Art & the Redeeming Web of the Internet
Originally intended to be simply a link, this little piece has evolved into an account of a typical internet browsing pattern of mine… which has somehow been incorporated with an attempt at art commentary. Here it is:
A microcosm of my web-browsing experience reveals my natural curiosity about many things. You see, I browsed from kottke.org to I Did Not Know That Yesterday! via random clicking. At this (quite interesting, actually) website, I saw a post about the real estate value of Central Park in New York (for the curious, it is over 528 billion dollars). I then looked up Central Park on Google Maps, and noticed that one building interrupted the park’s solid green border. That building is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I then visited the Wikipedia page about the Met in order to learn when such a building had managed to negotiate with the city of New York to build on the precious grounds of Central Park (turns out it opened at its current location in the year 1880). After this, I began reading about the museum’s deaccessioning policy, intended to allow the museum to acquire “world class” art objects.
Finally, I found what I originally meant to link in this space — a painting by Marie-Denise Villers entitled “Young Woman Drawing.” I’m no art critic, but I think it’s a very interesting piece of art/painting for a variety of reasons. First, it may not be true for all viewers, but there’s an intensity in the image that speaks to me; you know how some pictures just jump out at you? Also, the unadorned background seems more akin to something you would find in the 20th century than in 1801, when the painting was made. Furthermore, the glow around the figure really highlights the attention paid to the sunlight. Rembrandt, an artist so famous he apparently only needs one name, used and advanced this lighting technique known by the Italian word chiaroscuro. I find myself drawn to the glowing, elevated reality in these types of paintings. I wonder if they sell this painting on a poster website.
So, what was a seemingly random walk around Internet-town left me with a slightly tenuous, certainly interesting, culturally enriching thread of connections… simply because I started randomly clicking. How can you not love the internet?