Saturday, September 14, 2013

A Drawing



Plans collapse, life collapses, without medicine or much hope, there is still faith and there is still art. Maybe in a way they're the same sort of thing. Since words aren't coming to me, I thought I'd offer some artwork in place of anything to say.

55 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's the island of Manhattan.

The white part is a zone of some significance.

I see the Broadway bridge.

TTBurnett said...

Two pieces of music come to mind, more about the words under the drawing than any attempt to put music to it.

First is Anthony Holborne's 5-part "The Image of Melancholly" (1599), solemnly played here by a viol consort. Palladian's drawing is not an image of melancholy as Holborne's music has it, but the title struck me as something from another depressive age, haunted as it was by loss and foreboding.

And there is John Dowland's (1563-1626) famous "Lachrymae" ("Flow my teares"), curiously uplifting in its hopelessness, despite words such as, "happy, happy, they that in Hell feel not the world's despite." Here, Emma Kirkby sings the song plainly and neatly to the lute.

And more from the same original source, this is another 5-part viol consort with lute playing Dowland's "Lacrimae anitquae" on instruments alone, one of the versions included in his collection, "LACHRIMAE, or SEAVEN TEARES figvred in Seaven Passionate Pauans, with diuers other Pauans, Galiards, and Almands, set forth for the Lute, Viols, or Violons, in fiue parts: By Iohn Dowland Bachelor of Musicke, and Lutenist to the most Royall and Magnificent, Christian the fourth, King of Denmarke, Norway, Vandales, and Gothes, Duke of Sleswicke, Holsten, Stormaria, and Ditmarsh: Earle of Oldenburge and Delmenhorst." (London, 1604/5)

This may be far more than you might want to know about music about hopelessness, faith, and art at the end of the first Elizabeth's world.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

I like it. I especially like the left and center part of the painting, with the varying brush strokes of red contrasted by the black. I am assuming this is a mix of media to get that effect, but it is interesting.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Urge

Con mi dolor
Causando penas voy vagando por ahí,
No hay ni una frase de cariño para mí,
Todos me miran con desprecio y con rencor.

Mi corazón
Está cansado, tan cansado de sufrir
Que muchas veces le he escuchado repetir
Estas palabras que me llenan de dolor.

Urge
Una persona que me arrulle entre sus brazos,
A quien contarle de mis triunfos y fracasos;
Que me comprenda y que me quite de sufrir.

Urge
Que me despierten con un beso enamorado,
Que me devuelvan el amor que han negado
Porque también tengo derecho de vivir.

Palladian said...

TTBurnett, thank you for your comment. You must know me well, as some of my favorite music is from the reign of the last Tudor and the first Stuart. I've used a lot of music titles as titles of my artwork, especially Dowland... here are three random ones. Your description of a haunted age is perfect and perhaps is why I identify with it so strongly.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I like it, too.

KCFleming said...

Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder, Cubed."

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

loose translation...

With my pain
Causing grief I’m wandering around,
There is not one phrase of affection for me,
Everyone looks at me with contempt and resentment.

My Heart
Is Tired, so tired of suffering
That many times I've heard it repeat
These words that fill me with pain.

Urge
A person to lull me into their arms,
Someone to tell of my triumphs and failures;
Someone that understands and alleviate my suffering.

Urge
Being woken up with a kiss of love,
To be Given back the love I have been refused
Because I too have a right to live.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The Birdcage is about to start on channel 13.

rcocean said...
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rcocean said...
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Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I don't think Richard Dawkins would approve...we need more things about real life.

That's a good post.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Top's I mean.

Icepick said...

A nervy, irritable post, with depressing comments. Keep it up!

chickelit said...

@Palladian: What did you mean here by "organic stains"?

Icepick said...

What did you mean here by "organic stains"?

Are you sure you want to know?

TTBurnett said...

Palladian: I'm very glad you appreciate the comment. I'd seen your titles, and from your writings knew the late Tudor/early Stuart world was important to you.

Just last week I was going through Holborne's music to pick out a piece or two for the hotshot recorder ensemble at the choir school where I teach. (They're the "Senior Consort," but that sounds a little pretentious for a first mention.) Anyway, I looked at "The Image of Melancholly," and was struck by how beautiful it was, totally unsuited, of course, for recorders. I may still foist it on them, as it's grown on me, listening to those viols.

I'm not totally happy with Emma Kirkby's "Flow my teares." I think this version by Andreas Scholl is much better and closer to what Dowland had in mind. The lute playing is not as good as Anthony Rooley's, and Scholl's singing is too straight and unadorned. But at least he isn't Emma Kirkby. She is something of an Early Music diva. And like all divas, she inserts divaness (in this case, "Emma Kirkybisms') into the music, called for or not (usually not). Despite Scholl's being a countertenor and thus singing in a woman's range, most of Dowland's songs are for men, including those with a high voice. There is a distinctly male quality to the sensibilities in this music that is not apt for women.

This music criticism may be wildly unsuited to this audience, but I do hope I've managed, at least, to give a little offense, and thus prevent the glazing over of every eyeball that happens upon it.

TTBurnett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

Are you sure you want to know?

Yes. It could be blood, sweat, or tears, or a funky chemical dye. I gots to know.

TTBurnett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TTBurnett said...

Chemistry would reveal what discretion should hide.

Synova said...

I like it too, and I don't usually care that much for abstract art (or whatever it would be called.)

BTW, Palladin, thanks for the advice on color matching with computer generated art. I never did quite figure it out, though. Plus, I wasn't in a place to purchase colormunki. My daughter ended up just lightening some of the layers before we printed. She won her age group ("student") at the art show at our sci-fi convention (by one vote, and I *forgot* to vote or tell any of my friends to vote) and sold two prints, so she was pretty happy about that.

TTBurnett said...

Have I mentioned that Palladian's art is quite astonishingly good, and that everybody here ought to buy a piece, once he is again in a position to get them to us?

I've sort of hijacked this thread with my musical ideas, but Palladian's drawing was the first inspiration.

And, as Monty Python has it, I hope he carries on.

TTBurnett said...

Or is that, "keeps it up"?

Palladian said...

@Palladian: What did you mean here by "organic stains"?

The piece of cotton paper I used to make this drawing had either coffee or tea spilled on it. I don't like to throw such things away, so I have a folder where I put them until a need for them arises. I sometimes use them to experiment with media or techniques or colors so that I don't waste new paper trying to figure things out.

This piece of paper was used to figure out how to make the paint surface "age" and begin to disintegrate on contact, but in a controlled manner, as if the painting was "rejecting itself" like a bad skin graft. Unusually, the experiment was successful right away, so I used the shapes formed by the organic stains as a starting point for a composition. The test sheet became the drawing, in this case.

Since I like to precisely catalog the materials I use in my work, and since some of the stain is visible in the "finished" work, I had to list the "organic stain".

It really bothers me that the word "organic" is now clouded by popular usage. I was once giving a lecture and mentioned synthetic organic pigments and a student later questioned me if synthetic paint could really be certified "organic", and where she could get real, Oregon Tilth-certified organic paint for her work.

Palladian said...

Now that I think about my previous comment, perhaps I'm clouding the usage of the word "organic", since the casein paint and the carbon pigment in the acrylic paint would also technically be "organic" materials.

Pollo, help! Am I using the correct term? Am I part of the problem?

Palladian said...

Synova, great to hear! I had wondered how things worked out for your daughter.

Palladian said...

Have I mentioned that Palladian's art is quite astonishingly good, and that everybody here ought to buy a piece, once he is again in a position to get them to us?

I've sort of hijacked this thread with my musical ideas, but Palladian's drawing was the first inspiration.


Thank you very much for the kind words.

I didn't want to suggest selling as a motivation for this post, partly because of the trouble a perceived art sales pitch caused here some weeks ago.

I'm not in a position to frame anything, and I can't produce any prints, but I do have some originals that I'd be happy to part with. I'm still having great financial difficulties. My job in NYC is starting this week but I can't even afford a train ticket up there at this point.

And TTBurnett, I welcome your hijacks! I worry that I don't really have anything of interest to say to the readers of Comment Home, so it's great to have conversation going on here from people who share an interest in the subjects that mean the most to me.

Palladian said...

A nervy, irritable post, with depressing comments. Keep it up!

Thanks!

I'm surprised that no one inquired about the title of my drawing; that's really the nail in the coffin, so to speak...

Synova said...

"I was once giving a lecture and mentioned synthetic organic pigments and a student later questioned me if synthetic paint could really be certified "organic", and where she could get real, Oregon Tilth-certified organic paint for her work."

*snicker*

Palladian said...

BTW, Palladin, ...

My screen name is a trap meant to catch gamers ;)

Synova said...

You know, I *almost* checked the spelling before I hit publish.

But yes... caught a gamer. :)

Palladian said...

I'm not totally happy with Emma Kirkby's "Flow my teares." I think this version by Andreas Scholl is much better and closer to what Dowland had in mind. The lute playing is not as good as Anthony Rooley's, and Scholl's singing is too straight and unadorned. But at least he isn't Emma Kirkby. She is something of an Early Music diva. And like all divas, she inserts divaness (in this case, "Emma Kirkybisms') into the music, called for or not (usually not). Despite Scholl's being a countertenor and thus singing in a woman's range, most of Dowland's songs are for men, including those with a high voice. There is a distinctly male quality to the sensibilities in this music that is not apt for women.

I have The Consort of Musicke's Collected Works of Dowland, which includes a recording of Kirkby singing "Flow My Teares" with Rooley playing lute, though it's not the same recording of Kirkby/Rooley that you linked, I have the same problem with her interpretation. I know Scholl's rendition of it as well, but I often find his interpretation of non-Baroque music to be a bit... I don't know, dry?

I must also make a confession: I generally dislike the female singing voice. There's something about it, something about the range or the repertoire, or perhaps a combination of both, that I find generally unpleasant. I have a horror of high frequency sound, so maybe it's that.

I usually stick with one of the 21 versions of Lachrimæ on The Consort Of Musicke's Dowland set and avoid the issue of who's singing "Flow My Teares" altogether.

vza said...

Palladian,
Is the Kethoneth Passim original for sale?

Palladian said...

Is the Kethoneth Passim original for sale?

Yes. Drop me a line.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

I never cared for that saying; not for the image, nor for the calculatedness it presupposes. We're really talking about people, after all.

Still, the point is made and that's often sufficient.

I'm not at all certain that "calculatedness" is a real word.

Evi L. Bloggerlady said...

I like Palladian's work. And there are not necessarily words for it, the art speaks for itself.

Icepick said...

I'm surprised that no one inquired about the title of my drawing; that's really the nail in the coffin, so to speak...

The title of the piece plus the comments of the post kind of speak for themselves. Particulars are less important than the feeling.

ricpic said...

I like this. Reminds me of the mid-twentieth century French artist Soulange. Not sure about the spelling but that's close.

chickelit said...

Pollo, help! Am I using the correct term? Am I part of the problem?

"Organic" means different things to different people. It's a topic worthy of a blog post. Stop me or I'll post again.

ricpic said...

Just googled it: Pierre Soulages.

Take a look at his work, Palladian, remarkable the affinity.

Palladian said...

ricpic, I've like Pierre Soulages ever since I saw his work in a book when I was a teenager.

Palladian said...

I haven't thought about him in a long time. Remarkable that you picked up an affinity that I'd forgotten.

bagoh20 said...

I thought the basic meaning of "organic" as relates to materials was that "organic" means carbon-based molecules, which of course would include some of the most dangerous and poisonous materials available like benzine, dioxin, and tofu.

chickelit said...

You are correct, bagoh20. In chemistry, "organic" basically means the chemistry of carbon. The name appeared in the 19th century to connote materials derived from the organs of living animals and plants. Everything else was deemed "inorganic" or non living.

The notion was entwined with older notions of vitalism which taught that some molecules were imbued with a special life force and others were not. It was an attempt to localize or reduce the vital life force.

A German chemist named Friedrich Wöhler took the piss out of vitalism when he synthesized urea from "inorganic" material which was identical with natural urea. I wrote about that story here.

chickelit said...

Palladian's organic stains are tannins. Tannins are a complex mixture but are bona fide "biomolecules."

So whether he meant carbon-derived or natural-derived, organic is the proper term.

bagoh20 said...

I can synthesise urea from inorganic compounds in my sleep.

chickelit said...

@Palladian: You might find this interesting: Coffee ring chromatography.

chickelit said...

Do you pee the bed bagoh20?

chickelit said...

Hot women are often bedwhetters.

bagoh20 said...

"Hot women are often bedwhetters."

Yea, that the excuse I use. She just left, and she was incredible.

Icepick said...

I can synthesise urea from inorganic compounds in my sleep.

Bagoh is a very talented man.

bagoh20 said...

No hands, with my eyes closed, and drunk as a skunk. I'm that good.

ndspinelli said...

I am heartened to see the comments between Palladian and Tim. This forum has been a way for us to heal some wounds from that toxic stew in Madison. Some have tried to infect this venue w/ that nasty virus. However, to date, the vaccine is working. People are basically good. And, that comes from a guy who made his living uncovering the bad in people. Because, make no mistake, we ALL have a dark side. TOP brings that out. This place is the sunshine.

deborah said...

Congrats on the job, Palladian!