Himillsy In The Monkeys
"Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman we don't start measuring her limbs." (Pablo Picasso, 1870) When one looks at a piece that they believe to be art, they stare, they admire, they criticize and then they move on to the next piece. Not everyone will say that the same thing is art, just like not all people believe rap is actual music. Art is what you make of it; it's what's inside ones soul. Himillsy, in The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd, followed her own soul in everything including art, and taking anyone she felt worthy enough along for the ride. Himillsy Dodd takes art because she can. She drops the classes the teacher is too hard' or
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the one that does not agree with her views. She cannot take criticism; she must be the one who has the final word, the one that is always right. The almighty Himillsy, in a sense, believes she is above God. Well, she's wrong, way wrong. Himillsy Dodd is a feminist, a person who craves attention, an alcoholic college student (which is not hard to find these days), and she is a very artistic and lonely girl, even with a boyfriend she cannot confide in and one she argues with constantly. Himillsy loves art, but thinks it is pretentious' as well, which is kind of paradoxical. "I've just had it with this faux-primitivism in the arts. Abstract' daubs. Symbolic, bleak little plays. Junk sculpture, nihilistic, avant-garde' robotic verse. Crude banalities. Is that what we need? Is that what feeds the human heart? Is the human heart ABSTRACT?!" (Kidd, p. 50-51) Well, Hims, maybe it is. Maybe the human heart is as abstract as it can be. The human heart, which in reality is just a muscle the size of one's fist, can metaphorically be what it desires, what it pleases. It does not have to conform to society's ways, but in a lot of cases it does. Our society is lacking a lot of individualism now-a-days, but what society isn't? Society changes daily. What was in' in fashion today is out next week. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Being a size zero was in years ago and now the average size for a woman is fourteen; a good change. If society stayed the same and had the same views day in and day out it would be boring. Like society, if all the art in the world looked like Picasso or Michelangelo then who would keep admiring it. The world needs change because without it, there would be no starving' artists.
"A good painter has two main objects to paint, man and the intention of his soul.
The former is easy, the latter hard as he has to represent it by the attitude and movement of the limbs." (Leonardo da Vinci, 1515) While most believe da Vinci was one of the greatest painters of all time, one of his quotes needs fixing in a good painter. What is a good painter, Leonardo? While one person may believe Picasso is fantastic, another may believe his work is complete crap. Is he still a good painter? Himillsy would say no, but Himillsy always says no just to be different and stand out. Chip Kidd's novel alone is a work of art, not in just the words he cunningly put together, but in the appearance of the novel itself. The binding contains the words Good is Dead' and Do You See?' when one bends the books pages back and forth. The cover itself is art. It contains no words, just drawings to depict the title of the book, The Cheese Monkeys. Once the first few pages of Kidd's novel are opened, there are things backwards, things said sarcastically, things that make someone think for once. Even without reading the blurb for the book, it intrigues one to pick it up just by its look; that is what art …show more content…
is.
Art, by definition, is human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature, according to Webster. Art, in the real sense, is what you make it; just like Dottie Spang, Happy and Hims' art teacher, claims. Though a fictional character, this was the best quote found about art, and what it is. It is what one makes it to be. If someone chews up their gum, sticks it on paper and says voila!' then that is art to them. While a little insane, it is what they made it to be: art.
An artist, by definition, is a person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill, again according to Webster. Who says their work is to be exceptional? Who gives the final say in that, God? For Himillsy and Happy, it is Sorbeck. Sorbeck is the graphic design teacher. He is the enemy of all artists. He is a teacher who judges their work and criticizes it to pieces. He breaks them down. But this helps them grow, not only as students and artists, but as people and individuals. Sorbeck cuts down one student who made an outstanding effort on a work of art, but says it's not exciting enough and sets fire to it. Another work of art says whatever you do don't think of elephants' and he praises it because it works. It intrigues the mind.
When one works on any kind of art, it is what they make it, but it is also a reflection of their soul and their feelings. Georgia O'Keefe once said, "To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage." It takes courage to bare one's soul to the world, and leave it left open like a wound to either scab over or get infected. For Sorbeck, who was a good teacher, but not a good mentor, art was what he said it was, no if's and's or but's. That is not art; that is a reflection of someone else's art, not one's own.
"Every good painter paints what he is." (Jackson Pollock, 1941) Again, one will ask, what is a good painter and how do you come to that conclusion? But Pollock makes a good point. To truly be a good painter' or to be an artist one must paint what they are and what they aspire to do or be. Himillsy painted what she thought was what people wanted to see. She made her works of art something different because that is how she wanted people to see her; she wanted to stand out because she defied the art culture at the time. She needed the attention to survive. Himillsy may have been the oldest there, but she still had plenty of growing up to do. She needed to find her own direction, her own identity, and not be and do what she thought was right. She needed to do some soul-searching and find herself.
"The most fundamental reason one paints is in order to see." (Brett Whiteley, 1973) An individual may do art for a variety of reasons. Himillsy did art to stand out and get the attention she craved, Happy did art because he felt like it and thought it would be easy, Maybelle, the southern belle, did art because she felt it was her passion and the one thing she was good at. Writers write to tell their story inside of them, musicians play to express emotions, so it would make sense that artists make art to see inside of them and to allow others to see that as well.
A famous quote by one of the most famous artists to live, Pablo Picasso, was, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." How true he was. Children have a brutal honesty, much like Himillsy but just not as rude, and say and do whatever they feel is the right thing. As people grow up, they lose the innocence, the reckless abandon, the honesty to put their feelings on the table for others. Grown-ups hide away in a sense. Himillsy hid away with her baby Laveen. As grown-ups, people tend to sugar-coat things, and hide their feelings. Adults do not express their emotions and thoughts openly like children. Where did the reckless abandon go as they went through puberty?
An artist, well, makes art to convey something like an emotion, a state of being, or to just simply state a point that they want others to take notice of. For this paper, whoever reads it, the writer wants them to know about art, about The Cheese Monkeys, Chip Kidd, about how our world perceives things and twists them around, but most of all about what art really is. Picasso once said, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." He hit the nail directly on the head. Artists do do things for themselves, yes, but they rarely ever do not want anyone to see it. They want to spread it around and let the world make of it what they please. They want the world to see things through their, the artist's, eyes. They want spectators to stand in their shoes for a little while.
Lee Fleming stated once that "art teaches nothing except the significance of life." Himillsy signified her life through art and how she criticized it hourly. Happy signified his life through art where he met Himillsy, who showed him things he had never seen before. Maybelle came to a university states away from her home to major in art at a school she had never been to. She no longer has her naiveté. Dottie Spang lives, eats, drinks, and breathes art. She dances to her own drummer, and that is art. Sorbeck was an artist, but signified his life by shocking people through his art which essentially had no real meaning of tie back to him.
"Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence.
It opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine." (Magdalena Abakanowicz) To imagine, one must be able to picture things. To picture things one must know what the basis of the image looks like. To know this there must be a work of art like a painting, drawing, or a sculpture. If art was not there, there would be no imaginations, no writers, and no history for our nation. The pictures in the history books are what are the most touching and most memorable, like photographs from the Great Depression, any of the wars, and what the countryside used to look like. Art, Himillsy would not think this was art because it is normal', is what makes us remember, it is what makes our
memories.
Without art, where would the Sistine Chapel be, where would the world get all the rich and vibrant colors that they have? They would not have them. Art exists all around everywhere one sees. This paper is a work of art, in a way, because it is what the writer thought was a good thought process and a way of expressing those thought in their head. Some may argue that this paper is not art, and that it is complete shite. That is their opinion and they are entitled to it. But what they say does not mean it's true for every man, woman, and child on this earth. What matters are that the writer, or artist, is proud of their work and it reflects them inside and out. That is the true meaning of art, and Kidd captured this.
the one that does not agree with her views. She cannot take criticism; she must be the one who has the final word, the one that is always right. The almighty Himillsy, in a sense, believes she is above God. Well, she's wrong, way wrong. Himillsy Dodd is a feminist, a person who craves attention, an alcoholic college student (which is not hard to find these days), and she is a very artistic and lonely girl, even with a boyfriend she cannot confide in and one she argues with constantly. Himillsy loves art, but thinks it is pretentious' as well, which is kind of paradoxical. "I've just had it with this faux-primitivism in the arts. Abstract' daubs. Symbolic, bleak little plays. Junk sculpture, nihilistic, avant-garde' robotic verse. Crude banalities. Is that what we need? Is that what feeds the human heart? Is the human heart ABSTRACT?!" (Kidd, p. 50-51) Well, Hims, maybe it is. Maybe the human heart is as abstract as it can be. The human heart, which in reality is just a muscle the size of one's fist, can metaphorically be what it desires, what it pleases. It does not have to conform to society's ways, but in a lot of cases it does. Our society is lacking a lot of individualism now-a-days, but what society isn't? Society changes daily. What was in' in fashion today is out next week. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Being a size zero was in years ago and now the average size for a woman is fourteen; a good change. If society stayed the same and had the same views day in and day out it would be boring. Like society, if all the art in the world looked like Picasso or Michelangelo then who would keep admiring it. The world needs change because without it, there would be no starving' artists.
"A good painter has two main objects to paint, man and the intention of his soul.
The former is easy, the latter hard as he has to represent it by the attitude and movement of the limbs." (Leonardo da Vinci, 1515) While most believe da Vinci was one of the greatest painters of all time, one of his quotes needs fixing in a good painter. What is a good painter, Leonardo? While one person may believe Picasso is fantastic, another may believe his work is complete crap. Is he still a good painter? Himillsy would say no, but Himillsy always says no just to be different and stand out. Chip Kidd's novel alone is a work of art, not in just the words he cunningly put together, but in the appearance of the novel itself. The binding contains the words Good is Dead' and Do You See?' when one bends the books pages back and forth. The cover itself is art. It contains no words, just drawings to depict the title of the book, The Cheese Monkeys. Once the first few pages of Kidd's novel are opened, there are things backwards, things said sarcastically, things that make someone think for once. Even without reading the blurb for the book, it intrigues one to pick it up just by its look; that is what art …show more content…
is.
Art, by definition, is human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature, according to Webster. Art, in the real sense, is what you make it; just like Dottie Spang, Happy and Hims' art teacher, claims. Though a fictional character, this was the best quote found about art, and what it is. It is what one makes it to be. If someone chews up their gum, sticks it on paper and says voila!' then that is art to them. While a little insane, it is what they made it to be: art.
An artist, by definition, is a person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill, again according to Webster. Who says their work is to be exceptional? Who gives the final say in that, God? For Himillsy and Happy, it is Sorbeck. Sorbeck is the graphic design teacher. He is the enemy of all artists. He is a teacher who judges their work and criticizes it to pieces. He breaks them down. But this helps them grow, not only as students and artists, but as people and individuals. Sorbeck cuts down one student who made an outstanding effort on a work of art, but says it's not exciting enough and sets fire to it. Another work of art says whatever you do don't think of elephants' and he praises it because it works. It intrigues the mind.
When one works on any kind of art, it is what they make it, but it is also a reflection of their soul and their feelings. Georgia O'Keefe once said, "To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage." It takes courage to bare one's soul to the world, and leave it left open like a wound to either scab over or get infected. For Sorbeck, who was a good teacher, but not a good mentor, art was what he said it was, no if's and's or but's. That is not art; that is a reflection of someone else's art, not one's own.
"Every good painter paints what he is." (Jackson Pollock, 1941) Again, one will ask, what is a good painter and how do you come to that conclusion? But Pollock makes a good point. To truly be a good painter' or to be an artist one must paint what they are and what they aspire to do or be. Himillsy painted what she thought was what people wanted to see. She made her works of art something different because that is how she wanted people to see her; she wanted to stand out because she defied the art culture at the time. She needed the attention to survive. Himillsy may have been the oldest there, but she still had plenty of growing up to do. She needed to find her own direction, her own identity, and not be and do what she thought was right. She needed to do some soul-searching and find herself.
"The most fundamental reason one paints is in order to see." (Brett Whiteley, 1973) An individual may do art for a variety of reasons. Himillsy did art to stand out and get the attention she craved, Happy did art because he felt like it and thought it would be easy, Maybelle, the southern belle, did art because she felt it was her passion and the one thing she was good at. Writers write to tell their story inside of them, musicians play to express emotions, so it would make sense that artists make art to see inside of them and to allow others to see that as well.
A famous quote by one of the most famous artists to live, Pablo Picasso, was, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." How true he was. Children have a brutal honesty, much like Himillsy but just not as rude, and say and do whatever they feel is the right thing. As people grow up, they lose the innocence, the reckless abandon, the honesty to put their feelings on the table for others. Grown-ups hide away in a sense. Himillsy hid away with her baby Laveen. As grown-ups, people tend to sugar-coat things, and hide their feelings. Adults do not express their emotions and thoughts openly like children. Where did the reckless abandon go as they went through puberty?
An artist, well, makes art to convey something like an emotion, a state of being, or to just simply state a point that they want others to take notice of. For this paper, whoever reads it, the writer wants them to know about art, about The Cheese Monkeys, Chip Kidd, about how our world perceives things and twists them around, but most of all about what art really is. Picasso once said, "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." He hit the nail directly on the head. Artists do do things for themselves, yes, but they rarely ever do not want anyone to see it. They want to spread it around and let the world make of it what they please. They want the world to see things through their, the artist's, eyes. They want spectators to stand in their shoes for a little while.
Lee Fleming stated once that "art teaches nothing except the significance of life." Himillsy signified her life through art and how she criticized it hourly. Happy signified his life through art where he met Himillsy, who showed him things he had never seen before. Maybelle came to a university states away from her home to major in art at a school she had never been to. She no longer has her naiveté. Dottie Spang lives, eats, drinks, and breathes art. She dances to her own drummer, and that is art. Sorbeck was an artist, but signified his life by shocking people through his art which essentially had no real meaning of tie back to him.
"Art does not solve problems but makes us aware of their existence.
It opens our eyes to see and our brain to imagine." (Magdalena Abakanowicz) To imagine, one must be able to picture things. To picture things one must know what the basis of the image looks like. To know this there must be a work of art like a painting, drawing, or a sculpture. If art was not there, there would be no imaginations, no writers, and no history for our nation. The pictures in the history books are what are the most touching and most memorable, like photographs from the Great Depression, any of the wars, and what the countryside used to look like. Art, Himillsy would not think this was art because it is normal', is what makes us remember, it is what makes our
memories.
Without art, where would the Sistine Chapel be, where would the world get all the rich and vibrant colors that they have? They would not have them. Art exists all around everywhere one sees. This paper is a work of art, in a way, because it is what the writer thought was a good thought process and a way of expressing those thought in their head. Some may argue that this paper is not art, and that it is complete shite. That is their opinion and they are entitled to it. But what they say does not mean it's true for every man, woman, and child on this earth. What matters are that the writer, or artist, is proud of their work and it reflects them inside and out. That is the true meaning of art, and Kidd captured this.