Some Ramblings on the Sublime

My art criticism professor shared this and I had to pass it along. If you can ignore the frequent close-ups of the judges, the performance is impressive. I love the integration of visual and performance art, and I know that it must have taken a lot of rehearsing. 

 A few weeks ago I took the ferry across the river and spent some time gazing back at Savannah as the sun was setting. Since I was alone, I decided to sing one of my favorite hymns:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars; I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

 A few days ago I was watching some distant summer lightning from a Savannah park bench, and again this passage from How Great Thou Art struck me.

The concept of the sublime is one that has fascinated me for a while, and my interest was recently rekindled reading a tiny bit about Lyotard's theories. The term refers to depicting overwhelming tragedy in a beautiful way. There is a conflict of interest as the viewer grapples with sadness, grief, and the elevation that comes from viewing something grand.

Turner's Snowstorm before the Port Entrance (translated)

I know I am guilty of diminishing the words 'awful' and 'awesome' (think Little Women), which should be reserved for the terrible, wonderful, and divine. If you catch me at it, just wink and say 'sublime.'

Zoom by Istvan Banyai

Check out this wordless children's book set to music! The execution is fantastic, and the concept is brilliant. Well worth the watch.

Reblog from Gurney Journey: Dancing and Painting in the Gardens

Check out this fun day of drawing and dancing captured by James Gurney: Gurney Journey: Dancing and Painting in the Gardens. I think it's high time for an event like this in Savannah!

Caption Contest Winner!

The winning caption comes from ZebraBri (Your print is on the way!): 
"If people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists-to protect them and to promote their common welfare-all else is lost." -Barack Obama
Runner up goes to Dotti: "...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"-FDR

Other quotes:

      “However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”-George Washington

    “Tradition means giving a vote to most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.” -G.K. Chesterton (I know, I know, he's not a U.S. President)

Sources:
http://mobile.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/barackobam409130
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057/
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/462873-however-political-parties-may-now-and-then-answer-popular-ends
http://www.chesterton.org/democracy-of-the-dead/

SCAD Illustration Expo 2016!

SCAD Illustration students will be set up to meet-n-greet and share portfolios this Friday! 

The event will be open to the public starting at 11 a.m.