forsv: potpourri of thoughts

Museums Set to Sell Art, and Some Experts Cringe

Museums Set to Sell Art, and Some Experts Cringe

By CAROL VOGEL
Published: October 26, 2005 in The New Work Times

Undaunted by the tempest over the New York Public Library's sale of a prized painting, arts institutions across the country are cleaning out their closets for auctions starting next week, stirring fresh unease among art historians and curators.

Artworks going on the block include paintings by Picasso, Modigliani and Chagall, and rare photographs by masters like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston. In December, the public library is moving ahead with the sale of two portraits of George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart, and 16 other paintings.

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JohnAugust.com

​​​​If you're writing a screenplay (and let's face it, who isn't?), get thee to this blog. Subtitled "a ton of useful information about screenwriting," the site shares, well, a ton of useful information about screenwriting. John August, whose credits include "Big Fish," "Go," and "Charlie's Angels," walks us through the trials and tribulations of wielding the pen in Hollywood. Along the way, he addresses such topics as...

• How he got his agent
• What format you should send your script in
• Moving to Hollywood
• Is film school necessary? (Answer: No)

Even if you don't indulge in fantasies of writing your own screenplay but just love movies (and let's face it, who doesn't?), you'll enjoy this glimpse into the inner workings of La-La Land.

Bathsheba Grossman: a geometric sculptor

Check out an artist exploring the region between art and mathematics.

Fakes, Frauds, and Fake Fakers

Some counterfeiters try to enter the “soul and mind of the artist.” Some delight in the chemistry of baking paint and creating wormholes. Some start with real pictures and then “restore” them until they look as if they’re by a different artist. From ancient vases to conceptual art—if someone made it, someone else has tried to bamboozle the world with a copy

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Brazilian doctors uncover 'Michelangelo code'

Move over Da Vinci Code.

Two Brazilian doctors and amateur art lovers believe they have uncovered a secret lesson on human anatomy hidden by Renaissance artist Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling.

Completed nearly 500 years ago, the brightly colored frescoes painted on the
Vatican's famous sanctuary are considered some of the world's greatest works of art. They depict Biblical scenes such as the "Creation of Adam" in which God reaches out to touch Adam's finger.

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A new twist on an old myth

Watch and hear Sita singing the blues, by Nina Paley in Sitayana.

Photoshop 911

Photoshop 911 is the reader response division of Photoshop Tips & Tricks. These blog will answer all your questions and give you plenty of new tricks and hints.

Manish Rami - Haiku

A haiku is a short Japanese poem. It usually consists of three lines, often with 5, 7 and 5 syllables in each line (though I never follow the 5, 7, and 5 rule and write in free form.) A haiku is very attentive to time (of the year) and place. The time part is often depicted with a seasonal reference called “kigo” e.g. deep autumn, sudden summer shower, images of rice seedlings, plum blossoms, spring and summer migrant birds, their chirps and warbles etc. - often a haiku will violate this rule. There is also an implicit Buddhist reflection on nature. It demands accurate and original images - mostly from common life. The two most famous poets (in my opinion) are Matsuo Basho, and Kobayashi Issa.

Some seasonal haiku in North Dakota by Manish Rami

Snow settles.
On the boughs, on the bushes…
On my boots!

This first snow…
Sweet frosting
On a huge cake!

Frozen dewdrop ornaments
On Pine needles -
Merry Christmas

This Christmas -
I fought my cold
With Fudges, Chocolates, and Biscotti.

Horizontal snow
Framed in my window.
The heater shivers!

Sitting on the bough…
Some snow
Awaits a gust

Few snowflakes
With the aid of a gust
Seek flight again!

Spring snow on bough
Asks dried leaves…
“When do you fall!”

Oh how wide is this sidewalk!
The snow
Has all melted.

Gently falling leaves.
In my yard…
A pile in a flash

Blossoms gone, leaves too…
This tall thin denuded tree
Oh how beautiful!

Peek-a-boo!
Says a bud
To the Spring.

Raindrops on eaves…
Sliding and taking turns
To jump to earth.

Lapping lake waters…
Tranquility
Enhanced!

Drawn!

​​​​For those who enjoy spending time in just two dimensions, this one's a must. A collaborative blog "devoted to illustration, art, cartoooning, and drawing," Drawn! functions as a sort of Picks for visual artists. Each post describes one or more sites, and is archived in such categories as comics, film and TV, animation, and design. (Some days as many as five sites are listed. Click on post title to see the drawing.) Among this cornucopia of links you'll find Calvin & Hobbes, Spiderman,The Office's Ricky Gervais (as a teddy bear!), Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney's Oswald the Rabbit (the precursor to Mickey Mouse), and an isometric pixel art tutorial. But keep browsing; whether you're interested in the highbrow, lowbrow, or no brow, you're bound to find something you like.

Meddling with Media to Make Art

Guggenheim lecture on John Baldessari in his own words:
"People shaking hands, you know: congratulating each other, what have you in a standard shot. I really always found them objectionable and then I realized that these were people making decisions about my life while I was in my studio so there was a kind of uneasiness on my part and one day after carrying these photographs around I had some circular price stickers and I put them on their faces. And I really felt that leveled the playing field somehow."