Speculative fiction and art from Thea Dee
Transmissions from the Asylum
When someone criticizes your art, it can sting. But if you look closer, you may…
The pursuit of art, especially in this day of social media and wide feedback from followers, can be a roller coaster. Sometimes the feedback we get is frustrating. But with feedback comes opportunity. Instead of being discouraged by it, let’s set aside any objection we may feel about criticism and look for any nuggets we can use.
This article on “Why people like your doodles better than your finished works” is an excellent example of taking a piece of criticism and learning from it.
The weirdness of the Internet, served fresh today. Monsters on a platter and chaotic good hamburgers.
In the weird but brilliant category, we now have — creepy horror food!
Not something I expected to show up in my Twitter feed today, but admittedly very well done. This guy ought to work as a speculative movie prop maker!
And then there was this… the hamburger alignment chart, Dungeons & Dragons style.
Read more about the restaurant that serves these burgers on That’s Nerdalicious.
Does art require a certain perspective to be appreciated?
This 3D illusion art by street artist Julian Beever got me thinking about perspective and point of view (POV). It is a piece of art that only looks impressive from one POV. You have to be standing in just the right spot (and ideally looking through a camera lens) for it to shine.
First of all, I’m deeply impressed that anyone can figure out how to draw something in a warped way so it looks right from a certain POV. Aside from that, however, let’s think about this for a moment. Doesn’t all art require a certain subjective position to be appreciated?
Art that expresses one lifestyle or emotional point of view may be distasteful to those who hold different values. Art that resists the established authority is courageous and true to the citizens but dangerous and threatening to the authority. Children’s books are shallow and simple when viewed by an adult. Speculative fiction is a waste of time to those who prefer fiction they can imagine might actually happen to them.
What art have we dismissed because we simply aren’t standing in the right spot to appreciate it? Maybe that art isn’t meant for us. That doesn’t mean it’s not art.
What do you think? What art have you rejected lately?
Hayao Miyazaki is the creator of some of my earliest experiences with Japanese manga and anime. I believe Totoro was the first anime I ever saw, back when I was going to college in the Bay Area. I met a girl at a bus stop and we started talking about the stories we loved. Next thing I knew, I was at her apartment and she was translating Totoro on the fly while we watched it. Sayaka, I will forever be grateful for your introduction to the joys of Japanese art and its beautiful language. (Edit: I just realized I told this story a few posts ago, but what can I say? It’s a key moment in my life.)
This video (below) is 17 minutes of beautiful art and wisdom from a master at storytelling. The narrator of the film also makes some insightful comments. “Sentiment is what seeps from the pores of a Miyazaki film.”
Miyazaki creates settings that evoke feelings. The landscapes are not static or flat. Often, they are in valleys or mountains. The weather interacts with the characters and their moods. As a writer and artist, I want to learn to use this effect in my own work.
Each scene focuses on portraying the emotion of that moment. We don’t need to watch the rest of the film to understand the emotions being felt by the characters in that moment. Their feelings are evident in their postures, their expressions, the colors and surroundings. How would it be for me to craft the scenes of my fiction this way?
The environment and circumstances of Miyazaki films make it clear that the world does not exist to cater to the comfort or desire of the humans in it.
Brutality and savagery co-exist with compassion and tenderness. The two do not cancel each other out, but they create the realm of contrast and tension within which we live.
His stories do not talk about fate so much as will. The characters adapt to their surroundings and find ways to rise above the things that would cripple or try to destroy them. Characters begin with things they desire, but often find that it is something else entirely that they need.
One leaves a Miyazaki film with the subconscious idea, “I can overcome the challenges of my life” and “I want to be that person who faces brutality with courage and kindness.” How beautiful is art that equips the viewer for the pains of life on earth!
What do you usually take away from his films? Leave a comment below!
Thanks to speculative fiction author Laura VanArendonk Baugh for bringing this video to my attention!
Want more Hayao Miyazaki? Check these out:
Speaking of David Mack (and don’t bother telling me you weren’t, because the point is that I’m speaking of him and you’re gonna love this), I made this thing a while back based on a fantastic piece of advice he’d given some art students.
If you’re an artist, a writer, any kind of creative, this is the kind of advice to take to heart. It’s all about showing up, doing the work, not caring what people think but showing them what you’ve got anyway. Not because your work is awesome but because it’s worth it and even if it doesn’t measure up to what you know it can be, the only path to that greatness is by doing the work of BEING the artist, the writer, the creative. Forever.
Yeah, so. Get right on that. ‘Cause I think you’d rock it.
P.S. You know who David Mack is, right? Author and artist of the Kabuki comics? Comic cover artist extraordinaire?
Follow David Mack on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. Buy the Kabuki collection on Amazon.com. It’s a feast for your eyes.
