MeghanIsMe

A consistent theme that's informed my choice of road trip destinations is the creative works of the mentally ill, or at least mentally...divergent?... in some way. So when we weeded this book at work, I snapped it up immediately. It should be fascinating reading.

The Discovery of the Art of the Insane.

This pioneering work, the first history of the art of the insane, scrutinizes changes in attitudes toward the art of the mentally ill from a time when it was either ignored or ridiculed, through the era when major figures in the art world discovered the extraordinary power of visual statements by psychotic artists such as Adolf Wlfli and Richard Dadd. John MacGregor draws on his dual training in art history and in psychiatry and psychoanalysis to describe not only this evolution in attitudes but also the significant influence of the art of the mentally ill on the development of modern art as a whole. His detailed narrative, with its strangely beautiful illustrations, introduces us to a fascinating group of people that includes the psychotic artists, both trained and untrained, and the psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, critics, and art historians who encountered their work.

I came upon this bit of interactive public art while exploring the SU campus by bike today. This metal sculpture stands on the northeast corner of Euclid and Maryland in Syracuse.



Three more ( behind the cut. )

I just had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, quiche, casserole, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and probably another thing or two I forget. My Dad loves making giant breakfasts on Christmas. My mother was able to convince him to let her help this year too! Both of my brothers were here, as well as housemate A and brother J's girlfriend; it was really nice to eat and talk with everyone. I shot a bunch of photos, somewhat to J and brother T's exasperation.

My parents are getting food ready to to take to the gathering at my extended family's place. Meanwhile, I'm editing a couple more photos. This is Blue Human Condition, informally known as "the orgy statue," by Mark Chatterley. The town moved the piece after numerous complaints about its sexually suggestive nature. According to NBC, the artist was "disappointed," and had intended to the piece to illustrate the way we all must lean on and support each other.

I shot this with my new 135mm f2.8 lens. I'm really pleased with it's sharpness and color! Definitely worth $8. I'm getting comfortable using a fully manual lens on this body, too. To set the shutter speed in manual mode, I set the aperture I want, then press the AE-lock button, which meters light and sets exposure. The only real annoyance so far is that the camera won't shoot unless it thinks the image is focused, which means I have to dial it in and out a little bit or move the camera around sometimes. I'd rather be able to risk an out-of-focus shot than deal with sometimes not being able to shoot when I want to.





A few more photographs of Blue Human Condition ( behind the cut. )