&efiT,w?fta''',''.
Page 8
Tha Nebraskbn
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 1961
Of Monkeys and Machines
(Continued from Page Two)
ometric, cubist paint
ings executed in his later
periods. The uneducated
believes that the contem
porary painter does noth
ing more than smear paint
on a canvas with his fin
gers as he would mud on a
wall, or stands a few feet
from the easel and throw
paint at the canvas by the
fistful with no thought. It
looks easy. That is why I
hear innumerable times
from some of the viewers
of the works in the gal
leries, "I could do that."
But it is far from easy.
Smearing paint with the
hand,, even "throwing" it
at the canvas, is a per
fectly "legitimate way of
painting. Many profession
al v painters do just that.
But to be able to do it so
that the result is aesthetic
ally and technically pleas
ing is the test. To be able
to do it so that there is a
strong compositional ar
rangement, an illusion of
space, a three-dimensional '
relationship of forms
through a relationship of
colors, and a technical pro
ficiency in the application
of paint is the proof.
With a little practice, just
about anyone with one arm .
and one eye could repro-
duce nature, as closely as
the medium allows, in a
drawing or painting, some
better than others, but
there are cameras for this
purpose. Today, creativity
goes beyond merely copy- "
ing nature. Copying nature
as closely as possible with
no deeper feeling is not art.
Besides it is dull. If o n e
wants to look at a land
scape, he does not have to
look at a painting. He can
see the real thing merely
by looking out his window.
Today, naturalistic sub
ject matter means nothing.
liipwiiyi
L
James A. Johnston was
born in Lincoln and is a sen
ior in the School of Fine
Arts. He is a staff member
of the University Art Gal
lery and plans to do gradu
ate work at Berkeley, Calif.,
upon graduation.
The emphasis is on emo
tionalism, heightened ex
citement. The contempor
ary painter is more ego
centric, more concerned
with the way he feels,
more intent on his own ex
periences than he is with
his environment, but this is
not to say that he has last
touch with his surround
ings, because it is from his
surroundings tha his feel
ings are derived. It is this
endeavor to express h i s
feelings, an intangible, in
visible thing, and a reliance
more or less on the help of
his subconscious which re
sults in abstraction.
So what? So what the hell
do we care how the artist
feels, or felt, or why? That
is not the point. We do not
care how or why, and prob-
Be perspicacious!
:k mm
I S I"" K t ... V
ThUl Portplcoclout . . .
thorp 1 NSDox keep. yo
crwoke and alert uridyl
Not this: a student who
Studies drowsily no matter
how much sloop ho got.
If you find studying sometimes soporific (and who doesn't?) the word
to remember is NoDoz. NoDoz alerts you with a tafe and accurate
amount of caffeine the same refreshing stimulant
in coffee and tea. Yet non-habit-forming
NoDoz is faster, handier, more reliable. i-8 tl'$l
fin trt Ittfn nontnimninna ftiirina sturlv anil Vv-. jsi
exams and while driving, too ! L JL3
always keep lDoz in proximity.
Tot sets stay iwiht UMet-available swjwosie. Aoatkoi ho oraovct tl 9m
ably, neither does the artist.
It is the end product, the
result of the artist's experi
ence that, we are interested
in. You may say "so what"
again. You cannot recognize
anything in it that you know
to be true, but you do not
have to. Abstraction is a
visual experience like any
thing else like the movies,
or looking at the physiog
nomy of a beautiful female.
Beautiful form, color rela
tionships, and shape can be
pleasing and exciting in
themselves whether we rec
ognize anything in them or
not. An abstract painting
can be just as stimulating,
if not more so, as anything
Norman Rockwell ever did.
Why do we look at a vase
full of roses and think "My,
my, aren't they lovely,"
then in turn look at a well
done abstract painting and
feel either insulted or re
volted? What is the differ
ence? What are roses but
shapes and elegant color?
Is the difference in the fact
that we recognize roses as
roses and refuse to accept
anything tint we cannot
recognize, no matter how
beautiful it might be? It is
pretty ridiculous. There is
no doubt that there are in
dividuals who are insensi
tive to the beauty of form,
recognized or not, and even
to the grace of the female
anatomy which has been a
traditional subject for many
ages. Most people though,
are more perceptive and
sensitive than that and with
a little understanding can
gain greater pleasure in life
through the visual arts.
A middle-aged woman
walked into the gallery of
fice one day and asked me,
"what's it all about? Can
you explain these paintings
to me?" I asked her if she
understood music, to which
she replied, "certainly."
When I asked her why, she
could give me no answer.
When I mentioned that mu
sic could be thought, of ,as
being audible abstraction
that it is not composed of
' naturalistic sounds bird
twitters (with the possible
exception of Martin Denny's
. arrangements), the wind
rustling through trees, the
sound of a babbling brook
and that it could be com
pared to abstraction in the
visual arts, nothing hap
pened. She looked just as
blank as ever. When I then,
by chance, mentioned "ex
pression," the key word,
her eyes lit up as if she had
been hit by the greatest in
sight. This induced me to
elaborate. Think of contem
porary .art, I said, first, in
terms "of a visual experi
ence, secondly, as emotion
al expression, and thirdly,
in terms of symbolism and
simplification. This small
bit of information seemed
to make her quite happy
and I felt a sense of satis
faction because I thought
that I might have gained
another convert. From the
smallest understanding can
come the greatest benefits.
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