Art is Important

 

Inspired by a fellow mind-blogger, UK patriot and art philosopher, I reflected on the medium. Art, I thought, ahem, deeply to myself, is an important thing, it reflects the value and belief of the people who make it. It's sacramental if you like, "an outward and visible sign of an inward or spiritual grace" or lack thereof.

Good Art

And "lack" is just it. Today's art, if it even bears the name, is mostly utter, total rubbish. Worse than that, it actively works to tear down and destroy our aesthetic sense; as materialism attempts to destroy spiritual values such as love, truth and honor, modern art attempts to destroy our sense of the beautiful and true. It is therefore hideous, degenerate and perverse. This assault on our senses is fittingly embraced by satans like the Podestas and Marina Abramovic.

Bad Art

Have you noticed how much this so-called art costs? You have to be very wealthy to afford it. Now consider Satan's deceit. Surround yourself, in your elite monied sophistication, with visual images which degrade and spit on everything that's right and true, which spit on you. And while you're at it, congratulate yourself on your aesthetic brilliance, so far above the common men you hate, as you hate all life, perhaps even your own. 

Good Art

What a vicious trick! Look at us, so wealthy, so privileged, so surrounded by hideousness. "What," says Our Lord, "shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul." Exactly.

Bad Art

We, on the other hand, who value life, truth, beauty and freedom under God, look to art which reflects those values. We believe in spiritual, non-material truth and the beauty of it.

Good Art

This, gentle readers, will win out, we are assured of that. 

Best,

LSP

Roman Art

 

I know what you're thinking, just what was the quality of imperial Roman art, the aesthetic sign of that civilization's soul or ethos. Good question and worth asking, not least because it's interesting in itself, and because history rhymes, we can draw lessons from it. 

That said, we don't have much pictorial art to work with, it's mostly gone because of its perishable medium, wood, parchment/vellum and other materials. Still, we have wall art, mostly from the cities entombed by Vesuvius and a few examples elsewhere, like Nero's Domus Aurea, his Golden House. What do we see?

Several dimensions of artistry, from trompe l'oeil architectural painting, to landscapes, depiction of mythic themes, portraiture, military Triumphs and more. Although Pliny decries the descent of art from realism to a kind of impressionist decadence, we're nonetheless left with the impression that Roman artists were concerned with painting things and people as they were, albeit to effect.

And what an effect it was! Heroic, mythic and classical, yes, but also garish to our eyes. They would think us bleak and starved of visual uplift, a drab, monochrome society. We would think them, I think, in bad taste. Too much bourgeois ebullience?

But here's the rub, the Romans, for all Pliny's criticism, produced art to please the eye and uplift the mind. We don't. Our art destroys the eye and depresses the soul. It's filth. So who's the decadent in this equation?

Your call, but don't say Rome.

SPQR,

LSP

Monday Message

 

I was in the Compound's front office, aka "porch" when I read this, which echoed my thoughts entirely. It's presented here as a Monday Message, and a tip of the spear to LL for writing it.

Via Virtualmirage:

There are key illuminators to civilized society that can be counted on to guide or to fail to guide us upward (Matthew 5:14 – You are the light of the world). A number of them have gone out, possibly forever.

Universities were places of learning where ideas were tested, and even liberal arts had its place. Today everything is racist – everything – and students have different graduation ceremonies with tribe-over-whole. It allows people who may have not been that bright a chance to give a commencement address about how aggrieved they are.

Denigration of the Family as a key institution in society has become so routine that it’s not even news anymore. Pro-Choice is used to refer to prenatal infanticide. I heard the term “birthing person” used in place of “mother” the other day for the first time. What mother wants to be referred to a birthing person, and do you have to give birth to a baby to be its mother? There are a lot of adoptive mothers who are far more to their children than the one who gave them birth. It’s better if you are raised in a nuclear family but the FAMILY is the core of culture. As a child, sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don’t. Vogue calls childbearing “environmental vandalism.” They’re very woke over at Vogue.

 

 

Art Philosophy

 

Much has been said on this blog and others about how some of us feel that churches have let us down during the most recent plague. The government didn’t give us a voice. They worked to silence us – “wear your obedience mask, slave”. The media was silent except as an instrument of propaganda. There was a general hope that religious institutions would stand up to tyranny – crickets.

Elections…yeah. What about the republic (past tense) being the great balancing lever in society? Do you really think that the last election cycle was free and fair?

There has been general persecution of anything uplifting, of worth, of cultural value, and the government has been pushing the hateful narrative of the progressive movement. Corporations with vast wealth and power have formed a shadow government that is difficult to get your hands around. The carcass and the whore are barely figureheads. They’re jokes.

 

Well said. In the words of the satanist Manasseh, in Charles Williams' War in Heaven, "They build and we destroy." That in mind, we can add another line item to LL's list, the wholesale rejection of God, of Christ. He is inevitably replaced by demons, see above.

And now, by way of solace and Vespers:

Your Friend,

LSP

Message To Republicans - Language!

 

This song is awesome, which is why I keep posting it. Herr Doktor Swankenstein, respect, and that's just for the neat rifty lead lines.

C'mon Man, let's see it,

LSP

Art Philosophy - Cars

"Hey, LSP, can you help me out? I need to go to Fort Worth today for a procedure and need a driver." It was my EMU friend who's famous for driving a crew of motorcycle hippies out of his stock tank. "Sure, I'd be happy to help out."

Quite.

So off we went, all the way down I35W to Fort Worth's Southside. It's not too far from downtown and owned by the medical and hospitality industry. All kinds of hipster bars and eateries, which I toured while my friend was under. Did I stop in any? No. I did not.

Procedure over, we drove back to the country and my friend's barn, "Hey, LSP, have a look at these." Curious, I went through a doorway and there were these cars.

A '40(?) Ford Coupe, a '69 Chevy Camino SS, an '81 Corvette and another Ford Coupe, V8 and hotrod, immaculate. "Don't touch, LSP."

I was amazed  and laughed. "Is that a good laugh or a bad laugh, LSP?" It was good, and would it be OK to take some photos? "Sure thing," so I did. Who knew, certainly not me, that here in this Texan barn was a collection of cars, like works of art.

But what was the reason behind the collection, apart from the sheer good of the things in themselves? Why these as opposed to others? 

Simple answer. They were the cars of his youth, after he'd left the Forces and two tours in Vietnam. He loved them then and decided to collect them now. I'll leave you to parse this not insignificant art philosophy. 

Your Pal,

LSP

Holy Tuesday Reflection

The many art philosophers who read this lighthearted mind blog might enjoy the Visual Commentary on Scripture (VCS). Here's an excerpt on James 1:12-27 from the VCS Holy Week series:

Another letter—the Letter of James—also highlights a choice between pathways, and Clare Carlisle Tresch’s exploration of its first chapter with the help of three works of art returns us to a consideration of ‘light’. James’s hearers are to ‘put away filthiness’ (James 1:21) and receive the gifts that come from ‘the Father of Lights’ (v.17). 

The self-enclosure of Narcissus in Caravaggio’s baroque painting has led him to turn away from the light. He is mesmerised by his own reflection, captive in the black depths of a pool. By contrast, the contemporary work of landscape sculpture by David Wood faces upwards from the waters on which it floats, fully open to the light ‘from above’ (v.17). 

The third work, a Renaissance panel by Fra Angelico, envisages what Jesus’s followers may hope for at the end of the path well chosen: the reward of those who have become ‘children of light’. They have followed the way of the cross, ‘the wisdom of God’, by which the circle of self is broken open and an encircling glory offers its embrace.

An encircling glory offers its embrace. I love that.

God bless,

LSP

Hot Tub

Because this popular mind blog's all about Texan country life, it seems only right to include rural street art. I call this installation Hot Tub.

Keep it clean,

LSP