Not to be Reproduced, 1937 Oil on Canvas Mechanical Reproduction, 2013 Photo taken by Rowenna Chanskey
Rene Magritte (1898 – 1967), Belgian surrealist painter in the early 20th century, was obsessed with ironic themes and hidden views. His witty paintings challenge how the viewers read images. Appropriating his pieces into the light of today, in the age of technology, I explore the same paradox he investigates between reality and illusion. I question the virtual versus the physical experience. Assuming that most of my viewers have a smartphone, or that the person next to them will, they can experience another dimension of Magritte’s work, right there or right HERE!
SO FINE! If people see things and see art through their machine, why have the statue there in the first place. Take away Magritte’s The Future of Statue, now my statue does not have to exist in the physical world because it already exist in the virtual. Here is an empty plinth, like Magritte’s Empty Picture Frame. On each side, there are different codes that links to three of the same statue that Magritte made.
Exhibited in London April 2013
Magritte casted five statues from Napoleon’s death mask. Four of which are still in existence. One belongs to the Tate, one in Lehmbruck, and one in New York. The fourth is probably in a private collection.
By Magritte titling these masks The Future of Statues, the embodiment of Napoleon has transcended from a tangible memorial piece of a dead emperor to a metaphysical being. In this The Future of Statue, the sculpture transcends from the physical to the virtual world.
Here in the “Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, we face an inverted Allegory of the Cave. Originally, Plato describes an enlightened person coming out of the cave and seeing the object in reality, rather than a 2D shadow on a surface. Walk around it, smell it, and feel it. Ironically, after the advancement of technology we return to a 2D surface, but we have the capability of defying time and space by being in three cities at once: New York, Duisburg, andLiverpool.
Jean Baudrillard in 1929 wrote about the aura of the original, and the lack of authenticity with the fake, but what if the there is no physical object, only something in the virtual. Can the aura exist without the physical? My Future of Statue, there is no tangible object, yet there is an feeling that cannot be replaced on any giving space. It had to be in a gallery space in order for the piece to deconstructing what a sculpture should be and what a plinth should do in a gallery space. So I question my viewers, can quality of relationship be developed online? Can technology help connect you with more people? If so, what are the depths of those connections?
Now this is not a rebellion of technology. I am not a Willam Morrison. In fact I am all for using technology and all it has to offer. I do however believe that we must be aware to compensate for where it lacks.
Rene Magritte’s, Les Amants [The Lovers] 1928. Oil on canvas, 21 3/8 x 28 7/8″ (54 x 73.4 cm) MoMA, New York
See how it works here: Video In Magritte’s The Lovers, a “barrier of fabric prevents the intimate embrace between two lovers, transforming an act of passion into one of isolation and frustration.”[1] Today the barrier is not made of fabric but of metal and glass: the phone in your hands. While we hide behind our machines, it is only when there is connection with the machines does the point of contact become unveiled. Once the QR code is read, the fabric is lifted, exposing an extreme close-up of the lovers’ embrace. We now hold on our phones, the two lovers, at such a close proximity; it is embarrassing, as if interrupting the moment. For a second, we are fooled. The phone only gives a false sense of intimacy, until we turn it off and pack it away. Then are we reminded that we are isolating ourselves the moment we hold our phones as barriers to the world in front of us.
Unveiled
Why is there a barrier in the first place, and why do we want still want it? In his The Son of Man, Magritte has an apple in front of a man’s face, creating this feeling of curiosity to see and to know who is hiding. Magritte talks about how the hidden evokes an interest that the seen cannot evoke in the same way. Today, we do the same, holding Apple products in front of our faces; and many times, our “friends” find our status updates more interesting then our physical presences.
Rene Magritte’s The Son of Man, Oil on Canvas, 1964. 116 cm × 89 cm (45.67 in × 35 in) Private Collection.
La trahison des images 1928 Oil on canvas 63.5 cm × 93.98 cm (25 in × 37 in) LACMA
The QR code is very fascinating concept. Though only 15% of the population who actually utilize it, it is everywhere. It doesn’t require a computer chip or some kind of magnetic force. It is simply a print of an image; an image that a machine reads and outputs the information that the code directs it too. If we are not aware, we too can become robots and read images to only outputs when the image tells us to. We have to prove ourselves as cognitive being by destructing the image, thinking about what we see and why we see it in this way.
Magritte questions the same thing in 1928. He makes us question the authority of what we see and not to be fooled by what the image tells us to think. Magritte states, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” because he can’t stuff it, he can’t smoke it; this is only a painting, a representation of a pipe. This iconic pipe is now digitalized in QR codes. Not only does the code represent a URL, it actually links the scanner to its virtual life, which is the reality of most people’s lives today. This pipe is personified by its Facebook profile. It is actively socializing, tagging, posting, and connecting with people.
Facebook today is simply a series of images that represent a person. We must challenge the interactions we have with the representation. How close and how intimate can you be with a person via Facebook?
Artist Talk: Award-winning Dutch photographer, Bas Princen
Coming to the Architect Association School of Architecture to see a photographer talk about his work, one must ask what is the correlation between photography and Architecture. Ben Princen is a trained architect, but now most of his exhibited works are photographs of landscapes and buildings from all over the world, such as China, Egypt, America, and Europe. His illustrated booklet, Reservoir, contain a series of theses photographs of which coveys the oddity of human ‘civilisations.’
During the talk, Princen displayed on PowerPoint the pictures featured in the book. He was able to tell us the stories behind some of his pictures. This picture below, Mokattam ridge (garbage city) from Cairo has two vanishing points. This is picture is actually two pictures that are fused together to create a story. He noted that every picture tells a story, and the photographer directs the viewer to follow the narrative.
The eye first enters the photo some where in the middle where the flat roofs are seen wholesomely. It then travels around in a circle, up to the white abyss, following the horizon line, and back down to the frontal view avoiding the dark black hole right in the middle of the picture. Light plays a role in directing the eye. The lilted parts are where the eyes forces in on. The dark parts and the white background become the negative space that borders the path that the eyes travel on.
This garbage city juxtaposed to the white background conveys the dramatic difference in social classes in Cairo. Patches of light and darkness through out the picture is similar the current state of Cairo. When I went, my friend would point to one place and say this is one of the nicest parts of Cairo. Then I see very broken down building next to it. All over Cairo, there are districts of wealth adjacent to dodgy areas.
Mokattam ridge (garbage city), Caïro, 65×81 of 125×155 cm,2009
Other photographs in his series follow a certain sequence. The viewers can see more clearly of order of photos at artist talk, where he projects his photography in a certain order or by flipping through his book. A gallery space does not hold the same emphasize to order because the viewer is exposed to the multiple images at the same time. By presenting the photos one by one, the viewers can see the slow transition from one image to another, which is vital to Princen’s work to see the references from old photos.
From these white man-made colonnade, he gives us the following picture. Here he juxtapose two ideas of strength, human’s contraction of beams and nature’s strong earthly material; both supporting one another. It is a striking contrast between organic and geometric shapes, but that is what makes it beautiful.
Princen’s references come from different photos from other photos he took or old photos from books and magazines. Princen said, “I go out to find photographs […] in which the artificial and the natural take each other’s forms and in which one is unable to see if things are being constructed or destroyed. I think that is the most interesting thing that can be said right now about the cities in which we live, and the landscapes in which we dwell (and vice versa).” His interest is the fusion of nature and humanity, and how they work together and live with each other. If nature and humanity can live together so well and ideally, they can dissolve within each other. Like in the top photo, the horizon line from the landscape continues on the gilded building in the middle of the photo. Looking at it for a long period of time, the building begins to disappear. Nature represented by landscape, and buildings represented by building structures, they both sit in harmony within each other, in Princen’s photos.
Trees and forests protect and shelter many species of life on earth. About 70% of land animals and plants live in the forest. Forests also help water vapor continue the water cycle into the atmosphere, and trees absorb greenhouse gases that lessen the effects of global warming. 30 percent of the world’s land area is forest, yet rows and rows of trees the spanning the area of Panama are lost every year.
Some of these losses are due to natural wildfire and some are due to industry extraction. In agriculture, famers cut down trees to make way for their harvest. Timber and Paper companies take trees from around the world like Scandinavia, Baltic States, North America, and Eastern Europe, to import back in their home countries.
In 2004, the UK harvested 11.1 million cubic meter of timber. By 2020, the estimated harvested cubic meters are predicted to be 16 million. Total of 420,000 tons of waste wood by households, and the disposal of wood waste are rare.
Other organization such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) have caught on. They are an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that sets regulations to how trees travel from its birth ground into whatever product they become. Customers seeing their trademark understand that the product they are purchasing follow a regulated chain of custody. The public at home, however, also needs to be more aware of how to use wood responsibly. Wood flooring and cabinets can be reduced, reuse, and recycle.
This project is encouraging the public to take responsibility as citizens of the world as they are using the world’s natural resources before trees and forest disappear. We need to plan for a healthier globe for the future generation by cleaning the baton before we pass it off.
Kensington Park were Next Step Park can be installed
Next Step Park, is a monument and an ode to trees. A large vibrant tree stands in between a path of two wood panels. These panels are reused wood flooring from a residential home. One path leads to a wrinkle tree stump, and the other leads to a playground. This is a family friendly park open to the public. The playground is made from recycled wood, and it sits on top of mulch made from old wood. Next to the tree, in-between the two paths, a concrete plinth holds a plaque has the following engraved: “Next Step Park: an Ode to trees and forest, dedicated to the next generation.”
The path leading to children playing on the playground represents the next generation and how recycled products can be integrated in their daily lives for a positive effect. On the other hand, the tree stump represent the risk of deforestation. As we stand between the two paths, we have to make a choice on what direction our next step should be.
This project can go further, and start as a mock up for parks around the world in different counties. This is a global issue, not just the UK or the US. Next Step can be a branding for an eco friendly children product company. Not only in public, but Next Step can branch out in private residential homes for backyard playgrounds. This is just the begging where we ask, what is our next step?
With joint collaboration between Royal College of Art and the London Consortium, Metalab presents a performer/audience/re-enactment by Dan Graham. The piece was originally done at the London performance site Riverside Studios, titled performer/audience/mirror in 1979.
There were 4 stages of this performance. In stage one, Graham stands in front of the audience describing everything about his external presence and his body in the space. During stage two, he describes the audience’s external actions and behavior. In stages three and four, he turns to the mirror that reflected the whole room with the audience and repeats stages one and two.
Dan Graham in his performance
Graham was interested in the real time behavior and relationship between the performer, audience, and mirror. When Graham turned to the mirror, ” the audience was able to instantaneously perceive itself as a public mass (as a unity), offsetting its definition by the performer(‘s discourse). First, a person in the audience sees himself “objectively” (“subjectively”) perceived by himself, next he hears himself described “objectively” (“subjectively”) in terms of the performer’s perception.” [1]
At the Metalab, the audience helped re-enact stages one and two just as Graham did. This time, however, we switched the place of the mirror with a projection of a Twitter page. Anyone was allowed to “tweet” with their phones, which would show up on the page. There was a computer at the back of the room for anyone to use. There was a person constantly refreshing the page so that all the tweets would be seen. Because Twitter claims to keep people updated on “what’s happening, right now, with the people and organizations you care about,” as stated on their Welcome to Twitter page, we experimented with how Twitter can reflect real time as the mirror did in Graham’s performance.
photos by Marsha Bradfield At the Riverside Studio
I volunteered myself to be Graham in this re-enactment. As I stood in front of the audience and described myself externally for stage one, it was quite nerve racking. It is hard to talk about nothing and only describing the slight details of my actions, which are often unnoticed and unintentional, only details that Sherlock Holmes would catch. During stage two, I described the audience. Amongst the audience, were my friends and my professor Dr. Mary Robert, who brought me to the performance. As I looked into the audience, I described the movements happening in the audience. Graham pointed out that there was always a slight delay between the audience’s actions and his own descriptions of what they were doing. I also experienced this.
That delay was further displayed in stages three and four when I turned towards the Twitter feed. Stage three was difficult to describe myself while looking at the Twitter page. I just had to describe where my eyes were looking and where I was physically standing. The concept was to see myself through the Tweeter feed, however, it was difficult to read myself on the page. It might have worked better if it was my own page where I try to express myself and my taste in the background color and font choices.
In the forth stage, I had to describe the audience through reading the tweets. It was very different from the mirror because I had to take time to read the tweets first, the audience had to take time to type and post the tweet, and the page had to be refreshed in order for the tweets to shows up. We also had a smaller crowed so there weren’t many tweeters.
Our discussion at the end of the re-enactment focused on the similarities and differences between the mirror and Twitter. It is interesting to realize how Twitter is far from the live truth. A mirror reflects objectively what ever faces it. A tweet reflects the writer through what the writer wants to write about. The writer can choose to omit or highlight something unlike the mirror, which shows things exactly how they are.
The other concern is the issue of “right now.” In the mirror, it reflects everything as the action is being done. When an audience member raises his hand, his hand is raised in the mirror at the same time. Then when Graham described the raising of the hand, there is a bit of a delay because Graham has to see it, register it in his brain, then talk about it.
To some degree there is some subjectivity in Graham’s monologue because he can choose what to describe and how to describe it. Twitter on the other hand, more time takes place in between when the audience tweets and when I described it. It is not “right now” as it is in the mirror. For instant, an audience tweets, “I agree with what you said.” Moments have past, and I have already changed topic. The tweet is no longer relevant, and it becomes confusing.
When you are sitting in a room, tweeting about people in the same room feels ridiculous because Twitter does not fulfill its promise to announce what is happening “now.” Twitter does change in perspective if the audience member were at different locations around the world. In that case, Twitter and technology can showcase how fast news can travel with a click of a button.
This just reminds me of that one scene inDisney/Pixar film, WALL-E (2008). In the film, a future society where technology runs the lives of people and they no longer have to make any efforts to live. Walking, talking, eating, was done on their behalf by different forms of technology. In this one particular scene, an overweight man converses with a friend through a virtual scene, like Skype, while sitting on his floating wheelchair and eating burgers as a milkshake. Then the we see the bigger picture, and the friend that he was talking to is sitting right next to him, but he is too lazy to turn his head and would much rather converse with him through the technology provided.
If we wisely utilize the technology provided today, we can reach a broader audience around the world at the same time which is incredible. However, this “headphone” generation must understand that Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and other social networking sites can never compare to the real time experience that is physically present in front of them.
Mondrian and Nicholson in Parallel, opening at the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House
Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House featured the early 20th century works of British painter Ben Nicholson and Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. Nicholson and Mondrian’s works are displayed side-by-side illustrating their relationship and the influence they had upon each other’s art.
Piet Mondrian, Composition C (no. III), with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1935. Image courtesy of Mondrian/Holtzman Trust and via http://www.courtauld.ac.uk.
Mondrian is best know for his black, white, and primary color compositions. Composition C (no.III) from 1935 strips the canvas of small details and narrows down to the basics. Black parallel and perpendicular lines, are laid upon a white canvas. Mondrian explores the spatial relationships with the addition of vibrant colors.
Clement Greenberg, an American writer who had a lot of influence in the art world, described Modern Art as a movement that called attention to the actual art medium with little narrative and little attention to the subject of the painting. Like other Modern artists, Mondrian’s abstract painting is an experiment in the medium of paint and how it effects the viewer.
Nicholoson’s relationship with Mondrian first began when he visited Mondrian’s studio in Paris in 1934. After an overwhelming experience, he actually had to rest in a nearby cafe to take it all in. The two men continued their relationship after Mondrian moved to London during WWII. During those seven years living in London, his neighbor Nicholoson and Mondrian built a strong relationship dispute their 22 years age difference. They kept their friendship even after they were geographically separated until the death of Mondrian. Mondrian moved to Manhattan, New York, and Nicholoson moved to St Ives, Cornwall.
It is easy to see the artistic parallel between Mondrian’s Composition C and Nicholson’s untitled painting from 1940 (above), though these paintings were produced when the two artists were apart. Thanks to the curators of the Courtauld Gallery, we can see that both paintings followed a simple, straight, grid-like pattern in their compositions. Mondrian’s, however, described the energy and vibrance of the colors used by juxtoposing bright colors. Nicholson, on the other hand, introduced different tones of colors that Mondrian does not explore. Nicholson has no lines in between his different colored spaces which emphasize the power of different tones and saturation which have no need for defining boarders.
This exhibition celebrated the benefits of artists’ relationship with one another over a long period of time. The artistic theories and language shared between two artists inspired each one to uncover different artistic theory that we now can enjoy and learn from.
The exhibition also invited The Joshua Jaswon quartet from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The group played music by Lester Young, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker. The public was encouraged to come dressed in 1930’s glamour to grain free entrance. Of course I could not resist getting my hair and make up done, and dressing up in a floor length dress and fur.
The curators of the Courtauld Gallery are telling a story of friendship that transcends lifetimes. Iron sharpens iron, just as a friend inspires another friend to strive for more in life and art.
Two is better than one, as the saying goes, and through experience I have seen the the benefits of good company. One thing I can boast about is how blessed I am to have amazing and supportive friends. One friend who accompanied me to the gallery opening, is a young lady that I admire and feel comfortable sharing my thoughts and ideas about how to live life. Vice versa, she can do the same with me.
In front of Somerset House dressed in 1930's Glamour
The art of making friends: finding someone that possesses a kind of aura or characteristic that you, yourself want to gain or understand. Then spend time with them in hopes that some it will rub off on you. That is what Nicholoson did when he invited Mondrian to live in London. The result of that invitation has stretched beyond their lifetime, and we celebrate it now at this gallery.
I first fell in love with the Phantom of the Opera in middle school band. We did a number compiling the best of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s works, including what was arguably his most famous composition, Phantom of Opera. I remember playing the Timpani, and in-between my drum rolls, I would sway to the music with the pallets in my hands, completely enchanted by the vast number of instruments playing. For this particular concert, the symphony band and the string orchestra collaborated and played together. Even from a middle school band with 13 year-old musicians, the multiple layers of sound produced by the different instrument was phenomenal. The post below is not of us playing, but it is so magnificent to see a performance as such. And being a percussionist at the back of the band, I could see the musicians as a whole while being surrounded and embraced by such beautiful sound. We had an opportunity to experience a glimpse of Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece, and it was glorious.
Then in 2004, Lloyd Webber and Joel Schumacher produce the film adaptation with Emmy Rossum as Christine and Gerard Butler as the Phantom. One of my older friends, more like a big sister, took me to go see it in the movie theater. When the DVD was released, I had it on repeat just for the music to fill the house. My phone’s ringtone was the Overture for a long time. I remember going out on my first few dates. When my Asian mother called, the intense, demanding, and haunting music scared my date. Needless to say, it kept him on his toes.
I finally saw the musical in theatre when I was in New York. We paid the last minute, student, price to sit in the nose-bleed section, but it was still an amazing experience to hear the music for what it was initially composed for, a musical. In the scene when Christine walks through the mirror following the Phantom down the dungeon, the organ plays, Dun, dun dun dun dun dun. I nudged my friend with a load whisper, “This is it! This is it!”
Majestic Theater in New York
I had a chance to see this epic romantic musical again in Her Majesty Theatre in London. It could never grow old for me. The featured song, Phantom of the Opera, has this rocking roll beat, boom – boom boom- tick, Boom – boom boom- tick, while the female vocalist stretches her voice to a higher and higher octave. As she climbs the scale, the male vocalist serves as a strong bass that compliments her voice. This beautiful harmony is supported by the brass section of the band whom brazzingly announce the significance of the moment when Christine meets the Phantom, and the string instruments that provide a mystifying element to what seems to be an angelic moment. The organ reminds us that this is in fact a “strange duet” between a ghost and a fanciful young girl. Webber’s genius is his ability to translate the mood and feeling of the story into the notes and lines of the music score.
The story itself is no more than a romantic chick-flick, a gothic fantasy about girl, at the start of her stardom. She has not one but two suitors. One is her childhood sweetheart, who also just so happens to be a rich Viscount. He is the charming gentleman, Raul, that will take care of her, come to her rescue riding bareback on a white horse, and sword fight to defend her. On the other hand, she has a deformed genius that secretly plays as the architect, composer, and mastermind of the opera house. The Phantom appeals to her dangerous, bad boy fascination . He is mysterious, talented, and yet pitiful. What I find interesting is that in the original book written by Gaston Leroux, there is more focus on phantom’s story. In fact, in the musical, there is no actual mention of his real name, Eric. The musical’s main character is Christine. It is written to showcase Sarah Brightman, who is the original female lead, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s former wife. It is their divorce that postponed the movie 10-15 years later. Of course that is never publicly stated.
Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the original 1986 production of The Phantom of the Opera. Photograph: Donald Cooper/Rex Features
Sarah Brightman did not get a chance to play her role in movie. Schumacher, the director, wanted to appeal to a younger audience, privy to Christine’s innocent and naïve character. 16 year old, Emmy Rossum’s voice was beautiful in the movie despite the pressure. Her acting was par, but Brighman’s acting was par as well. It is hard to find an extraordinary singer who is also an extraordinary actor. As for the character of Christine, the actress only had to look helpless or in love.
The other very large shoes that had to filled, was the role of the Phantom. Gerard Butler was not a trained singer, therefore, he had a rough and raw rock-n-roll feature in his voice. Some would consider blasphemy that I make this statement, however, Butler played an even better role of the phantom than Michal Crawford, the original Phantom. Crawford’s Phantom is a sleazy and creepy “creature of darkness.” Butler has the rough masculine voice that adds to the typical female bad-boy fantasy. The audience can then understand why Christine is enchanted by the idea of Phantom.
In Point of No Return, Butler’s Phantom growls over the note as Christine is slowly giving in to him. The audience does so too, especially in this song, with the most eloquent lyric about making love, “entwining” bodies, and the “sleeping bud burst into bloom.” Unlike Crawford, Butler adds a roar to the “raging fire shall flood the soul.” It is quite surprising, as a grown person revisiting familiar song, to understand what they are singing about when they sing, “When will the blood begin to race? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet deduction lines before us?” The set and custom for this scene is seductively red and black. In the movie, there is a tango in the background that the play does not have.
There are a number of limits to what can be seen on the stage of a theatre. In the movie we can see the set in its entirety. On the theatre stage however, we can appreciate the wise use of space that the designers so craftily planned. The masquerade scene on stage was asymmetrical, conveying the large scale of the opera house without having to complete the whole staircase. The set designers left the rest to the imagination. In another scene, after Christine is debuted on her first show, the stage is flipped. The audience sees the back of Christine as she bows towards an actor that plays the conductor, and behind him, a black screen that conveys an audience. A curtain closes, and her ballerina friends run to congratulate her. This was a cleaver stage trick that invites the audience to see the behind the scene production side of the opera house.
Masquerade Scene on the Staircase on Stage
Staircase in the entrance hall of the Opera House in Paris
This play is about a play of plays, so it was fun to see the production of the play as part of the play, making the audience feel included in mystery of the phantom of the opera house. I did get a chance to walk in the real Opera de Paris Garnier, where the story takes place. Charles Garnier for the Emperor Napoleon III built this gilded baroque theatre in the 1860s. I did not get to see the water canal underneath the opera house, but it does exist due to Garner’s construction. I saw where the famous chandelier hangs. On 20 May 1896, one of the counterweight of the chandelier fell and killed an audience member. We cannot confirm or deny that was the workings of the Phantom; however, this was the story that inspired Gaston Leroux to write the book.
I have had numerous classes where we brought our lessons outside of the classroom to explore the culture and art of our local community both in London and in Orange County. My one art classes that took us to see Wicked, and Cirque Du Soliel’s Quidam, a classical Baroque concert performed at Disney Concert Hall. Here in London, my Art in Context class has taken to us to different galleries around central London. They were the best classes I have ever taken, however, a journal or a written review is always required. Blogs are the same. It has become more of a requirement and an obligation rather than something that springs forth as an inspiration from what I just saw. I just wanted to experience something for what it is without having the pressure to have an opinion about it.
I had to change my perspective on journaling, learning to understand that journals and blogs help contribute to generation and solidification of an idea. In class, teachers are constantly trying help student analyze and develop an opinion about all the topics. That is in essence what University learning is: “What do you think about this and why?” Great writings are about an option with strong supporting evidence Opinions are inherent to the inquiring of critical thinking skills. Great thinkers and artist are those who not only oppose the common ideas but who profess a different opinion that they are capable of backing up with a strong valid argument. Interesting personality are personalities with controversial opinions, (not to say that they are good or bad opinions or strong opinions). Simon Cowell on American Idol is famous for having tough opinions.
Even in casual social conversation about clothes, if a person does not have an opinion about the topic, he or she does not contribute to the topic, and therefore becomes useless is that particular incidence. In the case of a girlfriend asking a boy friend which shirt she should wear, the boyfriend gives no opinion because it does not apply to him. He is not interested, and he is not graded for it. What he does not know is that he is graded on it. An opinion could be positive, negative or able to be qualified, but his lack of opinion makes him useless. Rene Decarte claims, “I think, therefore I am.” The antithesis states, I do not think therefore I am not.
So I started this post as a lazy student complaining about having to always have an opinion about art and galleries to write about on this blog. I now conclude with an opposing thought claiming that one must always have an opinion, and the lack of opinion for a topic reveals his or her ignorance about that topic. That is my opinion on opinions.
Ktran 