Ramsberg Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Hey Mac, I love that quote! Hadn't heard it before. I also agree that the world would be a drab place without art. However, I couldn't disagree more in regards to birds. I have been hand raising exotic birds for a few years.http://www.public.asu.edu/~kjmcgraw/pubs/Families.com.pdfhttp://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/17B.html Well, I supose it depends on what one determines as "art" . To me a very vibrant color or combination of colors can be art, to others it is just a bunch of color. I have often wondered how I would describe visual art to a person which was born blind. Attraction, a women in a red dress has a certain type of attraction. . . is it the women in the dress, the art of the dress, the color of the dress or the combination that is attractive. . . what does this have to do with purists. . . why are my feet cold. . . what time is it. . . I see your point with the birds, as in it is the health of the feathers that is actually attracting the mate, but I have found that birds are much more intelligent then they are often given credit for and I wouldn't doubt if there are patterns of "art" in the feathers that we can not see with our eyes, that they can see with their eyes. They also "dance" to attract a mate and dancing is a form of art. . . at least it is to us. . . don't exactly know what they think about it all. . . not honestly sure I want to either! HA!!! Say, I really love your Dr. Seuss quote too. . . I can't recall seeing a quote by Winston Churchill and Dr. Seuss so close together before, but it makes all the sense in the world! Caleb Ramsby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 hay caleb how wonderful to work with those birds! isnt there a bird who has been observed Actually decorating the nest... im sure this has been documented, not function related at all, thats all done first, and then actual decoration begins. art is in everything , it is dependant on i think, the attitude of who is looking at it and engaging with it visually and cerebrally. the woman in the red dress can be appreciated on so many levels, and the more of those levels you can engage in, the more you will enjoy her. i too adore dr seuss, now that man is an artist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 hay caleb how wonderful to work with those birds! isnt there a bird who has been observed Actually decorating the nest... im sure this has been documented, not function related at all, thats all done first, and then actual decoration begins. art is in everything , it is dependant on i think, the attitude of who is looking at it and engaging with it visually and cerebrally. the woman in the red dress can be appreciated on so many levels, and the more of those levels you can engage in, the more you will enjoy her. i too adore dr seuss, now that man is an artist! Man adorns fishing lures with art right? to catch fish, correct? Just like the bird adorns a nest to attract a mate, right?........This is one gorgous fishing lure........Only it's not. Man is the only critter that does this, birdies don't make art or their pretty clothes....Sorry for the HJ, I get a kick out of this subject.... :D Fishing Lure Sculpturepage__hl__+fishing++lure++sculpture__fromsearch__1.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 ."Pure art has no functional use and applied art is put on useful things............" MacBruce is correct in that definition of what I did and therefore I didn't fit all that well with some of the powers to be in the early days of the Arizona Artist Blacksmith Association so rather than endure the snide remarks from them I just stuck with my fellow weird artistic types even though they thought I was pretty weird since I didn't drink the Cool-Aide they partook of, nor smoked the whacky tabacky. You just can't win them all but I sure do love to pound the iron, pour the molten metal and be with folk who love that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I am a purist, As a purist looking back at the history of blacksmithing. Through out history blacksmiths embraced modern advances of there time the power hammer, hand cranked blower, welder, and now the CNC plasma cutter. The things that save time and make you more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I really applaud any man or woman who is considering putting hammer to anvil these days no matter what other tools are in the shop. It takes a certain amount of determination to learn how to draw out a piece of steel to a point and turn that into a useful item or a piece of art. It does not matter if you weld it with a MIG or forge weld it, what matters is that you are willing to use you mind and create something with it and to use part of a process that dates back to the Bronze Age. A process that requires you to develop some degree of hand/eye coordination in striking a piece of metal on an anvil, with a hammer and there by creating a useful object or an object of art. Folks we've been doing this for a long time and it needs to continue into the future and the only way it can continue is if we teach it to others. It is not a pure tradition and never has been, we can only pretend that it is or was, it is constantly changing but we can keep the part of it alive where a person stands in front of an anvil with a hammer and hits a very hot piece of steel that is very plastic and is thrilled to see the transformation that takes place when it is struck. The art of blacksmithing is all about transformation, for the person and for the metal. Let us keep on spreading the truth of the transformation that can happen to a person that starts the process of forging HOT IRON!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsberg Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 Hey Beth, Those birds are a lot like children, at times they cause the greates joy. . . and at others the greatest despair! Working with them is about as opposite as one can get from blacksmithing, with the birds you can do everything in you power to produce perfection, but in the end you have absolutly no control over the situation, with the blacksmithing ones efforts are very clear in the work. I have read of the birds who try to make their nests more attractive. I am very bad with names, so I can't recall which species it is, nor can I remember if it is the male or female. I do know that they are the type that only mate for a year or so with an individual bird. The bird "lures" in its mate with the fancy nest by building the nest prior to the opposite sex migrating there. The male mountain rams combat by literally ramming each other to try and acquire the favor of the female. What is funny is that very often while the two males are combating, another will wander over and walk off with the female, leaving them to battle it out alone! Hey MacBruce, I am blaming this whole art discussion on you! (that was a joke) I have been playing a wild card game called "In a Pickle" a bit lately. It requires one to have rather unconventional thoughts as to objects and ideas relations. This got me thinking about uses of art. Your repose self portrait could be "used" to cook curiously molded pancakes on the stove. Hey Bentiron, Just a bit of curiousity here. Were your pieces too artsy or too functional for the group back then? This rather relates to the pureness of blacksmithing. The earliest pieces of blacksmithing that I have seen have a great deal of art in them. More so then many modern pieces that are produced. The Roman surgical tools are a good example, especially as compared to the modern forged ones. Caleb Ramsby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron woodrow Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 we have bower birds here. the satin blue male makes a bower like nest and surrounds it with any blue objects he finds. i have seen pegs, teabag wrappers ,condom packets, anything he considers blue enough. and by the way, aqua is blue, not green, according to a bower bird..... http://fashiontrashology.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/bowerbirds-the-heresy-of-cutting-up-national-geographics-and-outsider-animal-art/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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