So, being apart of this world the first time I experienced cubism I was perplexed. It seemed ugly. I couldn't find reason to the shapes, to its chaos. But then everything changed when my eyes looked upon one work of art. I had seen it before but never it's title. I never saw what it may have been trying to tell me to see. It wasn't until that moment in English when my eyes opened with a new sight that I could see the beauty of the work.
Now I know placing this on a blog gives it no justice but power behind this picture has opened my eyes to the world of cubism. This is Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 by Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp was a frenchman alive during the emerging surrealist movement. Growing up in a cultured home he was able to see beauty in new art. Nude Descending a Staircase was his first work that led him to the main stage of modern art. To many, including myself, this cumulation of lines and squiggles may be nothing but to others it radiates with a magnitude that only the sight of it can explain.
My realization came to be when I saw into the fourth dimension of this work. I saw how the art broke the boundary of time. It took away what two dimensions held and with great skill explored time compounded on itself. The main stream movement in France had just been exiting a period of romanticism where art was classical, real, and something one could easily identify and the need for an edgy form was bubbling beneath the surface. Cubism was that burst. It took reality and changed the way we looked at the world. With the invention of film, time became something that could be seen in segments. Time could be placed on top of itself and blended to be one image. Duchamp took this idea and poured out his heart into this canvas. Its beauty is different. Not because of the radiant colors, not because of the intense realism, but because it captured our lives. I didn't see it at first, but now I feel like I have new eyes. I can now appreciate and enjoy the artwork of cubist and many other artists of the modern movement.
Like you, I didn't really understand cubism when I was first introduced to this particular style of art. I had never really understood the meaning of cubistic works of art, but when I read your blog post, cubism started to make more sense. I also really liked the way you wrote about your new insight into cubism. I really like how you worded the beginning of the last paragraph: I saw how the art broke the boundary of time. It took away what two dimensions held and with great skill explored time compounded on itself.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Nigel. The Nude Descending the Staircase was not a portrait I was easily able to recognize. There were so many lines, and sketches everything looked just like a blur. However, you were right when you said that this phase of art is ever changing. New ideas are being formed everyday and new forms of art are also being cultivated. The thing is, most times people do not like what they cannot understand. However, some individuals may find that a challenge and it might grab their attention even more so. However, I totally agree on your idea of realizing something that wasn't there before. Maybe it was an idea, picture, concept, or realization, but whatever it was it was a new spark of imagination that led to new realizations. However, sometimes it may take more than one exposure to come to that understanding.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your point of view on the process of how you gradaully glued together the overall idea of the painting. The Nude Descending was actually a painting that I throuroughly enjoyed. While the first look at it made me question the artists motives, I quickly understood the seemingly abstaract firures throughout the painting. On a different note, I belive that analyzing a piece of work or even just taking a few seconds to enjoy it truely may make a difference. For instance,In the movie Once, the more Mr.Allen watched it, the more clues and hidden ideas he seemed to find. Overall, I find that these types of abstract pieces of work are the best way to quickly become motivated.
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