Thread for the Arts

wwhwang

Don't know if anyone has time for the arts or if many care for it these days, but I thought I'd bring up a thread for discussion of your favorite plays, works of art (or literature), broadway shows, songs from musicals, and artwork (to include paintings, sculptures, etc).

One of my favorite plays is The Scarlet Pimpernel. I especially like the songs Madam Guillotine, Into The Fire, Falcon In The Dive, and Where's The Girl.
Any opinions or suggestions?

stephen_hannibal

I love The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri... it's one of my favorite works.

Hays

Contrary to my generally badass reputation, I'm pretty much gay for the arts. I love literature, and have written (and published) several pieces of poetry. I listen to operatic music on pretty much a daily basis (yes, adjacent to Drowning Pool and 2Pac), and am slowly building a home art collection (soon to be adding a new piece by a very talented up-and-coming photographer). I love the theater, but I have to admit that I'm not as well-versed in it as I'd like to be.

wwhwang

Love the Divine Comedy as well. I need to re-read it though. That's one more thing on my to-buy list, which is huge, thanks to me picking up cigar smoking. I can only remember The Inferno. I somehow managed to forget Purgatorio and Paradise.

I also enjoyed the play The Taming of the Shrew. Macbeth was also a good piece of work. I'm not too fond of Romeo and Juliet (though the cigars are good).

bigbgballz

I like illusions and painting that play with your mind, recently i have been admiring this guys stuff. http://www.vladimirkush.com/home.php#lblStart . They actually look much better in real life as you get to see lots of details and stuff you dont see if you look through computer! I appreciate art as whole, music , plays etc.

Jetmech_63

Only art I know is Arturo fuente.....

turn_key

I love reading Shakespeare. It's a little hard to follow sometimes and I find myself re-reading sentences but it's rewarding. Much Ado About Nothing is my fav. There is always a Shakespeare play somewhere.

mrpillow

Strangely I am a fairly hardcore artist, yet have almost zero interest in the art world in general. I'm a free lance photographer, a classical pianist and occasionally I do session work with a few local orchestras on the bass/tenor trombone, as well as the occasional stint in a local band on bass guitar or keyboards. One of the few art endeavors I take an interest in are the geometric glass works of Jon Kuhn.

http://www.kuhnstudio.com

I am planning to design and have constructed a glass home based around one of his works as my final residence.

turn_key

mrpillow:

Strangely I am a fairly hardcore artist, yet have almost zero interest in the art world in general. I'm a free lance photographer, a classical pianist and occasionally I do session work with a few local orchestras on the bass/tenor trombone, as well as the occasional stint in a local band on bass guitar or keyboards. One of the few art endeavors I take an interest in are the geometric glass works of Jon Kuhn.

http://www.kuhnstudio.com

I am planning to design and have constructed a glass home based around one of his works as my final residence.

That is some interesting stuff pillow... I like it!

Every once in a while certain artwork catches my eye and three artists come to mind, Ryan Bliss, Julie Dillon and Tim Bradstreet. Bliss runs digitalblasphemy.com and works in computer based design software. Dillon is known for her fantasy work and works with some digital media. Bradstreet is known for his photo-realistic comic book illustrations for The Punisher series.

Bliss - http://digitalblasphemy.com/freegallery.shtml

Dillon - http://jdillon.net/

Bradstreet - http://timbradstreet.typepad.com/

Hays

That is some awesome stuff MrPillow! I love artistic glass, and yet I don't own a single piece - it's blasphemy! My fiance already knows that I plan on developing a collection of glass pieces, but our art collection is a very slow process.

ljl

Great to see this up here. My wife teaches art in elementary school. It is often hard to get people to appreciate how beneficial understanding and exploring art can be to kids. Naturally I have personal favs including Mondrian and Hopper. I also like that cultures around the world have evolved to include art as a part of their societies. Hopefully there is some good discussion here that will lead to us all being exposed to art we have not seen or experienced before.

lilwing88

I'm mostly into literature. All forms from Greek mythology up to current fiction..... I'm always reading 2-3 books at a time. Anything that looks good and I can get my hands on, I'll read.

I do like the occasional play, but don't really have a favorite that comes to mind.

fla-gypsy

I can appreciate good art though I am not a collector. I do not care for the modern stuff that some would call art. I very much like painting/sketching that captures the essence of a place, time, or person. Sculpture that does the same is also of interest to me.

nightmaremike31

Ah the arts. Well, I enjoy a lot of what Billy Shakespeare has written, A Midsummer Night's Dream since I've read it, seen it performed and acted in it as well. Acting is another one of my passions.

Back on topic, Edgar Allan Poe is nice. I greatly enjoy the dark works of H R Giger, as well as Clive Barker's work. I have a deep pocket in my heart for Greek Mythological artwork. Hmm, I feel like I could list things forever.


Oh and Nature is probably one of the best and most inspiring artist of them all.

jihiggs

ahh, bach!

docbp87

Favorite visual artists:
JOE COLEMAN
DANIEL MARTIN DIAZ
BILLY CHILDISH
FRANCIS BACON
JOHN JOHN JESSE
MARK RYDEN
STEPHEN KASNER


Also a big fan of avant-garde film makers, like Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and E. Elias Merhige. As for "classical" music, I prefer composers like Prokofiev and Wagner.

Favorite writers are Vladimir Nabokov, Arthur Rimbaud, Umberto Eco, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Oscar Wilde, John Milton, Arthur Conan Doyle, Herman Melville, H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Flannery O' Connor, William Daulkner, and too many others to recall off the cuff.

wwhwang

Here's two recommendations that might throw some people off. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (unabridged) and Outlaws of the Marsh. Two great Chinese classics with really rich stories. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on Chinese history from 170 AD to 280 AD around the fall of the Han Dynasty. Full of heroes, villains, war, strategy, politics, and it's very addictive. Then again, that's probably because I was raised on Chinese classics and I love military history.

jsnake

I totally love farts. Loud, quiet, wet, juicy, stinky, etc. One time when I was a cop my squad was eating breakfast with some city cops. The meal came to an end and I lifted my but check to let out what I thought would be a quiet fart. Well as fate would have it out came the loudest fart you could imagine. Everyone in the restaurant froze and then the laughter erupted.

There was another time when I was in the police academy and out at the firing range. The Police Academy is so serious and with so many guys a lot of farting was going on to loosen the mood. My buddy and I ran to Taco Bell for lunch. We order our food and start chowing down. He decides to aim his butt my way and lets out a nasty fart. He is driving so he locks the windows. I say ok smart a$$ back at you. I aim my butt his way and let one rip and shat my pants. Had to go to the store and buy new underwear. Of course that story followed me to my first law enforcement job.

I farted in the squad room one day and cleared out the entire Sheriff's Department.

Wait a minute...... this thread..... oh crap.....disregard everything you just read. I thought this was about farts.

YankeeMan

jsnake:

I totally love farts. Loud, quiet, wet, juicy, stinky, etc. One time when I was a cop my squad was eating breakfast with some city cops. The meal came to an end and I lifted my but check to let out what I thought would be a quiet fart. Well as fate would have it out came the loudest fart you could imagine. Everyone in the restaurant froze and then the laughter erupted.

There was another time when I was in the police academy and out at the firing range. The Police Academy is so serious and with so many guys a lot of farting was going on to loosen the mood. My buddy and I ran to Taco Bell for lunch. We order our food and start chowing down. He decides to aim his butt my way and lets out a nasty fart. He is driving so he locks the windows. I say ok smart a$$ back at you. I aim my butt his way and let one rip and shat my pants. Had to go to the store and buy new underwear. Of course that story followed me to my first law enforcement job.

I farted in the squad room one day and cleared out the entire Sheriff's Department.

Wait a minute...... this thread..... oh crap.....disregard everything you just read. I thought this was about farts.

Not to hijack the thread, but beore I retired I worked with a guy that had the ability to clear out an entire squad room and sit there with a satisfied smile on his face!

Hays

GETTING BACK ON TRACK (Only you Jake, only you...)

There's been some excellent composers mentioned here, a few that I'm unfamiliar with and will have to explore. I really do have a passion for classical music. I'm rather partial to some of the great classical masterpieces from Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven, but otherwise I'm also in love with the work of Atonin Dvorak. I find my tastes lend almost exclusively to piano, string, and woodwind instruments - I can listen to compositions of these any day, but I have to be in the mood for percussion accompaniment.

Hays

wwhwang:

Here's two recommendations that might throw some people off. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (unabridged) and Outlaws of the Marsh. Two great Chinese classics with really rich stories. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on Chinese history from 170 AD to 280 AD around the fall of the Han Dynasty. Full of heroes, villains, war, strategy, politics, and it's very addictive. Then again, that's probably because I was raised on Chinese classics and I love military history.

I will have to look both of these up. With any luck (not entirely likely) I may be able to find them at my library...? I share your interest in Eastern classics and have a very deep appreciation for the culture.

mrpillow

If you're in the mood for some classical, take a look at my personal favorite, Sergei Rachmaninoff. As far as recommended pieces, try Prelude Op. 3 No.2, Prelude Op.23 No.5, The Moment Musical No.4, the Piano Concertii and the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. The 18th variation in the Rhapsody is IMO one of the most beautiful moments in musical history.

wwhwang

Hays:

wwhwang:

Here's two recommendations that might throw some people off. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (unabridged) and Outlaws of the Marsh. Two great Chinese classics with really rich stories. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is based on Chinese history from 170 AD to 280 AD around the fall of the Han Dynasty. Full of heroes, villains, war, strategy, politics, and it's very addictive. Then again, that's probably because I was raised on Chinese classics and I love military history.

I will have to look both of these up. With any luck (not entirely likely) I may be able to find them at my library...? I share your interest in Eastern classics and have a very deep appreciation for the culture.

No, Hays, I kinda doubt the local library would have it. If so, then you're really lucky. If not, I suggest you buy the unabridged version. The abridged goes way too fast for you to appreciate the story. As for mrpillow, I used to play the piano while I was growing up (go figure, right? A chinese kid playing the piano). Bach and Mozart were my favorites.