tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post3578101604240662379..comments2024-03-28T03:17:28.911-04:00Comments on Art With a Needle: Back in school -- sex and deathKathleen Loomishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05930922068379938756noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-56143637320650687172013-02-01T22:59:36.217-05:002013-02-01T22:59:36.217-05:00I'm giving you a brain dump here -- perhaps I ...I'm giving you a brain dump here -- perhaps I should wait until tomorrow, but I worry my thoughts will be gone by then, so please bear with me and my inexpert way of sharing my thoughts. First, I think photographs of death are more difficult for the populace to see because they are reality; a danse macabre is not and likely was never considered one. Instead it was often an allegorical or religious response. I do wonder, though, if our efforts today to extend life have made us less comfortable with our own mortality and death's place in the life cycle. (I know that sounds callous, but at the moment I can't think of a better way to say this.) Folks in the 1400-early 1900s all accepted that death came to almost all families repeatedly (parents, children, etc). Perhaps this gave them a level of comfort with the topic of death in general and made it less taboo. Death was a part of life. I'm certain too, that the strong belief in an afterlife made death less frightening.Vivien Zepfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10110439402332926588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-24409765581480879652013-01-31T17:24:57.456-05:002013-01-31T17:24:57.456-05:00I enjoyed your paper. I remember being horrified ...I enjoyed your paper. I remember being horrified by Serrano's bloody images. Art history is super interesting. I learned more history through art then any history class that jumped from war to war and had you memorize dates. LizzieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-49002997209564245732013-01-31T10:06:32.318-05:002013-01-31T10:06:32.318-05:00Lol...I passed that bit and am well into the "...Lol...I passed that bit and am well into the "throwaway" part of my life....that is, I am approaching the area where even though I am of well mind....I'm just not worth spending any money on....my last name isn't Romney.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15140675211931598431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-59069691903501199372013-01-31T04:27:15.153-05:002013-01-31T04:27:15.153-05:00I do like reading your thoughts and that you might...I do like reading your thoughts and that you might share some of your essays here is something I look forward to.<br />I just finished a second fine art degree and it was packed with papers and essays about such stuff. I do believe that new and challenging ideas for studio work come out of theoretical and historical studies and that those new ideas, for us creative types, make all the artspeak worthwhile. Judy Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00619951031502775381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-58937666186317485782013-01-30T16:58:20.438-05:002013-01-30T16:58:20.438-05:00I agree with this. Check out all the stuff written...I agree with this. Check out all the stuff written about Daphne Todd when she won the 2010 BP Portrait Award for her painting other mother after death. The shock and outrage expressed by some reviewers is interesting. A year later, some were eulogising about one of the entries for its qualities of masochistic 'soft porn'. Karen Eadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14753033021426186635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-22952920720795534882013-01-30T14:09:35.453-05:002013-01-30T14:09:35.453-05:00Lisa -- and we even get all shocked and hysterical...Lisa -- and we even get all shocked and hysterical at the thought of doctors being reimbursed to discuss end-of-life issues with their patients (aka death panels).kathynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-6551751602727328772013-01-30T12:19:40.222-05:002013-01-30T12:19:40.222-05:00I'm working on a series about my battle with b...I'm working on a series about my battle with breast cancer, and it includes a danse macabre piece. One husband chronicled his wife's fight and loss to breast cancer...and had a mixed response. He was booted out of one show. <br /><br />Generally, death is really sanitized although there is some reaction now which is changing that a bit...but even so, I find that I am having a hard battle with this in trying to make preparation for my own death, or even talking to my family about it...it is just to painful....and you might as well think it was pornographic! <br /><br />I think part of it came after WWI. If you read the link Del Thomas has to green burial/death they sort of chronicle it quite well...Sweep it under the rug...maybe this also has something to do with the love affair we have with youth....<br /><br />As far as the sexual interpretations go...I used to always think that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar".<br /><br />Here's a link about the breast cancer journey:<br /><br />http://www.everydayhealth.com/breast-cancer/a-life-with-breast-cancer-in-photos.aspxAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15140675211931598431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-54757792694610964882013-01-30T09:44:50.958-05:002013-01-30T09:44:50.958-05:00Your paper on the Venus is so refreshing to read. ...Your paper on the Venus is so refreshing to read. I remember my collage freshman English class, in which we provided our thoughts on provocative short stories. I was making C- and D's on these papers, until I listened carefully to the middle-aged professor describing what he wanted in these papers. I made A- and A's when I realized that freshman English was really Creative Pornography 101! The Venus made me think about what I would have had to write.Connie in Alabamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00326006203761665176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-588118538433483895.post-15606293589501282312013-01-30T07:15:28.397-05:002013-01-30T07:15:28.397-05:00I agree that the two subjects seem to have changed...I agree that the two subjects seem to have changed places over time. Without any research, my take would be that how well we are acquainted with each in our daily lives has a lot to do with it. In previous centuries death was all around, sometimes literally - life was generally nasty, brutish, and short, no matter what class. On the other hand there was hardly any time for sex (work lasted all day)and no-one was being sold endless objects and services with a sex-filled lifestyle as the carrot.<br />Now we have become so precious, so pc, so self-protecting, ... so deluded in my view that we do not put the important aspects of human life in any thoughtful perspective.<br /><br />I so agree with you on academic-speak, by the way. So irritating that the career need to show-off gets in the way of communicating interesting thoughts! I hope you continue to enjoy your course. I shall certainly enjoy reading your reports on progress.Olga Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10554469124546960971noreply@blogger.com