July 29, 2005
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Anatomy of a Death
From today’s New York Times:
“Al Held, an American artist who painted large-scale abstract works… was
found dead July 27, floating in a swimming pool at his villa…. The cause of death was not reported, but Italian
police said he died of natural causes. He was 76.”
From the Associated Press
,
filed at 4:34 PM ET July 27, 2005:“Held once described his work this way: ‘Historically, the priests
and wise men believed that it was the artist’s job to make images of
heaven and hell believable, even though nobody had experienced these
places.’‘Today,’ he went on, ‘scientists talk about vast worlds and
universes that the senses cannot experience. The purpose of the
nonobjective artist is to create these images.’”“Most modern men do not believe in hell because they have not been there.”
– Review of Malcolm Lowry’s novel Under the Volcano (1947)Related material:
Hollywood images:
And from Mathematics and Narrative:
By Their Fruits
Today’s (July 22) birthdays:
Don Henley and Willem Dafoe
Related material:
Mathematics and Narrative,Crankbuster.
“And the fruit is rotten;
the serpent’s eyes shine
as he wraps around the vine
in the Garden of Allah.“
