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I'm all moved in! Head on over to http://rebeccaburch.com
See you there!
Yet another Charleston WV artist blog. (But this one's SHINY!)
Rebecca,
I tried to make a comment on your blog after reading it, but I guess you have to be a member. Here's what I had to say. I made a cross country trip to D.C. a year ago and I saw the statues,painting, fountains and I knew they were pieces of"art". Like most people, some I liked and some made little or no impression on me. When I came to TheWall and I walked down into the valley of names it was no longer a monument or someone's work of art.Something that moving to an old man like me can't be art. Art has never made me cry like a child. Art has never touched me like it did when I
reached out and ran my finger tips across my friend's name. So what is
it? Rebecca, if you can, find a word that describes this remarkable phenomenon.
With respect,
RickAnd here's my reply:
Picasso's Guernica.Hey, Rick -- that's my brother's name, too. Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I did have to turn off anonymous commenting because I
want to be able to prevent idiots from posting nasty things I don't want my kids to see. It's sad that I have to be that protective, but that's
how it is.
Anyway, I'm an art teacher, so I've got to argue with you a little but if you say that art can't move people. Not all art, maybe -- I'll give you that. Or maybe it's a personal thing, and what moves me might be different from what moves you. The BEST art moves us to feel things we didn't expect to feel, or to think about things in a new way. Take Picasso's "Guernica." You can't look at that and not feel the chaos and terror of the people during the Spanish Civil War. Or, how could anybody not look at Mary Cassatt's "The Maternal Kiss" and not feel nostalgic about good childhood memories?
Maybe you just haven't experienced the right art, yet. :) Great art, like great music or great theater, great literature, or great poetry can be intimidating, and sometimes it's plain hard to find. But it's out there. And the Wall is definitely great art -- look, it brought both of us to tears. We
totally didn't see that one coming.
God's peace,
BeckySo, readers, what do you think? What is art to you? Has a work of art ever moved you to feel something you didn't expect? What is the most moving work of art you've ever seen? Has a work of art ever made you cry? Let me know -- I'm interested in getting a lot of different viewpoints, here.
*any weird typos came from copying and pasting from email into Blogger. I tried to fix what I could, but I think it made it worse, so I'm quitting while I'm ahead.
_____________________________On an unrelated note...
I will soon be moving my blog to http://rebeccaburch.com . This blog is currently accessable there, but the new blog will be a Wordpress blog hosted on my website domain. So, take a moment to update your links to that address now so you won't miss anything during the move. Thanks!
I think that the monuments in Washington D.C. are so embedded in our consciousness that we forget how meaningul and beautiful they are. I have to admit, my art-seeking goal in D.C. was more along the lines of the art museums and less about the monuments, but after revisiting those "must-see" sites with my kids, I realized that they are so much more impressive than most of us probably ever realize.
I think that the most touching monument is the Vietnam Memorial. I'm a big fan of Maya Lin's newer work, anyway, so I was able to view "the Wall" in the context of her other works. It's such an impressive piece, and I really don't think there is any way to experience it but to actually be there. You can't capture the experience in a photograph, or even in a miniature traveling exhibit, like the one that has been to WV in the not-too-distant past.
I'll admit, I cried like a little girl just looking at it -- especially in light of the current endless war with its enormous human cost. It hits too close to home. I never knew my Grandfather, who died in the Korean War when my Dad was only 3 years old. He was a kid, too -- only 25 years old, himself. My Dad has also served in just about every military activation since the Vietnam War, including Desert Storm and the current war. My cousins have also served, and I'm getting ready to see my Brother-in-Law off to Afghanistan this weekend.
It's funny how words are used for the soldiers who fall to somehow soften the blow. Casualty. Casualty? What the hell does that mean? These lives were just lost casually? Like "oops, we lost a few...?" That's bullshit. Each soldier is someone's Dad ... or brother. Or Mother. Or sister... each "casualty" is someone's life story cut short. Whether you support the current war or not, each life lost is a tragedy and there's no sugarcoating it. Seeing so many tragedies carved in inch-tall letters, stacked to the top of the wall and for 500-something feet is enough to move anybody to tears. Anybody with a heart, anyway...
And isn't that what great art is all about? Not necessarily making people cry... but making someone feel something unexpected. Great art should cause a reaction, in your mind or in your heart, and give you something to carry with you afterward. Who would have thought that a granite-lined gash in the ground could accomplish that? But it does.
This Is My Life, Rated | |
Life: | ![]() |
Mind: | ![]() |
Body: | ![]() |
Spirit: | ![]() |
Friends/Family: | ![]() |
Love: | ![]() |
Finance: | ![]() |
Take the Rate My Life Quiz |
Quizzes are fun. This one asked a lot of interesting questions that really made me think about the things I have in my life. I'm a pretty lucky chick. I think I should have gotten more points in the friends/family area because I have really satisfying relationships with my friends and family. I think the downside for that category was that my Grandmother is very ill and I have some friends who are also not doing so well, and their problems weigh very heavily on my mind most of the time right now.
And yeah... I totally need to get more exercise.
I love roadtrips. I really, really love to travel. I start packing weeks before the trip and count down the days -- that's how excited I get about going places. This trip was no exception. I knew it was going to be a blast and couldn't wait to show my kids all the cool things in Washington D.C. I am so lucky my boss gave me the time off to go. This is a trip the kids and I will remember for the rest of our lives. It was that much fun!
Because we had to pick up people from different churches in the southern WV area, we took the long way to D.C. and didn't get there until late in the evening. Our driver gave us a driving tour of some of the more famous sites in the downtown area, and then dropped us off at our hotel -- the Savoy Suites of Georgetown. I didn't have anything at all to do with planning the trip, so I really didn't know what we had in store for accomodations, but I was pleasantly surprised with the hotel. It's located near the cathedral (you could see it really well from our rooms) and we had a nice room with a kitchenette. There are plenty of places to eat near the hotel, and a Whole Foods just a block away (handy -- because I had to run there to buy cold medicine for Isaac.) It's a safe neighborhood, too -- lots of local residents jogging and out walking around. I was impressed with the service, too. I want to plan another trip to DC to stay longer and show the kids around, and I will definitely stay there again.
Dinner was not so great. We stopped at some place called the Old Country Buffet, which is a lot like Golden Corral and other all-you-can-eat buffets. I mean, it wasn't bad... I'm just not a big fan of quantity-over-quality, and there weren't many low-fat, low-carb options on the buffet, other than the salad bar. Even the veggie dishes were dripping with cheese, gravy, or fried. The kids liked it, though, and we were all hungry and tired of riding in the bus all day, so it was OK. Besides, the bus driver seemed to really, really want to take us there, so nobody complained too much. Little did we know what we had in store for the next evening...