21st century acedia

I have a degree in art history which let's me look silently at art. To make matters worse I now have a master's degree in art theory, criticism and curatorship. Existentialist most of the days, sarcastic full-time, melancholic by night.

[art-nimals]

Francisco de Goya, The Dog, 1819-1823, originally painted on a wall of the artist’s house, now in the Prado museum

[barbaralubirabarbara]

[xxiacedia]

Charlotte Trounce

[ennbistore]

[nevver]

Breathing underwater, Stig De Block

[xxiacedia]

Late winter rains over Daishō-in temple, Itsukushima, Japan

[xxiacedia]

“Everything is possible, and yet nothing is. All is permitted, and yet again, nothing. No matter which way we go, it is no better than any other. It is all the same whether you achieve something or not, have faith or not, just as it’s all the same whether you cry or remain silent. There is an explanation for everything, and yet there is none. Everything is both real and unreal, normal and absurd, splendid and insipid. There is nothing worth more than anything else, nor any idea better than any other. Why grow sad from one’s sadness and delight in one’s joy? What does it matter whether our tears come from pleasure or pain? Love your unhappiness and hate your happiness, mix everything up, scramble it all! Be a snowflake dancing in the air, a flower floating downstream! Have courage when you don’t need to, and be a coward when you must be brave! Who knows? You may still be a winner! And if you lose, does it really matter? Is there anything to win in this world? All gain is loss, all loss is gain. Why always expect a definite stance, clear ideas, meaningful words? I feel as if I should spout fire in response to all the questions which were ever put, or not put, to me.”

- Emil Cioran, On the Heights of Despair (1934).

Art:  Léon Spilliaert, Dike and Beach (1907).

[thorsteinulf]

Xu Beihong

[artishardgr]

John French Sloan - Breezy Day, Gloucester, Mass 1915

[pensierostupendostuff-deactivat]

[xxiacedia]

“Believe me there is no such thing as great suffering, great regret, great memory... everything is forgotten, even a great love. That's what's sad about life, and also what's wonderful about it. There is only a way of looking at things, a way that comes to you every once in a while. That's why it's good to have had love in your life after all, to have had an unhappy passion... it gives you an alibi for the vague despairs we all suffer from.” 

- Albert Camus, A Happy Death.

Art: Dreams in my sky by Marc Chagall

[ghostsofthewoods]

[xxiacedia]

Untitled by Chema Madoz

[forevernoon-deactivated20181218]

“Venice at Night” di Stefan Bleekrode

[3eanuts]

February 18, 1990 — see The Complete Peanuts 1987-1990

[xxiacedia]

“There is no country for those who despair, but I know that the sea comes before and after me, and hold my madness ready. Those who love and are seperated can live in grief, but this is not despair: they know that love exists. This is why I suffer, dry-eyed, in exile. I am still waiting.”

- Albert Camus, The Sea Close By

Art: Dark Seas by Hiroshi Sugimoto

[lawrenceleemagnuson]

Picasso Portrait de femme endormie. III (1946) colored crayon on paper 48.9 x 65.4 cm

[vjeranski]

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI

L'Homme qui marche, 1957

[fleurdulys]

Breaking Waves - Frederick Judd Waugh

[3eanuts]

August 18, 1994 — see The Complete Peanuts 1991-1994