I truly believe our capacity to perceive beauty, in all its nuance and complexity, is one of the few key things that differentiates us humans as "intelligent" beings. It feels such an abstract and subjective term and yet, in some primal part of my brain I feel like beauty is an inherent quality of life - life that is pure, real, genuine (even in its occasional imperfect ugliness) is beautiful. This was a lovely read, thank you for sharing.
I just attended the AIS National Exhibition and we discussed Beauty in Art as part of my presentation on the Business of Art. This article would have been a great addition to that discussion. I will say that in times of financial and economic stress or political turmoil, there is a definite shift towards "beauty" from art collectors. Edginess and rounding out a collection gives way to feel good beauty. Collectors are often business owners. It is hard for most to lay-off people on Friday and buy a painting of a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk in Chicago on Saturday. (I love Max's painting and your description.) But a beautiful nude... yes, I saw this over and over again.
Thanks so much for sharing this! That's interesting about the shift during economic stress. I think people are worn out and sick of the cult of ugliness that has spread across everything in the past 50 (to arguably 100) years. The mainstream is in decline. The music industry is stagnant. Spotify is a joke and is harmful to musicians. Hollywood is falling off a cliff. (Big) Businesses are now almost hostile to their customers. Tech is actively trying to addict "users." The old institutions of culture are withering on the vine and yet, are afraid to take the risks that could revive them. Indie opportunities and spaces are rising. and I'm seeing the rise of a new romantic counter-culture. Beauty is dangerous to them. Beauty is subversive. And it's long overdue that we artists take our position in the vanguard of this new counter-culture that will bring back humanity to the world.
"The Beautiful nude celebrates the divineness of the soul of the person depicted, while the pornographic denies the soul and invites you to fantasize about using the body depicted as you see fit. The Beautiful serves God and the pornographic serves you."
I can jerk off to the Mona Lisa. I can admire the visual composition of a well framed orgy shot. The Beautiful and the pornographic are not mutually exclusive. I am not denying soul in masturbating; in fact, I am infusing s/he who I fantasize about *with* soul. Good pornography *has* to be beautiful, it's nothing short of a tautology.
the issue is that anything can be made “pornographic”, as implied by “I can jerk off to the Mona Lisa.” there’s the DeviantArt dude who beats his meat to white women w fat asses buying Wonder Bread; that’s porno to him even though it is ultimately a benign image to 99.9% of the population.
the issue is that anything can be made “pornographic”, as implied by “I can jerk off to the Mona Lisa.” there’s the DeviantArt dude who beats his meat to white women w fat asses buying Wonder Bread; that’s porno to him even though it is ultimately a benign image to 99.9% of the population.
I truly believe our capacity to perceive beauty, in all its nuance and complexity, is one of the few key things that differentiates us humans as "intelligent" beings. It feels such an abstract and subjective term and yet, in some primal part of my brain I feel like beauty is an inherent quality of life - life that is pure, real, genuine (even in its occasional imperfect ugliness) is beautiful. This was a lovely read, thank you for sharing.
Thank you. Totally agree. Our perception of beauty is us striving to become something, to evolve further.
The world IS beauty…it is us who can be saved by beauty and thus not destroy the world.
Robbie Conal is a great artist whose work is most appropriate for this discussion
The world IS beauty…it is us who can be saved by beauty and thus not destroy the world.
Robbie Conal is a great artist whose work is most appropriate for this discussion
The world IS beauty…it is us who can be saved by beauty and thus not destroy the world.
Robbie Conal is a great artist whose work is most appropriate for this discussion
I just attended the AIS National Exhibition and we discussed Beauty in Art as part of my presentation on the Business of Art. This article would have been a great addition to that discussion. I will say that in times of financial and economic stress or political turmoil, there is a definite shift towards "beauty" from art collectors. Edginess and rounding out a collection gives way to feel good beauty. Collectors are often business owners. It is hard for most to lay-off people on Friday and buy a painting of a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk in Chicago on Saturday. (I love Max's painting and your description.) But a beautiful nude... yes, I saw this over and over again.
Thanks so much for sharing this! That's interesting about the shift during economic stress. I think people are worn out and sick of the cult of ugliness that has spread across everything in the past 50 (to arguably 100) years. The mainstream is in decline. The music industry is stagnant. Spotify is a joke and is harmful to musicians. Hollywood is falling off a cliff. (Big) Businesses are now almost hostile to their customers. Tech is actively trying to addict "users." The old institutions of culture are withering on the vine and yet, are afraid to take the risks that could revive them. Indie opportunities and spaces are rising. and I'm seeing the rise of a new romantic counter-culture. Beauty is dangerous to them. Beauty is subversive. And it's long overdue that we artists take our position in the vanguard of this new counter-culture that will bring back humanity to the world.
NSFW WARNING
"The Beautiful nude celebrates the divineness of the soul of the person depicted, while the pornographic denies the soul and invites you to fantasize about using the body depicted as you see fit. The Beautiful serves God and the pornographic serves you."
I can jerk off to the Mona Lisa. I can admire the visual composition of a well framed orgy shot. The Beautiful and the pornographic are not mutually exclusive. I am not denying soul in masturbating; in fact, I am infusing s/he who I fantasize about *with* soul. Good pornography *has* to be beautiful, it's nothing short of a tautology.
the issue is that anything can be made “pornographic”, as implied by “I can jerk off to the Mona Lisa.” there’s the DeviantArt dude who beats his meat to white women w fat asses buying Wonder Bread; that’s porno to him even though it is ultimately a benign image to 99.9% of the population.
the issue is that anything can be made “pornographic”, as implied by “I can jerk off to the Mona Lisa.” there’s the DeviantArt dude who beats his meat to white women w fat asses buying Wonder Bread; that’s porno to him even though it is ultimately a benign image to 99.9% of the population.