Fragments of Flick

posted by Flick 12:41 PM

I'm no art critic, but...
Wow 3 weeks of school over already, where did the time go? That, in case you were wondering is what keeps me away from my blog (for the most part). So far I really like my classes, especially my women's studies class: Women and the Creative Arts... so far it our focus has been on how women artists have been viewed historically, how standards for women artists in the 15th and 16th century were drastically different from their male counterparts. How the female body has been depicted differently from male and female perspectives, and that would include seeing historic female heroines through different coloured lenses so to speak. One example of such would be all of the Venus paintings that were created by various artists during the Renaissance... Remeber Venus? You know, she was the Greek Goddess of love and beauty. In reality, the title "Venus" was usually slapped on these paintings to avoid prosecution under the sumptuary legislation of that time, meaning that women were expected to be modest (in fact, the punishment for any women being accused of infidelity against her husband was death, while the guilty male party would recieve a fine). The sumptuary laws were a means to control the masses, and remind people of their lot in life, and to protect the morals of the people. Perhaps the most well known depiction of Venus was "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli, but there were other, more provocative images of Venus in a reclining position that were much more protreptical (I would surmise that the models were prostitutes... very common in that time). Many of these paintings depicted Venus in a very un-Venus-like poses... and the fact that they were entitled "Venus" allowed many of the male artists of that time to produce the soft porn of the Renaissance and still avoid prosecution under the sumptuary laws. Titian popularized the reclining Venus, and in many of his works what about Venus? If not for the title Venus, the onlooker would have no way of knowing that these images were of godly stature... Here is a work which we were critiquing in my class yesterday:
In this image, entitled "Venus of Urbino" by Titian (which is a beautiful painting) for instance, note the position of her hands. You might say that by shielding her genitals, that would be a symbol of modesty... but on closer observation, her hands are curved as if she were trying to pleasure herself or maybe even to provoke the male onlooker. The way she looks directly at the audience, with head cocked coyly to the side could also be seen as sexual, which in that time would only have been acceptable because this is Venus, and she is above the mortal boundaries of sumtuarity. Their are other allusions to her overt sexuality here too, notice the flowers she is holding are too a symbol of her ripe sexuality... she is ready to be devoured by her male admirerer. Her hair loose and wild, and her nude body adorned with jewels would also follow suit... meant to suduce the beholder. The last point here is that our Venus is depicted in a very peculiar setting… in the background, life carries on as usual. The rumpled sheets on her bed may also suggest that something may have been going on before hand. Ah I feel like I am ranting... none of this has really had time to settle in my brain, the fact is though that a woman artist of that time would have presented Venus in a different light. This is just one perspective, by today's standards this is not pornographic at all, but in a historical sense it definitely was and was probably created for a private setting. Also I am not saying that porn is a bad thing (far from it), from my point of view, it all depends on the porn and the intended audience has much to do with how it is percieved.

Friday, September 20, 2002

posted by Flick 11:06 AM

Aren't We Sassy
Went to the fair with my friend Dana and we got this photo done, I am the devil she is the angel

I don't really like the way I look, but it's still pretty funny.

Sunday, September 15, 2002

posted by Flick 9:27 PM

Hmmm... this explains it

I WAS A STRANGE CHILD
there are no words to describe you.
except maybe: strange. unique. different.
what kind of child were you?
(brought you by april)
I wonder what the Freudians would think?

Friday, September 13, 2002

posted by Flick 11:19 PM

Got Ink?
Well after I got some of my studying done this morning I went to my tattoo appointment and got the shading done...
Probably go back soon for more work.

posted by Flick 3:11 PM

Oh Joy!!
I am so happy I could shit... OSAP is in. I can pay my rent, I can pay my bills. But most importantly, I can buy new shoes.

Mental note to self: must remember to stick to a budget this year...

Thirsty?

Monday, September 09, 2002

posted by Flick 8:05 AM

Disturbing Film REvue
Well I am once again left twitching with trepidation after watching a film by Larry Clark, that being last summer's teen docudrama Bully. As the opening credits fade we are soon introduce to Bobby, a boy in denial of his closeted homo-sexual tendancies toward his life long best friend Marty, and a penchant for taking out his rage on anyone who comes in contact with him. The answer to me would have been simple, just avoid the guy... like a plague. However, a group of friends (prompted by Marty's new girlfriend Lisa) resolve to kill him, and proceed with his poorly planned demise. This film had echos of Tim Hunters late 80 film River's Edge if only because the guilty parties are either unwilling or unable to stop talking about their crime. This film was nicely casted, the actors portrayed the sense of hopelessness and bordom that was probably more pervasive in the lives of these kids than even the bullying at the hands of Bobby must have been. What was even more shocking than Bobby's murder was the nonchalance with which it was carried out... like, hey what do you feel like doing today? Well we could just go hang out at the Pizza Hut and maybe later on we can go and kill Bobby. If you liked Kids then check this one out... if you see date you may feel the need to shower after this one. For anyone interested, the screenplays for both KIDS and BULLY were by Harmony Korine, and if you like these titles then you should check out Gummo and Julien Donkey Boy

I later watched the special features on this DVD (Bully) and you may be interested to know, apparently the actors all had to sleep with Larry for their parts... hehe good to see they all have a good sense of humour

Saturday, September 07, 2002

posted by Flick 3:56 PM

School Daze
I have not had a lot of time for blogging this week... or maybe I have just been too preoccupied with school starting up, getting my OSAP papers processed, running into friends that I haven't seen in a while. I've got it pretty good this year, all my classes are condensed into 2 days (Tuesday and Thursday) and so far all my proffessors seem really cool, especially my woman's studies prof: Sonja. I grabbed some of my texts already too, well enough to get me through until my OSAP is in the bank... I hate waiting for that. Well, I don't really have a lot to say right now, I have laundry in and I need to do some reading for my sociology class now, I know I am not going to get any reading done tonight what with work and much needed social life after that... and I also need to go drop one of my classes, Social Justice and Peace. I really wanted to take it, and I met a cool guy (yeah I know... I am pretty content right now anyway) at school who is in that one, but I just can't do it, I need to take care of my family responsibilities. Besides that, the dropping of one course will just give me that much more time to focus on my remaining classes, I already have essays due at the beginning of October and tons of reading. Better not leave that too long. I will try not to neglect my blog in wait too often, yet I need to remember, that I pay a lot of money for school and need to make that a priority. Well... I think my clothes might be dry now... talk to you all later (all 5 of ya).

Friday, September 06, 2002

posted by Flick 10:22 AM

Cool
Lookie here, Motoretta has there site up now and they have some pretty bitchin' Vespas for sale.... hey I gotta have a dream.

Now if only if wasn't in so much debt I could make it a reality, hmmm

Sunday, September 01, 2002

posted by Flick 7:04 PM

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