Little arts survey

MadArchitect · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:31 pm Post subject: Little arts survey

Well, since the religion and philosophy threads have all gone barren the last few weeks, I thought maybe we could kick up a little dust in the oft-forgotten third subject of this forum. Here's a little survey, just so we can compare answers. Don't worry about listing your absolute, all-time favorites -- just go for whatever is your favorite at the moment, and we'll all promise to let everyone change their minds later on.

What is your favorite...
... literary genre?
... classic novel?
... musical genre?
... album?
... artistic medium?
... painting?
... comic book (hey, why not)?
... movie genre?
... movie?
... guilty pleasure (in the arts -- everything else you can keep in your pants)?

Edited by: MadArchitect at: 7/18/06 1:32 pm

MadArchitect · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:43 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

And just to get the ball rolling...

What is your favorite...
... literary genre? For fun, mid-20th century crime novels, broadly speaking. Specifically the works of James Cain, Raymond Chandler, Ian Fleming, et al.
... classic novel? Damn, why did I ask that? That's hard. Let's say... Dostoevsky's "The Gambler", mostly because all of the truly classic works I like tend not to fit the traditional novel format, and most of the novels I like are too recent to be really classic.
... musical genre? I have a hard time nailing it down to just one, so call it an even split between classical baroque and modern indie rock, particularly the more angular punk and folk influenced stuff.
... album? Right now, Mazzy Star's "So Tonight That I Might See". So close to its own kind of perfection.
... artistic medium? I like watercolor with india ink outlines.
... painting? Something by Bosch, probably.
... comic book? "Hellboy", specifically the ones inked and written by Mignola himself, especially the earlier runs.
... movie genre? Does foreign count? I could probably narrow it down to either vaguely surrealist dramas (like those by Bergman) or Japanese historical films (like those by Kurosawa).
... movie? Lately, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" has been a big favorite.
... guilty pleasure? Awful Hong Kong action cinema right up until about the mid-eighties when it all went Hollywood.

Apneatica · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 1:37 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

What is your favorite...

... literary genre: I took a class called "Reality Fiction" once. I don't know if that's a legitimate genre, but that best describes the writing style I like.

... classic novel: The Scarlet Letter

... musical genre: industrial/goth

... album: there's no way I could pick one, it depends on my mood. you picked a good one though MadArchitect.

... artistic medium: oil paint

... painting: DuChamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase" is one of my favorites

... comic book: none, i've never been into them

... movie genre: horror movies made between 1920 and 1965, if you can call that a genre...

... movie: I'll say the Hours, because i've seen it a hundred times and will most likely watch it another hundred times

... guilty pleasure: Georges Bataille

Edited by: Apneatica at: 7/18/06 11:26 pm

Dissident Heart · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

What is your favorite...

... literary genre: Magical Realism, the obvious example being Marquez's Hundred Years of Solitude but also more recent gems like Jim Lynch's The Highest Tide.

... classic novel: Jack London's White Fang and Call of the Wild, and Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird all awakened my love of novels and hunger for books....and granted hours of serious pleasure.

... musical genre: I've found Americana to speak to many musical appetites in my less-than-refined soul.

... album: Arvo Part's Alina has provided hours of refreshing, relaxing, soothing sublimity...as beautiful and simple as it gets.

... artistic medium: colored pencils...or anything that leaves a trace.

... painting: Diego Rivera murals are fantastic, especially his Le Gran Tenochtitlan or his El Agua, Origen De La Vida

... comic book: I've been a lifetime follower of the Silver Surfer and always recommend first time readers to dive into the two issue classic graphic novel Silver Surfer: A Parable illustrated by the master illustrator, Moebius.

... movie genre: Any blend of magical realism, historical fiction, and breathtaking cinematography.

... movie: Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a wonderful journey, as is The Mission tragic beauty with Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro

... guilty pleasure: Complete devotion to HBO's series The Sopranos and Deadwood. I can't get enough.... ... .. .

Edited by: Dissident Heart at: 7/18/06 4:25 pm

MadArchitect · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 1:33 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

Well, there's one cool thing about this thread. I never would have expected DH to be a Silver Surfer fan. You learn something new every day.

Loricat · Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:54 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

Great thread, Mad.

DH -- isn't The Highest Tide delightful?! (and Moebius, and The Mission...We have a lot of these in common)

What is your favorite...
... literary genre? Oh, I've got to say SF. Sorry, not that literary.
... classic novel? Jane Eyre, or anything by Jane Austen
... musical genre? the Blues...(anything really, with guitar)
... album? Lately? Lucinda Williams' latest couple of albums (Car Wheels on a Gravel Road or Essence)
... artistic medium? Architecture, esp. gothic
... painting? "The Marriage at Cana" Veronese...just for sheer size. I've basked in its gloriousness twice now...
... comic book (hey, why not)? Nausicaa (Hayao Miyazaki was influenced by Moebius). Don't knock comics. In university, I had a $20/week habit.
... movie genre? This is a hard one...SF/Fantasy, black comedy, over-the-top action
... movie? Bladerunner
... guilty pleasure (in the arts -- everything else you can keep in your pants)? Spoof films and Kurt Russell. I have a whole collection of both -- including some fabulous cheese with Mr. Russell himself (Big Trouble in Little China and 3000 Miles to Graceland). You haven't seen wonderful until you've subjected yourself to Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk.

"All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds."

Loricat's Book Nook
Celebrating the Absurd

Eisprinz · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:12 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

What is your favorite...

... literary genre? This is a hard one... I certainly love the Absurdism of Christopher Moore...and I love most everything paranormal (except extraterrestrials)...but I guess my favorite would be Psychological, and by that I mean the books that test character like The Crucible
... classic novel? Does The Great Gatsby count? If that's still too contemporary, I'd go with Jane Eyre.
... musical genre? Indie-Pop and Oldies at the moment, although I'll really listen to anything.
... album? Almost Here by the Academy Is...
... artistic medium? That depends... if it's myself doing the work, it would be pastels. If it's a medium that I admire, it would be watercolors.
... painting? "The Cafe Terrace at Night" by van Gogh, or "Moulin de la Galette" by Renoir.
... comic book (hey, why not)? Can I say a newspaper comic? Because in that case, it would be "Calvin and Hobbes".
... movie genre? Comedy, for sure, although I feel it's important to see dramatic and reflective movies as well.
... movie? Clue: The Movie.
... guilty pleasure (in the arts -- everything else you can keep in your pants)? The Theatre. I like reading plays and whatnot. Not to mention I love watching at the theatre, from plays, to musicals, to opera. Another guilty pleasure is...fanfiction!...shhh!

~eisprinz

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

... literary genre? Sci-Fi/Fantasy

... classic novel? The Scarlet Letter

... musical genre? Rock (hardcore, metal)

... album? pass

... artistic medium? pencils on paper

... painting? Dali - Giraffe on Fire Giraffe

... comic book (hey, why not)? Sandman - Gaiman

... movie genre? Dramedy

... movie? That is so hard...so the first off my head is: Taxi Driver

... guilty pleasure (in the arts -- everything else you can keep in your pants)? All the new movies based on the old comics I used to read. I am trying to collect them all on DVD. (And then masturbate while watching them...SORRY I could not help it).

Mr. P.

Mr. P's place. I warned you!!!

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Dissident Heart · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 2:19 pm Post subject: Re: Little arts survey

Loricat,

The Highest Tide is especially interesting for me because I live here in the Seattle region. I spend a good deal of time (I wish it were more) around the Puget Sound and Tide brought so much of that watery universe to life for me.

Obviously, these lists will carry some degree of fluid indeterminancy: shifting loyalities and unsettled attachments...an inability to deem one choice as final or best or exclusive.

Here are a few additions:

... movie: Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors is a brilliantly hilarious examination of morality, justice, and the tragic absurdity of falling in love. The actors are exquisitely placed and equipped with a supremely intelligent script, full of humor, surprise and genuine drama...God, love, murder, disease, singles' scene, betrayal, loyalty, divorce, marriage, revenge, nihilism, guilt, suicide, redemption, and human joy and folly: with perfect Allenesque convergence of multiple plot layers into a seemless tragic comedy of timeless proportions.

...artistic medium: with Sculpture, I am always challenged to look with new eyes by the work of Stephen De Staebler. De Staebler's portrayal of the human figure is an examination of what is broken, fragile, incomplete, unfinished, degenerative, shattered...it is a journey into fragments of bodies either breaking out of stone or returning to rocky earth. His work in Newman Hall: Holy Spirit Parish in Berkeley, CA is some of my very favorite...the crucifix with bald Jesus lifting out of a stony cross, rugged and earthy altar, tabernacle and presider's chair...all make for a ceramic mass and worship service like few others anywhere. His Winged Figure in the entrance of the Graduate Theological Union library is an extraordinary welcome to that religious setting of scholarly study.

Edited by: Dissident Heart at: 7/21/06 6:22 pm


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