Karl Zipser: Comments

How is an Art Patron different from a Gallery Consumer?

zipser — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 16:50:58 +0000

The difference is evident in the artworks (e.g. paintings) that they buy.

An art patron:

causes an artwork to be made that would not otherwise exist
has a direct influence on the content of the artwork (and thus on the creative process itself)

In contrast, a gallery consumer:

selects a ready-made artwork
has little or no impact on the creative process

Anyone with money can buy a ready-made artwork. But to be an art patron requires more than that. Besides money, an art patron must have:

a good idea of what the artwork should be about
discernment to select the best artist for the job
patience and persistence to deal with problems, delays, and drama that accompany any serious artistic project

Being an art patron is difficult. It is something of a lost art in itself.

On Neuroscience: Meet the Homunculus

zipser — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 14:37:41 +0000

In the twentieth century, science came to understand that one’s experience of the outside world is an illusion. This is obviously so when a person dreams during sleep. In a dream, there is a rich conscious experience that is disconnected from outside reality.

When a person is awake, the situation is different, but only partially so. An awake person, in a sense, dreams of a world that has a close correspondence with the world he or she is in.

Michelangelo drawings, real or fake?

zipser — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 07:55:30 +0000

This drawing is ”one of Michelangelo’s most celebrated works in the British Museum,” in the words of curator Hugo Chapman. But did Michelangelo draw it?

To answer this question it helps to consider, is the drawing:

similar to other works by Michelangelo?
something that plausibly could have been made by someone else?

This figure drawing is different from other surviving drawings by Michelangelo, although it is clearly related to one of his lost masterpieces. But because of the unique history of that lost work, many copies were made by artists in the 16th century. The British Museum drawing is likely one of those copies.

Full-length version of this essay

Sculpture in the Sistine Chapel? What for?

zipser — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 20:15:08 +0000

Michelangelo signed his letters as “Sculptor in Rome” during the four years he labored on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Is the title “sculptor” relevant Michelangelo’s method of working on these huge frescoes?

Not according to the traditional view. The assumed “fact” is that Michelangelo’s best surviving figure studies for the chapel, such as those of Haman, are drawings of live models. But this is really only one hypothesis.

An alternative hypothesis is that these drawings are of small sculptural models. To get a sense of what Michelangelo might have made, and then drawn, look at the clay figure.

The question is, why should Michelangelo have gone to the extra trouble of making figures like this? Because, the sculptural model allows the artist to:

integrate imagination, style, and realistic anatomical detail
turn life into still-life
use a simple method to transfer the figure onto a curving surface (like the Sistine Chapel ceiling) in the correct perspective

Although making small models might seem like extra work, it could have greatly eased Michelangelo’s creative and technical burdens.

Full-length version of this essay