Overcoming Mental Illness

The Alice I’m referring to is - of course - that from the wonderful mind of Lewis Carroll. Which let’s be honest, is really not such a bad thing to have on your mind when you’re thinking of heading toward your bed for the night ;)

Anyhows, much like I occasionally scour Deviantart when depressed and/or not really coping all that well this evening I thought I’d do something different and have a wee look at how people interpret one of my favourite books. The results were eclectic, but several stood out as they always tend to do…

Alice:
But I don’t want to go among mad people.
The Cat:
Oh, you can’t help that. We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.
Alice:
How do you know I’m mad?
The Cat:
You must be. Or you wouldn’t have come here.
Alice:
And how do you know that you’re mad?
The Cat:
To begin with, a dog’s not mad. You grant that?
Alice:
I suppose so,
The Cat:
Well, then, you see, a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.

…and as with most stuff I do there is a reason for the first book I feature in this way to be Alice in Wonderland. Patience though is a virtue few people have these days, but it is something you’ll have to have for a day or so. Until then, skip on down to your local library or bookstore and grab yourself a copy of this fantastic work. It’ll be worth the read or re-read - you know it will be :) 

Anna Popplewell
Susan from Prince Caspian

READ MY REVIEW OF THE MOVIE HERE

When I get into a mixed episode and find all the synapsies and connections in my brain sizzling out and overworking into their friend up mix of mania and depression, one of the things I do is jump onto DeviantArt and have a scout around for some truly wonderful art. Sometimes it’s my old favourites, other times new, exciting and cute pieces which make me smile and giggle and feel joyous to be alive.

This morning, as the mixed episode continues, I found some work I wanted to share with you from an artist by the name of Malva Alcea so think of it what you will, I for one love it :)

See more of Malva Alcea’s art here…

Following on from a previous post… which I wrote when I first heard about the debate regarding some of the work by famed photographer Bill Henson, today this news broke regarding a decision over the questioned photographs. 

IT’S official. The naked girl that sparked the Bill Henson fuss is not porn. The sight of her on an invitation to the photographer’s Sydney exhibition a couple of weeks ago provoked shock and outrage, but the Classifications Board has now declared the picture “mild” and safe for many children.

It is believed the Director of Public Prosecutions is on the verge of advising NSW police that any prosecution of Henson would be unlikely to succeed.

The case against Henson appears close to collapse.

The Classification Board, under its new chief, former head of the ABC Donald McDonald, has now given the young girl on the invitation the rating PG.

Considered one of the most confronting in the Henson exhibition, the picture came to the board for classification when it was discovered in a blog discussing pornography and the sexualisation of children. But the classifiers found the “image of breast nudity … creates a viewing impact that is mild and justified by context … and is not sexualised to any degree”.

Read the full article here…

I think it’s a safe bet to say I’m bloody happy about this!

Having been duly scolded by Ms B on my previous comment I would like to say that I completely agree that the male body is - on many levels - wonderful and beautiful to behold. There have been many fine works of art and photographs taken over the years of just this. A long time past (when I used to have a collection of photography folios) I had and would marvel over many a fine and gorgeous photo of a naked man. And I’m not being sarcastic there in the slightest.

I guess in some ways people view these as often more pornographic than the Bill Henson photo, mainly because of the presence of (shock!) a penis! Whether it be erect or not for some reason people seem to see a penis and think immediately of pornography. Or is that just me reading things into things that aren’t there?

I guess the point of all this naked flesh is that too many people the mere thought of nudity in photography will automatically mean it’s porn. I was once with a few people as they looked through a photography folio of nude photographs - men as well as women in this book, Ms B :) - and as they flicked through photo after photo of beautifully composed and very well lit photos they were just uttering porn…porn…porn…porn and the way the world seems to be heading is that any artistic photo featuring the naked body will be automatically banned.

The only naked photos we can hope to see will be on bill boards, magazine pages and advertisements for ice-cream. I personally think that’s wrong.

It’s always difficult when there’s such a controversial subject to decide what to do. When I sat down yesterday to write about the incident regarding Bill Henson’s photograph I had to make a choice as to whether to reproduce the photograph in question on the blog.

I decided to do so because without the image people are not able to make an honest, open and informed decision regarding the argument themselves.

Some people will be shocked and appalled by the image and, yes, I have received the odd email of complaint.

Some people though see the photograph just as I do.

An expression of art.

Art is meant to be confronting.

It is meant to create emotion.

What’s the point of it if it doesn’t do that?

Art should always be more than just “Oooo, that look pretty!”

So there I was wandering the streets of Melbourne, as I do, quite often, now that I’m back and I glance at the front page of The Age (the local newspaper) to see one of my favourite photographer’s names glancing back at me.

Controversy in the world of art, yet again!

And I stood there, dumbfounded, as I read the article…thinking, ‘What in the fracking hell is this world coming to?’

This is the image:

Image by BILL HENSON

Now I’m not all that knowledgeable on art - I’ve never studied it, I just enjoy it.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I look at this image I don’t think of pornography. I look at the image and see a beautifully composed photograph, a photograph with hidden depth and detail. A beautiful composition of light and focus all working together to create a work of art.

Maybe it’s just me but I have seen hundreds upon (most likely, very nearly thousands) of images similar to this in my life time. Whatever city I am in I visit as many art galleries as I can to see beautifully painted works of art depicting all manner of people, personas, events, desires, passions and whims.

So many brushstrokes have been thrown onto canvas to create images like this over the centuries that you can only really assume that the furour over this image is that - SHOCK - it’s a photograph. And photography isn’t art, is it? HELL NO! Photography of a naked body is PORN. It has always been PORN. It will always be PORN! No two ways about it, right?

This is PORN:

Image by GUY BOURDIN

This is PORN:

Image by SAM HASKINS

And this is PORN:

Image by ALVA BERNADINE

Or is it?

It’s really not up to me to decide. It’s not up to anyone to decide. Art it art. That’s the point. Some people like some things, others despise them with a fiery passion. Now I don’t think a shark preserved in formaldehyde is art, but it still takes up gallery space, most of the junk I’ve seen in “modern art” galleries for meisn’t art. That’s porn for the shark fiends or arrogant don’t know what else to do with their lives so I’m just gonna throw a black tile on a white wall and yay! fiends. Isn’t it?

Why all the furore over this image. You see I haven’t mentioned yet that the model was 13, and although her parents were present (according to the articles I’ve read) and although she gave consent, because she was below the legal age of consent then not only is the photographer a paedophile, but anyone who thinks this photo isn’t porn is a paedophile. Does this mean that anyone who has painted a picture of an underage girl is a paedophile (think of all those people through the ages to have done this!) or more extreme - does this mean that any parent who has photographed their child in the bath or on the toilet and then showed it in public is parading and endorsing paedophilia?

If thinking this photo is not porn makes me a paedophile.  I guess I’m a paedophile. (I’m not by the way! I’m just trying to make a point, just to be on the safe side)

This photo, to me, is a beautifully rendered image. It is evocative, emotional and powerful in ways a lot of art isn’t.

At least the good thing with this incident, this dilemma, is that it is getting the masses talking about art. It is no longer a subject for the elite, but for the wider population.

So what do you think: art of porn. It’s up to you. In the end, everything is always up to you!

Stray Visions: The Stray Thoughts Art Shop

Is now open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ANTIQUE PAINTINGS | PHOTOGRAPHY | HAND MADE CARDS

There is something for everyone with prices from as little as £1!

Treat that special someone in your life to a unique gift and help raise money for mental health awareness in the process with all proceeds being donated to charity.

SKIP OVER TO THE SHOP NOW

A wee quiz game for a bit of fun.

How’d you go?

If you liked the picture, it’s one of mine :) I’m quite proud of it to be honest. There’s more of my art and photography over on Stray Visions: The Stray Thoughts Art Shop if you felt like checking it out (all money raised there is donated to charity).

There’s also more fun and games to be had over in The Game Zone on this very blog.

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.

There really is nothing funny about social phobia/social anxiety disorder, it’s a bloody debilitating condition that makes it immensely difficult to forge relationships, have meaningful friendships or even buy a pint of milk…

…but that doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to laugh about it from time to time :)