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True Love & Art
Between two people, love can become toxic.
Does the same toxicity happen in the relationship between artists and art?
By first listing a range of ulterior motives in both love and art, the book then explores a missing bond of artistic belonging that is barely spoken of.
The author's personal stories as an artist, as well as analogies of romantic love and even war, are used to light the way.
Does the same toxicity happen in the relationship between artists and art?
By first listing a range of ulterior motives in both love and art, the book then explores a missing bond of artistic belonging that is barely spoken of.
The author's personal stories as an artist, as well as analogies of romantic love and even war, are used to light the way.
100 pages, Paperback
Published August 30, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 5, 2023
This is not a book I can review coolly and objectively, so just. Heads up for for some SERIOUS RAMBLING. But I'll start by saying,
Something deliciously similar sits at the base of both the desire to love and the desire to make art. There is something in wanting to make an artwork of something that can be so close to wanting to love someone, or wanting to physically possess them—as if passing that emotion or experience through ourselves and rendering it onto a canvas (or into a book, or a song), could somehow now trap this ephemeral beam forever in a jar. (As if by sleeping with someone, or calling them our partner, we could now grasp some part of that light that attracts us to them.)
Or maybe these urges come from more humbler (and even baser) callings…
The corner of Love and Art may be my favorite street corner in all of philosophy, so I was overjoyed to come across this book. Reading it was like sitting down and having a great conversation with a an art-minded friend. The author does a thorough, intimate and candid job of examining what makes us love, what makes us art, and what may lead us astray. The text reads quickly and I found myself stopping often to nod along, have a think, or highlight—at some point, I imagined I just wanted to circle the whole dang book up in neon.
Even better, there is extended reference to what may be the greatest art philosophy book ever written (in my humble opinion. But it really is)—Robert Henri’s THE ART SPIRIT. Brown does an excellent job of evoking the passion and compassion of Henri’s work, while updating and teasing out some questions for a more modern context—and refortifying the concept of Henri's ''brotherhood."
If you're an artist (writer/musician/poet/creator) who likes to spend time contemplating what goes on behind the scenes, and if you've wondered what makes us keep throwing ourselves at the chance to get eaten up and shat out, or how it could be possible to find community in something as isolating and isolated as making art, I highly recommend this book (triple that if you are an ART SPIRIT fan).
Something deliciously similar sits at the base of both the desire to love and the desire to make art. There is something in wanting to make an artwork of something that can be so close to wanting to love someone, or wanting to physically possess them—as if passing that emotion or experience through ourselves and rendering it onto a canvas (or into a book, or a song), could somehow now trap this ephemeral beam forever in a jar. (As if by sleeping with someone, or calling them our partner, we could now grasp some part of that light that attracts us to them.)
Or maybe these urges come from more humbler (and even baser) callings…
The corner of Love and Art may be my favorite street corner in all of philosophy, so I was overjoyed to come across this book. Reading it was like sitting down and having a great conversation with a an art-minded friend. The author does a thorough, intimate and candid job of examining what makes us love, what makes us art, and what may lead us astray. The text reads quickly and I found myself stopping often to nod along, have a think, or highlight—at some point, I imagined I just wanted to circle the whole dang book up in neon.
Even better, there is extended reference to what may be the greatest art philosophy book ever written (in my humble opinion. But it really is)—Robert Henri’s THE ART SPIRIT. Brown does an excellent job of evoking the passion and compassion of Henri’s work, while updating and teasing out some questions for a more modern context—and refortifying the concept of Henri's ''brotherhood."
If you're an artist (writer/musician/poet/creator) who likes to spend time contemplating what goes on behind the scenes, and if you've wondered what makes us keep throwing ourselves at the chance to get eaten up and shat out, or how it could be possible to find community in something as isolating and isolated as making art, I highly recommend this book (triple that if you are an ART SPIRIT fan).
September 4, 2023
As is perfectly put in this book, ’Just as true love falls victim to ulterior motives, so too does art.’ An absorbing, articulate piece which will provoke, agitate and get the reader thinking about art and love, where the two bisect and where the two part. It is not whether we appoint one guide whose every word we agree on, but more about any provocation that makes us immerse ourselves in art and allow us to better illuminate ourselves in so doing, something this piece will do for the reader. It is particularly strong on the power of intuition and emotion and the way art addresses trauma. Plus- it is great to see the wisdom of Patrice O’Neill mined!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews