

Boredom: the desire for desires - Tolstoy

Ever notice how similar the body feels when overwhelmingly bored or full of lust?  You can feel both burning through your body and hear the crackle of electricity in your head.  The tingling static charge desiring to do something, whether a new adventure or sex consumes all you think about.  All you know while existing in either states is that something had better happen... now.  True hell is living in both simultaneously.

Lust is the craving for salt of a man who is dying of thirst - Frederick Buechner

Of all the worldly passions, lust is the most intense. All other worldly passions seem to follow in its train. - Buddha

The Male Gaze

First -  A Glance 

Second - The Gaze

You have to be sly to check out a woman without her noticing or feeling awkward.  To do it right you must first look at her feet then slowly look up her body, not stopping on any body part, leading to her eyes.  Always finish with her eyes.  If you look at her eyes first then look down to check the rest of her,  she will know what you are doing.  Old advice originally written in the 1950's I recently heard quoted on a radio news segment.

Much has been written about the male gaze.  To gaze at something is to view it, absorb it and give it some personal meaning.  The male gaze is described as the popular media focus of providing images that are primarily for the heterosexual male with heterosexual females being a secondary audience. 

For both audiences, we are being manipulated into believing this slick propaganda is the only way to happiness.  The only way to get the girl is to do what the ad, movie, tv show is telling us to.   In an even more manipulative and devious method, the messages tell women they are not worth anything to men unless they meet these expectations.

I am not sure how prevalent the male gaze is in our media today compared to generations past.  I've seen great spoofs of it where the tables are turned.  This famous Diet Coke ad below is one example of the role reversal.   Even with it, is the satire directed at mocking the male gaze or is it mocking women for their version of it?



I believe the male dominated media industry's male gaze machine hurts humanity by limiting us on what we should find desirable with narrow definitions of beauty, sexuality, and objectification of women.  As a culture and a population, it is bad.  One challenge for me though is to determine if that same sense of "wrongness" should apply to the individual.

Unseen Interactions

I am a mostly heterosexual guy.  I overall know what my preferences are in determining attractiveness.  My preferences are not limited to certain ages, races, body shapes, hair colors, or geographic backgrounds.  I've been attracted to them all.  For me, it is the attitude, beliefs, self perceptions, intelligence and physical appearance combining to make a woman so damn attractive and sexy.  Sometimes I see an instant attraction that disappears as soon as a conversation starts.  Other times I feel a great and deeper attraction grow from getting to know the person and learning about how attractive they are.  On the special occasion, the instant and the ongoing attraction coincide.

Even though I believe I am a somewhat enlightened guy, I have my preferences that influence my male gaze.  It is part of my DNA, my soul, and who I am that directs me to look at what attracts me.  It is not as primal as a moth flying to the light, but it is an almost unconscious, autonomic physical behavior to look.  I will look.

"The day I stop looking is the day they close the lid."  Frank, an octogenarian and former coworker. 

Over the years I've chosen to acknowledge and learn about the male gaze in modern media and pop culture and how it is damaging society.  I believe everyone should recognize, develop, appreciate, and maintain a healthy (insert your name here) gaze.  I am sure all people who are sexual have their version of the gaze.  The Karl Gaze likes how the curve of the back of the leg is mirrored and accentuated by the curve of the breasts leading up to the neck and the chin.  That is one part of my gaze, but not the only part of it.  My gaze also likes how the sunlight shines through the silhouetted hair and caresses around the beautiful edge of skin on the nose, lips, chin, and neck of a woman standing by a window on a sunny day.  My gaze also appreciates the slow walk of a woman deep in thought about something as her mind focuses and her walking becomes secondary.  These and many other appreciated parts of my gaze make up a unique fingerprint of who I am and what I find attractive.  My gaze/fingerprint should not be the same as any others'.

Piernas (Andrea on the hood of my old truck)

With all aspects of our individuality, we must recognize and respect others when we use it.  Our gaze must not be the only discriminating filter when judging others.  Our gaze should not demean others because they are not part of our preferences in beauty.

My gaze is reflected in my photography.   It is not limited to the women in my photos, but to everything I capture.  My gaze is part of the theme, soul, aesthetic, and core of my photography.  It is not the only part of it, though I would be stupid to try to hide it and not acknowledge its importance.  I am no longer going to feel obligated to apologize for my art.  It is how I see things and art should be for the artist.  Viewers of it are free to make their own interpretations, projections and decide if they like my art or not.  I am interested in their views, but I will not apologize for what I've created.

"Europeans enjoy taking a moment to look at each other and appreciating each others' appearance.  Americans feel awkward and self conscious about this."  Something I recently overheard, but can not remember where and from whom.

Maybe it is time to accept, as individuals, that our gaze, what we find attractive and the preferences we hold are not bad to have.  How we use them may not be good, but having them is part of being human.  I refuse to limit myself to avoiding looking at beauty, in all forms, and enjoying it in a respectful manner.  That goes for what I look at and what I photograph as well.


Great continuation of the thread over at What We Saw Today.

Moon - 071310

Valya - 071310

Fire

Fire Dancer

"Hey son, don't touch that.   It will always burn you."
As he looked away, my five year old hand touched the hot wood stove.  Maybe I learned that time.

"Hey, if you play with fire, you'll get burned."  I listened but didn't understand it beyond the simple literal meaning it offered.

"Hey, be careful, that is hot..."
I drank the hot coffee and it burned my throat.  Maybe I learned that time.

"Hey, don't think about it, that is fire.  Everyone will be burned, especially those close to you."  I listened to him but once again I knew I was fireproof. I got a few scars from that one.

Wait!! It will burn you!

Fire is beautiful and sensual to watch.  It cooks, heats, and melts metal.  It tempts us with its power to do things, but we forget how we can too easily assume we master it and know all its outcomes.  Our arrogance burns us.  With that reminder, we try to rethink how can we use it and not get burned.  Maybe there is no safe way to play with fire and we will always get burned.  If we don't play with fire though, we will never learn and grow to achieve our desires, aspirations and fulfill our needs.  By taking that risk, we painfully live a full life.

Sometimes we have to just accept that we are going to get burned, but it may just be worth it.  With that, I salute all those who are willing to play with fire and take those chances to truly live.   Time to play with fire and get ready for the scars of learning from it.

Dennis Hopper - RIP

Dennis Hopper (l )  Peter Fonda (r) Movie Sill from Easy Rider

Dennis Hopper died a couple of weeks ago from cancer.  He was 74.  The first time I saw Dennis Hopper was while watching the movie he directed and acted in, Easy Rider.  Even though many liked Peter Fonda's character, I always understood and related to Hopper's character better.  Hopper was  a great photographer and artist in multiple genres.  Maybe his broad creation and appreciation for art is one of the reasons I am saddened by his passing.

Hopper was not a perfect man.  He had drug and alcohol addictions, anger problems, was micro-managerial over artistic vision, was obstinate, opinionated, and an egotist.  He  burned bridges and almost destroyed his career multiple times in multiple ways.  Through it all, he lived his life with a need to escape being ordinary.  His path may not have always been true, fruitful, or even that good artistically, but he was willing to reinvent himself and go about his life in another direction.  I respect that brave sense of self-renewal.

"Drugs can work for you, but at one point you work for them." - Dennis Hopper

Paul Newman - Dennis Hopper

Hopper attended the Actor's Studio with all the other great method actors of his time.  It is amazing how I can watch a movie staring him or other *Actor's Studio alumni and see a depth to their craft that many current movie stars lack.  Hopper had this depth of talent as well.  Whether he was playing a biker seeking freedom in Easy Rider, an avenging, homicidal bomb-making ex-cop (Speed), or a stoned reporter in Vietnam (Apocalypse Now), he always had a unique edge and depth that made you want to learn more about his character. 

Much of Hopper's early acting craft came from working with James Dean on Rebel without a Cause.  In a 1990 interview** with Hopper, he shared that Dean told him with acting, "Do things.  Don't act like you are having a drink, have a drink.  Don't indicate, react.  If in the part you are supposed to open the door and someone is there with a gun, react to the gun like you didn't know it was there.  The moment is the reality.  Never anticipate what the next moment will hold."

"Photography is not like painting," Henri Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever. " -Wikipedia (emphasis by me)

As a photographer, Hopper appreciated Henri Cartier Bresson's concept of the Decisive Moment. Look at Hopper's photo, Biker Couple.  In that one instant, he captured all the youth and disillusionment in those two and their relationship.   When watching his acting, you can tell that he was living as that character at that moment.  In each moment, his character "... never anticpate(d) what the next moment (would) hold."

Biker Couple - 1961 Dennis Hopper

This is a key element of both his and my art.  The moment is the reality, even if we are creating it.  We create and capture the decisive moment when we trip the camera's shutter.  Life went on before that moment and continued after, but something made us need to capture that moment.

I've written before about the fermata, a controlled pause in music,  In photography, all that is important is  what is photographed in that fraction of a second.  Nothing else matters except what we saw and knew to be the defining or decisive moment we just captured.

Dennis Hopper understood the value of the moment, whether in a role, painting, or photo.  In many ways he lived his life that way too.  The moment was where he lived.  Thanks for sharing it with us.




Great quote from Easy Rider that summed up the whole point of the movie.

"It's not who you boys are or what you look like, it's what you represent that scares these people." George, played by Jack Nicholson - Easy Rider

Below are a few references, photo essays, video clips, and deeper reads.    I recommend them all.
Slate/Magnum Photos

Retracing Early Rider  after 40 Years
* Karl Malden, Steve McQueen, Beatrice Arthur, Rod Steiger, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Anne Bancroft, and many more. 
** Fresh Air interviews with Dennis Hopper from 1990 and 1996

One important note about these videos from Easy Rider.  Hopper was one of the first directors to use complete contemporary songs as a part of the movie and then match the scene cuts to the music.  He attributes this style to what he saw on TV commercials.  Maybe this was a forefather to music videos?  Hopper thought so.


The Weight - Easy Rider 

Easy Rider - Born to be Wild Opening Credits.

Porn and Drugs

Classic Modern Leila

Dr. L over at What We Saw Today wrote about pornography again.  She discusses how the vague boundaries of porn makes it so hard to discuss and define.  All of this makes me think porn and drugs are related, but not in the way you may think.

I've written about pornography a bit too.  I've stated that I believe porn can be art, but not all porn is art.  I've made what most would consider porn.  I've viewed porn.  I am not going to define the boundaries between art, porn and erotica since all three can blend a bit for me.  While the content of the pornography varies and can be defended or blamed, I am not writing about content now.  I want to focus on porn usage.  My belief about porn usage is similar to that of drugs.  Neither are good or bad, it is the intention of the use that is "good" or "bad."

Along the way to getting my psychology degree I had to take both Use and Abuse of Drugs and Human Sexuality.  Both were great classes.  Both came with warnings and caveats.  Both courses were held in the largest auditorium on campus, seating 499 people.  Both classes were full. 

Follow the Arc

In the sex class, we were told on the first day that we could not bring friends, family or any other guest to the class unless they were registered.  The professors (one a behavioral biologist covering the physiology of sex, the other a social anthropologist, covering the cultural, historic, and other contextual aspects of sexuality) told us that we would become used to talking about sex openly and seeing explicit imagery in the class.  If we brought anybody from the outside, they would not  be "desensitized" to the this content and may become distressed.  What a titillating hook!  That made me want to attend class even more.  It was a great class where I learned more about human sexuality than the rest of life could teach me.  We always joked that the lectures were good, but the labs were the best!

The drugs course was a tough class.  We had to learn about the different classifications, uses, and outcomes of using drugs.  Twenty-one years later, I think I've forgotten most of that stuff, which is funny since I work for a drug company.  The main lesson I learned was something the professor stated on the first overhead transparency (pre-Power Point days).

Drugs are neither good or bad, it is how we use them that are good or bad.

The Blessed Ludivica Albertoni 1 - Classic Porn?

All pharmaceutical companies have to monitor the safety of their products.  Every drug has side effects and issues.  By tracking each adverse event and determining the risk/benefit of the product in a process called pharmacovigilance, we strive to give the patients and their health care providers the best information to make needed decisions.

Risk/benefit is a very gray area.    Here is a fictional, but common scenario, I have cancer that will kill me in 5 months.  If I take drug X, it has shown to increase survival rates by up to three years.  The major side effects are nausea and joint pain.  There is a toxicity issue that if taken more than five years, the drug will cause serious and permanent kidney and liver damage that is probably fatal.  Those are pretty bad risks, but the probability that I would live past five years is almost nil making the kidney and liver damage issue moot.  As for the nausea and joint pain, I have to decide if the quality of life issues caused by those side effects are worth it to live another few years.   The risk/benefit equation tips toward benefit.

The Blessed Ludivica Albertoni 2 - Detail

Now lets take the same scenario, but make the disease psoriasis.  Psoriasis is a severe disease, but not fatal.  The risk/benefit equation tips toward risk and the drug should not be given.

If we look at risk/benefit for illegal drugs or drugs that can be used for illegal purposes, it gets complicated.  Marijuana has both risks and benefits.  For cancer and AIDS patients, it can help them survive and lessen the symptoms.  For the pot smokers just wanting a great afternoon of watching Threes Company and toking a bowl, the equation is different.  When we look at E, ruffies, heroin, cocaine, crack, vicodin, huffing glue, meth, the risk/benefit equation heavily tilts toward risk.


Good/Bad, Risk/Benefit as related to porn usage.

In Dr. L's post, she mentions that serial killer Ted Bundy blamed porn as the cause of his crimes.  Whether his statement is true and how true it is, his usage suggests a bad use for porn.  I doubt that porn made him do it, but I can't rule out that it had an influence.  With his case, my assessment is bad use, heavy risk.

Many men in committed relationships view porn.  For some it is just a quick tension release and doesn't affect relations with their partners and family.  It is similar to enjoying a beer after a day's work and relaxing.  In that case I would assess it as good use, good benefits.

Stirred 2 (still baffled why you would need wifi at a brothel)

Many men in committed relationships view porn for hours, masturbating with it daily or even more frequently.  They would rather do that than have sex with their significant others.  There could be many reasons they are not seeking their partner (partner is not interested or is unable to have sex, emotional issues, etc.).  If this use of porn is leading to problems and addictions, I assess it as bad use, risky.

Those are enough scenarios, you can look at how it can help couples explore and have more fun or how it leads people into riskier activities in search of the next hot stimulating thing.  All of them are on that good/bad, risk/benefit scale.

So, which is it for you?  Do you abstain from using it?  Are you a recovering addict?  Are you a recreational user?  Do you use it to improve a healthy sex life?


Side not that is barely related to the topic.
My city of 135K+ souls has only two bookstores, both "adult" and neither really have any books in them.  We have Pier One Imports, Best Buy, Home Depot, Petco, Costco, Target, Walmart, Olive Garden, and sales lots for every major car manufacturer, except Ford.  Makes me wonder what our community really thinks is important to consume.  Literature is not on the list.

Legs - A celebration - and a new (to me) way to publish my photos

Piernas (Andrea on the hood of my old truck)

 Last Friday I saw a great photo essay by Magnum Photos on the theme of Legs at slate.com.    I remembered Joe making a movie using images of Dr. L and another model and knew I wanted to experiment. This inspired me to try and make a movie out of my photos as well.  Along the way of creating the movie, I discovered a few challenges and some rewards as well.

I went through all my digital or scanned photos and chose some that I believe the legs are the key ingredient to the image.  After some editing and post production work in Lightroom, I was ready to make a movie.

At first I used the online movie-making service at animoto.com.  While this service is free for 30 second videos, longer videos cost a little bit.  I opted to get the one year membership and made a few movies.  It is a very easy tool.  You upload the photos, choose background music from their free library, set a few parameters and then their program does all the work.  In the end you get a slick video with little work.  The downsides are the music selection is limited, you can not put in custom text/credit screens, and their is very little customization.  The video at the very bottom was my first attempt.

After playing in that, I used iMovie on my Mac.  It allows for much more customization and editing.  I could also choose any song from my iTunes library, which I did.   After a good bit of time of editing and putting in transitions and text screens, I made the movie you see here.

I thought loading it would be the easy part.  First I tried blogger's video upload.  While convenient, the output player was way too small.  I then created a youtube account and uploaded it there with very tight privacy settings (unsearchable and not published publicly).  I have a few concerns about posting this video there, but I doubt I will keep it there for long.

This is my second attempt at making this type of video.  I see room for improvement, but I am happy with it as a beginner's effort.  Any feedback is welcome.  So, without further ado, here it is - Piernas Bonitas (Nice Legs).

vimeo version

Piernas Bonitas from Karl B on Vimeo.

blogger version

Piernas - Candace

Generation Scold*

Candace - 050210 - desat

My body is a stiff wreck after helping a friend and her partner move ten blocks in SF yesterday.  So much for the yard work I will need to do.  I may be lucky to get a few flowers planted though.

During my Sunday morning ritual at a coffee shop, I did some reading at Slate titled Bring Back Boobquake by Hanna Rosin and the backlash against it by some feminists.  That article linked to another titled Generation Scold* by Jessica Grose  In it, the author presented the notion that the generation known as the "millennials" heap scorn upon those who are bit too sexually promiscuous for their tastes.  This open scorn of anyone is a shift in gender definition that may help equalize the perceptions of sex, but also take the adventure out of it.

Candace - 050210 - BW

In many cultures, the man who gets the most girls is seen as a stud by his peers and playboy, at worst, by everyone else.  Hooking up with as many women was lauded as a alpha male virtue.  The opposite was true about the perception of women.  If a woman had many sexual partners, she was a "slut" or worse.  Being sexually promiscious held negative attributes for women.  This was the big double standard of sexuality, men became heroes, women became tramps.  

With the maturing of the millenials, this is changing.  Both the male and female with multiple partners are seen as sluts and are looked down upon as part of the hyper-sexuality running through our culture.  As the story states, this generation grew up and were disgusted by the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal as well as other influences that formed these beliefs.  This shift may lead the end of the double standard, but at what cost?

This makes me wonder if the taboo of sexuality and openness of enjoying the sensual gifts we have is going to shrivel.  Will both genders suffer for this?  I do not hold anyone who is sexually open up higher or down lower in my perception of them.  They are who they are.  I may judge how they treat the people they are with and admonish them for hurting people with sex, but just having multiple lovers is not a plus or minus for me.  My hope is that they are happy with who they are, what they are doing and are careful.

Photo note - experimentation with a close up crop of big image of Candace.  I like her eyes in these and I like how she looks like she is laying down in the cropped versions.  The original is below.

Candace 050210

Boundaries, Definitions, Intersections...

 Leila and Hana

Over the weekend I watched a movie that pushed the boundaries of erotica, pornography, and definition titled, 9 Songs.  It is a short movie about a young couple in England and their sex life through their relationship and over the course of 9 songs.   Both the sex scenes and the icy Antarctic landscape are beautifully filmed.

The scenes grow increasingly erotic, graphic, and by one point shows full penetration and male ejaculation.  Is it pornographic, hardcore, erotica, art?  Can it be all of these?  Can art be pornographic or pornography be art?

This is not the first time these questions have been asked. Bob Guccione's Caligula and John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus pushed these same issues to the question.  Can graphic, actual sex captured through various media rise up to be art? 

Dr. L recently wrote in her blog:

Anyone who has watched porn films, even classics like "Behind the Green Door," will notice the complete lack of authentic emotion. So, for me, high emotion vs. the lack of convincing emotion separates erotica from pornography.

The balancing act, the success or failure to stop just short of going too far, determines whether it is erotica or pornography.

In a comment to her post, I wrote:

That goes back to the classic line that I am going to poorly paraphrase, "I can't define what pornography is, but I know it when I see it." I think this boundary between erotica and pornography varies from person to person and between cultures.

I like your concept of needing real emotion between the people in the photo/video to help make it erotica. I hadn't thought of that, but I think that hits the nail on the head.

When I saw Mr. and Mrs. Smith, staring the ever sexy Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, I could tell there was a real passion between them. Even though it was a tongue-in-cheek movie, their emotions and desire for each other made it white-hot for me. It was real.

After seeing 9 Songs, I've decided that it is (for me) pornography, erotica and it maybe even has artistic merit.  The characters have a complex, caring relationship and their sex is not the usual cliche crap you find in standard commercial porn.  It feels like you are watching two people connect physically and emotionally. 

For me it is the intent of the piece that makes it erotic, pornographic, artistic or all of these and more.  If the creator's intent is to go beyond just shock, awe, and titillation, and to try to put an artistic statement on it, then it is difficult to dismiss as just porn.  I don't see all pornography as being without merit or purposes other than  masturbatory eye candy.  It can be art and erotica.

Since seeing my first Playboys, Penthouses and occasional Hustlers, through the porn videos of the 90's and the boom of porn on the internet, I've seen lots of porn.  During all those experiences, I've seen some pornography that I feel is art.  I believe some of the images I captured of Leila and Hana are pornographic.  I also consider them artistic and erotic.  One of the reasons I feel they are more than porn was my, and their, intent.  I wanted to capture graphic moments that when seen together in a series shows not only the tender and caring relationship of these two women, but also the intense physical way they celebrated it.

Some believe, including me, that subtlety and leaving things to the imagination can be more erotic than explicit depictions.  I also believe  sometimes we need to see the "whole monty."  This is true whether it is sex, war, poverty, domestic violence, and other real life issues.  If we did not see the bodies of victims killed in the name civil rights, fascism, communism, genocide, crime, drugs and other atrocities, we would not have been moved to act.  The same goes for poverty and other tough topics.  They pushed our comfort and made us think of how to react.

All of this makes me believe that what most, including myself, consider pornography can also be acceptable art and important to be created. Is sex that taboo and should we only be limited to accepting violent graphic imagery as art?

A Pic for Z, a Prime Number and One for Indulgence

 

Katie 030110

Prime Number
I am almost an Ides of March babe which means I am staring at 41 soon.  Forty-one is a prime number, for what that is worth.

I tend to get quieter around my birthday due to the surge of reflective moods around me.  These moods and thoughts tend to fall into one, some or all of the following categories : Where did all the time go?  What should I change?  Keep the same?" "When?" "Why?" "How?"

Visual Indulgences
I've seen a few strippers in my life.  I had a bachelor party at a club.  During college I drove tour buses for a living.  Sometimes these trips including taking bachelor or fraternity parties to a strip club.  I enjoyed those work trips because the bar gave me all the free soft drinks I wanted.  I usually stayed toward the back in a booth or played pool with the off-duty dancers.  Those were low-key events where both of us enjoyed shooting pool and talking about college and life. (One warning, most strippers are excellent pool players since they get a lot of time to practice between sets.)  I stopped  going to strip clubs about a dozen years ago.  By that time I felt I had seen almost everything and it was getting old and redundant.
 
In honor of the athleticism of the Olympics and to tickle my base desires, I am posting a video of the 2009 Pole Dancing contest.  Don't worry, there isn't any nudity.  These performers are top-notch athletes and dancers.  They are graceful, strong, seductive and deserve some accolades for what they do.  If you have ever danced, trained in gymnastics, or even tried to do a pull up/ chin up, you should appreciate the amount of training these women put in.  It is like watching a sensual Cirque du Soliel performance. I am not going to try to analyze the misogynistic industry or the objectification of women promoted through this video.  My eyes just need a break.

After watching it again I don't feel the deep arousal as much as just jaw-dropping awe of "How do they do that?."  Ok, I have to be honest, there is still a bit of arousal.

 
.

Percieving Art - a really long one... beware

 

Katie 022110 - Negative Neighbor 1

After reading a very elequont and well written articles by Dr. L. over at What We Saw Today about the future of art, I got to thinking about the relationship between perceiving art personally and how we learn as individuals.   We all perceive things differently and that affects how appreciate create and learn.  How will our ability to perceive art in the future define what art will become? 

One learning theory emphasizes the different types of learners and trying to meet their needs. According to Howard Gardner, people learn best through one or more methods of interaction with the subject.  Gardner came up with a list of eight multiple intelligences with a couple more to consider as additional avenues.  The big eight are:

1. Bodily- kinesthetic - learning better by involving muscular movement (e.g. getting up and moving around into the learning experience), and are generally good at physical activities such as sports or dance.
2. Interpersonal -  people who have a high interpersonal intelligence tend to be extroverts, characterized by their sensitivity to others' moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group.
3. Verbal - linguistic - People with high verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words along with dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and discussion and debate. They are also frequently skilled at explaining, teaching and oration or persuasive speaking.
4. Logical - mathematical - While it is often assumed that those with this intelligence naturally excel in mathematics, chess, computer programming and other logical or numerical activities, a more accurate definition places emphasis on traditional mathematical ability and more reasoning capabilities, abstract patterns of recognition, scientific thinking and investigation, and the ability to perform complex calculations.
5. Interpersonal - People with intrapersonal intelligence are intuitive and typically introverted. They are skillful at deciphering their own feelings and motivations.
6. Visual - spatial - People with strong visual-spatial intelligence are typically very good at visualizing and mentally manipulating objects. They have a strong visual memory and are often artistically inclined.
7. Musical - Those who have a high level of musical-rhythmic intelligence display greater sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, tones, and music. They normally have good pitch and are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music. Since there is a strong auditory component to this intelligence, those who are strongest in it may learn best via lecture.
8. Naturalistic - This area has to do with nurturing and relating information to one's natural environment.  Those with it are said to have greater sensitivity to nature and their place within it, the ability to nurture and grow things, and greater ease in caring for, taming and interacting with animals. They may also be able to discern changes in weather or similar fluctuations in their natural surroundings. They are also good at recognizing and classifying different species. They must connect a new experience with prior knowledge to truly learn something new.

 -Wikipedia

I would say I perceive things best using my visual - spatial and musical intelligences with a touch of the naturalistic as well.  I also recognize times when the other ones work for me, but these are my key ways I perceive and create things. 

Katie 022110 - Negative Neighbor 2

 

How we perceive art is as deeply personal as how we experience food, sex, attraction, revulsion, and any other life experience, different strokes for different folks.  Can you tell me what blue looks like?  You can list examples of blue things, elaborate on how it makes you feel, and even tell me which wavelengths in the visual spectrum are assigned to the blue hues.  Thankfully art is easier to discuss how we perceive it, but I know your explanation of your perceptions of art contain only a small amount of what you experienced, felt, and interpreted into them.

The visual-still arts are the most concrete to describe and elaborate on.  You can spend time with the piece to interpret it for your own consumption.  Your eyes can gaze on each part as long as needed.  If you can touch it, then you can touch it as long as needed as well.  For some art, a second is only needed, for other art, a lifetime.  What I appreciate about this form is that I can come back to it and digest bits of the piece or the whole thing as I need to.   This type of art has a very slow temporal life, limited by the length of the show, life of the viewer, or the decomposition, fading, or erosion of the piece.  Last month I saw the Pantheon in Rome.  It will probably be there the next time I see it.  It will be around after me and has been around for thousands of years before me.

Performance/moving art with a visual component is the next most concrete.  You are absorbing sight, sound, movement, action and other sensations to form your own version of the narrative.  With all this though, it is temporal.  The dancer's move, the actor's line, and the dialogue are gone after they are performed.  Only our memory (or a rewind button) allows us to experience it again.  During that instant though, our visual and auditory worlds have to be open to receive all the information we are going to get.  We are living in the temporal existence of the piece.

Music is the most abstract, for me.  I play music, love it and try to have it around me all the time.  It has some similarities to visual moving/performance art.  The temporal existence is a challenge since it lasts only as long as the note is held.  When the music stops, the perceiving time is done.  We are left only with our memories and feelings created by the music to create an interpretation.  A challenge unique to music and other auditory arts is the lack of all senses involved other than hearing.  I can't use anything other than my ears to capture what happened.

I love both listening and playing this piece - the tuba line is the best at  5:17 to 6:48 - I  get chills hearing and playing that part.


Another challenge with instrumental music (and dance) is the lack of words.  Everything exists in a temporal moment and demands the audience to truly make their own interpretation of the moment.  Music with lyrics may be abstract, but by listening to the words and how they flow with the music, I can get a deeper sense of the creator's message.

Flamenco music and dance flow with a passion that always stirs my heart, loin and spirit.  It can be inspire and heartbreaking all at once.


With all the above said, I have to go back to Dr. L's post.

Art is real. Its essence cannot be conveyed by pixels. The story of its time and place and purpose and moment resides in its physical package, the medium.

and

This is serious business if we come to accept a virtual gallery as a primary venue to show any kind of art. Nad's words "quickly forgotten" tell us all we need to know. We are not talking about just the end of literature. We are talking about the end.

I can see her point, but don't feel it is as widespread or absolute as may be feared.  If all art becomes an online gallery, it will be the death of art.  That wont happen though.  Viewing live sports events on location is still a preferred experience over watching it live on TV.  The televised version is probably closer to the action than the person in the stands, but experiencing it live is truly a richer experience.  Overall, I think people will always prefer the real thing to the recorded/digital version.

I think the impact of the internet on art, and any other form of communication and information, is similar to the printing press and the first recorded sounds.  Before printed words, all books were hand-written and most stories were passed down through oral traditions.  Before recorded sound, all music was experienced by live performers.  The temporal moment made it a cherished treat.  Within one minute, I can listen to pretty much any audio thing I want because of the ease of the internet.  While I may enjoy hearing Bach or Bachman Turner Overdrive through my computer speakers, listening to the real thing live is much better.  Seeing Ansel Adams Moonrise Over Hernandez on my screen reminds me of when I saw a real print of it, but since I don't have $40,000 to buy one, the virtual experience is better than none.

In considering the future of art, we always need to look at the technologies available to the artist.  Early photography was not considered art.  To make it more artistic, the pictorial photographer tried to emulate painted art.

Pictorialism largely subscribed to the idea that art photography needed to emulate the painting and etching of the time. Most of these pictures were black & white or sepia-toned. Among the methods used were soft focus, special filters and lens coatings, heavy manipulation in the darkroom, and exotic printing processes

Wikipedia

Along came Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, and many other photographers stating, "bullshit" to the idea that photography had to emulate other arts of the time.  They defined a new genre of art that emphasized contrast, tonality, and clarity of image.  They created the concept or philosophy of the fine art print. In a previous post I wrote about a digital photography pioneer who challenging the concept that the traditional fine print is truly the only fine art photograph.  In the future, we may look back at the fine prints created by film photographers as garish, over-saturated, and with too much contrast.  Who sees true black in the real world?

It took some time and now photography is widely accepted and appreciated as an art form.  Very few cutting-edge artists exploring new media will have their art considered seriously in their lifetime.  This is the challenge of the new artists who is inventing the new art.

In the future, there will be new types of art that solely live in the digital world.  They may have no tactile, permanent existence. They will only be exhibited, performed, and created in the digital world of electrons and pixels.  We will only be able to absorb it through the machine that it lives in and puts it out onto the device we use to interact with it.  That same device may be what we use for communication, making lists, and doing our taxes.  Like music, they may be temporal and live only within one sense.   It may become something like a holographic universe that we absorb virtually through a connection to a computer.  Imagine if you could create a piece of art that a person could truly enter and be surrounded by to experience it.

Candace Nirvana 022110

All of this does not mean the death of art as we know it.  As Dr. L stated:

In the beginning was NOT the word, despite what we've been told. In the beginning was the image - those we saw before our eyes, and those we filed inside our heads.

Humans have been transferring images to walls for thousands of years.  We have been banging things together to create music and dance to a rhythm.  The piano, while made with better materials and engineering, is basically the same as the first pianofortes from centuries ago.  Every time a new form of art or technology/technique in art is created, we must make one of five choices, ignore it, accept it, accept parts of it and use it with the old methods, alter it for something even newer, or try to destroy it for all others.  There is some music I can barely consider music, so I ignore it or avoid it.  I've accepted using a digital camera.  I want to try making silver prints from digital negatives.  I would love to try taking digital photographs of my thoughts someday and push the format further.  I will always speak out about art that promotes hatred and persecution like many speak out about the nude art we create as dangerous.

In conclusion, humans will always need to create art and to experience it in whatever way is best for the individual.  Some will be tactile, or aural, or visual, or a mix of all the senses and types of intelligence.  Some will be using methods we can not fathom yet and others will be using the oldest techniques of art, a simple smudge on a flat surface.  Art is not going to die from new methods of exhibitions.  If it dies, it will be from others suppressing the artist's ability to make it.

Ciao Bella Roma

Women in Advertisements 2

I missed posting yesterday due to work. After a full day of meetings, we went on a bus tour of the city and then dinner and bar hopping. I got to bed at 2:30 and had to get up at 7am for meetings. Yesterday was a bust for exploring and seeing things on my own.

Generations of the Fiat 500

Today was a new day. After my morning meetings, I slept off my night of multiple over indulgences and headed out to the Trastevere area. It is across the Tiber river and is not the posh, idyllic beauty of the Centro Storico. It is grittier, dirtier, and has graffiti on the walls. It has tight, dark walkways that spill out into beautiful small plazas. The people are not the wealthy, but they have a bohemian grit that drives the pulse of the area. I found many small art galleries, book stores and great little eateries. All of this was accompanied by the soft tap, tap, tap percussion of the rain on my umbrella. At times I felt like my umbrella became a permanent attachment to my body.

Feels Like Telegraph in Berkeley, but With Fur

My goal for this neighborhood was to get a feel for that lifestyle and also to see a recommended Bernini sculpture called The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1674) in the Chiesa Di San Francesco a Rippa I had heard that it could compete in sensuality with The Ecstacy of St. Teresa that I saw a few days ago. For me, it does.

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa on a Rainy Day

When I saw The Ecstacy, I thought I was watching a romantic sensual climax. Ludovica Albertoni made me feel like I was peeking into her room as she was having a beautiful private moment. It was quiet, dark, and full of mood. My photos' quality is crap, but I hope you can see some of the erotic detail from them. I also found a photo by Susan Sanders that is much better.

Too Grainy, Too Shaky, but it Wasn't Her Fault

The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni
Susan Sanders

After doing a little research, I found out the history of Ludovica Albertoni. Here is a brief excerpt from Wikipedia.

She is also known as Louisa Albertoni; Ludovica Albertoni Cetera. She was born to a wealthy and prominent family, and married to Giacomo de Citara. She was the mother of three, but was widowed in 1506. As a Franciscan tertiary, she spent her fortune and ruined her health in caring for the poor. She was renowned for her religious ecstasies, and became known as a miracle worker, and, according to accounts, had the gift of levitation.

Ludovica is best known for the famous sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini housed in the church of San Francesco a Ripa in Rome. The recumbent statue captures Blessed Ludovica in her death throes, portraying her as suffering but also in the light of her religious ecstasies as she awaits union with God. It is believed that she experienced a special nuptial union with Christ as portrayed in Bernini's work.

So, Bernini was trying to capture "her death throes, portraying her as suffering but also in the light of her religious ecstasies". He sure liked to capture lots of ecstasies. It makes me think of a French term for orgasm, Le petite mort, of the little death. I've already written about this little death before so no need to expand here. It does look like that is what she is enjoying as well.

Mort or Le Petite Mort?

Along the way, I found another church and saw a small relief sculpture that had a surprise for me. It looks like another woman in ecstasy. The Catholics of Rome sure did like their woman to be in ecstasy in art. I enjoy these pieces today and feel that it can be art to see someone as they are in that moment of le petite mort.

Good Times

Sadly, I have to say "Ciao" to the this magic city tomorrow morning. I am ready to go and look forward to going home, but I know I need to return here. The gelato is addicting and the city is now an itch that can never be scratched away.

I Was Tying My Shoes When She Asked Me For the Time

Photo Notes - I have more images to edit. Sadly, I only have my old 5mp Nikon with me so the images are not of the technical quality that I prefer. That means no prints, but I still enjoy them.

I think I have a crush on Renata. Here is another one of her campaign posters.

Women in Advertisements 2

Four Inches into Space

Being Small

Technically, space begins at 100 km (about 62 miles) above the earth's surface. There are other measurements that define barriers as well. Two thousand pounds is a ton. The distance from the earth to the sun is an astronomical unit (1 au = 93 million miles). For human males, I think the height barrier measurement for being tall is six feet.

Last month I was walking out of my class and Mollee and Andrea were chatting in the parking lot. As I got my car keys out, Mollee asked, "Karl, how tall are you?" I replied with my standard 6'4"-unless-I-am-wearing-heels answer. Mollee's only response was, "Damn. You are tall." I hadn't heard that one before.

When you are over 6', you are tall. It is curious how people have to tell me the obvious. It seems a bit absurd. They don't tell me, "Karl, you are white!" That is just about as obvious as my being four inches into space.

I do not complain about being tall. It is just how it is. I can reach objects on the top shelf and see the dust on top of the refrigerator. I've learned to either bend with my knees or squat when I have to do low-down work. My back is healthy and I need to keep it that way.

While I try to respect the people I meet, I do look down on them... literally, not figuratively. I have no choice. Sadly, most tall people compensate by slouching, which looks bad and is very harmful to our backs. After someone once told me to stand tall and be proud, I thought about how silly it is to slouch. There is no reason. I am tall, you are shorter. It doesn't mean anything except the obvious physical differences.

On rare occasions I meet people taller than me. It is odd to look up and see someone. On a few very rare occasions (only twice that I can think of) I've met women taller than me. One was my date to prom. It was awkward at first dancing with someone a half inch taller than me. It felt good. We both commented on how it was to be with someone similar. Nothing became of that relationship, but our prom pics are still unique for both of us. Here is an interesting article at the blog, The Other Tall Girl. It is good to read it from the woman's perspective.

Interestingly, all my girlfriends have been under 5'1". It is not that I seek out women that are over a foot shorter than me, but it is what I am unconsciously drawn to and that seem drawn to me.

A few years ago, my hair stylist told me my hair was thinning up top. I was getting "too tall for my hair." She said, "Don't worry, you are tall. No one will see it." I had to remind her that when I was sitting in her barber's chair, she could see it. So, when sitting, tall does not mean much

Another interesting place where tall does not matter much is in bed. Since both of our heads are on the pillows, we are the same height. So when sleeping, I am not tall. Sex though is another story. Being tall opens certain possibilities and rules out others. I've learned what works.

It is funny, there aren't too many tall jokes other than comments about the weather up there. I've heard short jokes though and wonder why short people get teased for that. Being tall does not make me a better person than others. Tall people get teased about having big feet. I have size 13 shoes. My dad, who is two inches taller than me and wears 15s, was nicknamed "acre foot" by his coworkers. I have to admit, that one is funny. I am sometimes called the "gentle giant." When I hear that I think about the song Behind Blue Eyes by The Who and wonder if those who call me that truly know me.

Speaking of "Gentle Giant" and other tall names and stereotypes, here are a few more.

• Tall people are natural leaders. Untrue. I am not a great leader. I can lead when needed, but I am not better at it because I am tall. I've been lead by short people and followed them because I believe in them. It is the charisma and intellect, not the vertical measurements.
• Tall guys are good at basketball and football. There is a reason I threw shot put and discus and did not play basketball or football. I am lousy at those team sports.
• Tall people are physically awkward. Sort of true. I think we are no more clumsy or awkward than anyone else, especially growing up. The awkward part though is having to fit into small chairs, hit our heads on things, and deal with a world that is not designed for our height. I would not be surprised if short people have the same issues, just in the opposite direction. Where I can not set my car seat back far enough, they can't get it forward enough.
• Tall men, or those with big feet, are generously endowed. I like that one and will neither confirm nor deny it.
  

I used to be a math and science teacher. I now teach science and federal compliance stuff at my job. Whenever I am debuting a new course, I always wear my black cowboy boots (my version of high heels) for good luck and also because they are my most comfortable shoes. Once, a coworker noticed this trend and asked me about it. I told him I did that to feel taller and to have more of a presence in the room. He did not know I was joking and stammered out, "But Karl, you are already tall." I had to laugh at that one.

As a photographer, I've noticed many of my photos are taken at my eye level. If the subject is a person, you will see what I see. At the conference I attended last month, I showed two photos of Candace where I am above her. Some of the viewers took a feminist reading of my message of male dominance over the subject. I am not consciously trying to show a dominance in these photos, just sharing what I see. Too be honest, the subjects or models in my photos often have just as much power as I do in the moment. I wonder if shorter photographers are told their work shows a submissiveness message because they are looking up?

At times, I would rather be shorter. Clothes would be easier to find. My knees would be comfortable when sitting in chairs. I would have more choices in the cars I could drive. I wouldn't bump my head on the overhead luggage bins every fucking time I stand up in an airplane. While these are huge inconveniences, I am not about to have six inches cut out of my legs to fit better.

So, what is the point of all this tall talk. Not much. I just saw Avatar, and after seeing the tall blue main characters, I got to thinking about height. To paraphrase a saying from an old post of mine, "It is okay to be recognized as tall or short by those who notice it, just please don't stare."