Abstract paintings strictly speaking should not in my view resemble anything in particular but as music does with rhythm, time and harmony entertain or amuse by virtue of shape, colour and texture alone.This time looking closely at the photo of paint peeling posted the other day I see a shape which I find interesting in itself, though it is possible that various animals will appear to those more imaginative and perceptive than I. I haven't yet considered turning the image through 45 degrees.Robbie is acquiring or has acquired a bust of Goethe. Good for him. The news sent me to my Penguin Poets Goethe's selected verse. I like this:
Dichter gleichen Bären,
Die immer an eignen Pfoten zehren.
"Poets are like bears, always gnawing their own paws".
When I was six I was like many children eager to be seven, and as soon seven grew closer I claimed to be six and a half. Seven was important I remember because they told me that seven was "the age of discretion". Quite what discretion meant I was never quite sure, and seventy three and a half years I can claim to be no wiser.
4 comments:
Less than 10 years old – we think in fractions = : “I am 4 and a half”
In our teens we jump “I am going to be 16” (you could be 13)
We turn 30
We push 40
We reach 50
We make it to 60
We hit 70
We get into our 80’s and then it goes backwards “I was just 92” and more backwards into becoming child again “I am 100 and a half”
All I know is that I'm 78 and forgot where I read the above.
Oh yes, and whatever this animal is, let it rest in peace.
The bust of Goethe - it was a joke. But your reference has solemnified the whole damn thing and I feel compelled to get one and install it among the 20 - 25 forklift truck models on the shelves in front of me. Why the word "damn"? Because I cannot stop with Goethe and am reminded of that remarkable book, The German Genius, and the realisation that I have now become Thursday's child.
The supine animal is certainly one interpretation. Another I think I see is a large and healthy dragon facing towards the right of the picture. Yet, just as when listening to music a newcomer to music makes up stories to go with the music and only later appreciates the language of sound, so with abstract art. I am not quite able to see things in an abstract way, and would like to be able to.
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