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Tenderlysharp

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Everything posted by Tenderlysharp

  1. Here you acknowledge that the study of the attribute “texture” adds to the perception of the piece. I like the beauty in painting of the keys, it says 'I have something worth protecting', but on a darker side keys are a necessity to keep thieves from stealing our property. Countless man hours are spent locking and unlocking doors, and looking for lost keys.
  2. Thank you softwareNerd for your compliment.
  3. I think Ayn Rand's problem with non-Objective art was the attempt of it's practitioners to eliminate man from the equation, to be meaningless and bore him on purpose, while at the same time calling into question his ability to judge. She probably did not detect the music she liked attempting to eliminate man from the equation, and would object to a school of music who's professed goal was to eliminate man. Ayn Rand had the same negative interpretation of certain types of music that she had with the non-Objective art she experienced. She rejected the notion that every noise and color is art, by establishing a hierarchy based on the values the work projected. At the time the practitioners of modern art had failed to translate the value of their work in a way that Rand could appreciate in the upper echelons of her hierarchy, certain musicians succeeded in doing so.
  4. The artist and viewer project feelings onto the work. Some men like abstract art because it allows them to believe what they want to believe about it. It is important to differentiate that action as an act of volition as opposed to an act of Subjectivism. If an Objectivist denies the validity of non-Objective art he has to live with contradictions, double standards and imprecise definitions, but if he is to accept the validity of non-Objective art he has to live with the contradictions, double standards and imprecise definitions of the art work....?
  5. Ayn Rand used mystical projections in her work to illustrate her point. Atlas is a mystical projection. She used the fictional character Cinderella favorably to illustrate a point she made about a character concertizing a vast amount of conceptual understandings (In one of her lectures that I can't find at the moment). She sometimes used 'God' to illustrate her point, always with the disclaimer: at about 8:30. I am also interested in studying the way man projects consciousness onto nature, from looking for beings in the shapes in clouds, and swirls in rock, to the personifications of elements and aspects of consciousness into muses, imaginary friends, fiction heroes, a favorite toy, nature spirits, Gods, etc. The particular things man has projected consciousness onto are interesting to me. The act of man projecting himself onto the world is a token to his self-esteem. When a man's relationship with other men was stifling and disappointing he could turn to these projections to fulfill his need to communicate with something that was intelligent enough to understand him... something worthy of his Romanticism.
  6. Objectivism vs. Subjectivism in art. Objectivist are weary of stepping onto the slippery slope of Subjectivism. If you want an Objectivist to see what you see, you have to be able to objectively defend your assertion that it is there. To show there is objectively something that exists in the artwork or music, something that is there whether every viewer sees it or not, it has to be communicated and defined in a proper context. Subjectivism is a tool used to avoid value judgments, and an attempt to get out of being held accountable for mistakes. Subjectivism is a tool people use to get out of the effort it takes to present an objective case for the source of their feelings. Subjectivism has been a tool man has used to escape the oppression of the whims of mysticism. If Ayn Rand could have projected the ideal man better in music or visual art than she did with words she might have chosen them as her vocation. Existence, Identity, Consciousness, Reason, Self-esteem, Purpose, Volition, Choice, Decision, Freedom, Communication, Values, Virtue, Morality, Fair Trade, Productivity, Justice, Accountability, The Pursuit of Happiness, Investment, Standards, Incentive, Ambition... The more concepts pertaining to consciousness a piece of work can express the better the work of art. Ayn Rand found some music that gave her a sense of a projection of the ideal man, she did not find it in most music, nor in modern art, but in Objective Epistemology she did leave all definitions open to be expanded on in the future if an objective criteria could be developed. She wrote the Romantic Manifesto for herself. She was not primarily a visual artist, nor a musician, she left these fields open for others to develop, but her philosophy is geared toward avoiding the rational disintegration of Subjectivism. If Subjectivism is allowed and/or necessary in art why is it not acceptable in all of the other fields of existence? An Objectivist says “I have not discovered a reason to find this valuable.” If it is valuable to you, and you want an Objectivist to value it, it is necessary to present a reasoned argument for your case. How effective will an attempt to get Objectivists to accept Subjectivism be?
  7. Do I have a rational justification for intentionally making my artwork challenging to decipher? Mystery arouses speculation, curiosity, anticipation; volition is involved with the action of seeking answers. I am inviting your discerning powers to make sense of something. Mystery is not an end, it is an invitation to greater discovery. I believe the image you discover is beautiful enough to reward the investment of your attention. The medium is beautiful, it is an expression of energy, it has a great deal to say about life in addition to the entity it is attributed to. Beings are not statues, as long as they are alive they are constantly in motion. I am interested in expressing this motion in my own way through the medium of paint. My artistic sensibilities have developed a great deal this year, along with a more intensive study of Objectivist Epistemology. It is taking me longer than I had anticipated to produce new Artwork that pleases me on all levels. I will not be able to speak confidently on the personal work I have planned until I actually finish it.
  8. I think of art as having a visual language. When I look at a certain attribute I feel a certain way, though I know feelings are not irreducible primaries, I search the dictionary and thesaurus for words that match this feeling, and few come close. It doesn't mean the feeling does not have an objective source. The only way I can think of explaining this feeling, is by finding and comparing it to work that has a similar feeling, or isolating certain visual attributes that are contributing to the feeling. Maybe feeling isn't the right word for it, it isn't a blank out, it requires a heightened state of consciousness... it has a dynamic energy. Red has a different energy than blue, they each interact with green in certain ways. The study of the attributes and actions in the language of visual art requires a great deal of attention to ostensive definitions. Though they can not exist separate from entities, I think it is important to study the way attributes affect human consciousness. I was watching a documentary about the font “Helvetica” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847817/ The development of a font is primarily focused on the study of attributes. The Helvetica font communicates professionalism, wealth, intelligence. In many cases the font communicates more than the entities (letters/words) they are attributed to. Look at the word 'Success' in Helvetica as compared to a graffiti font.
  9. Existence Identity Consciousness Reason Self-esteem Purpose A = A Romantic Manifesto Index pg 181-182: Art as and end in itself. 4-5 Art as a selective recreation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value judgments. 7-8, 22, 35, 65-66, 74, 87-88, 91 Art as a concretization of metaphysics. 8, 35, 67, 75, 118, Art as a universal language, 8 Art as an indispensable medium for the communication of a moral ideal. 10 Profoundly personal significance for men, 12-13 Like Ayn Rand I have not found a projection of the ideal man in the field of Modern Art. And I can see why she refrained from giving it the distinction of fine art based on her criteria for art. I do not want to contradict Ayn Rand's negative views of Modern art, nor of the Non-Objective art that she experienced. I am interested in expanding and re-defining the genres in an Objective way. For my own personal study of art (as a painter) I redefine Modern and non-Objective art as: An investigation into the isolation of attributes and actions of art. With respect to the fact that the entity of the artist and the entity of the viewer are inherent in the creation and showing of the work. A study of attributes: Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology Attribute,concept of, 274-276 Attributes, 184-186, 264-268, 277-279 concepts of 11, 15-16, 146-147 see also properties, 282-288 I isolate the attributes and actions of art by temporarily focusing on what they communicate without the distraction of attachment to previously defined entities and all of their meaning. Later reintegrating what I have learned, merging attributes and actions with an entity, will greatly enhance the creation of fine art. If it is their intention to “not know” as though “not knowing” is an end in itself, Ayn Rand is quite right, but I believe that the reason many of them don't know is because there is not currently a well developed vocabulary for the discoveries they are finding. Depending on a non-Objective artist's intentions and sense of life some are capable of rewarding you for the time you spend investigating their work. Others I have experienced (the ugliest and most miserable works) impart the feeling of spitting in your face by mocking your willingness to try to understand, and killing those precious moments of your life that were wasted in its void.
  10. Reading through this thread again I am getting a lot more from it than I originally had. Understanding more Objectivist concepts has added greater meaning to many of the comments. I can see how overly intense my emotional reaction was to Howard Roark's comments. Analyzing myself now it seems I was trying to compensate for my insecurity.
  11. Sabin Howard has an interesting perspective on his work. The sculptures have weight and strength with contemplative expressions.
  12. While this film has proven impossible to come about by committee, it is important that the film makers gain as deep an understanding as possible as to why certain things were written the way they were. The film lacked the symbolic complexity between characters and inner dialogue that the book developed. It takes a master screen writer to work them in visually without adding to the length of the film. The point of view of Eddie Willers; he is symbolic of the most common kind of person, symbolic of the usual mixed premises of the audience. Subtly showing his affection for her would have made a huge difference. He ought to have walked in on her sleeping in her office and looked at her for a moment, before giving her the bad news. A few moments of Dagney at twelve years old standing on the train tracks ought to have been the opening. It symbolizes the purest form of desire for the way one wishes to direct their destiny. Cutting to her looking up at the statue of her grandfather in the terminal, showing the heart of hero worship as having someone worth striving to live up to. The initial resistance of Dagney and Hank's attraction is intoxicating and raises the estimate of their esteem for one another, and his contradictions toward her gives credence to her decision later to choose John Gault. The symbolic meanings need to be subtly implied. Atlas isn't just a story about Industrialists, it is the often unutterable struggle that everyone of ability faces against opposition. Giving up is what happens to the inner world of man when the mind wearies from being restrained and oppressed. This is why John Gault can't approach them until he is sure they are ready to give up, the reason he doesn't approach Dagney. When Dagney and James Taggert are arguing and he says she doesn't feel anything, it would have been more potent at the climax of intensity between them, rather than a side note after the argument was over. Which is symbolic of what I am doing now. It is a bit amazing that the film was even made after the years of resistance to it. If I wanted to make that film myself I ought to have put everything into it that those responsible for it did. Regardless of my disappointments I say thank you to the people who made this film, I was overflowing with tears of joy several times as I watched. -Tym
  13. It seems that the SouthPark stunt was intended to instigate a reaction on both sides of the issue. More 'Draw Muhammad Day': http://drawmoday.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2q0rcz http://drawmoday.deviantart.com/gallery/ http://news.deviantart.com/article/118114/...et=100#comments http://devilmaycryub.deviantart.com/journal/32334166/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=pr...Q.1558510634..1 Freedom of speech is hard to defend when it is used in such bad taste, but Freedom of speech is the only thing that keeps people from killing each other. What can be said to encourage Muslims to understand that human life is more valuable than images? What can Muslims who are against violence do to change the stereotypes against them? Muslims are used to acting collectively to suppress opposition by targeting the organizations who host these drawings rather than attempting to communicate to the individuals involved.
  14. Welcome Rockefeller I read some of your blogs, its a powerful outlet to give yourself that space to explore the way you relate Objectivism to issues.
  15. Welcome, I hope you find what you are looking for.
  16. Maybe you can post an inquiry in the newspaper, or put up a flier at a library, laundromat, or coffee house. You can also check the philosophy departments at local colleges http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/study/subje.../phil.aspx#list
  17. Are you lured into arguments with your parents because they sometimes seem open to the exchange? It may or may not be possible to convince them, but if it is, they will need to know that they are getting something better in the exchange. If giving up a belief would feel like a sacrifice they will resist. Notice assumptions and fears that your parents aren't expressing verbally; the root of the emotion. A man defends his beliefs because he is afraid of the chaos and immorality of a world without them. Speaking to each of them separately may also be more productive.
  18. I like how you phrased that. Thank you for your response. The more I try to communicate ideas I realize how crippled I used to be with the way altruists phrase things. I am experiencing such a sharp focus every time I think of using the word 'we'. I may choose to invest energy into the development of the talent I see in other artists because I am interested in experiencing what they will produce, when I once would have said "I want to help artists". The desire may be similar, but the approach, perspective, and outcome are vastly different.
  19. Here is a bit of continuation on my dialogue with Amy;
  20. Would this be defined as missionary activity?: One million copies of Ayn Rand's books have been distributed to high schools, and millions of students will read her every year. Efficiency compels me to reduce unnecessary misunderstandings. Its in my self interest to promote Objectivism; the process of beginning (of the novice) is of personal interest to me. There are Objectivist concepts (such as the word Selfish) that mean something different to an Objectivist than they mean to most people. I wonder what the most productive way to engage an interested yet unsure novice is. It can be intimidating to contend with strong criticism coming from a strong ego - its something that most of the people I know have never experienced. This is a response to the trepidations I have experienced that I also recognize in some of the other introductions. An Objectivist may take criticism as a challenge to clarify and correct his position. A novice, lacking the correct context, may retreat... not knowing what he is running away from. The Ayn Rand quote is to bring into awareness the way partial Objectivist arguments fall into patterns of abusing the novice by ignoring the context of what the novice understands. Introducing a novice to an argument isn't going to make the work ahead of him easier, but it may encourage him to try.
  21. I just found Reason TV! I would love to visit this school in Oakland to get some inspiration and information about raising my own kid.
  22. It is best to refer you to the book 'The Romantic Manifesto' because I am tempted to quote you the entire ten page chapter 'Art and Moral Treason'. If the fantasy means something, if it symbolizes a moral truth it is valuable. Atlas himself was a powerful myth that Ayn Rand used to bring the meaning of his punishment into focus. If the foundation of your beliefs are rational then I don't believe anything would be off limits for investigation. Ayn Rand even advocated critically reading Plato and Kant in order to get to know your enemies.
  23. Tenderlysharp

    Abortion

    Being born to a 17 year old mother I believe that her chances to develop rational faculties were greatly reduced by having me. I am thankful and owe her a great debt because I wasn't aborted. She sacrificed a great deal for me, and it isn't right. It isn't right that my birth was a bond of debt and sacrifice. Had she been free of altruism she wouldn't have begrudgingly raised me with the inner conflict of not really wanting me. It was extremely damaging to my self worth. How are rational beings supposed to be born and reared into such a conflict of interest?
  24. Abortion is a separate and very involved topic, I will copy your question to this thread abortion and offer my perspective there.
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