Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Good Evening,

Our readings for today discussed Scharfstein's four symbolic images of human beauty in which he gives examples pertaining to Ephebism.  I found particularly interesting how each was rich in symbolism that was not always a physical attribute, even though that is what these symbols represented with regards to the Chinese using rocks and trees as described on pages 124 and 125 of the text.  I've always been fascinated about Chinese Art and the meaning of metaphors that are used considering that I do this as well when I am creating a painting or drawing.


For instance, take this picture.  It's actually considered photographic art in modern day China and if you notice when you look through the circular opening you will see another glass "wall" in which two artists were trying to express that even though living together, the gap that exists in modern-day families.  This picture was taken in East Beijing and supposedly the artist's are trying to get everyone to think about the changes within their society.

I'm not so sure what I truly think about this being "art" as I am mostly Neoclassical.  However, the symbolism it represents is, in my opinion, very powerful.  As the semester progresses, I hope to discover more about the use of these metaphors and.  Does anyone agree with this?

1 comment:

  1. This is a very interesting question. We will explore symbolism in much more detail in our upcoming readings. The symbolism in the photograph reminds me of the use of techniques like montage in cinema, which allows the director to convey ideas through the juxtaposition of filmed images. We will look at some examples of this in class.

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