(no subject)

[kohaku]

For vegetariansushi and anyone interested.

Eiffel Tower, 1995
by Viggo Mortensen






I couldn't find the "nail polish" one I referred to, but this one comes pretty close.

Comments

[vegetariansushi.livejournal.com]

I'd love more, if it's not a pain. I'm seriously turning into an artwhore.

Out of interest, do you take photos? Because now I'm on a quest to make you share all your artistic endeavours with me.

I think what I love about the Eiffel Tower pic is that it's just so OPEN. He looks such a child, even though he's clearly not - There's a sense of unabashed wonder that makes me go all gooey inside.

[kohaku1977.livejournal.com]

No, it's not a pain. It's so nice to have someone to talk to about Viggo's art and not just movies.

I'm not as multitalented though. I take photos once in a while, but they're lacking something. I'm better with words. I try because I don't want to give up, maybe one day I can capture the world like I see it on film. Until then, it's just words. But that's fine with me.

Viggo's photos capture the moment perfectly. His later works are much more geometrically oriented, like he focussed on shapes and forms.

I'll post some in a minute :) I hope I have some other photos than just the Henry ones. Heh.

[vegetariansushi.livejournal.com]

To be honest, my knowledge of movies and the like is sort of pathetically limited, so I'm far more comfortable talking about poetry or art or photos. And I'm almost always up for discussion.

Your words are beautiful, so I don't think you're missing much without a flash. I was just wondering.

I've not seen a great deal of his photography, like I said - I've seen the famous ones of the LotR cast, of course, but not much else. I dream of winning the lottery so I can buy book upon book of poetry and photos and art, and records and books and. . . Really, I may as well just live in a library.

[kohaku1977.livejournal.com]

My hubby claims we're living in a library already... *shifty eyes* I love poetry, I love books, I can't stop reading one minute. I enjoy words and the way sentences go together. I feel madly in love with Viggo's poetry. I save for months to buy his books, which seems very fangirlish. But, hey, you said that was okay, right? :D For my birthday this year I asked for one of the more expensive ones and I think I'll get it.
It's so good to talk to you about something other than movies or fandom (in the closest sense there is)! I don't know much about poetry and art, but I know what I like and why I like it. I tried to learn more, but since I'm more of a writer than a painter I only made it to Creative Writing classes.

So, yeah, Viggo entry coming right up. :D

[vegetariansushi.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem overly fangirlish to save for his books. Art books can be insanely expensive - I can't afford them even when I'm saving, because it'd take me years to have that much - So I think that you've just found an artist that you feel a connection to, and you're willing to make the necessary sacrifices that go with that. Anyhow, there's nothing wrong with being fangirlish. I mean, stalking people and creating shrines to them in your bedroom, I can see real easy how that'd be real bad, real fast. But admiring creative, talented people? I refuse to be ashamed of that. I'm aware that I do it, even with people on LJ, and I figure that I'm okay with being a little pathetic and fangirly and supporting creative endeavors of all kinds, because the alternative is looking at things blankly and then turning away, and never talking about them or telling the creators how much they've affected you, you know?

I feel like art is sort of a dying. . . Well, a dying art, but that's redundant. I'm sure you know what I mean, though. I feel like as a society, we've rejected it in favour of the biggerfasterbetter mindset. Arts programs get crap funding, (at least, here,) people who say that they're "artists" are frequently sort of scoffed at, like it's somehow not worthwhile. And I don't want to believe that, don't want to let myself fall into that trap.

Um. How did I get on about this? Sorry.

We should discuss books sometimes - I love to read, even though it seems that I don't have a lot of time for it lately. My daughter's forgiving about me being on the computer, but when I'm reading, she wants it to be reading to her. And becuse I'm a sucker, that's about how it usually works out.

Thank you so much for the Viggo entry, by the way. He has some amazing photos, and I'd never seen the vast majority of those before.

[kohaku1977.livejournal.com]

I'm okay with being a little pathetic and fangirly and supporting creative endeavors of all kinds, because the alternative is looking at things blankly and then turning away I don't comment as often as I want to, mostly because I feel bad leaving 12-year-oldish comments like omg I love this. On the other hand, I'd rather get such comments than none at all. Tricky. But you're right. I don't want to look at things and turn, especially not when they have touched me in the slightest way.

I don't call myself a writer or an artist or whatever because I don't know how society would react. My mother certainly scoffs at me, wanting me to learn a trade, to get "a real job", so I chose to become a teacher. Being at university actually made me write. Backlash of fate, I'd say. I met wonderful people there who encouraged me to write more. I still feel this reluctance of regarding my stories as "worthy" and good and publishable. Maybe it's rather the reluctance of defining myself through my writing. Which is rewarding indeed, and something I'd like to do. But then there is this voice in my head that sounds suspiciously like my mother, telling me that writing is not a job, but something you do in your pasttime.
I just realised how good it feels to see my thoughts written out before me. Maybe soon I will stand up and say, yes, I'm a writer. I am somehow. Not limited to that, but it's definitely a part of me.

I just started to read a book by Neil Postman called "Technopoly - The Surrender of Culture to Technology". So far it's very good. Your paragraph about art as a dying subject reminded me of it. Postman's writings are always very provocative, but sometimes that's what I need. So yeah, to come back to your comment: I treasure art, but like I said a paragraph earlier, I tend to fall into that trap of artists not being worthwhile when it comes to myself. I encourage other people whenever I can. But for myself there is still this barrier of I don't know, this last line drawn by my parents of "it's no real job". I'd love to write for a living. I'm used to having little money. But everytime I talk about those thoughts to close friends they shake their heads and ask me if I don't want to lead a good life, have a nice car, enough money to pay the rent and food, and if I don't want to have kids sometime. Well, yes. I'm still not sure which way to take, but life will show me, I hope.

How old is your daughter? Read her something fun we can discuss later on! :D I love everything by Satoshi Kitamura - er books about Boots the cat are such cute little gems. I spent hours sitting in Glasgow in a bookstore reading through the children's books.

You're very welcome. But really, you shouldn't encourage me too much. Friends roll their eyes when I start talking about Viggo. I try not to talk their ears off, but there you go. Thanks for letting me share and commenting.

♥

[vegetariansushi.livejournal.com]

Answering that last bit first:

You're very welcome. But really, you shouldn't encourage me too much. Friends roll their eyes when I start talking about Viggo. I try not to talk their ears off, but there you go. Thanks for letting me share and commenting.

I really, really like this conversation, so I'm going to keep encouraging you for as long as you'll let me. And, if you notice, we have other threads going about Viggo, but this is about art, and Viggo is incidental. I'm loving this discussion, and will keep coming back to it as long as you're game, or until we run out of things to say. Which I'm having a hard time imagining, actually. So stop thanking me, becuase I'm having a great time with this - It's a lot of things that I'm sometimes afraid to say or bring up for fear of appearing pretentious.

But you're right. I don't want to look at things and turn, especially not when they have touched me in the slightest way.

I admit that I'm bad at leaving feedback for people that I don't know. I mostly only do it when the story overwhelms me and I feel like I have to do, get it out of my brain. When I have some kind of relationship with people, (they're on my friendslist or whatever,) I feel far less strange about it, though I still probably don't leave as much as I should, because I'm afraid that people will find me strange and off-putting. Or stalkery.

I don't call myself a writer or an artist or whatever because I don't know how society would react. My mother certainly scoffs at me, wanting me to learn a trade, to get "a real job", so I chose to become a teacher.

Oh, hon. I know just what you mean - I do - but I wish that it was different for you. You're amazing and talented. I guess that most parents want their kids to learn a trade of some kind, but it seems sad to me that artistic. . . That art isn't viewed as something that can be a viable career option, and moreover, that we live in a society that's allowed art to be minimised to the point where it's not.

I just started to read a book by Neil Postman called "Technopoly - The Surrender of Culture to Technology". So far it's very good.

I'll have to look for that at the library next time that I'm there. Thanks!

But everytime I talk about those thoughts to close friends they shake their heads and ask me if I don't want to lead a good life, have a nice car, enough money to pay the rent and food, and if I don't want to have kids sometime. Well, yes. I'm still not sure which way to take, but life will show me, I hope.

*sigh* I get asked that an awful lot as well, and it angers me, because I don't feel that having a nice car and enough money to buy a big house in suburbia necessarily equals the 'good life'. I've always thought of it as something less tangible, and it bothers me that I live in a country where no one can conceive of that. I think that there's a huge degree of cultural upbringing in what you consider to be 'the good life', by the way. My best friend is Australian, and every time that she's in America she's amazed at how people are completely defined by their jobs, and says how it's not at all like that in AU. I'm giving serious thought to moving over there for a while, just to see if it's as different as she says. Because god, wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere where you were allowed to define yourself by what you love instead of what you do to feed yourself?

How old is your daughter? Read her something fun we can discuss later on!

She's sixteen months as of today. I read to her a lot - Right now her favourites are Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight, Moon. Goodnight, Moon is one of my favourite books ever, so that works out really well.

...books about Boots the cat are such cute little gems

Hm. Well, I did just get a check. I can drop a little money on books for le babyhead. Yay! Yay! A lot of yay! Books! Books are so sexy. People who read are so sexy.

And at the end, reiterating: Please, don't hold back, here. If you want to post ten pages of thoughts about the nature of art and its place in society, please, have at. It might take me a day or two to respond, as I'm a little slow lately, but I'd love to read whatever you have to say.