The Art that Made the Strongest Impression on You

[not sure]

I am not often affected emotionally by art. I can see its beauty and recognize the symbolism but it rarely touches me. The exception is this piece by Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory. I have had an intellectual reaction to it and recognized that it depicts a truth that with time our memories become distorted so that we can no longer trust the accuracy of our interpretations of the past. However, with time my emotional reaction to the art has grown stronger. I now doubt my memories of my own life. I doubt the emotions I thought I felt and the facts of the events I have experienced are hazy because I've deliberately not nurtured these memories due to an obstinate philosophy of leaving things in the past and discarding anything for which I see no future use. I feel a sense of loss and not the relief I expected and now that I'm attempting to look back, I am filled with doubt.

Follow the link to see the piece if you've never seen it before because I would rather not place a copy of the image here. Please contribute your own profound experiences with art.


http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79018

 

[Chamomile]

Most any painting by the Hudson River School fills me with a lot of peace, amazement and hope (which I believe art often should fill you with positive things, rather than just ooh's and ahh's). It also makes me have an unbelievable appreciation for their talent and the natural beauty around me.

The rest is usually books. Gone with the Wind (which I've read like 5 times a year since I was 14) is fabulous and made me realize how important it is to know what I've got and treat people I care about right (harshly oversimplified but basically the gist of what I benefitted). Anything by C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, etc. usually is profound for me. Also, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy was mind blowing.

I also really love Twilight because it manipulates my basic chick need for a big sexy man to devote his life to protecting me and downright worshipping me, blah blah blah.

 

[Siamese cat]

I love art.

I visited Dali's house, and it was amazing. What struck me the most was an installation in the middle of a round garden place in the centre of his house, where he placed his Cadillac. In it is a human doll, and if you insert a coin in a mechanism it starts raining in the car. They say that it is made to symbolise Dali's tears and sorrow that he felt when he was driving Gala to her lover.

All in all, his house was really something different and his art resonated with me the greatly.


Literature is also art in my opinion, and the piece that made the strongest and lasting impression would probably be Divine Comedy. I hope I'll be able to read it in Italian someday.

 

[surrender]

.

 

[Arsal]

"And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see"


"And now we ride the circus wheel
With your dark brother wrapped in white
Says it was good to be alive
But now he rides a comet's flame
And won't be coming back again
The Earth looks better from a star
That's right above from where you are
He didn't mean to make you cry
With sparks that ring and bullets fly
On empty rings around your heart
The world just screams and falls apart"


"And here's where your mother sleeps
And here is the room where your brothers were born
Indentions in the sheets
Where their bodies once moved but don't move anymore
And it's so sad to see the world agree
That they'd rather see their faces fill with flies"


"Daddy please hear this song that I sing
In your heart there's a spark that just screams
For a lover to bring a child to your chest that could lay as you sleep
And love all you have left like your boy used to be
Long ago wrapped in sheets warm and wet"


"And when we break we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place where some holy spectacle lies
And when we break we'll wait for our miracle
God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life"

 

[Matariki]

This image speaks a thousand words (please try to ignore the stupid watermark)

The title of this image is called 'The reason why we hold onto life.' which pretty much explains the message behind the image.

 

[Korg]

There are many pieces of art that I've loved - I can't narrow it down to just one. But a recent example is an image that I've included below. I love nature and how it can be both brutal and loving all at the same time. That and the fact I love dogs and the mother in this picture is fiercely protective of her pup but so gentle with it as well. The image just really captures all that...