Every artist tries to bring a feeling
of real life into their work. Whether
its photo realistic or abstract or commercially
cartoon-ish. People so often look at 3d
creations and never realize the love,
emotions, time and energy that actually
goes into creating something from ones
own mind. If the creation could only come
to life and speak and move then people
might stand up and take notice. Is this
just a dream of artistic proportions or
a truth?
The imagination is a strong feature that
must not be ignored. We live among the
images we have made, and those images
have an uncanny life. They seduce us,
challenge, trap, transform, and even kill
us. Yet they speak and remain so haunting
and deadly silent.
The Adventures of Pinocchio, Carlo
Collodi , Carlo Lorenzini (pen name
Collodi) created the puppet who longed
to be a boy more than a century ago, yet
Pinocchio has lived on, both in popular
culture and in literary and filmic versions
of the tale. One of the most read books
in the world, The Adventures of Pinocchio
was originally written in serial form
for an Italian children's magazine. Collodi
killed off the puppet in what he thought
was the last episode; until, that is,
he was urged by his editor to continue
the already very popular story.
Art is considered subjective to many.
You either like it or you hate it. But
what if it actually haunts you? Is it
the feelings that the work brings up in
your emotions or some unseen force or
a desire to investigate the unknown. Pygmalion
is a fictional character from the Roman
poet Ovid, found in the tenth book of
his Metamorphoses. Pygmalion is a sculptor
who falls in love with a statue he has
made. A woman out of ivory. According
to Ovid he is 'not interested in women',
but his statue is so realistic that he
falls in love with it. He offers the statue
presents and eventually prays to Venus.
She takes pity on him and brings the statue
to life. They marry and have a son, Paphos.
Pygmalion and Galatea
(1890) by Jean-Léon Gérôme
(1824-1904)
The story has been the subject
of notable paintings by Jean-Léon
Gérôme, Honoré Daumier,
Edward Burne-Jones (four major works from
1868-1870, then again in larger versions
from 1875-1878), Auguste Rodin, Ernest
Normand, Paul Delvaux, Francisco Goya,
Francois Boucher, and Thomas Rowlandson,
among others. There have also been numerous
sculptures of the 'awakening'. It was
the subject of Gaetano Donizetti's first
opera, Il Pigmalione.
Don Juan in Hell
Don Juan, the ``Seducer of Seville,''
originated as a hero-villain of Spanish
folk legend, and his fame spread through
the rest of Europe in the 17th century.
The many versions of his story include
a play by Moliere (``The Stone Feast,''
1665), a long poem by Byron (``Don Juan,''
1819-24), and an opera by Mozart (``Don
Giovanni,'' 1787).
In the legend by George Bernard Shaw,
Don Juan is a famous lover and scoundrel
who has made more than a thousand sexual
conquests. While preparing to seduce the
young noble lady Donna Ana, he is discovered
by her father, the Commander, who challenges
him to a duel. Don Juan kills the Commander
and escapes. Donna Ana and her fiance
Don Ottavio attempt to hunt down Don Juan,
but he is too wily to be caught.
Later, Don Juan passes by the tomb of
the dead Commander. A voice comes from
the statue on the tomb, warning Don Juan
that he will be punished for his wicked
deeds. The unrepentant Don Juan jokingly
invites the statue to have dinner with
him. However, the joke is on Don Juan
when the haunted statue comes to life
and arrives at Don Juan's house at the
promised time.
The statue puts out his hand and offers
to take Don Juan to a different banquet.
Don Juan, fearless to the last, takes
the statue's hand, but finds himself caught
in an unbreakable grip that fills him
with freezing cold. A fiery pit opens
and the statue drags Don Juan off to Hell.
Don Juan, the ``Seducer of Seville,''
originated as a hero-villain of Spanish
folk legend, and his fame spread through
the rest of Europe in the 17th century.
The many versions of his story include
a play by Moliere (``The Stone Feast,''
1665), a long poem by Byron (``Don Juan,''
1819-24), and an opera by Mozart (``Don
Giovanni,'' 1787).
The Truth About Living
Inanimate Objects of Art
How might a soul a ghost or a living
personality enter an inanimate object
one might guess or have to ask. Residual
Haunting? Possession? Black Magic or a
curse? The actual possibilities are truly
endless. But as we all know through the
imagination anything is possible. Whether
in writing, feature films, song or artistic
creations these many stories have been
told and retold for generations.
It's all in the believing, the making
of what we imagine to be real and how
it affects us. Through our lives we feel
we breath we live and have secrets that
we tell only to our selves or to the inanimate
world around us.
Does it it listen? Some truly think it
does. Artist tend to believe that we see
what they see, or at least the hope someone
will. They want their creations to be
accepted and loved and cherished as much
as what they have put into them in creating
them. The hardest thing is for an artist
to give away themselves.
When an artist create with great care
and talent how can they let go of something
that means so much to them... all artist
tend to fall or be in love with their
art. But how do you really let the art
go? Any piece that at is painted, chiseled
from stone or wood or clay, sewn or glued
made by hand that is so dually prized
and filled with secret dreams and personal
desires and life felt aspirations, be
sent out into the world alone and cherished
as much as the creator of it did.
I believe each artistic achievement made
by man is possessed by part of the soul
of the artist. They want the whole world
to see it feel it experience it as they
do. Some objects speak to the person who
buys them. Is it the soul infused talking
to the new owner? Is the price you pay
worth the soul or artistic spirit you
have purchased?
Because of this I believe these things
are truly haunted or else why would they
be so expensive to have. And so personal
that we tend to put them in a place of
honor. cherish them make over them care
for them and love them.
Who has not cried or been torn in heart
to loose a dearly cherished doll or toy.
we mourn it as we do the passing of a
living person.
In some cases this might explain why
art some things effect us visually and
emotionally. Do these things remind us
of something in each ones hidden nature?
Does like not seek like? Is this why certain
works intrigue us others repel us and
still other hold us in their enchanted
haunted spell?
Haunted
Dolls And Puppets And Stuffed Animals
Oh My!
Don't we or haven't we all
once in our life wished our toy's would
have come to life? Even with all the love
and magic in the world, could the Velveteen
Rabbit ever be really real?
Pinocchio living puppet
(Le Avventure di Pinocchio) is a novel
for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi,
a Zuni Warrior doll from Dan Curtis' Trilogy
of Terror , The Veleveteen Rabbit by Marjorie
Williams, or Winnie-the-Pooh is a fictional
bear created by A. A. Milne. He appears
in the books Winnie-the-Pooh (published
October 14, 1926) and The House at Pooh
Corner (1928)... in common they all came
to life.
The Adventures of Pinocchio
. The first half was published in serial
form between 1881 and 1883, and then completed
as a book for children in February 1883.
It is about the mischievous adventures
of Pinocchio, an animated marionette,
and his poor father, a woodcarver named
Geppetto. It is considered a classic of
children's literature and has spawned
many derivative works of art, such as
Disney's classic 1940 animated movie of
the same name, and commonplace ideas,
such as a liar's long nose.
Recently Academy Award winner
Roberto Benigni wrote, directed and stars
in this remake of the classic children’s
tale. Pinocchio (Benigni) is a wooden
puppet who wants to be a real boy. His
father Geppetto and the kind Blue Fairy
try to keep Pinocchio out of trouble,
but his curiosity gets the better of him.
Winnie the
Pooh
The character was named
after a toy bear owned by Milne's son,
Christopher Robin Milne. Most of the other
characters are also named after toys belonging
to Christopher Milne, the exceptions being
Christopher Robin himself, and Owl and
Rabbit, who are presumably based on real-life
animals. Christopher Milne had named his
toy after a real bear called Winnipeg,
brought to Britain from Canada and whom
Milne and his son often saw at London
Zoo, and "Pooh", a swan they
had met on a holiday (who appears in When
We Were Very Young).
The Velveteen
Rabbit
Excerpts from The Velveteen
Rabbit: or how toys become real by Margery
Williams
Illustrations by William Nicholson
THERE was once a velveteen
rabbit, and in the beginning he was really
splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a
rabbit should be; his coat was spotted
brown and white, he had real thread whiskers,
and his ears were lined with pink sateen.
On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged
in the top of the Boy's stocking, with
a sprig of holly between his paws, the
effect was charming.
"What is REAL?"
asked the Rabbit one day, when they were
lying side by side near the nursery fender,
before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does
it mean having things that buzz inside
you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made,"
said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing
that happens to you. When a child loves
you for a long, long time, not just to
play with, but REALLY loves you, then
you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin
Horse, for he was always truthful. "When
you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like
being wound up," he asked, "or
bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once,"
said the Skin Horse. "You become.
It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't
happen often to people who break easily,
or have sharp edges, or who have to be
carefully kept. Generally, by the time
you are Real, most of your hair has been
loved off, and your eyes drop out and
you get loose in the joints and very shabby.
But these things don't matter at all,
because once you are Real you can't be
ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said
the Rabbit. And then he wished he had
not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse
might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse
only smiled.
Later in the story ... "Little Rabbit,"
she said, "don't you know who I am?"
The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed
to him that he had seen her face before,
but he couldn't think where.
"I am the nursery magic Fairy,"
she said. "I take care of all the
playthings that the children have loved.
When they are old and worn out and the
children don't need them any more, then
I come and take them away with me and
turn them into Real."
"Wasn't I Real before?" asked
the little Rabbit.
"You were Real to the Boy,"
the Fairy said, "because he loved
you. Now you shall be Real to every one."
