Crashed & Cashed

I know that my recent hiatus from this blog has disapointed millions of readers, and I apologize.  My Laptop Hard Drive did a nose dive, crashed, burned, fliiped over and died.  I lost everything I hadn't backed up (it had been over a month "Bad Dobby!!!!").  Anyhow afer the first of the year I should be up and walking... running isn't something I enjoy.

Creativity is best fostered by which governmental system?

NOTE:  For the sake of brevity it is assumed (knowing full well the dangers of assuming) by the author that an objective working knowledge of history is brought to this article by the reader.

A brief sketch of the faults of the predominant systems:

Monarchy:  A corrupt leader is inevitable, history shows repeatedly that total power always introduces the poison of human ego inflated to the point of megalomania.

Anarchy: The core fault of Anarchy is that it places complete faith in Human Nature, the very definition of a weak foundation.  Anarchy (complete freedom of action) inevitably devolves into the philosophy of the mobster, the criminal.

Communism:  The core fault of Communism is the distinct lack of faith in human nature; it assumes the incompetence of the individual, which inevitably leads to the complete & thus suffocating control of the state.

Socialism:  The core fault of Socialism is again a total lack of faith in human nature and the self-assumed god-like status of the bureaucracy.  Over time, it represses creative problem solving, innovation and inspiration.

Democracy:  The core fault of pure or direct democracy is the complete domination of the many over the individual, or the few.  Direct democracy inevitably leads to repressive bigotry of the many towards the few, and gradually the untouchable status of those few.

Republic:  The core fault of a pure republic is the implication of an aristocracy, which leads to stagnation, serfdom, and the disintegration of functional structure from within as the aristocracy assumes generational control.

Therefore:

The form of government most likely to flourish for an extended period is an uneasy federation (a sort of permanent marriage) of a republic to a democracy via a firm Constitution.  Democratic election on a regular basis within limited terms discourages an aristocracy.  Republican structure assures a stable foundation with the requirement of positive virtues in leadership, and the regular participatory assent of all adult citizens.  When in precarious balance; the inherent structural indifference (as in the absence of compulsion towards a particular way of thinking) of this form of government provides the most fertile soil for the arts, science, and commerce, all necessary to a lasting civil life.

NOTE #2:  Libertarianism: At this writing I have not studied this philosophy in depth and remain undecided about it.  Instinctively I fear it's potential for being turned into a form of anarchistic capitalism.  Intuitively I like it's ideals regarding the unfettering of human ingenuity.

Capitalism:  Marx was wrong, there is nothing inherently evil about Capitalism... given a firm Constitution, a solid structure of judicial law and enough regulation to prevent monopoly.

Contemporary Convention and Cliche' in the Visual Arts

11-2010- In the current era of Western Art there is nothing much more conventional than seeking to create a sensation... No content more cliche' in the West than deriding Christianity... Thomas Kinkaide & Andre' Serrano,  Jeff Koons & Lady Gaga, Damien Hirst & Sam Butcher et. al. have simply sold out to different market segments by branding their imitations of other, somewhat less hollow work. 

Who then are the most important, and each in their own way; most radical painters working today?
More importantly, who's work will other serious painters admire 100 years from now?
My picks are: Jasper Johns, Anselm Kiefer, Lucian Freud, Rackstraw Downes, Jenny Saville, and Jerome Witkin.  I'm sure there are other's I'm not thinking about right now, and more I'm unaware of...

Lucien Freud is the painter who's work I'm most certain will be looked to by artists for centuries to come.

What makes their work important, radical, avante garde?
The courage to be subtle, skill, empathy, objectivity, humility.

Prince Matila Ghyka, The Geomerty of Art and Life & capricious fame

In his home country of Romania and among mathematicians fascinated by geometry Prince Matila Ghyka, (1881-1967) is still respected.  Ghyka's work "The Geometry of Art and Life" should be well known by all visual artists, architects and designers interested in understanding the foundations of composition and design.  It should be the seminal textbook for visual artists, designers and architects.  Yet it has been out of print for decades.  There have been several recent books about geometry and design but none that I am aware of are in Ghyka's league.

In a sense Ghyka was before his time, in that current publishing techniques and styles would have made full color illustrations automatic, in the original small text they are black and white line drawings leaving a great deal to the imagination (which was great for me).  Plus today there would be a layman's explanation of techniques, and the algebraic formulas.  Imagine Hawking's "The Universe in a Nutshell" on geometry.  It would be a beautiful book.

Still the original is wonderful, partially in that it is so little known, like a secret set of formula's not taught in class, but passed on from one finishing grad. student to a newbie with potential (which is how I got my first copy).  Thank you Mike Ruble wherever you are now.  That book sent me into a terrible interior conflict which I struggled with on and off for a couple of decades.  Should I emphasize geometry and systems, should I bury them in my work, should I ignore them, will using these concepts turn my work into a simple set of formula's and kill the creative spirit, will I loose the passionate spark???  Through this struggle I learned the flexibility and utility of geometry as a foundation for creativity, and as a source of inspiration.

If you truthfully want to understand what makes something visually compelling for centuries, not just sensational for a season, find a copy of Ghyka's book and study it carefully.  It contains all of the secret codes of design.  Once you understand them, you can apply them any way you see fit.
http://alsbach-art.com/gallery/4299/GOLDEN+SECTION
http://alsbach-art.com/gallery/5324/

XPost Art

XPost Artists: We are crossing (X) the Post stream (Post-Modern, Contemporary & Post-Contemporary) for a fresh start in this new and challenging era.

The XPost Creed:

1. The fundamental elements of art are perennial.

2. Precedence, fame, style and influence are irrelevant to aesthetics.

3. Gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, origin, spirituality, temperament et al, are incidental to the merits of the work itself.

4. The concepts, idea, explanation, rational, novelty and/or intent are subservient to the potency of the work.

5. The artists' hand is vital.

6. Work that intentionally harms, encourages the harm, or celebrates the harm of a sentient being is not Fine Art.

7. Place, time, experience and inward emotional texture transmuted through a rich interior life are the heart of the Arts.

8. Media, technology, technique and process are means, not the end.

9. Politics are transient... Art remains.

10. Integrity, humility, curiosity, and consistent, honest effort are the artists' best route to acquiring the necessary knowledge, understanding and craft.

11. The Arts' ancient resonance speaks from our most inward, unique, yet universal living language (our prime language) whose foundations we each build upon using our earliest and inmost experiences.

12. A personal synthesis of inner passion with patiently acquired virtuosity is the most fruitful road.

All rights reserved by F. A. Alsbach, The Stuckists, and The Smoldering Quiet llc. (With suggestions, comments and encouragement from: Charles Thomson (Co-Founder of the Stuckists), Ellen Disanayake (author; Homo Aestheticus), Mario Henri Chakour (Virtual Pose series, artist & architect), W.J. Williams (sculptor), Lita Kenyon (painter), Marc Bohne (painter), Jim Pailott (illustrator), Frank Picini (illustrator) & Lynda Mead Alsbach (graphic designer and ever patient wife).

NOTE: XPost is not a stylistic movement in the traditional sense. It is a trail blaze upon this new and challenging era. In the arts this era began in London with the Stuckists. For Americans it began on 9-11-01, reinforced by the deep recession. We believe this is a time when substance trumps style, when skill and talent trumps attitude, when excess is the opposite of essence. If you agree join us! Simply send an email to: falsbach@sbcglobal.net stating that you agree with the XPost Artists Creed and wish to join us. Folks from every branch and discipline of The Arts are welcome, at every stage of development, as well as critics, historians and art lovers.

Current Members: Marina Umana, Frank Picini, Dee Yoh O Hanlon, Patrick O Hanlon, Lita Kenyon, Merry Meyer, Mario Henri Chakkour, Darla Arni, David Niehaus, Cyn Burkhardt, Mary Kowalski Pope, Tighe Reeder, Yvonne Grinstead, Sara Gross, Victor Kirk Maritsas, Nick Christos, Rommie Martinez, Jim Paillot, Lisa Balsamo Magruder, Shannon Johnson, Bill Brown, Thomas Poole, Jessica Burnett, Stephen Moore, Lynda Mead Alsbach, Virginia Andow

Hypothesis

Hypothesis: The Arts as prime container & expresser of compressed tacit knowledge.

The Arts (in their largest sense) embody the ageless & universal living language of the human mind, the deep prime language of thought and of dreams. Since we began the Arts have been humankinds method of containing & transmitting compressed tacit knowledge. Thus my view that Helen Dissanyake’s term Homo-Aestheticus is more accurate than the conventional term Homo-Sapien-Sapien for modern humans, us.

[NOTE: There have nearly always been everyday functionalities layered within the Arts; generally, the crafts have maintained their everyday functions. All of the arts have retained a degree of functionality even in this era of faceted & tenuous social & aesthetic structure, even when the function is ephemeral, vague or intentionally not apparent.]

The Artist, by developing a refined ability to tap into the prime & primal language of the mind and encapsulate elements of tacit knowledge, learns to make hyper-containers of understanding, a coherent whole, uniquely crafted in their details by each individual, universal within the spiraling latticework of the fundamental structure of human interior knowledge.

This language, the core of self-consciousness and the central manifestation of the subconscious, is born as the mind forms in the womb. The foundations are finished sometime in early childhood (where common primal experiences are the first building blocks of understanding). These sensory blocks of experience become multi-media hieroglyphs carved on the cave walls of self. The artist speaks to us first and best by tapping in to the flow of this language and communicating directly from one to another self. This then is the source of Arts power and the reason for the influence it wields in a diluted state as mass marketing, pop music, paperback romances, and so on. It is also the reason societies spend a great deal of time, talent, & treasure making, enjoying and caring for these hyper-containers of the deep interior well of emotional texture within every human life.

F. A. Alsbach (all copy and reproduction rights reserved)

The Obituary of Contemporary Art

The Offices of Thesaurus-Rex Art, the magazine: At a private hospital in Beverly Hills tonight, while everybody on regular staff is in bed with a hangover, Contemporary Art up and died. [ Now I have the unpleasant task of writing the first draft of the obituary. (Then I've got to get back to my regular job of cleaning up this place, these people are pigs! Being a janitor can surely be interesting. Hey maybe all of those years in college getting my MFA weren't wasted after all.)]

We all knew Contemporary Visual art had a serious problem. It has been killing itself ever so slowly. Sort of like a smoker who changes from filtered to Camel no-filters and then decides; Heck I'll just roll my own, add some pot because well... it's medicinal. Hey we all know smoking kills you, it's just a matter of how fast and how good you wanna feel on the ride. Oh.... brilliant idea... what if I crush up some old Quaaludes and mix them into the pot and tobacco... oh wowoowooooowwww" Such has been C.A.'s reasoning.

Ah well... maybe a little history would be in order??? Nah, C. A. had no use for history, it just wanted lots of money and tons of attention it didn't care what it had to do to get them. Ta Ta for now!