New Tunes, etc.

I can't get enough of this band, Purity Ring, especially this song called Ungirthed. I found them through a youtuber named Grav3yardGirl. She's crazy and I love her.

Just so you're aware, there's some tame nudity in the video below.




I saw this picture on Tumblr, and I think I'm gonna go strawberry blone when I get back to Cali, which, by the way is happening in just FOUR WEEKS. I also like the length... I want long hair! It's already a couple inches past my collar bone, but I want it down to my waist!


via Shannon Tumblr


Also, I just want to share with you two of my favorite pieces in the Musée D'Orsay. The first is Pierre Bonnard's cat, and the second is a floral still life by Van Gogh. This cat just makes me happy when I look at it. And Van Gogh's coloring and surface texture are captivating, but obviously you can't see that on a computer screen.


via Musée D'Orsay Catalog

My best friend is coming to Paris for two weeks in just 7 days! I'm going to take us on adventures everyday, and I can't wait!

Sally Mann Photography

I stumbled across this photographer, Sally Mann, on The Drifter and the Gypsy, and I just couldn't resist sharing too! Her photographs are so full of honesty, they have such beautiful tones, and I just adore them. They don't feel artificial, they feel real, like life itself.







What do you guys think of these images? Is there one that speaks to you?

Post-Modernism, or something like that...

Although I call myself an Art Historian, I have yet to fully accept the kind of contemporary art that makes me feel slightly scared and very uncomfortable. The kind of art that is hideously ugly and disturbing, or the kind of art that simply makes no sense whatsoever. I try to imagine what the artists must have been thinking while piecing together such creations, and my mind cannot fathom it.

I can understand art that follows or comments upon the chronological flow of art history, and I can accept art that is pleasant to look at, or entertaining to interact with, but I have a really hard time accepting something that consists of cardboard hanging from a string, or something that is so ugly it makes me feel kinda queasy. Part of the problem is nobody wants to repeat what has already happened in the past, so boundaries are constantly being challenged. Boundaries of medium, subject matter, morals, etc. Doesn't it get exhausting to constantly challenge the status-quo?! It also places the artists' own personal, subjective vision or motivation, which much of the time is incomprehensible or hidden to the spectator, above everything else, especially beauty. The concept of beauty has been almost eradicated in contemporary art. I believe these tendencies are somewhere along the lines of Post-Modernism. And it is all very confusing, almost frustratingly so.



{Image from Palais de Tokyo website}

Perhaps with time, and more education, I'll be able to accept this kind of art without getting upset. haha, it's kinda ridiculous that I let it upset me! And in case you're wondering where I was, it was the Palais de Tokyo, a giant exposition space that constantly has new expos. It was open until midnight that Wednesday, so it was almost deserted when we arrived, which only added to my creeped-out feeling! And of course, I didn't hate all of the art there, some of it was interesting, as you'll see in these photos.

{HANSON! Sorry for the blur}
{Very large woman}
{Me and my friend, being eaten by a shark}
{Art that we could walk on! Kinda like a colorful skateboarding ramp}


{We couldn't resist the opportunity for a jumping picture}
{This room had a creepy, green, absinthe-like glow, and was set up like an old saloon. On one wall there was a video playing of a man, wearing a scary monster mask, playing a death-metal song frantically on an accordion. Also, there were photos of women whose eyes had been scribbled over, or who appeared deformed in some way. All kinds of creepy.}
{Video installation + darkness + red light + blur = creepy}
{Bunch of glow-in-the-dark art}


{room lit by a disco ball}
{Fountain/Statue thing}
Aren't you glad you spent 1 minute of your life looking at these pictures of weird art?

Louvre - First Visit

My Grandmother was in Paris a few weekends ago, and I was able to show her around Paris. We went to the Louvre, but we were all extremely exhausted from all the traveling and early mornings, so we didn't spend a ton of time there.

We did see the brand new Islamic arts collection though! And it was really beautiful! Some things were a little boring (some of the pottery and shards of tile), but there were also some gorgeous and unique treasures like intricately carved jewelry boxes, ancient suits of armor, ornate and jeweled teapots (or "genie" lamps... I don't know the proper names of things), and mosaics that used the most gorgeous shades of blue. There were also many rugs, architectural fragments, and carved wood doors. I think the most fascinating thing about Islamic art is all the surface decoration and patterning.

{Love the use of turquoise and rust} {Incredible, how well-preserved this is} {I want this in my kitchen cabinet} {Such a cute little iridescent bottle} {I want these in my kitchen too}

By the way, just a little practical advice: I think it's much more convenient to enter through the Carrousel (like an underground mall beneath the Louvre), because the lines seem to be much shorter there. If you stop at metro Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre, you can enter directly into the Carrousel from the underground station itself, just follow the signs. Signs are your best friend.

Also, here are two other non-Islamic works we saw. We also visited the Mona Lisa, but it was a zoo with all the people crowded around. I didn't care enough to fight my way close enough to get a good picture.

{The ancient Greeks were fantastic} {Botticelli's women are so pretty}

Musée Gustave Moreau

When my Mom was in Paris, we took an hour to check out the Gustave Moreau museum. Most people, even people who have some knowledge of art history, aren't super familiar with this artist, but I gotta say, he's extremely interesting!

{View of the lower studio space}
He's considered a Symbolist painter, so many of his tableaux are a fantastical melange of biblical, mythological, medieval, and otherwise imagined references. Some of his work is more textured, expressive, and colorful, like the later work of Delacroix, while his more famous works are expertly drawn, highly ornate, and almost scintillate with detail. His mix of symbolism with extreme attention to detail bring to mind, at least in my own head, apocalyptic yet ancient, and cult-like, ritualistic themes. I picture his images taking place in an imaginary time that is futuristic, yet extremely ancient at the same time, and it's pretty easy to become lost in them.














This museum doesn't take long to visit, so I would highly recommend it as an extra outing when you need something else to do in Paris. I say that like you'll actually run out of things to do... NOT possible! haha

What's also pretty unique, is that the museum itself resides in Moreau's actual home, and planning for it began while he was still alive, by Moreau himself. As a result, you can see not only some of his living quarters, but also take comfort in the fact that it was organized and preserved according to the artist's own vision. Pretty neat!





{Amazing staircase!}

Inside Notre Dame

Daniela and I finally had a free day this Saturday, so one of the things we decided to do was explore the two islands of the Seine. We started by seeing the interior of Notre Dame.

I love seeing inside Gothic Cathedrals - they're so full of mystery and beautiful light. I love the pointed shapes and heavy stone. Being inside a place like this makes me feel safe and calm. Although, it's really hard to keep hoards of tourists silent inside such a large space that is prone to extreme echoing. The church has a track they play every hour or so that says "sshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - silence please."


{Some photos are a bit blurry because it was really dark inside}
{Notre Dame's rose windows are famous. Unfortunately, I don't remember why they're famous.}
{This chapel had some good light} {More stained glass!} {And more!}
{I love the layered look of Gothic arches}

Seeing the stained glass made me want to visit Ste. Chapelle even more!! I'm irritated that I haven't gone yet!

Renoir and Baudelaire

While preparing one of my final exams for my Art and Literature class (yes, I got to prepare the final at home!), I had to find links between pieces of art and literature. Here is a link that I found in this Renoir painting, and in a few lines of a Baudelaire poem. Just look at the painting, read each line, and it's almost as if these lines are describing the scene directly! Pretty cool.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, La Grenouillère, 1869

A few lines from Baudelaire's Parisian Dream:
"and every color, even black,
became a lustrous prism;
liquid turned to glowing glass
and what was crystal flowed...
from within each thing was luminous."

I've never been a huge fan of poetry, but these lines are beautiful. What do you think about poetry?