Arrival — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Arrival
And yet one arrives somehow,
finds himself loosening the hooks of
her dress
in a strange bedroom—
feels the autumn
dropping its silk and linen leaves
about her ankles.
The tawdry veined body emerges
twisted upon itself
like a winter wind . . . !
— William Carlos Williams
Two-Tailed Swallowtail Butterfly Entering a World of Color — Photo-Artistry by kenne
— Paul Klee
Shapes In Search Of Their Void — Abstract art by kenne
– Paul Klee
Thimble Peak — Computer Painting by kenne
— Paul Klee
Usually, I spend a lot of time trying to learn more to better understand human existence. But, every now and then, I turn to what I already know and have experienced, from which there is still much to learn. Just taking the time to listen to the music, enjoy art and read books I have -– taking the time to internalize the magic of the music, carefully read the depth of the words, and looking anew at that which makes the “visible” visible. Why seek more without first making use of what I already have. Plus, what good is life without making full use of what we already have, because life is given only once?
When I do turn to my already gathered knowledge and experience, especially in times of unspeakable destruction that impales our future, I frequently turn to one of the most creative minds of the 20th century, Paul Klee. The title of this blog, “Becoming is Superior to Being,” is a Klee quote.
Among Klee’s paintings are a series of angels. Like in one of his most famous, “Angelus Novus,” Klee’s angels are very fragmented creatures, appearing very elusive. Walter Benjamin was so taken by Angelus Novus that he bought the painting. In his interpretation of the painting, Benjamin seems to see in the angel the despair many of us feel in our not being able to help the victims of yet another unjust war. Benjamin wrote:
“A Klee painting named “Angelus Novus” shows an angel looking as though he is about to move away from something he is fixedly contemplating. His eyes are staring, his mouth is open, his wings are spread. This is how one pictures the angel of history. His face is turned towards the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling up ruin upon ruin and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which its back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress.”
“Art does not reproduce the visible, rather it makes visible.”
—Paul Klee
Justin Nozuka – Don’t Listen to a Word You’ve Heard
— kenne
Little Dune Picture by Paul Klee — The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas
— Paul Klee
Wisdom of Art III” Computer art by kenne
— Paul Klee
“Becoming is Superior to Being” — Paul Klee (An early 1970’s gift from Larry J. Bailey)
— kenne
