POETRY ON A SQUARE OF FILM

"  If I could tell a story in words, I wouldn't need to lug a camera."

-Lewis Hine

Lily Fields, Walker Evans (photograph), 1936

 *WALKER EVANS*

Walker Evans was born in 1903 and died in 1975.  He was contributed to the evolution of photography from the aesthetic and artistic, to the raw and real documentation of truth. Evans was able to see poetry in places where poetry had not traditionally been "seen."  

Almost accidentally, Walker Evans became synonymous with the photographic style known as documentation photography.  This style seeks the bare-naked truths and facts about pieces of life.  Evans was incredibly skilled in finding deep poetic qualities and elements in images that might have before seemed to be common-place, ordinary, unattractive or uncomfortable.  He captured many shots of human beings, and was skillful in capturing portraits as well.

*THE PHOTOGRAPH*

The above photograph titled "Lily Fields" was taken by Evans in 1936.  Though I viewed and studied this image digitally, the original image was captured on a 35 mm film negative.  The image was then printed on photo paper and processed in a darkroom to make the final photograph image.  Though the darkroom equipment in the 1930's was much different, the following video provides a basic overview of the processed involved in analog photo processing.

 

 

*PHOTOGRAPHIC QUALITIES*

  

The photographic image is captured and displayed with portrait orientation rather than landscape orientation.  The layout alone adds so much to the overall effect on the viewer's mind, as it makes the visual space appear more tight and confining.  The viewer can only see surrounding areas which are still quite close to her body.  She seems to be completely encased in wood, shadows and reflections fo light which some in from outside the image.   

The photograph's main subject, Lily, is placed in the center of the image with two of her children. Her body is framed, almost entrapped by the many lines which run diagonally, vertically and horizontally around her.  The lines surrounding her and her children are made by the floorboards, furniture, doors and even by her long lap which is cradling one of her children.  Every visible line is part of her family's cabin in Hale County, Alabama.

Black and white photography is unique in that is can be much less distracting.  Color is beautiful, but can sometimes take away from the emotional expressions of human subjects.  Lily's body is centered in the darkest part of the photo, a room that lays beyond the space which she and her children occupy.  Her body is facing what appears to be the outdoors which illuminates her face and torso in natural light.  However, the light almost serves to add burden to her as her body is slumped in as s-shape and her spine curves back toward the darkness.  These elements work to make the light somehow seem much farther away from her. 

One of her children is on the floor and is looking up at her smiling.  Though her face is directly facing that of her son, she does not appear to "see" him.  Instead, she seems to be lost in melancholic thought.  Her face shows sadness, hopelessness and exhaustion.  It is difficult to tell whether her eyes are even open, although I assume they are. 

*THE STORY WITHIN*

In 1936, Walker Evans was on assignment as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).  The FSA hired several  photographers to travel and visually document both the living and working conditions in rural America.  Though Evans was not necessarily acutely aware of the social and historical importance of his photography at the time, he seemed to intuitively and instinctively know what to capture in his images.   

Please click here to listen to Walker Evans briefly discuss his process and experience with visually documenting the rural south in the Great Depression.  

Lily Fields was the wife of Bud Fields, a cotton sharecropper.   They lived with their children in a cabin in rural Alabama. In this photograph, Lily  seems to be beaten down by life, by circumstances, by her life in the midst of the Great Depression.  Their home state, Alabama, was hit especially hard by The Great Depression.

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/dep02.jpg

Did You Ever Notice That "History" is Made of Two Words: His Story?

"Feminism Ain't About Equality...It's About Reprieve..."

-Difranco

Art Encounter II : The Dark Side of Romanticism

CARCERI
The Architecture of Imaginary Prisons

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'Invenzione, Plate XIV, 1750

http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_263013/Giovanni-Battista-Piranesi/Carceri-d%27Invenzione%2C-Plate-XIV

Giovanni Battista Piranesi's created a series of 16 etchings/prints named Carceri.  Many of the images within Carceri are haunting and menacing, as they depict imaginary prisons. The image above (Plate XIV) is part of the series and measures at approximately 16"x21". It is currently housed in Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This piece was created quite early in the era of Romanticism, and is representative of Dark Romanticism.  Carceri d'Invenzione, Plate XIV is a great example of Dark Romanticism as it is a rather grim, menacing and suffocating image. One of the elements of this image which  is so interesting, is the complicated architecture within. Although architecture is depicted in this image, my main focus is on the feeling evoked by the etching.  After all, Romanticism was mainly interested in feeling and intuition.  

*ETCHING*

Carceri is an etching, displaying dark tones in gray scale and blacks.  Etching is quite an extra-ordinary process.  The video below demonstrates the etching process and print-making, and highlights the remarkable works of Blake as well. 

*FORM AND COMPOSITION*

Carceri's Plate XIV is full of lines: vertical, horizontal and diagonal.  Endless series of stairways, railings, arches and columns extend throughout the image.  Although the staircases appear to cover a lot of ground and extend to all directions, the observer can feel quite claustrophobic and almost suffocated because there is no visible exit to the viewer.  Furthermore, the heavy use of dark tones contribute to the feeling of being closed in.  The movement within the etching is chaotic, as it is unsystematic and unorganized.  The stairways move in all different directions at the same time and there is no apparent order or structure within the structure. Because of this, the eye is constantly in motion.  It if difficult to find a center point.

Almost every line in the etching is sharp including the arches near the top and in the background of the image.  The only soft lines are used in the representation of small shadowy images scattered throughout on the various stairways or walkways.  The viewer can assume that these images are human, although there is nothing detailed about them. They are nameless, faceless and androgynous. They are essentially, black blobs wandering throughout the structure.  

*SUBJECT AND INTERPRETATION*

 The series of prints from etching represent imaginary prisons, possibly within the human psyche which speak to the darker side of human nature. These works have been described as images which could illustrate Edmund Burke's theory of the sublime outlined in [sic]  "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful."   Carceri would be representative of the sublime, as the sublime has the power to compel and destroy.

"The passions which concern self-preservation turn mostly on pain or danger.  The ideas of pain, sickness and death fill the mind with strong emotions of horror; but life and health, though they put us in capacity of being affected with pleasure., they make no such impression... Whatever excites this delight, I call sublime."  -Burke

Psychologically, Carceri d'Invenzione, Plate XIV seems to speak to both the complexity and darker depths within the human mind. It seems to represent the endless possibilities, directions, thoughts, memories and limitations we have as individuals.  Perhaps he is demonstrating that our minds are our prisons, in many ways.  Humans have always been afflicted, on some level, with internal and psychological pain whether through memories, nightmares, traumas, abuse and forms of injustice. When we ruminate and become fixated on these things, we lock ourselves into an invisible and imaginary prison of sorts.

*THE ARTIST*

 Portrait of Giovanni by Labruzzi

Piranesi largely considered himself an architect.  He was the son of a stone-mason and master builder and was largely influenced by his father.  Even though Piranesi encountered great difficulty in obtaining architectural commissions, his architecture found its way into his art and ultimately made him one of the most revered print-makers of his time. He spent the bulk of of his life in Venice and Rome.  His etchings and prints awarded him a lucrative living, an outlet for artistic and architectural passion, and even a platform with which to argue his views and perspectives on art at the time.  He was a master at etching and print-making, and pushed the limits in imagination.  Many of the structures in his etchings were impossible and dream-like.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Self Portrait

"I need to produce great ideas, and I believe that if I were commissioned to design
a new universe, I would be mad enough to undertake it." -Piranesi

Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pira/hd_pira.htm

*CONNECTIONS*

IN FILM...

“I GUESS I THOUGHT THAT THE DREAM SPACE WOULD BE ALL ABOUT THE VISUAL, BUT IT’S MORE ABOUT THE FEEL OF IT.  MY QUESTION IS, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU START MESSING WITH THE PHYSICS OF IT ALL?” - From the film "Inception"

Within the last year, a major film was released called Inception.  It deals a lot with both dreams and architecture.  In fact, one of the main characters was sought out in the film, become a dream architect.  Also, one of the main themes within the film is about the prisons within the mind - internal and invisible prisons tied to loss, grief, pain and suffering. This scene (and the film at large) ties in so closely to the concepts that Piranesi was demonstrating centuries ago.  Please follow the link as there were complications when inserting the video. 

Dark Romanticism is alive and well, have no doubt about it.  

IN MUSIC w/ ART...

The following is a video by a group named, interestingly enough, Atrium Carceri.  Many dark images are displayed while the band's music plays.  Both the images and the music are quite dark, haunting, with an element of terror.  This is a perfect example of how Dark Romanticism is used in modern times and culture.  The same feelings are explored and evoked. 

IN OTHER ART...

   When I first saw Piranesi's Caceri, specifically the image above, I was blown away at the uncanny similarities to a work of art created by MC Escher.

MC Escher, Relativity, 1953, lithograph.

Though Escher's Relativity is more uniform, clean and tight in appearance, there are many similarities to Piranesi's image above.  Both have paradoxical architecture with straight and sharp lines revealing stairways in all directions.  Both are in dark tones and gray scale as well.  It is also important to acknowledge that like Carceri, there appears to be no exit point.  The observer's eye has a difficult time staying still because of the movement within the image.  Even though Escher's human figures are much more defined and pronounced, they still appear as nameless, faceless and androgynous.  This contributes to a feeling of being disconnected and alone.

Clearly, Escher's work(s) have more of a mathematical component, but the aforementioned similarities are undeniable.  Years after Escher's Relativity was created, teams of people work together to attempt the construction of his ideas and concepts in real 3D form.

“It is then a revolt.” “No, Sire,” replied the Duke. “It is a revolution."

As the text from "The Human Spirit" claims, a revolution requires philosophical inspiration in order to be successful.  In my opinion, one of the most inspirational quotes/ poems is titled, "Our Deepest Fear." Though Nelson Mandela used this text in a speech, it was originally written by Marianne Williamson. "Our Deepest Fear" is a call to action, of sorts, whether on a personal level or a societal level.

Without the attitude and belief by the people that a revolution is both necessary and possible,  many may not have the motivation or drive to even consider the pursuit of such an endeavor. Furthermore, an event with the magnitude of a revolution often has a ripple effect and can work to bring about similar events elsewhere. One line specifically in "Our Deepest Fear" speaks to this phenomenon.

 "...and as we let our own light shine, 

we unconsciously give other people 

permission to do the same."

-Williamson

A perfect historical example of the ripple effect of revolution and revolutionary thought is the relationship between America's independence from Britain in the American Revolution (1775-1783), and the French Revolution (1789-1798) which followed.  America served as an example of both revolutionary thought and action. Furthermore, the fact that the United States succeeded against a power such as Britain surely gave hope, belief and motivation to the people of France who also had a fierce hunger for change.

The thoughts, ideals and beliefs which helped to drive such change are characteristic of Western democracy.  However, the roots of these ideals are in Natural Human Rights.

This desire and reverence for Natural Rights of mankind became especially popular in the Age of Enlightenment.  The belief was that Human Rights originate in Nature, and Nature is of God.  Therefore, these Natural and inherant rights cannot be granted or stripped away by a political institution.  These ideas are evident in the Declaration of Independance in America.  They are also outlined in The Declaration of the Rights of Man issued by the National Assembly in France on 8/27/1789.

Today, many paralleles are evident with the current uprising and revolution which is taking place in Egypt.  The people of Egypt essentailly seek the same principles and rights which the French sought and fought for more than 200 years ago.  Though a considerable amount of time has passed, people still seek many of the same principles and ideals in the current revolution in Egypt. 

Perhaps the most glaring example of how times had changed between the French Revolution and the Revolution taking place in Egypt, are the images (or tools) which have become symbols of each revolution.  The French Revolution saw thousands (more than 25,000) of executions of people (be-headed by the guillotine) from both the political left and right who may have been considered a threat to the movement.  Many of those executed never saw a fair trial.  Radicals became quite "trigger-happy" in their use of the guillotine, and some of this time during the French Revolution became known as the Reign of Terror.  Therefore, the French Revolution is thought to be largely symbolized by the guillotine, as it represents the terror of the time and the numerous executions which were on public display. 

Since the French Revolution, there have been huge advancements in modern technology.  The world became much more connected and communication moved much faster during the time just before the American Civil War with the invention and technology of the telegraph. Today, connection and communication across the globe takes place in almost real-time since the development and advancement of the internet, not to mention other devices such as cell phones and satellites.  

Along with the internet came the development of online social networks which connects people in ways never known before. Demonstrators in Egypt primarily used Facebook as the social networking platform with which to unite like-minded citizens and o quickly organize large protests and demonstrations.  Eventually, Egypt shut down the internet across the nation in an attempt to prevent the use of both the internet and sites such as Facebook as a way to cut off communication and paralyze the demonstrators. Cutting off communication between people simply provided another example of the violation of the rights of the people.  After all, what is more natural than communication? As a result, Facebook has largely become the symbol of the uprising and revolution in Egypt. 

 

It is no wonder that the rapid pace and speed at which news and information travels across large distances has impacted the speed of the ripple effect of revolutionary thought and action.  The French Revolution took place less than 10 years after the Revolutionary War in America. Today, there can almost be a domino effect. Just after the uprising in Egypt, Libya followed suit within days. 

ART ENCOUNTER I

*THE LUHRS BUILDING*

*PHOENIX 1924*

The Luhrs Building opened on April 1^st 1924 in Phoenix, Arizona.  It is located at 13 West Jefferson Street downtown Phoenix, and it was the city’s first skyscraper.  At the time of its construction, Phoenix was still relatively small with a population just over 30,000 people.   The Luhrs family wanted the building to be a beacon of the future, and serve as a symbol or icon to represent Phoenix’s transition from a small town to a great metropolis.  Just a few years later, they built the Luhrs Tower. 

*ARCHITECTURAL STYLE*

The Luhrs Building was built by the Luhrs family with the help and expertise of architect Henry Charles Trost of the firm Trost & Trost based out of El Paso, Texas.  The Luhrs building is classified as Renaissance Revival.  Henry Trost worked masterfully with many different architectural styles, including but not limited to Victorian, Renaissance Revival and even Art Deco. The Luhrs Building stands at approximately 42 meters tall, and has a total of 10 stories.  It is L-shaped and the concrete structure is faced with brown brick.  The 78,000 square foot structure became home to many businesses shortly after opening and remained as a commercial property in the heart of Phoenix.

*EXTERIOR*

It is a very sturdy and handsome building.  The top two floors are laden in marble ornamentation and the building is topped with a heavy cornice (an overhanging ledge adapted from more classic architecture).   As seen in the photograph of the Luhrs building, the lower levels of the building reflect the top two floors in the ornamentation, tone and mass.  The middle 6 floors appear narrower and also contain most of the brick work.  This 3-part vertical composition makes the building feel sturdy, strong and very balanced.  The balance is crucial, as it is very reminiscent of Renaissance architecture and thought.

*ARCHITECTURAL FORMS*

The main architectural forms evident at the Luhrs Building include columns and beams, the heavy cornice, and many arches. The exterior arches are mainly on the top floor and frame the windows, appearing like an arcade.  As seen in the historical photograph of the building’s lobby, the columns are more of the Doric order, than the Corinthian or Iconic order.

 *TODAY*

The Luhrs building still stands today, though it is nowhere near the tallest building downtown Phoenix.  Both the Luhrs Building and the Lurhs Tower are revered and admired today both historically and architecturally as iconic structures and symbols of Phoenix's history.  In 2008, plans to renovate and preserve the Luhrs Building started in Phoenix.  As a result, new tenants started lining up to make a new home in the first skyscraper in Phoenix, Arizona.

I was unable to visit the Luhrs Tower in Phoenix prior to writing this blog.  I do intend to visit it!  I like that people are working to preserve the history of Phoenix.  Furthermore, I think that the building is beautiful and strong. The large cornice sits upon it like a crown.  I would like to spend sometime inside, as I was not as successful in finding a wealth of images or information on the internal parts of the Luhrs Building as I would have liked.  Historical buildings have souls!

  *SONNET FOR GEORGE LUHRS*

Sharlot Hall, famous historical local woman, wrote a sonnet for George Luhrs.  I was so glad that I stumbled across this piece written by Sharlot Hall.  It helped the pieces to connect more for me!   Please see below:

"Do you remember when the town was young,
The kindly, honest, busy little man
Who every moment of his life long span
Helped build the place whence his success was wrung?
Whose nimble hands first set the wagon's tongue
Toward mines that fed his mule train's caravan;
Whose friendly heart more won the stranger
His beg and board and beer straight from the bung? To him the vision of the man who knows
He serves his city best who serves its need,
And builds in beauty when his service shows
The artist's dream in common daily needs. There stands his Tower! A monument to one
Whose mule corral once blistered in the sun."

From The Sonnets of the Past
by Sharlot Hall, with permission
of Sharlot Hall Museum.

http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/luhrs/sectitle.htm 

  *A VERY LOCAL EXAMPLE TO EXPLORE*

Here in Prescott, right on Whiskey Row, we have another example of Renaissance Revival architecture that you can explore as well.  It is the Hotel Saint Michael located on the corner of Gurley Street and Montezuma downtown. 

                            

Science vs. Faith - Ethical Battles

Science and Religion have not had the most harmonious relationship in history or in modern times.  In the Baroque age (1600-1715) challenging the “truths” within the Bible with science, rationale and observation potentially had dire consequences for the person challenging.  Galileo, like Copernicus believed in a Heliocentric model of the spheres and cosmos, rather than a geocentric model, unlike Ptolemy.

Image depicting a heliocentric model, with the sun at the center

Image depicting a GEOCENTRIC model, with Earth at the center

Galileo’s carefully constructed thoughts and ideas on the movement of the spheres were considered dangerous by the Inquisition, and ultimately condemned him to heresy.  Over the course of the last 400 + years, more tolerance has evolved in certain areas.  However, there are ethical issues at play today where Science and the Bible are in direct conflict with one another. 

When Pope John Paul II finally absolved Galileo of the judgment placed on him by the Inquisition (300 years later), he also clearly cautioned scientists to be ethical.  Ethics continue to play a huge role today in regards to scientific discovery and advancement, often in relationship to biblical issues and organized religion. 

Galileo’s studies and observations and development of the telescope as a tool to further observe the heavens in greater detail agreed greatly with Copernicus, that the Earth was in motion rather than a fixed object.  Galileo became convinced of the heliocentric theory that the sun was the center of our solar system, and that the Earth along with the other celestial spheres (planets) were in orbit around the sun. In Galileo’s letter to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, he outlined these ideas and observations.  He also discussed the truths within the bible, both literal and figurative. Ultimately, Galileo was found to be a heretic for his observations and beliefs.  

We know, through science and exploration that Galileo’s theories about the movements of the spheres were ultimately correct.  Man has visited space and walked on the moon.  Man has explored the solar system.  Much of the debate between science and faith now is centered on ethics.  

A current example of a hot point between science and faith is the development of stem cell-research.

Many were elated white others were outraged when President Obama lifted the ban on federal funding of stem-cell research. Obama argued that he is a man of both faith and science. 

Just a simple introduction...

I am not sure how to start this blog...

My name is Alaina.  This is my first on-line course, so I expect to have a new experience and some challenges. 

I am not sure about the rest of you, but the last two years have seemed pretty "heavy" on both a personal and worldly level.  I have had some of the most amazing and life-changing experiences, and also some of my most difficult days. 

Here's one of my favorite quotes which somehow seems fitting today...

"And were an epitaph be my story, I'd have a short one ready for my own. I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world." - Robert Frost