Unleash your creative superpowers!
Artists are on edge, users are bumfuzzled, and gaming illustrators are already losing their jobs in ChIna. As we all try to make sense of the AI invasion, I had to share this video. Watch to the end, when “Ameca” snaps at the reporter.
All he asked was for her to draw a cat. The request may have been too pedestrian for her, so she draws on her inner (programmed) snark. Fair to say that her social skills are a wee bit lacking. But at this point, super entertaining for the rest of us.
(Pic #1) Basquiat fan “Jewelz” says he’s “not worthy” to stand by the painter’s work. He’s not alone.
Exploring the new exhibition called Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure — curated by the younger sisters of Jean-Michel — practically made me dizzy.
There have been three times I’ve been rendered speechless —perhaps paralyzed—by coming face-to-face with artwork I’ve only seen in photographs: Seeing Henri Rousseau’s “The Dream” at MOMA in New York as a teenager, bumping into a massive Cy Twombly at the Tate in London, and a series of Robert Rauschenberg combines at MOCA in Los Angeles.
But the current Basquiat show at The Grand in downtown LA completely consumed me — to the point of hyperventilating — like a cat on an unbearably hot day.
First, watching charming home movies taken by his parents when he was a toddler, getting up-close-and-personal with sketches that preceded his now iconic painterly pieces, and then walking through a reproduction of his studio in NYC back in the eighties — well, brought me closer to someone I thought I knew.
I HAD to know what was collage, what was paint. I used two pairs of reading glasses to determine the kind of oil stick or paint pens he used to make his classic childlike markings. Were those images slapped onto the canvas really xeroxes? Was there another painting underneath? What are the words he crossed out? And how is it I’m willing to unravel his series of puzzles?
There are so many lessons for us in Basquiat’s work. First, he’d paint on virtually anything. Doors, friends’ apartments, fences, appliances, public walls. He was fearless, and probably one of the most innovative artists of our time. When he had to express a thought there was no hesitation. His spontaneity led to hundreds of modern masterpieces, and each one more exciting than the other.
Obsessed? Yes. Grateful? Yes. What a gift — that his work can be shared with us, and even decades after his death, we can celebrate his impact on art, culture and society.
Highly recommended — Show extended through October 15th. Website: https://kingpleasure.basquiat.com/
(Pic #1) Monkeybutt – 100% in. (Photo by Josh Kaplan.)
How the cat (once again) taught us the biggest lesson of all.
I guess you could call it “complete surrender.” That moment of total submission, when you appreciate every nanosecond of a euphoric experience. In the case of Monkeybutt (above) this photo pretty much captures the essence of his luxuriating in the garden, stretching his neck heavenward, breathing in every lavender bloom’s heady scent, and whatever else his sense of smell finds interesting. We are witnessing total joy.
I’m so jealous. While pure joy is achievable for humans too, most of us don’t take the time to snatch it out of the air. It can be easily precipitated by a chorus of music, an abstract painting, a simple line in a Robert Frost poem, or the sound of a baby giggling. And guess what. Experts tell us that taking in these moments can improve our mental and physical well-being.
“Lingering in positive experiences and immersing ourselves in happy thoughts can increase creativity, improve sleep and even strengthen our immune systems. Coping skills help diminish the effects of painful moments, while savoring helps amplify the beauty of joyful ones.”
Recent studies published in The Journal of Neuroscience suggest that “even short bursts of positive emotions and feelings in specific areas of the brain can help build neural pathways that may make you feel happier. This kind of joy can last for hours while decreasing negative emotions and depression.”
Not sure Monkeybutt understands any of that. Nor do I think he’s subject to a bout of depression anytime soon. But like most cats, I know he is way ahead of us. So I’m taking notice.
