Sex.Food.Shelter

Various rants by an enthusiastic art slut.

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New post coming soon!

I swear I am posting something new soon. Still trying to narrow down exactly what it should be. I’ve got some ideas I’m working on but I’d like your opinions as well.

Would you like to read about specific styles, works, or artists? How about art and politics, like censorship in the arts etc….what are you in the mood for that other art blogs aren’t discussing?

What is something that you’ve just wondered about art history and never had it answered? Why the leaves over genitals on certain statuary? Why so many redheads? Symbolism, color theory, erotic art history, little known obscure art history factoids, why was Andy Warhol such an ass…..? What does it all mean? Why should be care about art?

Let me know what you would like to read about and I will consider it for my future posts.

Loving-Kindness,

Amanda

Permalink A sculptor is a person who is interested in the shape of things, a poet in  words, a musician by sounds.  - Henry Moore Let me introduce myself. I am a self-identified art slut. If you would like further explanation, read about it here http://www.artslut.com/wordpress/ It’s pretty awesome. I recently graduated from a small liberal arts college with a degree in Art History/ minor in Sociology so I am sort of qualified to write about art. I am also a big fat queer. By queer, I mean outside the gay/straight binary in terms of sexual orientation and I give myself freedom within gender expression as well (although lately I’ve been more in the femme side). “Queer” feels like an authentic word for me right now (not that I’m all that into labels, I just really like this one), but I realize that these things are fluid and can change and I’m ok with that. These sentiments permeate the way I see the world and approach my relationships. Sometimes this is beautiful and sometimes this has been quite painful.  I wrote a thesis entitled “The Implications of International Trade in Art and Cultural Objects” in which I basically rant about the currently shitty state of international law and colonialism and stuff. I also completed comprehensive exams (my school required both thesis and comps, which is rare) basically consisting of the hugest slide test in the history of ever and writing 4 essays on topics that could be picked from any period/class I’d ever taken. Needless to say this was epic to study for but I did end up doing very well. The title of this blog comes from my first art history class. I think it was a pre-historic to medieval/gothic art survey class.  My professor asked us this question “What did people need for civilization basically? What did we need to thrive and develop?” Our freshman faces stared blankly back at him without answering, although we imagined the answer was simple. He said “ok…” and proceeded to write three words on the board just like this “Sex.Food.Shelter.” I was like “Cool, sounds like a pretty good existence to me.” Then I proceeded to spend the next 4 years learning how it got so damn complicated. This class convinced me to go into art history rather than literature/English which I was tentatively considering, although I would discover a love of sociology later on (although I probably already knew). It also inspired my love of the art professors at my college, but more of that later I’m sure. They’re a pretty eclectic bunch. My love of art began when I was young. My dad would take us to the local/major art museum where I grew up and I always loved it. I can’t really say what it was exactly that attracted me initially, I just fell in love. And the best love is inexplicable. I went to see a display of McEsher’s work when I was in middle school and I was fascinated by it and I began looking up information about him and the science/math behind his works (although I was not much of a math fan, and I’m still not). But art is math and science. We can discuss this later as well. Art you have to understand is expressed in a myriad of ways by various kinds of brains and perspectives. Sometimes the image of the artist is dominated by the archetype painter, but artists can be scientists, sculptors and inventors just as easily. As you will see, I apply most terms pretty liberally. Also, I promise my grammar was better in my thesis, you’ll forgive me if I’m not a grammar snob (in terms of commas etc…but you can be damn sure I always use the correct their, they’re, there…) I generally write like I’m writing prose and I think I like that. Maybe I’ll even share some poetry with you ;) I’ll leave you with an excerpt from my thesis project. This is part of the section in which I discuss the damage done to Iraq’s cultural treasures. …the U.S had recognized the worldly value of the monuments of Italy during World War II and considered them worthy of protection from the ravages of war.  The same unfortunately cannot be said of the military strategy under the Bush Administration during the Iraq invasion of 2003. The invasion of contemporary Iraq in 2003 caused considerable damage to Iraq’s physical cultural past, leaving many problems in its wake, most of which have yet to be properly addressed. Why is it that the U.S is not concerned with the protection of the monuments of Iraq, the historical sites, and cultural patrimony of Iraq’s people? “Most of the damage to Iraq’s museums and libraries occurred between April 10 and 12, 2003,” during this time the international press focused on the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, considered “one of the three or four most important museum collections in the world.”   Donald Rumsfeld could be heard in the American press dismissing the cultural property damage saying things like “stuff happens,” “freedom is messy” or referring to the loss of heritage as the “birth pangs of democracy.” Must Iraq’s own historical relevance be effectively erased in order for it to become a democracy? For all the conventions and agreements that have been made internationally; contemporary Iraq seems to have benefited very little. The invasion began in April of 2003 and much of the destruction of the cultural history of Iraq has received little press coverage in the United States. When Americans do encounter the losses faced by Iraq, they are most likely to regard these as the inevitable “collateral” damage of war.  The view of Iraq’s losses as merely “collateral” or even its loss as primarily a loss to global heritage glosses over some important points about war. Cultural destruction is often a conscious act of war, not simply accidental.  Whether acknowledged or unintended, the U.S government and military under the Bush administration allowed much of Iraq’s cultural history to be destroyed, burned, and effectively erased.  Scholars submitted to the U.S. Department of State a document detailing their concerns about how the invasion would affect the cultural patrimony of Iraq and briefed Pentagon officials on “the potential for looting of cultural treasures” and other issues concerned with protecting Iraq’s national heritage should an invasion become necessary.  However, when the invasion began, the U.S endeavored to protect only those places that served U.S interests the most, like the Ministry of Oil.  The U.S forces in Iraq were also commanded not to aid efforts to stop the looting.  It is always difficult to make the argument for the protection of historical monuments or archaeological sites in times of war. These arguments are almost always met with the assertion that the protection of human life is more important and that we should never risk the safety of our troops over the protection of artifacts. Ultimately, it must be recognized that in war it is not easy to protect cultural heritage, but unless we seek to strip the Iraqi people of their right to cultural history, something must be done to lessen the damage already inflicted and to begin rebuilding what has been broken. Iraq cannot become stronger without the full knowledge of its history and collective memory. If you would like to read more on this topic, this is a pretty good article/list of books (some of which I used fro my thesis) in which you might be interested.  http://heritage-key.com/blogs/lyn/rape-pillage-plunder-10-books-repatriation-debate Loving-Kindness ;)
Permalink “There are more valid facts and details in works of art than there are in history books.” - Charlie Chaplin Hi there and welcome to my art blog. I am excited about sharing my ramblings and musings with you on art and art (ish)-related topics. This is an intro post just to give you an idea of what this blog is going to be about. I intend to tackle a particular work of art or art idea in each post. This may be anything from explicating a particular work’s importance/history/significance to discussing broader themes like copyright issues and censorship. I also intend to include perspectives on art history/art that I feel are often overlooked, like the Queer and Feminist theory perspectives. One of my major pet peeves about classical art historians is that they don’t realize how much everything, and I mean everything was about sex….well, most things anyways;) I am of the opinion that eroticism and sexual desire has played much more into art and history in general than the writers of textbooks would have you believe. This brings me to another major topic I will address…the way art history is generally taught. I cringe at the linear way textbooks look at art, as if similar ideas/style didn’t pop up at the same time in different places (textbooks of all disciplines simplify in this way). Another issues are the heavy emphasis of western and European artwork and ignorance of eastern/ lesser known movements. Classical art historians tend to focus on Italy in particular, which is fine if that’s your field, but I’d like a more worldly approach myself. I may also write about my thesis I wrote/ post some excerpts on here…the topic of which was the international trade in cultural art objects. I wrote a lot about international law, ethical standards, the museum business, and the war in Iraq/ historical rape of one of the most historically fertile places in the world. A lot of my thesis is also about defining or the lack of definition of terms/ the different cultural issues we run into when discussing cultural property rights/uses. This gets a bit boring at times, so I’ll spare you that for sure. Anyways, I hope to do a good job and try not to be too derivative, although that’s hard these days. My goal is for my readers to feel like they learned something or saw something or felt something they hadn’t known or felt before. The picture at the top is of me freezing my ass off on a street in Berlin (or Leipzig, I can’t remember) and looking very interested in the blue, naked woman…that basically sums up my personality right there.