h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

'splain?

Yeah what's a nine dot limit when it's at home. Or in Barcelona.

I understand Barcelona has the distinction of becoming the first big first-world city to have run out of water. All their famous fountains have been shut off. And so why dont they use sea water in the fountains?


peace
~jwf~

Because salt water would corrode the pipes? And salt deposits would clog them?

Sorry - it was here, I think, that I picked up dot counting (& needed it 'splained). This will be (maybe) post 223, so at 20/page(or dot) we're on our 12th dot... Gerrit?

No. 224th so far.
Yep, Amy, corrosion could be a big problem. But perhaps they're worried that the beach would get too big.

Water in Barcelona - yes, dry fountains, but we had (as expected) no problem in the hotel.

Gaudi and Picasso. A veritable feast for the cognoscenti.

And, of course, 9 dots before drift caught on.

I didn't see any Art Galleries in Scandiwegia (Not enough time!)...but I did see some street art...and this:
http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/

Oh hell, I'm going to post re Barcelona, as I do feel disadvantaged, still, by not being able to 'see' art in famous works!

Barcelona: Gaudi and Picasso.

Gaudi
Why we went there of course.
The church, spectacular from the outside - didn't want to queue for half an hour to get in.
Some other Gaudi, a little less spectacular - getting to feel it's a touch overdone.
That was until
My choice: Casa Batllo, which I found stunning (after only ten minutes queueing) - but the main effect on me was of the craftsmanship rather than the 'artistic' side of his designs. Amazing skill.

Picasso
No 1 Son's choice, seconded by Ms Stress. About 15 min queue.
I appreciated some of his line drawings most. Much of it seems same-ish to me. I just can't get a hold on Guernica - so I bought a (small) poster which I intend to bring out occasionally to look at & see if a taste comes through.

Overall, what seems to catch me is skill & technique - hand & eye coordination - perhaps that's It. Maybe I'll need to be satisfied with that.

What I *can* understand is charisma in the individual.
Just, maybe, just Charisma enough to affect the 'hundredth monkey' among the cognoscenti.

OK


Now about this Picasso fella.
They say that art is supposed to stir an emotional response in the viewer but the number of times I've ever been aware of any significant movement while viewing any art is quite low. I haven't had much chance to see much famous art live and in person - the one major exception being Dali's John The Baptist which is overpowering in scale and leaves one a little breathless and bewildered. For those with any relavent religious experience it is supposed to be quite moving but I wouldn't know about that. I just felt awed by the scale and scope and somewhat perplexed by the content. And got a crink in my neck from looking up.

But Picasso, whose works are commonly available as posters or as illustrations in books, has really only 'stunned' me once and I can't even remember which picture it is. There may be more than one of his 'bulls'. But even now just recalling that bull I am having an unsettling queazy almost fearful reaction to the expression in its eyes.

peace
~jwf~

Yes ~, Dali.

Ms Stress took me to an exhibition in London (I think it was) a few years ago where I had my standard reaction even though I tried to see past it.

No emotional response to Art, but Yes appreciation, deep appreciation, of his draftsmanship and craughtsmanship.

(Funny how 'craughtsmanship' attracts a red underline but 'draftsmanship' doesn't.)

>>But Picasso, whose works are commonly available as posters or as illustrations in books, has really only 'stunned' me once

Poor you, then. But is this the criterion for Art: 'Whethr it moves Squiggles'

And waht do we mean by 'moved'? Is it the same as 'Get a kick out of it'?

'Whethr it moves Squiggles' may be your criterion Ed, but mine is whether it moves RtB

>>And waht do we mean by 'moved'? Is it the same as 'Get a kick out of it'?<<
Well, it's become tolerably obvious that it isn't that for you and a few others.
However, perhaps for me it is (and more than a few others?) - I've not found out yet and time is getting short. Tempus, Fuggit.

>>And what do we mean by 'moved'? Is it the same as 'Get a kick out of it'?<<
Well, it's become tolerably obvious that it isn't that for you and a few others.

Explain?

For my own part...I can never understand what 'moved' means. Is it something different to 'Greatly appreciating on an intellectual level'? Myself...I get enormous inettelctuakl saisfaction from art. Could one say that I am moved by its intellectual qualities?

Edward:
In my orbit, 'being moved' & 'get a kick' are only loosely analogous. Each is an emotional response - on a different level and/or at a different depth.

If I were a football fan I'd get a kick out of a particularly good goal(!) or suchlike.

I'm moved by a particularly sad story, heroic overcoming of disability or apparently overpowering odds. Man landing on the moon... Moved (to tears)... by casual brutality...

OK.
You say your response to art is 'Greatly appreciating on an intellectual level ... moved by its intellectual qualities'.

My examples above aren't well described - it can be more than the simple statement.
Similarly, I suspect yours isn't quite the 'whole truth', as some of your earlier posts (in the first 8 or so dots?) speak of something a little more than that.

That is something I wish I had. My responses are somewhat more mundane, though still appreciative at one level. "You got soul, man".

Hmm. The recognition of something missing has some significance in itself? .

>>If I were a football fan I'd get a kick out of a particularly good goal(!) or suchlike.

>>I'm moved by a particularly sad story, heroic overcoming of disability or apparently overpowering odds. Man landing on the moon... Moved (to tears)... by casual brutality...

You know...I'm really not so sure. I'm not a football fan, either. I suppose I could understand, on an emotional level, a finely-executed goal. But some - apparently - are ovrcome with an intense emotional response at the same. Are they responding to the same thing, only more strongly? How do we know?

Similarly - sure. Something like Picasso's 'Massacre In Korea'. Yes - intense emotional response. But enhanced by the *artistic* element. You'd be lucky to get quite the same thing from a photo - although it can be done.

And I get the sex emotion from some of his nudes, too. It's what he was striving to portray, after all. Surely?

>>Are they responding to the same thing, only more strongly? How do we know?<<
We don't know, of course, any more than we know what colour they see when they say "red".

>>intense emotional response. But enhanced by the *artistic* element<<
Aye, don't think we're too far apart there,

>>And I get the sex emotion from some of his nudes, too. It's what he was striving to portray, after all. Surely?<<
I don't doubt that - or he was finding a different satisfaction.
But he doesn't do it for me/ I'd rather have a cup of tea.

So perhaps there's not so much between getting a kick and being moved? - different emphases between hard wiring & experience, maybe.

Or maybe they are identical, only we don't realise.

But I get a kick out of you...

As for not being moved by Picasso...

Question:

Do you ever change your mind about anything?

Myself...I have not kept the same tastes through my life. As I've gained experience, I've found more and more great art and music. I mean...I never even really dug Dylan until about eight years ago. Now...I couldn't imagine life without him.

>>Do you ever change your mind about anything?<<

Yes.
Topical: At on time I was agin nuclear, for 'green'. No longer.
(But it does seem to get more difficult as time goes on)

Politically, U-turns are seen as bad. It ain't necessarily so

So...I hope you'd be open to the idsea of Picasso becoming your cup of tea?

If I motivate you to look again - even if its till doesn't do it, I shall consider it a result.

Well, I did say (in post 227)
"
I appreciated some of his line drawings most. Much of it seems same-ish to me. I just can't get a hold on Guernica - so I bought a (small) poster which I intend to bring out occasionally to look at & see if a taste comes through.
"

I have just brought it out.
I can see that the man was Moved - enraged, despairing...
But that's it. It doesn't connect (so far). It's paint on canvas (or whatever).

I felt more 'emotion' from his disembowelled horse than from Guernica. Even then I don't think it was outside what I'd feel from a photo (except for the acknowledgement of *His* feelings).

>> ...never even really dug Dylan until about eight years ago. Now...I couldn't imagine life without him. <<

And I have been a fan and follower for 45 years.
So I consider myself wise enough not to engage in a pissing contest about your remarks as to 'Whethr it moves Squiggles' should be considered criteria for anything. No one knows better (or bitter) than I, how little my opinion counts for anything, to anyone, anywhere at any time. But as these open forums invite commentary I am quite content to add my distorted whirled view and to occassionally point out when topic drifts (from Picasso to Dylan for example) or when emotions or personalities overide objectivity and fair play (as in many of your postings aimed at me).

And for the record when I say 'moved' I am usually trying to give an accurate account of a feeling in my gut that quite literally involves an intestinal moving along, sometimes just short of embarassment. Happily (or is it?) I have yet to experience a situation in which I could accurately say I shit myself but one can hope. Perhaps 'When the bogroll is called up yonder, I'll be there.'

peace
~jwf~