Art ~ Beyond The Work

Hub and I went to Art Walk as planned last Friday.  We didn't see anything that hit our hot button.  Well, we did, actually but couldn't afford it.  Oddly enough it was Ganesha.  We loved it.

Not finding something isn't unusual.  A mood can make the difference.  Even if you're looking at the work of an artist you love, a particular piece may just not appeal.  That does not diminish the piece in any way.  The person next to me is likely to love it.  Such is the world of "art".

Saturday I had a comment on my post from Thursday, on Ganesha, from the artist Rick Davis, in response to my comment that I'd seen nothing from the artist on why he had chosen to do that particular piece.

"The reason I originally chose to do this piece was at the suggestion of my Yoga teacher.  But as the project progressed, and I did more research into Ganesha, the themes that surround him seemed to be unfolding in my life.  So he became a 3 1/2 year teaching/learning moment for me."

Art, no matter what form it takes,  is probably the most subjective commodity in the world.  We either like what we see or we don't.  As with this month's Art Walk.  What shouldn't be forgotten, however, in viewing the finished product, there is a process behind it.  As Mr. Davis points out, his piece became a teaching/learning moment.  Certainly nothing sinister nor intended to offend.

I think it has to be a fundamental truth with every producing artist from a doodler to a master.  They are trying to convey something - an emotion, a mood, an enlightenment.  I know it's true for me.  When I undertake a chess set there is a great deal of research to be done.  Not unlike a writer researching a novel.

When I did my Lewis and Clark set I had the Corp of Discovery pitted against the Indians they met on their journey.  Who were they?  What sequence?  Were they friendly or hostile?  How did they dress?  I spent hours pouring over the history of the adventure and even more researching each tribe I  chose to represent.

It didn't stop there.  My work is mixed media/wood carving.  I then had to figure out how to make the accouterments.  Headdresses, weapons and so forth.  My goal was accuracy to the best of my ability and a history lesson for all who viewed the finished piece.

I cannot imagine any artist not going through the same hoops with their work.  The selection of a brush or chisel, the technique for a specific effect.  It's all part of the process.

Then comes knowledge of the artist him or herself.  As collectors, we've met many of those  whose work we collect.  Talking with them enriches the experience for we gain insight as to what inspires them.

Artists, gallery people and collectors know these truths.  Many who can do no more than appreciate do too.  It's something for the casual observer to bear in mind.  There is always a process behind a work, and more importantly, a person.  Just like you or me.  With the same feelings.

So if you don't like it, that's okay.  But to denigrate it without knowing the process is doing a disservice not only to the artist, but to yourself.  Let it be a teaching/learning moment.  Next thing you know you'll become an appreciator of the art form and the creator. It can be an awesome eye opener.

Ganesha As Public Art

I only write about local issues when they are so ludicrous they deserve scathing comment because I usually get myself in hot water.  So be it.

Those of you who know me,  know I'm a huge advocate of public art.  I was pleased to see Coeur d'Alene put in place such a program.  I wasn't so pleased to see the prejudicial outcry over one particular piece.  A depiction of Ganesha, the Hindu Deity depicted as an elephant riding a mouse.

Odd, our other notable public art is the depiction of Mudgy and Millie, a moose and his best friend,  a mouse.

The mouse, however, isn't the issue.  It's the elephant.  A group of misguided "Christians" see it as a violation of church and state, state being the city.  The representation of a heathen deity on our oh so "Christian" soil.  Please.

A petition is being circulated among various churches to have the offensive piece removed.  Everything is being seen in it from the trunk being a phallic symbol to variations of Nazi swastikas.  It's like seeing the Virgin Mary in your toast!

I am going to Art Walk tomorrow evening, camera in hand to take my own photos.  I have not seen one showing the mouse.  I also, have not seen comment from the artist as to why he chose this being, but to me it's an awesome representation of what we all should be striving for in our lives.

That anyone finds this symbol of Hinduism offensive hasn't done his homework.  He is a beautiful figure and I have included an illustration describing the symbolism of each of his parts.  The story in text can be found here .

There is nothing sexual nor evil about it.  How can anyone find fault with a deity of the 4th largest religion in the world?  The Lord of Success who shows his humility by riding a mouse, the lowliest of creatures.  The destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride.

All Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief. To envision him as these few do makes me wonder what their god must think.  Or more so, what god they worship.

It's Time To Profile - Period

Here we go again!  We now hear that al Qaeda in Yemen, according to The Wall Street Journal, plans are being considered to implant explosive devices inside suicide bombers with the possible intent of targeting US airliners.  Note the italics.  Nothing concrete, mind you.  Just more chatter which seems to be what airport security is based on.

Homeland Security has warned the airlines that they're trying to make this functional.  Wow.  Now, among other things, they're experienced surgeons and engineers who can perfect an implanted explosive that can be set off with an injection of some sort of chemical.  Why do I not think this is imminent?  Sounds pretty sophisticated to me!

Of course the TSA has said it will intensify security procedures across the nations airports since the current invasive ones, from pat downs to x-rays, won't be able to detect an implant! What the heck is left to be searched by the 'enhanced tools and technology' they propose to use.  What the heck does that mean?  It makes me cringe just thinking about it.

Frankly, enough is enough.  It has long been way out of hand and is getting worse.  They will kill the airline industry pure and simple.  I don't fly.  Many of my readers have indicated they no longer fly.  Talk about destroying the American way of life!  The ability to get from point A to point B without being mentally and physically molested!  The inability to take a vacation anywhere we may like without the same.  Don't even think about the poor business traveler!

When will we, en masse, say no more.  We have to if we want it stopped.  The politicians won't.

It is time to profile.  If I appeared to be of middle eastern ethnicity, even if an American in good standing, I would accept the fact that those of a similar ethnicity are the perpetrators of this type of terrorism.  If it meant a more thorough questioning and going over I'd like to think I'd endure it, when appropriate, for the greater good.  That doesn't include every single time I might fly with no good reason.

But I'm not.  I'll never see 69 again, am Caucasian and have a bad back.  No one is going to plant a bomb in me and I'm not going to inject a chemical into myself to set it off.  Neither will anyone I know from the tiniest infant to those with even more years than my own.

Anyone who thinks knows who should be scrutinized more than others.  It has gone beyond the point of being ludicrous.  It's nearing criminality and it's about time someone, no, everyone, calls the government on it.

Right Michele?  Mitt?  The rest of you?  Are you paying any attention at all?

We've Got Strange Priorities

Go figure.  Casey Anthony is acquitted of murdering her two year old daughter.  Yet an 83 year old New Yorker gets a $100 ticket for putting a bag of day old newspapers in a public trash container.

She was on her way to get a cup of coffee around 6:30 in the morning when the offense occurred.  A   Sanitation Agent saw her, pursued her, demanded identification and threatened her with a steeper fine and incarceration if she didn't comply.  A Sanitation Agent? Wow!  I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Granted New York trash containers are not to be used for household or business refuse and are so labeled, including the fact there will be a fine.  Considering how often there are garbage strikes and the stuff piles up like mountains smelling like anything but, you'd think a small bag of newspapers wouldn't be an offense that deserves a ticket.  But then,  it is New York.  Heck, she could have just dumped them!  Who knows, maybe they don't have recycling in her neighborhood.  Or maybe at 83 she gets a little fuzzy, saw the bag of papers as she was leaving home and decided to take them to the trash container.

What amazes me even more, however, is that Sanitation Department has a "platoon of enforcement officers" enforcing litter basket laws!  To take it a step further they even do "detective work on trash suspected of being illegal"! What a job!  Sifting through trash merely 'suspected' of being illegal in hopes of finding a name or address?  I wonder what it pays!

I haven't been in the residential sections of New York for some time, but I find it difficult to believe the offenses are so bad the Sanitation Department needs an enforcement agency of it's own.

I think it's a segment of a department funded by the tax payers that should maybe be trashed!

Why Politics Make Me Crazy

Take the debt ceiling argument.  Both sides need to get real.  I had to agree with the President when he admonished Congress for being away on recess too much of the time.  Of course he's out and about campaigning much of the time too.

Then there is the Republicans refusing to raise the debt ceiling without concessions from the Democrats, like no tax increases.  They say it's what the people want.  Well, I'm a people and it isn't what I want.

They're listening too much to the Tea Party activists rather than the principles of the Tea Party movement.  And they're listening to their inner need to remain in Congress because they've never had it so good.

The Dems are putting out too much inaccurate information.  The world is not going to end as we know it on August 21 as the Secretary of the Treasury would have us believe.  And people making over $250,000 a year are not necessarily the corporate jet set.

If I were the one in charge, I'd throw it back on the Congress.  One, they hold the purse strings and they passed everything they are now belly aching about being too costly.  Okay guys and gals.  They're your programs.  Agree among yourselves which ones to cut! Bet you can't agree on even one, but try.  How about starting with farm subsidies.  No more paying farmers not to grow certain crops!  No more to grow corn for ethanol which is the ruination of many an engine!  How about eliminating entitlements, formerly known as pork.  No more bike paths in Nancy Pelosi's district.  No more bridges to no where.

Remember too, no matter what this Congress does, the next one will not be held to it.  With that in mind, anything and everything is ripe for reversal.

My guess?  The debt ceiling will be raised.  Somewhere along the line taxes will be increased.  It's how government is funded.  Cuts in spending will be token.  And the Congress will go right on creating and funding programs we can well do without.  It's the nature of the beast.

I had high hopes when the Republicans won the House.  Hope that they would bring some balance to the debate. I forgot 'hope' was an Obamaism.  I forgot there is no debate.  There is no balance and never will be as long as the people we elect become slaves to special interests to keep their jobs. This is an indictment of both parties.  They share in it equally.

Did Lincoln abolish slavery?  Only one kind, my friends. Only one kind.