the neo-classical
Posted by Will at 10/24/2007 10:25 AM and is filed under uncategorized 
What my experience consists of is the constant onslaught of neo-classical thinking. Lately I am becoming aware of a certain pattern of vicious retrogradation in the neo-classical consciousness. It has beeen manifesting like this....there is a certain kind of openness, a kind of inspired state on the part of the neo-classically afflicted that welcomes the potential for new ideas and the possibility of freedom. This in turn can lull the true modern/classical consciousness into a state of comfort in the expression and sharing of a more evolved and advanced aesthetic. There is then a gradual shifting of the neo -classical into a state of ego posturing which seems to shore up their opinions of who they are and what they represent to the world and others. It could be called a consolidation of illusions, similar to sticking one's head in the sand. There is no greater dogma than the attachment to one's aesthetic beliefs. Somehow the need to show great taste and sophistication trumps humility and the strivng for truth. Of course the cure for all this posturing is humility and the suspension of judgement. The truth generally will arise out the space that the suspension generates, but it takes a certain amount of sophistication to appreciate that reality.....
Anyway, the neo-classical fixation will never give up its clinging with out a fight, and in that fight much energy is lost and there is always upset. I am weary of the battle. What is interesting is how the neo-classical will question in supposed openness, and will tend to draw one into the very battle that it will end up being shattered in.
Me, I plan on looking away and playing mute. As Cezanne has stated, "...talks on art are nearly useless." While I find I can wield the hammer at this point, the energy lost is too costly. Certainly one must take great pains to know when the blow will be truly merited.
Antonio Salemme's 'Mother and Child'
Anyway, the neo-classical fixation will never give up its clinging with out a fight, and in that fight much energy is lost and there is always upset. I am weary of the battle. What is interesting is how the neo-classical will question in supposed openness, and will tend to draw one into the very battle that it will end up being shattered in.
Me, I plan on looking away and playing mute. As Cezanne has stated, "...talks on art are nearly useless." While I find I can wield the hammer at this point, the energy lost is too costly. Certainly one must take great pains to know when the blow will be truly merited.
Antonio Salemme's 'Mother and Child'
Your definitions are, no doubt, apt. I am sorry that you are tired.
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The maneuver looks like something learned in a classroom. When we look at all the deflection modes that are commonly presented in the contemporary classroom (since there is almost no organic certainty in the arts anymore - at least among teachers), we can understand why most graduates are ineducable.
But the neo-classical is a special case. Since neo-classicism at this point is the minority view, I assume anyone who overtly or covertly espouses it must resort to the peculiar technique you describe.
Neo-classicism, in the sense of gathering the values out of tradition, is the only solution to the contemporary dilemma. But the same word or phrase covers some of the worst aspects of the contemporary arts. We have neo-classical versions of almost every 'radical' departure in the last hundred plus years. Fauvism, German Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism, all have had their 'neo-classical' reinterpretations.
One would have thought that the presumption that we could dump tradition would have exhausted itself by now. But the inertial force of the market apparently depends on it. Billions in investments cannot be gainsaid.
The only answer is Cezanne. To continue to gather values with an open heart and a clear mind wherever one finds them, is the only answer to the self-inflating puffery of fools.
Tony's work is the perfect response.
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