TO CANVAS TV - A DIALOGUE ABOUT ART
REACTION on Canvascollectie
www.naturestudio.net.
Seeing the often cold and gloomy expressions of many of the 'Avant Garde' artists today, like sculptures of bodies smashed inside building materials, if I would see artists as pioneers of the future, the future would look somber indeed.
Since Marcel DuChamp, with his urinoir, we have noticed, it seems modern artists spend a lot of time in the toilet!
They never seem to be tired to look in there for things to exhibit in museums,- from the metal tube structures and toilet accessories, furniture to bodily matter, sex organs, bones, tissues, fats, fluids dirty baby napies, to the very cloaka of Delvoye, apparently fascinated by excreting activities, for all that, with a solid CONCEPT backing it, yes, is modern.
Similarly, most expressions of graffiti or rap-pop-contemporary artists are as the body language of those teen agers seduced by the tough guys of a street gang, proud of their insensitive, arrogant attitudes and foul language, mostly copied from the others, expressions from the excrements of language as 'fucking' with every other sentence, 'shit', 'God damn ' ('Godverdomme'), or 'fuck off', because that is 'COOL" or 'IN'.
And like these teenagers, many contemporary art exponents turn their nose up at, and look down upon those who do not follow them.
Myriam and I agree that only through the consciousness of love one can see the beauty of Nature.
and also see the ugliness and stupidity of vanity, of greed, arrogance, which to the immature mind is so 'cool'.
van Chapman,
Philosophic Community Projects
www.naturestudio.net.
True angels destroy not men,
but the falseness in them.
A brief exchange with a guru
of Modern Art
Once on a brief exchange, Jan Hoet, the creator of SMAK museum of modern art in Gent, without even knowing me, said to me he that 'he could never be my friend'.
I disagree with him: Not to have the same view on Art is not a reason not be friends.
He prejudiced me because of some post cards of Myriam Vandenberghe's nature paintings he saw in my hand.
To project our prejudices on another, on what is, and want no discussion, is the main cause of disruption in any relationship.
We can understand each other if we want, if are not too proud to want that, if we are not too proud to be questioned.
On another occasion, I came with one of his friends to a dinner of shell fish mussels he gave in honor of Mossel-pot, from a modern art Belgium artist Broodthaers'. Miriam Vandenberghe probably would not have come since she is a vegetarian.
At a certain moment I stood before all his guests and asked him: -"What is more important to you: Love or Art? He answered that Art could not compete with neither Nature nor Love.
After the dinner, according to the person who took me, Jan Hoet said in Flemish to him: -"God damn!, -("Godverdomme"!) Who did you bring with you !?..".
Before I left, I told Jan Hoet that one day I would make his portrait.
Here at least, is a philosophical view of our brief exchanges.
Is there a modern Art Guru, to whom we must follow in the world today?
Not for me. I see Jan Hoet is in contradiction when, in one hand he affirms the superiority of love and Nature over Art, and on the other, snobs an extraordinary expression of love for nature and all living beings as mere 'decoration'.
So I have some questions for him and his followers.
If a work only adds to the insensibility of humanity and pollution of this planet, even though it is modern, is it art? Is it relevant to the world today? If a work is about form, never mind the health, life or peace in this world, even if it is modern, is it Art? Is it relevant to the world today?
Once on TV during an interview, we heard Jan Hoet declare he was a Catholic and a Jew.
Such monotheistic doctrines have evolved from an unquestioning loyalty to religious authority. does this have to do with the idea of someone as an unquestionable authority in art?? If we are too proud to be questioned, or to want understand each other, then we cannot be friends.
van Chapman,
Philosophic Community Projects
www.naturestudio.net.
True angels destroy not men,
but the falseness in them.
ABOUT UNQUESTIONABILITY
WHAT SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS and POWER LOVING TEACHINGS DO NOT HAVE IN COMMON:
Spiritual teachings pre-existed Abraham tradition and the streams of Monotheism.
From the ancient times of civilization, the wisdom of Lao Tzu ( (604 - 531 BC ), of Buddha (around 563 BC- 483 BC), of Socrates (460-429 BC), previous to Judaism, Catholicism or the Islam, all have shown that simple awareness (in particular spiritual self awareness), not subjugating power, brings out the potential understanding and natural order to the mind and relationships.
Questions may be the very way to tap within for spiritual self awareness, all knowledge and self knowledge.
The repression of questioning leads to fanatism and tyranny. The moment you create an unquestionable authority you also create hell.
Is unquestioning, indiscriminate submission, convenient for the world today? Has it ever been?
Abraham's willingness not to question, but to kill even his own son, out obedience to whom he considered God, is revered in all ramifications of this Monotheistic tradition.
Abraham has set out the example of the way of relationship of blind obedience, even in a crime, to religious authority.
To have faith in an ultimate justice is good, but can there be justice without love, without spiritual discernment??
This lack of discrimination venerated until today as sacred, combined with different interpretations and ramifications belief, have caused the most absurd and horrific violence, injustice, crime in human history: those committed and justified in name of God.
Since then, Monotheistic systems of Beliefs crumble now before those who have eyes to see, when the fruits of pride of power and the blind submission (even in a crime), come to the light:
The never ending bloodbaths we see (here also on Canvas TV) these times.
Abraham could have stopped and asked himself if he could trust anyone or any spirit as just and good, who would order him to murder anyone, in particularly, an innocent child. Then history would have perhaps had a much better turn.
But it is never too late.
The future starts now and it starts with you.
Little has humanity learned from its bloody history because horrors have even been justified by these Monotheistic religions and as said before, to project our prejudices on others or on what is, and want no discussion, is the main cause of disruption in any relationship, the source of all darkness, all hopeless conflicts in relationships.
Before true peace and understanding can reign between any of us, there must be a revolution, as said Krishnamurti, which is truly intelligent. As solving of differences peacefully, through meditation, awareness and dialogue, not mentally or physically as brute dinosaurs.
Only through the consciousness of love one can see the beauty of Nature and the ugliness and stupidity of vanity, of greed, arrogance, also in the animals, which to the immature mind is so 'cool'.
Only love is just and no prophet and guru, savior, holy book or anyone one has beaten love yet.
NOTE
In a film "The Other Israel" http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkgn49_the-other-israel-ted-pike-full-video_news#rel-page-1 presented by an American Christian preacher, it is shown how Judaism has tried to dominate the World to this day. This priest, in a Christian unquestioning biased view, typical of the tradition of Abraham, overlooked the fact that the Biblical Jesus was contradicting his own command 'Love your enemies' when he considered Jewish Pharisees as less than human, and ordered them to be killed.
He shows that though perversions such as child sex abuse were justified by Rabbis in the Jewish Talmud, in the unquestioning biased view typical of the tradition of Abraham they taught that those who are not Jewish, called Gentiles, (also Christians), were perverse, should be deprived of all property and all rights, treated in court not as equal to Jews but as less than human and that they may kill them though indirectly.
But this American Christian did not show that the Islam itself in the same unquestioning biased view of the tradition of Abraham, tries to dominate the world, with contradicting commands about religious tolerance, telling Muslims in the Koran to consider non Muslims as less than Muslims not to befriend and even to kill Jews and Christians, at the time of its prophet.
Violence is a stupid argument.
A Philosopher does not consider unbelief a problem.
Not a reason not to be a friend of someone or to kill him.
Philosophers, similar in a way to saints or holy sages would never convert through the sword but bring about enlightenment and understanding through honesty, clarity, insight and an intelligent dialogue.
"Hate is the false prophet,
love is the true master.
There is no holy ground which
has been won
by cruel violence and hate.
Holy is the love and understanding
between all people."
van Chapman
Philosophic Community Projects
www.naturestudio.net.