tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449233253293926283.post1898771120436461582..comments2016-10-09T10:59:35.615-07:00Comments on Primitive Modern: William Carlos Williams, "The artist works to express perceptions rather than attain standards..."Teacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16156256744880154348noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2449233253293926283.post-18608394099388539952007-10-31T23:35:00.000-07:002007-10-31T23:35:00.000-07:00Art for art’s sake:Williams writes that art and po...Art for art’s sake:<BR/><BR/>Williams writes that art and poetry exist to convey sense, not meaning. Each piece of work is an expression of sentiment and emotion rather than a channel for communicating political and social agendas. “The sense is not carried as an extraneous 'meaning,' but is constituted by the work itself,” meaning the piece expresses sense/beauty simply because it exists. This philosophy is related to the Latin expression, “ars gratia artis,” or “art for art’s sake.” A piece of art is symbolic because it is art, not because it follows standard forms like meter and literary devices. The meaning is founded in its existence.<BR/><BR/>Abstraction is fundamentally rooted in individual perception and interpretation. Williams' poems express abstraction as narrative perception and observation; time enables individuals to develop perception to appreciate beauty and the value in its existence. In the poem “Pastoral,” the narrator believed as a child that he must become something great. However, as an adult, he finds enjoyment and beauty in the living conditions of the poor (the opposite of the great existence to which he aspired). This expresses an appreciation for beauty found in simple, everyday settings like a “roof out of line with sides/ the yards cluttered/ with old chicken wire, ashes,/ furniture gone wrong;/ the fences and outhouses/ built of barrel staves/ and parts of boxes” (Williams). Williams does not assign the poor houses a degree of beauty; rather, he evokes a sense of beauty and appreciation by describing the scene and the narrator’s appreciation of it. Duchamp's "Nudes" translates similarly. The woman does appear beautiful because of the fractured state of her figure, but there is a sense of grace in her slow descent. This graceful descent expresses a sense of beauty, as does her slow pace and geometrical shape.<BR/><BR/>The conversational nature of the “Portrait of a Lady” mocks an attempt at forcing meaning on art. The “Lady” becomes fixated on the places the first narrator speaks of while he/she continues to make ridiculous caparisons. The two are obviously conversing on different levels and fail to appreciate the true beauty of the art (the portrait); this results in a sense of distraction and misunderstanding.<BR/><BR/>I think Williams' poem "Red Wheelbarrow" essentially sums up his style:<BR/><BR/>so much depends<BR/>upon<BR/><BR/>a red wheel<BR/>barrow<BR/><BR/>glazed with rain<BR/>water<BR/><BR/>beside the white<BR/>chickens.Meghanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00673753640328278638noreply@blogger.com