Certain things make me wonder.
For example. What exactly defines a friend? For me, it's actually quite a bit. Someone I can talk to easily (because we've already established that I'm a horrible conversationalist), someone I know well, someone whom I can predict what their thoughts/reactions will be, someone who doesn't make me feel inferior, someone whose faults I've come to overlook and maybe even love. This then begs the question, "Is Peter my friend?" Well, he meets most of the criteria, oddly/sadly enough. Except the whole "make me feel inferior" part. Just in case you didn't know, Peter is kinda consuming my [somewhat obsessive] thoughts. Followed closely by another person, who will go unnamed because I am NOT obsessed with them, whose question of "friendship" one tends to wonder about. It just confuses me.
Another thing that makes me wonder: How can artists be so subtle? Do they plan out every single, allegoric part of their piece before actually painting it. Or are they like Willem de Kooning who reworks his pieces time after time, trying to get it just right? So much planning, interpretation, and discussion goes into one painting. Did Leonardo da Vinci realize the impact he would have on the world when he simply painted Mona Lisa, the peasant wife of a friend? Did Piet Mondrien realize that in painting rectangles of different sizes in primary colors would become so famous? Did Rembrandt see how psychological his The Night Watch is or has become? Art is a form of protest and self-expression. I think it would be true for artists to incorporate symbols but I don't think that artists recognized the impact their paintings would have on the world and on the generations to come. It's the same thing with authors. Did Poe see how his "The Raven" and the mystery of his repetitive "Nevermore" be interpreted? Did Fitzgerald realize that The Great Gatsby would be read and begrudgingly analyzed by high school students across the world?
I think: yes. Authors and painters mean to include symbols and underlying messages to convey warnings, chastisement, or to simply share with the world a beautiful talent. I don't think that they realized the unmeasurable impact their works would have; I believe they only hoped that people would catch on. But the meanings they intended are open to interpretation; there is seldom a wrong answer.
So, after deviating off course from my first paragraph, I will try to answer my own question. Is Peter my friend? Well...yeah. Is that sad? Well...not really.
One down, one more to go.
3 comments:
Is Spencer your friend?
Artists have a big idea that they want to communicate, which is why you have to look at them in the context of their time and their other works.
Ha! I was recently wondering about the whole friendship thing myself. And I never know what to do when someone is more than an acquaintance and less than a real friend. I think Peter will always do that though. He's just like that. It's like how I always redirect the conversation to myself, if I don't realize it.
And the artist thing, I think you're right, to an extent. But I have a hard time believing sometimes that a painter didn't paint a pretty picture for the heck of it or a writer write a story because they wanted too. Sometimes I think we over analyze the meaning, such as in AP Lang.
I think the really good painters or writers or poets create things that come off looking simple and beautiful, but have a deeper meaning if you look for it. If they hit you over the head with meaning, it's not enjoyable anymore, which means that no one will read it anyways. You have to work the meaning in without it being too obvious.
Woah. Now I know what is wrong with everything that I've ever written. Really though, I knew this a while ago. I think.
Post a Comment