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What do you think?  Practice or theory?

http://adraughtofvintage.blogspot.com/2009/09/practice-vs-theory.html

pb

The most fun you've had since N64

http://www.chiptune.com/starfield/starfield.html

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JPII (Web Comics)

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Try this web comic in conjunction with this one.
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From Charity Week Tuck-Ins

Oooooh
To be prince Caspian

                                         float                      upon
the            waves.

Interesting Article by Fr. James V. Schall

To entice you, here's a snippet of the article; the whole article may be found here.

In the new dispensation, we are not the “land of the free” and the “home of the brave.” We are the cause of domestic and foreign ills. We need to acknowledge our sins before the world. Our new leader gladly takes up this noble task.

“Democracy” has replaced “republic.” The republic was a mixed-regime, with separation of powers, checks and balances, designed to guarantee responsible rule by limiting the ignoble or tyrannical tendencies of any one branch of government or of the people themselves.

Federalism was designed to leave most important government activities as local as possible. Our states and often our cities themselves compare with many nation-states. Our “neighbor” is usually not “next-door.”

We are now a “democracy” in the classic sense; that is, a regime of “liberty” now redefined to remove any distinction between good or evil in how we live. Our laws reflecting life, family, and human integrity begin to enforce their new definitions established by positive law.

Our democratic rule is based on theoretic relativism. Truth or order is its principal antagonist. If we admit truth, we deny liberty. The resultant moral chaos is acknowledged. But we do not address the cause and the consequences remain. They require a new politics of “care” for the whole society.

James V. Schall, S.J., a professor at Georgetown University, is one of the most prolific Catholic writers in America. His most recent book isThe Mind That Is Catholic.

Fleet Foxes in Paris

This is a recording by Vincent Moon called a "Take Away Show."  Fleet Foxes perform Sun Giant/Blue Ridge Mountain.

http://www.blogotheque.net/Fleet-Foxes,4532

Practice vs. Theory

Is anything without the underpinning of theory?  What is the role of theory in education?  Ought one to teach theory before or after practice?  Many actions can be executed without formal theoretical knowledge: fighting for example can be known theoretically, yet one can still win a fight without formal martial training.  It seems to be the same in Fine Arts--from my own experience.  I was never trained to do art formally until college; however, I was a proficient artist before then.  I am wondering, which comes first practice or theory?  With regard to a pedagogical model, it seems to me one could either begin with the theory behind something (how to draw in perspective for example) and then say, "now go do that," or one could have them actually practice and perhaps succeed (at drawing in perspective) and then tell them, "what you were doing was this thing called perspective."  But which is more beneficial?  Does anyone have a handy dandy Aristotle quote, or an experience with this?  I guess it could also depend on the circumstances, but for the practice of art.  The idea is to literally create an abstraction of reality that attempts to conform to reality.  So is it better to know tricks of the trade if it were or is it better to do it the other way.  I have one student who knowing the laws of perspective has no ability to draw anything unless he can put it in a plane.  But the human figure isn't in perspective, so he can only draw things that look very mechanical.  I wonder how he would do with abstraction.  If he didn't have perspective it may be that he would actually have to look at the world closer, but now I'm just rambling.  So my question again, which do you have them know or do first?  Or is it a bit of both?  I usually will start with the theory and then have them practice the theory in specific ways.  That is working for some, but others have a hard time digesting the theory.  I would greatly appreciate any philosophically based answers, as this is somewhat a philosophy of education question.

Cheers,

Peter

The Revolution Begins

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/09/15/taking_liberties/entry5314040.shtml

from the Gospel According to Drudge.

For Joe Amorella and John Sercer

UD Mail

Hello, friends. I'm sorry that I can't figure this out, but I need some technical support.
How does one unsubscribe to a certain electronic-mail address? Although "UNDERGRAD" messages from "bweathe" never fail to give a lift to the boring life at Saint Gregory's Academy, I am sick and tired of alumni electronic-mail "briefs."
Please, help me!
Peace, rum, love, and the lash, John

The Truth

Peter Bloch is over the top
but not like old mill cops
who come into the bar
and our friday fun do mar
but charmed by a voice
they make a good choice
and instead of giving a fine
listen to paul spring's lines

--From the bowels of the science building

Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride

Click here to get a closeup of this painting.

Painted by Jan van Eyck, 1434. This is one of the earliest examples of oil painting. Pay special attention to the mirror and the writing above the mirror. Also notice the harmony of the color schemes used. The red bed compliments the green dress, but also receeds in space due to its lack of contrast, detail, and overall tint. The Purple is complimentary to the yellows found in the chandeleer and room surrounding Giovanni Arnolfini. The oranges on the window sill complement the blue parts of the dress. There is a harmony and balance between different parts of the room and figures in it. The dog symbolizes loyalty and the shoes being removed signifies that the event taking place is sacred. Giovanni Arnolfini raises his right hand as if in a court of law. These are just a few things that I noticed about this painting. Questions: Is the bride pregnant? What manner of person is Giovanni? His bride? What is in the mirror and why does "Johannes van Eyck fuit hic" appear above the mirror? Does this painting say anything about the nature of the roll of an artist in the world?

New Project

Greetings,

In light of this Labor Day Weekend, I have decided to begin a new labor, another project.

I want to create a series of paintings that have a common theme, I am going to be working with portraiture, which is something that I have little experience with. So far I want there to be a common theme running throughout the paintings. I want to do a study of facial expressions of wonder, amazement, delight, thoughtfulness, and/or contemplation.

I have a few photographs that I will be working with; here they are. I am in the very beginning stages of brainstorming, thus be not quick to judge. Also, Misko is not going to be in every one, he just happened to be in some of the ones I chose. If you have a good photograph, I would love to see it! I will begin sketching out some of these, and then begin to do oil paintings of them.

Also, at the bottom is a "Josh Neu Face" by Joe Amorella from our 2006 Greece Trip.

More News of the Life and Times of Joshua Neu

Go to the website to check out a news story...
http://www.fox6now.com/witi-090223-hartford-chase-update,0,5177352.story
Apparently, I was in Hartford last February.

I think I've started to bilocate.


By the way, the other day, I drove downtown and bought a cassock. Then I ate at Burger King. It was awesome. Unfortunately, they don't sell Texas Double Whoppers in Philly. So it's not always sunny in Philadelphia.

Postmodernism isn't dead, and neither is Taylor Swift.

So don’t you see, / you belong with me.” So ends the refrain of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong with Me,” a thoughtful consideration of the ironies of young love. The delightfully unreliable speaker Swift employs laments her unrequited feelings for a boy who has chosen another over her, citing that, while the other “wears short skirts” and “high heels,” and she “t-shirts” and “sneakers”, she should be preferred based on the fact that she is “the one who understands [him].” The speaker further elaborates that her adversary is “cheer captain” and she is “on the bleachers.” A laugh track is employed to emphasize the irony that the speaker fails, even based on this extreme evidence, to understand why the boy has made the obvious choice. Her simplicity is further highlighted by the use of a trite chord structure, a boorish rhythm, and an apostrophic form, even though it is obvious that the subject of address is absent. The use of such peevish forms to underscore so silly a comparison could be called heavy-handed, were it not for the graceful levity of Swift’s verse. The speaker’s preoccupation with knowledge’s connection to love causes her even to misapprehend reality. She commits the psychological fallacy of transference in thinking she has not “seen [the boy’s smile] in a while.” The listener is of course aware of who is smiling and who isn’t. We smirk at the absurd notion that she “[knows him] better than that,” and hope only for the sake of gratitude that Swift’s smirk is even larger. Her depth of insight remind us all of the salvific of pop music.

[Prior to the publication of this review, the laugh track was removed. Some argue that this move was made in order to emphasize the poem’s rhythmic and tonal structures, but it is the opinion of this critic that such a truncation shows her true commitment to meta-art, as well as cements her as one of the most daring, unflinching satirists of our time. One wishes he had three hands to clap with.]

I noticed about this comic strip:

There is art within a comic (comics are somewhat related to art); I call that Art within an Art.

Both the painting and the Comic are non-representational, but one is mocking the other for its

non-understandability (I'm thinking of a word that rhymes with pie-rony).

The painting is a surprisingly good example of analogous and complementary color schemes.

The emotion of the painting is somewhat related to the emotion evoked by laughter. I feel myself tickled and squeezed a bit by the comic and the paining in the same manner.

Oh yeah, and I didn't go to Art School...per se...

The man(?)/ogre standing to the right of the painting is strangely floating. Notice that he has no cast-shadow. By the absence of a shadow I can only gather that he is either a strange ghost dwarf-manchild, or a floating jellobaby. Floating things and ghosts don't usually have distinct shadows like normal people on the ground.

To whom do the words in the comic belong (there is no speech bubble)? Is it the jello-dwarf-manbaby? Or is it the omniscient narrator?

From

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/031707/you-went-to-art-school.gif