Hluch - Kevin A. on sat 18 jul 98
Noticing his simmering anger, Alice thought she might try to
deflect it with some information that she had gleaned from the web.
"Really Gavin, you should read up a little about aesthetics...Did
you know that the word aesthetics was INVENTED by a guy named Baumgarten
in the eighteenth century?" asked Alice.
"Well no, I didn't know that," Gavin replied, suspicious of being
set up again. But he continued, "And besides, how can a single person just
make up a word? Don't people have to share some meaning first ....Well
wait, then you would have to have a word that everybody knew before you
could attach the meaning... Hey, how DO words get invented any way?"
Gavin asked with befuddled look on his face.
Not able to resist, Alice responded,"By smart people, you dope!
But that's not the point. The point is that aesthetics once had a
particular meaning that was important in the development of ideas
people have used to understand art... even pottery," she responded.
"What's that got to do with me?" Gavin asked, now even more
suspicious of the recently discovered intellectual acumen of his delicious
bed mate.
"Don't you want to understand what you're doing art-wise and why
you make the kind of pots you do for the Avant-Garde Potters Guild? And
why those pots are all misshapened, gaudy, and so, so so....ugly? And why
they can't be fashioned in any other kind of way due the flow of history
and the evolution of ideas that have preceded us? Aren't you in school to
learn about these things?" she asked with a sharpness of tongue that
reflected the heat starting to radiate from her soft, smooth throat.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm more interested in the market
place and how I can make a lot of money like Ken Pricelessness," Gavin
responded defensively.
"Listen, this Baumgarten guy was interested in more than just
selling freak show ceramic carnival crap to the idle rich. His idea was
that the perfection and beauty we find in works of art pertained to
the realm of perceptions and that our sense impressions held the key to
our understanding of those objects. He thought that there could be a
"Science of the Beautiful". And that art deserved special consideration
in a non-intellectualized framework. And that art as a distinctive
discipline was just as legitimate as any other in the realm of science.
Baumgarten thought since art was about sense impressions and emotion,
that it was not CONCEPTUAL. Therefore, how could it be understood
CONCEPTUALLY?" Alice implored earnestly to her less then enthusiastic
counterpart.
"OK Miss Smarty Pants, if art isn't about concepts, according to
this Baumgarten guy, then why do they teach art in schools where, ya
know, we're supposed to be talking about ideas and, ya know, CONCEPTS?"
Gavin responded with a slight smirk that spread on his face like a
strawberry stain.
"With an answer like that Gavin, I think we can agree that your
SCHOOLING has never interfered with your EDUCATION," Alice said.
"Next question," Gavin simply stated with a sly grin.
Facing her now gloating interrogator Alice thought, "God, he's
great in the sack but I think this prick is not going to last.
Kevin A. Hluch
102 E. 8th St.
Frederick, MD 21701
USA
e-mail: kahluch@umd5.umd.edu
http://www.erols.com/mhluch/mudslinger.html
On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Technically, I think you're confusing things that are novel and
> superficially unique with the Truth. And, by the way, I must say you're
> a slave to that Patronage, Promotion, Publicity, Chutzpah game too," she
> fiercely responded.
> "That's just such a load of crap! And you know it!" Gavin reacted
> with the first hint of real anger flaring in his eyes.
> Darkly, Gavin thought, "Her knockers are great but this
> know-it-all bitch is not going to last.
>
> Kevin A. Hluch
> 102 E. 8th St.
> Frederick, MD 21701
> USA
>
> e-mail: kahluch@umd5.umd.edu
> http://www.erols.com/mhluch/mudslinger.html
>
> On Wed, 3 Jun 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
>
> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > "Listen, if you'd been dwelling in valley of aesthetic death as
> > long as me, you'd do anything to crawl out of that hole too. It's really
> > black down there baby," Gavin disclosed. "Oh, by the way sweetie-poo, I
> > kinda like the way you used that figure on that slab. Would you mind if
> > I just down-sized that a bit and used it in my own work?"
> > Alice, with small,damp rings of sweat beginning to darken her
> > sleeveless blouse,drilled him with her cool grey-blue eyes and retorted
> > hotly, "You're a shithead Gavin...go steal your ideas from somebody else!"
> >
> > On Mon, 20 Apr 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
> >
> > > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > > Now we have seen in these four slides the transition of the genre
> > > form a relatively lackluster past and one that is quite small and
> > > circumscribed cross-culturally but one that has great promise if, indeed,
> > > the leaders of this sub-category of expression can grab the reins of the
> > > marketplace and promote this work in the fashion that will lead them from
> > > the back waters of expression to the forefront of respectability in the
> > > the fine art world. And this alone....."
> > > Alice turning to Gavin whispered, "And this alone will ruin
> > > the field and turn it into a cesspool of wannabees and posers."
> > > Gavin, mocking Dr. Wilsons English accent said in a seeming nasal
> > > tone, "Oh, quite right...Quite right my deah."
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sun, 8 Feb 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
> > >
> > > > ----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
> > > > With a sudden stiffening of his own, and with a hand that
> > > > meandered to her taut smooth stomach, Gavin replied, "Alice,
>why don't
> > > > we wait to discuss this in our class with Dr. Wilson? I'm sure
>hell have
> > > > all the answers."
> > > > As Alice felt Gavin's hand drift lower, she said with uncertain
> > > > confidence, "Well, that may be the best idea yet."
> > > >
>
Hluch - Kevin A. on thu 6 aug 98
"You know Gavin, "I was thinking about one of the concepts your
discussion group was arguing over," mentioned Alice.
Taking the bait,Gavin said," Oh, and which concept was that?"
"You know the one about talent...don't you remember the huge
discussion about talent and how everyone kind of ended up concluding there
was no such thing. It seems that everyone thinks that if a person worked
hard enough they could become adept or even exceptional at ceramic art.
You would think by they way they talked that with enough practice they
could even produce work like Peter Milkous. And he's considered a genius
by some," she reminded him.
"Yeah, so what?" Gavin said wondering where this was going.
"Well, I've been doing some reading and it seems that some of the
greatest philosophers in the world would disagree with that conclusion.
"Any body I know?" Gavin asked.
"Have you ever heard of Immanuel Kant?" Alice asked.
"Can't ....say that I have," he responded with a pause and then
said with a smirk, "Get it?"
Ignoring his feeble attempt at humor Alice expanded her
exposition.
"If I can recall correctly, it seems that Kant said that genius
in art was a talent for producing something for which no definite rule can
be given... That it was truely an exceptional thing and it's something
that can't be learned. As a result, that which is produced must
necessarily be original.
But he also said that somebody could produce original nonsense
and so he said those original works would have to be exemplary or in other
words, these things had to serve as a standard or rule of judgment for
others.
Kant also said that the genius who had this talent couldn't
describe or communicate to others the basis or origins of these
productions so that others, in turn, could produce similar things. He
said that the artists who are geniuses don't even know how they GET these
ideas. In fact, the word genius comes from 'genii' who was a Roman
mythology spirit guardian or guide.
One of the weirdest things Kant said was that even Isaac Newton
wasn't a genius because one could follow all of the steps of his
scientific method and derive an understanding of the way he came to his
conclusions. On the other hand, with artists like Homer or your very own
Milkous there was no such path for understanding in how they derived their
creations. Furthermore, he said that artistic abilities are given by
nature, and that these artists are nature's favorites...." Alice said
punctuating the space they shared with the index finger of her right hand.
She was clearly excited about this subject.
"And," she continued as she took a breath, "Kant said that some
artists who are NOT geniuses have realized this and make a show of
themselves as full-blown geniuses by throwing off all the constraints of
any rules or guidelines... He said something like, 'They believe they can
make a braver show on the back of a wild horse than a trained one'."
Smiling, Alice paused and asked, "Does that sound familiar, O
Avant Guard Pottery Guild Person?"
With a perplexed look on his face Gavin asked, "Are you trying to
tell me I'm not a genius?"
Surreptitiously glancing at the bulge in his jeans, she responded
with a practiced, honeyed voice, "You may not be a genius but you
certainly ARE talented."
Kevin A. Hluch
102 E. 8th St
Frederick, MD
USA
e-mail: kahluch@umd5.umd.edu
http://www.erols.com/mhluch/mudslinger.html
On Sat, 18 Jul 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
> "OK Miss Smarty Pants, if art isn't about concepts, according to
> this Baumgarten guy, then why do they teach art in schools where, ya
> know, we're supposed to be talking about ideas and, ya know, CONCEPTS?"
> Gavin responded with a slight smirk that spread on his face like a
> strawberry stain.
> "With an answer like that Gavin, I think we can agree that your
> SCHOOLING has never interfered with your EDUCATION," Alice said.
> "Next question," Gavin simply stated with a sly grin.
> Facing her now gloating interrogator Alice thought, "God, he's
> great in the sack but I think this prick is not going to last.
>
> On Tue, 23 Jun 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
>
> > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > Technically, I think you're confusing things that are novel and
> > superficially unique with the Truth. And, by the way, I must say you're
> > a slave to that Patronage, Promotion, Publicity, Chutzpah game too," she
> > fiercely responded.
> > "That's just such a load of crap! And you know it!" Gavin reacted
> > with the first hint of real anger flaring in his eyes.
> > Darkly, Gavin thought, "Her knockers are great but this
> > know-it-all bitch is not going to last.
> >
> > On Wed, 3 Jun 1998, Hluch - Kevin A. wrote:
> >
> > > ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> > > "Listen, if you'd been dwelling in valley of aesthetic death as
> > > long as me, you'd do anything to crawl out of that hole too. It's really
> > > black down there baby," Gavin disclosed. "Oh, by the way sweetie-poo, I
> > > kinda like the way you used that figure on that slab. Would you mind if
> > > I just down-sized that a bit and used it in my own work?"
> > > Alice, with small,damp rings of sweat beginning to darken her
> > > sleeveless blouse,drilled him with her cool grey-blue eyes and retorted
> > > hotly, "You're a shithead Gavin...go steal your ideas from somebody else!"
> > >
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