Bush's favorite painting

[TerzaRima]

I'll take jawdropping irony for $500, Alex. (http://harpers.org/archive/2008/01/hbc-90002237)

[bluntforcetrauma]

Incredible, isn't it? There seems to be something more at work here than a mere man buying a painting. It's like destiny.

[blacbird]

Somewhere here a year or so ago, in response to an equally jaw-dropping statement issued about the Iraq occupation, I noted that Bush and his boys are "immune to irony". No better or more literal illustration of this phenomenon could be found.

It's reminiscent, too, of the absolutely precious piece of video Keith Olbermann ran a week or so ago. It was of GWB, at a press conference, issuing yet another blind cliché concerning Iraq. I have to use some stage direction to make it work, as the best part of it was visual, not audio:

"The right hand" -- Bush gestures with his left -- "doesn't know what the left hand" -- Bush gestures with his right -- "is doing."

I didn't make this up, so help me God. I actually saw him, our POTUS, our LOTFW, do this.

caw

[bluntforcetrauma]

Oh that could just be Masonic symbolism or he maybe trying to make sure the viewer is seeing the side he is talking about from their perspective.

[Terran]

Masonic Symbolism?

[blacbird]

Nah. Bush is immune to symbolism, too. If you said that word to him, he'd likely connect it with the musician in the marching band who clangs them two brass plates together.

caw

[rugcat]

I would have guessed his favorite painting would have been Dogs Playing Poker.

[Terran]

Nah. Bush is immune to symbolism, too. If you said that word to him, he'd likely connect it with the musician in the marching band who clangs them two brass plates together.

caw

:roll:
How true.

[Joe270]

"The right hand" -- Bush gestures with his left -- "doesn't know what the left hand" -- Bush gestures with his right -- "is doing."

When an aide pointed this out while reviewing the speach, Bush responded:

"Dang it, I had it right practicing in front of the mirror this morning."

[James81]

Somewhere here a year or so ago, in response to an equally jaw-dropping statement issued about the Iraq occupation, I noted that Bush and his boys are "immune to irony". No better or more literal illustration of this phenomenon could be found.

It's reminiscent, too, of the absolutely precious piece of video Keith Olbermann ran a week or so ago. It was of GWB, at a press conference, issuing yet another blind cliché concerning Iraq. I have to use some stage direction to make it work, as the best part of it was visual, not audio:

"The right hand" -- Bush gestures with his left -- "doesn't know what the left hand" -- Bush gestures with his right -- "is doing."

I didn't make this up, so help me God. I actually saw him, our POTUS, our LOTFW, do this.

caw

Bush has done some really stupid things, but in this case? Did you consider that perhaps he used opposite hands for the sake of the crowd and people watching him?

Nobody is so stupid that they don't know right from left. Not even Bush.

[Matera the Mad]

Anyone who habitually lies to himself is going to have a hard time distinguishing truth. Nah, he has two left hands. All the rest is an illusion.

[Joe270]

Bush has done some really stupid things, but in this case? Did you consider that perhaps he used opposite hands for the sake of the crowd and people watching him?


Oh, come on, James. No, I did not for a second consider this.

I'm no Bush-Basher, but this one was too priceless to duck out of.

I tell you one thing, though. Lots of the same folks griping about Bush are gonna miss the comedy of his 'bully pulpit'. Comedians are going to have to write jokes for a change, really work for a laugh. Bush has handed them material on a silver platter for seven years.

He doesn't mix metaphors, he mangles metaphors.

[rugcat]

I tell you one thing, though. Lots of the same folks griping about Bush are gonna miss the comedy of his 'bully pulpit'. Comedians are going to have to write jokes for a change, really work for a laugh. Bush has handed them material on a silver platter for seven years.Yes, his is the gift that keeps on giving. Fear not, though. There are more than enough idiotic politicians of all stripes to keep the comedy shows going forever.

Do you realize the genius of Jon Stewart? He figured out you could have an entire comedy show, even a career, simply by playing clips of politicians speaking and then cutting back to a shot of the host with a look of astonishment on his face.

[CACTUSWENDY]

I always thought that a painting was what ever the beholder saw. Maybe I am wrong. Have been a couple of times so far this year. Guess I did not understand my art classes right. Oh well.......

[Joe270]

Jon Stewart isn't nearly as funny as Bush.

Well, except the part that Bush controls nuclear (read: nuchular) weapons.

[rugcat]

Jon Stewart isn't nearly as funny as Bush.Ahh, but there's the genius. He realizes that.

[blacbird]

I always thought that a painting was what ever the beholder saw. Maybe I am wrong. Have been a couple of times so far this year. Guess I did not understand my art classes right. Oh well.......

Did you actually read the article linked in the lead post? The painting in question was commissioned for a specific purpose to illustrate a short story about a horse thief escaping. In the original publication it even had a caption linking it to that event. It wasn't a painting devoid of context.

caw

[donroc]

Several great painters of the West "Illustrated" events unambiguously, Remington for one.

[blacbird]

Several great painters of the West "Illustrated" events unambiguously, Remington for one.

Bush would interpret much of Remington's work as the U.S. Cavalry leading the Indians to Jesus.

For the top Western artist, gimme Charlie Russell anyday.

caw

[donroc]

Yeah, Russell too.

[SHBueche]

Thanks for posting this, I particularly like the description of Bush having the "Tolstoy Syndrome."

[choppersmom]

Bush has done some really stupid things, but in this case? Did you consider that perhaps he used opposite hands for the sake of the crowd and people watching him?

Nobody is so stupid that they don't know right from left. Not even Bush.

*Clears throat nervously*

I actually have to think about it before I say "left" or "right." It's just a quirk of mine. In the car, it's not "Make a left" or "Make a right," it's "Make a this way" or "Make a that way." I SWEAR I am not making that up, it's just easier for me. I'm not so stupid that I don't know right from left, my brain just mixes them up. It always has, and it likely always will.

Lots of people gesture with the wrong hand, it's not an indication of intelligence or lack thereof if you get it right or get it wrong. It's just a hand movement. It emphasizes that there are two hands, and neither of them know what the other is doing. That's all. Reading too much into a little thing like this is kind of a waste of time, certainly not newsworthy, IMO.

[blacbird]

Lots of people gesture with the wrong hand, it's not an indication of intelligence or lack thereof if you get it right or get it wrong. It's just a hand movement. It emphasizes that there are two hands, and neither of them know what the other is doing. That's all. Reading too much into a little thing like this is kind of a waste of time, certainly not newsworthy, IMO.

But it sure was dang funny.

caw

[Celia Cyanide]

Lots of people gesture with the wrong hand, it's not an indication of intelligence or lack thereof if you get it right or get it wrong. It's just a hand movement.

Yes, but those people are not at a press conference, and do not have lots of time to prepare before they gesture. And, whether it's a measure of intelligence or not, anybody who stands up in front of a group of people with a prepared speech and says "right hand" while raising his/her left knows that some people will think it looks silly.

[choppersmom]

But it sure was dang funny.

caw

Oh, no doubt!!

[Shadow_Ferret]

That's a nice cool cowboy action painting.

I think you guys are reading far more into it than is there.

[AnneMarble]

*Clears throat nervously*

I actually have to think about it before I say "left" or "right." It's just a quirk of mine. In the car, it's not "Make a left" or "Make a right," it's "Make a this way" or "Make a that way." I SWEAR I am not making that up, it's just easier for me. I'm not so stupid that I don't know right from left, my brain just mixes them up. It always has, and it likely always will.
In college, I knew someone whose mother was dyslexic and thus had to think about right versus left. When her kids gave her directions while driving, they were supposed to point and say "go that way" instead of saying "turn left" or "turn right." Of course, being kids, they sometimes said "Turn left" just because they loved getting a reaction out of her. :) But of course, like most dyslexics, she was intelligent.

I sometimes have to think about right and left. So it's clearly not a sign of stupidity. ;) Maybe it's an artifact of the way I was taught the concept. Maybe my brain has some funny little bumps & thingies in it. :crazy: Sometimes the basics are pushed aside when we have to learn something specialized. Right now, I'm editing an article about 4,4'-dihydroxybenzophenone, so maybe my brain is preoccupied.

As far as the original post goes, people often think a painting means one thing when the artist meant something else. What happens to our perception when we learn we were wrong about the original? It can be hard to get rid of that perception, and if we prefer ours to the original, we might decide we prefer our own version. Even the experts don't always agree. Heck, there are experts out there who think Bosch's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch) paintings show that he was some kind of heretic, yet most modern experts think he was as far from heretical as you can get. (Of course, Bosch made things harder for experts by not illustrating stories about horse thieves. :tongue)

[donroc]

My favorite take on interpreting the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile. She is the one who let loose the rancid silent fart.

:D

[blacbird]

That's a nice cool cowboy action painting.

I think you guys are reading far more into it than is there.

It is indeed a fine painting. But the real point, Ferret, isn't that we are reading stuff into it that isn't there. It's that George W. Bush read stuff into it that isn't there. Sorta like them wepponsamassdistruction, ain't it?

caw

[choppersmom]

Right now, I'm editing an article about 4,4'-dihydroxybenzophenone,

I got this far, and then I started thinking about potato chips.

You're a better man than I am, AnneMarble!

[AnneMarble]

It is indeed a fine painting. But the real point, Ferret, isn't that we are reading stuff into it that isn't there. It's that George W. Bush read stuff into it that isn't there. Sorta like them wepponsamassdistruction, ain't it?

caw
We probably all do that. :D Luckily, I'm not the president.

I got this far, and then I started thinking about potato chips.

You're a better man than I am, AnneMarble!
Now you have me thinking of fried chicken.
:ROFL:

[choppersmom]

We probably all do that. :D Luckily, I'm not the president.


Now you have me thinking of fried chicken.
:ROFL:

OMG...fried chicken...so crispy...so tender...so tasty...

SEE WHAT YOU DID! Now I need some of that there didroxybentophentermine there to stop my cravings!

[AnneMarble]

OMG...fried chicken...so crispy...so tender...so tasty...

SEE WHAT YOU DID! Now I need some of that there didroxybentophentermine there to stop my cravings!
:ROFL::ROFL::ROFL:
Proving that all threads return to PHENTERMINE. (Or haggis. Or Haggis.)

[Shadow_Ferret]

Sorta like them wepponsamassdistruction, ain't it?

cawNot at all, but I don't feel like rehashing an argument that's been going on for several years.

[blacbird]

Famous Art Criticism, by George W. Bush:

Frederic Remington's “Dash for Timber”: Resolute riders leading a mass of Indians toward Jesus and salvation.

Vincent Van Gogh's “Wheat Field with Crows”: Crows fly above the country lane that leads to Jesus and salvation.

Winslow Homer's “Breezing Up”: Intrepid sailors cross waters of tribulation on their way toward Jesus and salvation.

Paul Cézanne's “The Large Bathers”: Eight naked ladies in the outdoors, cleaning up in order to be ready to meet Jesus and salvation. It'd be better if they wasn't so naked.

Mary Cassatt's “The Fitting”: A woman indoors, getting all gussied up in order to be ready to meet Jesus and salvation. See, this is a lot better than that other one.

Pablo Picasso's “Nude and Still Life”: I have no frickin' idea what this is about. What are them five or six round things with a dot in the middle?

Norman Rockwell's “Bridge Game”: Four people playing cards while waiting for Jesus and salvation.

Andy Warhol's “200 Campbell Soup Cans”: Supposed to be two hundred (I didn't count 'em) cans of soup, on their way to meet Jesus and salvation.

Leonardo da Vinci's “La Gioconda”: Plain-looking woman in a silly costume smiling because she's just found Jesus and salvation.

Jackson Pollock's “Lavender Mist No. 1”: Jackson Pollock was carrying these open paint cans and fell down, on his way toward Jesus and salvation.

Salvador Dali's “Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory”: This here's what'll happen to you if you don't find Jesus and salvation.

caw

[donroc]

Blackbird, you cawstic devil, you. :roll:

[rugcat]

More Bush art criticism:

piero della francesca's resurrection. . . oh, wait a minute.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r33/rugcat/francesca6-1.jpg

[whistlelock]

I may be the only one here- I didn't read through the second page- but I have no problem with Bush's interpretation of the work.

1) he's viewing it in isolation. there's no accompanying work to give it a context.
2) lacking context, he applies a personal one. The great struggle as he sees it is to spread the word of God. It's a long hard uphill struggle in a world that doesn't care about your beliefs.

A cowboy in a uphill struggle in a winter world with people behind him that look worse than he does.

Looking at that photo, and lacking the context from the article; I can see how he got there.

Ultimatly, once the piece is out of the artists hands only the viewer gives it meaning. so, the applied meaning by bush is just as valid as any other one.

even if it is mightily ironic and funny.

[Joe270]

As far as the original post goes, people often think a painting means one thing when the artist meant something else. What happens to our perception when we learn we were wrong about the original? It can be hard to get rid of that perception, and if we prefer ours to the original, we might decide we prefer our own version. Even the experts don't always agree.

One painting which was pretty much ruined for me was "The Scream". I saw depths of inner turmoil, blah, blah, blah.

Then I found out the sky really was red because of the Krakatoa eruption. After that, it seemed to just typify ignorant reaction to the unknown.

Sorta ruined it for me.

[blacbird]

Ultimatly, once the piece is out of the artists hands only the viewer gives it meaning. so, the applied meaning by bush is just as valid as any other one.


Nobody is making fun of the concept that a given viewer of a given piece of art may apply a personal paradigm to its interpretation.

That is not the same as saying that all interpretations of a given piece of art are equally valid, or valuable.

I'm (and here I'll only speak for myself) making fun of the particular paradigm this particular person applied to this particular piece of art (which is absurdly and hysterically shallow and misinformed) and the manner in which he apparently tries to inflict it on others. Hence, my list of other famous art works (see above).

Oh, and in case you missed it, I'm not laughing with him. I'm laughing at him.

caw

[whistlelock]

I may be the only one here- I didn't read through the second page- *ahem*

[Lyra Jean]

*Clears throat nervously*

I actually have to think about it before I say "left" or "right." It's just a quirk of mine. In the car, it's not "Make a left" or "Make a right," it's "Make a this way" or "Make a that way." I SWEAR I am not making that up, it's just easier for me. I'm not so stupid that I don't know right from left, my brain just mixes them up. It always has, and it likely always will.

Lots of people gesture with the wrong hand, it's not an indication of intelligence or lack thereof if you get it right or get it wrong. It's just a hand movement. It emphasizes that there are two hands, and neither of them know what the other is doing. That's all. Reading too much into a little thing like this is kind of a waste of time, certainly not newsworthy, IMO.

I confuse my left and right hand all the time. I'm left handed and sometimes I'll pick up a pen and have to write with each hand to remember which one is my left and I'm not ambidexterous.