Yeah, I think my creepy over-analytical had a little too much fun today during my Art History Online class. The following is the transcript from that discussion...well, not the whole thing, but I assure you, I'm not taking anything out of context.
This was out assignment:
"How does Raphael’s the School of Athens exemplify the High Renaissance? Using the images from the text, what work/s do you think best represent/exemplify the High Renaissance and why?
If you were to create a Modern Day School of Athens from leaders in your fields of study whom would you include and why?
Film students may wish to include directors and actors, Marketing and Entertainment Business students can look to the most successful commercials, brands, and ad and campaigns, and Music students may wish to consider musicians, singers and producers."
Just as a note, we're also supposed to respond to another student.
My answer:
"The School of Athens clearly has a bit of a love affair with Western Philosophy, and this of course, is his love letter to it. The compositions intrigues me, since he has the groups clearly separated, and there is no actual person in the center. Yes, I know Plato is right there, but he is not on the steps, in fact there's no one else below him directly. He is further in the background compared to the people on the steps. It almost makes him unattainable in a way. This school of people look unattainable and gives them an attitude, as if they have a smarter than thou vibe about them. However, can you blame them? Without people Plato, where would we be as a people. We wouldn't have Aristotle, and we wouldn't have Raphael. Heck, we might not even have Einstein without the advances this "school" made. Even if they're wisdom seems dated now, it moved us forward.
A modern version of this in the film world (which would probably be somewhat insulting to Raphael, as he held these people in the highest esteem and film as a whole probably doesn't have the same respectability as the history behind painting, but what the hey, let's do it) would definitely have Orson Welles in the center. Citizen Kane (love it or hate it) is probably the most important movie of all time. Included in the picture would be Charlie Chaplin, Jean Luc-Goddard, Akira Kurosawa, Walt Disney, Stanley Kubrick, and Fritz Lang. And now the fun part, my personal favorites, that probably don't belong, but I would want them in there anyways. This would include, Kevin Smith, Bryan Singer, Katshurio Otomo, The Wachowski and Coen Bros, Mamoru Oshii, Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Satoshi Kon, Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, John Lasseter, Shinichiro Watanabe, and myself in the background somewhere, because why wouldn't I want to hang out with people I admire in a school."
Lord C's Answer (had nothing to do with mine...yet):
"I was truly blown away upon learning about the School of Athens. This is my first time partaking in the beauty and intellectual majesty of it. At first glance, to me it was nothing more than a very detailed and maybe the most eye-catching piece of the High Renaissance. But after realizing what the piece represented and the message that the artist (Raphael) was conveying, I then began to build a greater understanding from the knowledge and wisdom before me. I must say to me the Mona Lisa by De Vinci would be the best representation of the High Renaissance. Simply because of its popularity and how one automatically thinks Renaissance era when you see it.
In my School of Athens Michael Jackson and Jay-z would play the rolls of Plato and Aristotle. Michael would be in the roll of Plato representing the epitome of a musical artist. Michael with his arm raised to the sky, the gesture meaning through the power of music you can become more than man, much like Paul McCartney’s statement “The Beatles are bigger than Jesus”. A student of Michael’s work Jay-z is learning to become more than just an artist in a different way. With today’s mergence of business and art Jay-z is becoming less than a businessman and more of a man that is a business."
Lord C's response to my post:
"Jose,
I love how you pointed to the love affair going on here because it is that intense. Your views on the people on the stairs were very unique and your post overall is highly observent and how you say "there is no actual person in the center." proves it. along with the list of legends you put together in your recast leaves me speechless. Great post."
My response to him (oh boy...here we go.):
"In response to Lord Christopher (which, if that's your real name, it's the second coolest name ever, after Disco San Andreas) I thank you for you kind words, but sadly, I have a bone to pick with you about something you said.
I must say to me the Mona Lisa by De Vinci would be the best representation of the High Renaissance. Simply because of its popularity and how one automatically thinks Renaissance era when you see it.
While the Mona Lisa is a popular painting (with good reason) that is a beautiful work of art, to call it the best representation of the Renaissance era is incredibly subjective, which to your credit, you did say "to me". Obviously, I can disagree with an opinion but can't really do anything to change it. After all, it isn't really wrong or right, it's just yours and yours alone. However, you called it the "best representation". How can one painting be the best representation of a whole era?
To relate this to an industry, I don't study, but follow closely anyways, let's try the same thing for videogames. Many of you (not me) would probably say that your favorite game of all time is probably Modern Warfare 2. A great game by it's own right, but does it really represent videogames as a whole, ignoring the whole "best" part at the moment. Well, no. I mean, there are plenty of games, great games that are nothing like Modern Warfare 2, such as Super Mario Galaxy, Fragile Dreams, Persona 4, Final Fantasy 7, Scribblenauts, Mass Effect and Metal Gear Solid. However, none of the games I mentioned just now are even in the same genre of videogames as Modern Warfare 2 (FPS or First Person Shooter, for those who are unfamiliar). Is it the best representation of it's own genre. No, there are plenty of games even in it's own genre that are nothing like it, such as, Halo, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Metroid Prime, Half-Life, and Red Steel 2 (Not Red Steel 1, that game needs to be forgotten) and they still stand on their own as great games.
Bringing this back to Renaissance art, how can the Mona Lisa be the best representation of the whole era when the painting we're discussing has pretty much nothing in common with it, not even aesthetically. The Mona Lisa is an incredibly close and dark painting compared to The School of Athens, which uses bright colors and wide spaces. There are many other works that share little in common with the Mona Lisa from the same era.
'The influence of this painting cannot be overstated. Leonardo da Vinci’s use of sfumato and his understanding of the enigmatic expression of Lisa Gioconda, wife of Francesco del Gioconda has made this painting one of, if not, the most famous portrait in the world. For those who may not be aware, this oil on wood from 1503-06, resides in the Louvre in Paris. Great choice! Interesting inclusion of Michael J. in your modern School of Athens. I ‘d have to agree about his contributions!'
Now, I also agree with this statement by our teacher, which may seem odd because she totally agrees with you while I don't. I believe that while influence can shape artists minds to take what came before them, the whole point of evolving is to use what works and what doesn't. Having an influence is not the same thing as being the best representation of an entire era of art, or that whole genre of art. It's easy to leave a stamp or marking on an art, but essentially with such of variety of ideas and arts out there, there will never be true representation of art by simply one piece. Really, the best representation of art is all of it, the good and bad (because without the bad, how would we appreciate the good?).
Well, I've rambled on, (and feel like I haven't said enough) and perhaps I'll return to this subject later. For now, I'll just leave with this. I didn't mean to destroy something subjective. If that's your viewpoint, no matter how many long winded internet posts I write, I will never change that, but hopefully I've somewhat presented some new ideas for you to take into consideration.
Plus, I really think I wanted to work in videogames into my post somehow and still have it be relevant."
I'm waiting for someone to rebuttal my statement that "Citizen Kane (love it or hate it) is probably the most important movie of all time."
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