Minotauromachy

Started reading a book called "The Power of Myth." It's an interview of a guy named Joseph Campbell conducted in the late 80s by Bill Moyer. Came across this passage, looked up the picture, and voila- a blog was born!

Moyers: I saw a photograph of this latest cult figure from Hollywood, Rambo, the Vietnam veteran who returns to rescue prisoners of war, and through violent swaths of death and destruction he brings them back. I understand it is the most popular movie in Beirut. The photograph showed the new Rambo doll that has been created and is being sold by the same company that produces the Cabbage Patch dolls. In the foreground is the image of a sweet, lovable Cabbage Patch doll, and behind it, the brute force, Rambo.

Campbell: Those are two mythic figures. The image that comes to my mind now is of Picasso's Minotauromachy, an engraving that shows a great monster bull approaching. The philosopher is climbing up a ladder in terror to get away. In the bullring there is a horse, which has been killed, and on the sacrificed horse lies a female matador who has also been killed. The only creature facing this terrific monster is a little girl with a flower. Those are the two figures you have just spoken of- the simple, innocent, childlike one, and the terrific threat. You see the problems of the modern day.

Lessons in Seeing....and Thinking

If you want a valuable lesson in art, get ye down to the Littman Gallery on Portland State University's campus. Until March 26 they are displaying preparatory sketches that Picasso did for his famous Guernica painting.

These are the fascinating shows to see because they reveal how artists use art to think. You can witness his ideas take shape as he plays around with variations on several themes within the painting. You can also see alternate possibilities for how he chose to organize the painting into a unified whole. And, invaluable to the novice, you can witness the fact that even though it is not 'realistic.' the artist meant it to be that way. It was a lesson I learned while in college- also seeing a similar show of Picasso's work. I noticed a drawing, very similar to this one:

The thing I noticed the most were the erased lines- the ghosts of paths not taken. In particular, the paths that were more 'realistic.' You see, when I looked at a strange looking abstract painting and some critic or teacher said the artist meant it to look that way, I thought they were full of crap. Until I noticed Picasso- taking a picture that was 'right', erasing it and making it abstract- or even if his original version was abstract- there was still the conscious choice to make it different. It was an eye opening experience. Unfortunately the gallery is closed on weekends but they stay open until 7pm on Thursday evenings. I'd be happy to join anyone who wanted to go see it (but you'd probably have to bribe my wife to give me up for an evening away from the kids.)