Tag Archives: Art

Building

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Lee

“We have no need for genius – genius is dead. We have need for strong hands …” How to start writing? Take a building block and set it down. It is Paris, 1930 perhaps, and a day in the life … Continue reading →

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The Perfect Critic

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Lee

In an essay by T.S. Eliot called “The Perfect Critic” we learn, above all, that art criticism is difficult. For one thing, many art critics don’t make art themselves, and so the criticism they write is shaped by their own … Continue reading →

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Notes on Susan Sontag’s “On Style”

Posted on August 5, 2019 by Lee

There’s always a distance between the work of art itself and the reality it represents. This distance is “inhuman,” says Susan Sontag: it’s artificial, belonging to the representation and not coming directly from lived reality. But Sontag wants us to … Continue reading →

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Kathy Acker, Peter Greenaway, and Storytelling

Posted on June 10, 2019 by Lee

Hollywood films and popular novels are made with certain audience expectations in mind. They have a story to tell, and they are structured so that this story is easy to follow and understand. Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 – … Continue reading →

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Getting into a Rut: Notes on The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Lee

Andy Warhol writes about time spent alone – in a “rut”, as he calls it. How he gets into a rut: “Go to my room, fluff up the pillow, turn on a couple of TVs, open a box of Ritz … Continue reading →

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Kathy Acker and Postmodernism

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Lee

Though Kathy Acker doubts her ability to write essays, she nevertheless tackles the classical questions like any other essayist. In her short essay on postmodernism, she gives an answer to the question “What is art?” Her answer is that art … Continue reading →

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Fantasy and Reality in Andy Warhol

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Lee

Your “aura” is something you have before you open your mouth, says Andy Warhol. People see you and make an impression of you in their minds. If it’s very favourable or very unfavourable, then perhaps you seem to have an … Continue reading →

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The Silence of Ancient Egypt

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Lee

For two thousand years ancient Egypt was “dead but unburied.” It existed only as stone, as a lifeless monument to its living past. The pyramids have stood silent and blind for millennia, and to Toynbee they seemed to speak: “Before … Continue reading →

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