Well, that's certainly something to think about. Nice images.

Excellent words and image. Fantastic Mark!!

Hey what have you done to your beautiful pencil image ? ;-) Did you leave it in the rain on the street? It looks like that :-) You did an awesome job on it.. and what you wrote, was exiting and very interesting reading. I can tell you if you had asked me about the saxophone sculpture 8-9 years back, I wouldnt have liked it at all. I have changed alot over these years. ALOT!

I like the digital aging of your avvie; but then I love all things old and in ruins! Nice work!

Yes! JOY IN THE MAKING!

You make an excellent point about the fragile nature of physical art and the need to protect it for future generations. Using your familiar avatar as an example was a stroke (a brush stroke?) of genius! It's immediately obvious that conservation is the priority. Of course museums can't preserve ALL art! One day at the Nelson was enough to dash madly through a small fraction of the place. In order to really SEE everything, even in one museum, one would need to camp out for at least a week, systematically going through the place with a fine-toothed comb. (Okay, we're parking the motor home outside a museum. We'll ask if they have an extension cord, and we're just gonna sit there until we finish! Then ... on to the next museum! LOL! Maybe we should buy our own extension cord. Heck ... the Nelson has that nice big lawn with the shuttlecocks ... what a nice place to camp! Put out the awning, break out the barbeque, maybe hang a few wind chimes ...) Where was I? Oh yes ... so much art, so little time. It's amazing to see all the variety in a world-class museum like the Nelson, or SAM (and I'm sure the Art Institute, although that elusive goal is still out there for me). They really do strive to bring variety to their collections. At the Nelson, the Dada room was only two down from Romanticism. (I know you know which one I liked better!) What a fantastic juxtaposition! Somebody was really paying attention. They wanted us to see different things, not just what we expected to see by going into a "classical" or an "Egyptian" wing. Japanese screens were right across the hall from Tlinget carvings. What a place! As far as digital art is concerned ... we've got digital museums right here! Renderosity, Deviantart, Flickr ... it just depends on how much you want to wade through to get to the good stuff. And therein lies the problem, doesn't it? Who says what the good stuff is? One man's drek is another man's masterpiece. We all tend to like the art of certain people, and we're attracted to certain looks, certain styles. When exposed to other styles, our horizons are expanded, and there is the possibility for those "ah-ha" experiences that come with grokking something new for the first time. It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out over the next decade. What a ride! I can't wait! :)

Done aq lot of restoration work in the pats even got my own formula for lifting the varnish and leaving the paint still on the canvas!! now thats quite a feat my friend!!! I miss that work dearly! every now and then i take trip down memory lane and Iam just happy thata i can do still do it!! righ tnow the digital art with its instantanious results excites me more than the canvas and a half driven mad lifestyle from the turpentine fumes!! BTW Nice work Mark!!!

Oh, yeah, Mark, you are SO right. Art --and art --- is simply personal. We all have what pleases us, and if it doesn't, boy do we let the world know!! I've only been to ONE (yeah, I know, I'm deprived) real museum in my whole life (the HIgh Museum in Atlanta), but there were pieces that moved me to tears. Seeing the real stuff is mind blowing, and I think a blown mind is a very good thing. The curators can put all the controls they want on what hangs in their museums, and that's fine; some things need to be protected and saved. Me, I want to touch it, feel it, and KNOW it. Probably totally destroying (or being part of the process ) it as I do. One of the exhibits I saw in Atlanta was Georgia O'Keefe. We all know who she is and I was thrilled at being able to see work of someone so famous. What was interesting is that work that was shown wasn't what you would have expected--not the huge, cast canvases we're most familiar with. These were smaller pieces, and one in particular, literally did make me cry. It was a bright red Canna--and it was erotic, sensual and absolutely stunning. And it was a flower. Anyway, right on, Mark!!

Very nice images. Great post work to produce the weathered look! Really well done.

bon ,et tres long commentaire!!bone image!!

Mark, I am finally home and before taking time to rest wanted to be sure and respond to this one as it really caught my attention. First of all let me say your avatar is one that makes me smile the moment it pops on the screen and a almost peaceful feeling sweeps over me because it represents you and your work so perfectly. I've seen you create some damage to previous works of art and must say you have a real talent for it and are able to present it in a fantastic way. Still despite all the damage I must say the love and all your avatar represents still seems to be strong and vital. What struck me so much about your writings here was your point about how the establishment often sets the tone and defines what is art and who is considered to be great. It is sad and seems to go on in many walks of life, as for some reason political or otherwise some people are pushed out and their talent ignored. I know that maybe the most amazing artist I've ever met is more than likely standing in a soup line in San Diego as he more often than not lost the battle with his inner demons. Still you wonder if he'd been given a proper chance and the recognition that him and so many others deserve if maybe he would have turned out completely different. Thank you so much for this wonderful presentation that really seemed to make so many inlcuding myself think. You are one of a kind Mark, and we are all blessed to know you

Did you know that the word, avatar, is the Hindu word for incarnation? And also the title of James Cameron's latest blockbuster? That said, cool grunge postwork on your prized incarnation, and interesting info in your accompanying narration, Mark. I don't know where you find the time, energy and incentive to type out all this stuff.

Totally on target with your remarks.

Ah, art/Art and the museums that exhibit it are two of my favorite subjects lately. I for one applaud what today's museums are doing. I became an annual member of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art three years ago. Ready for this? ...to get free parking and to feel a good about myself for supporting the arts in a tiny way ($75 annual membership). Well, I found myself going more often to the museum to get my "money's worth" from the parking. But as a direct side-effect, I became enamored with all types of art on display there and wide-open to new things. I recall going there 30 years ago and I could have sleep walked through the building...it was dull and lifeless. Of course I had no idea about the quality of the art on display (and it was top notch then too). But it wasn't presented in a friendly way. Today, this art museum and countless more like it have come alive. The entire "industry" has become people friendly. The old no-photography policy and glaring guards who looked for reasons to scold visitors used to make visits painful. Today that is all changed. We were greeted at the front door in May with a smiling doscent who asked to help us and meant it. I had my camera around my neck and expected warnings but received encouragement instead. Thirty years ago there were prim and proper people in expensive clothes looking at us like we were interlopers. Now, visitors are casually dressed and truly enjoying themselves in all the galleries. The atmosphere is light and open. The entire experience is educational. So, yes, they preserve art and care for it physically. They have the money to procure more. They have the interest to feature special exhibits in addition to the permanent collection. There is vision at work. Ivory towers are closing and renovations are under way. So, the outlook is good. If anyone reading this hasn't been to an art museum ever...then find one and go. If you haven't been for a long time, forget dull experiences of the past, read what's going on using the museum's modern website and plan for a day or two and check out what's going on. You'll be glad you did. And take your camera and shoot to your heart's content. Come back here and show us what you found. This will be fun for all of us!!! Thanks Mark for your avatar illustration and reminding me how staid art museum used to be. I'll bet there are still some dullards out there but I am up for visiting the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) next. Can't wait to hear the experiences of some of our other Renderosity folks. And it just may be that the more interest we regular folk show in our art museums, the more interest they will show in what we do. Win-win.

I'm glad to see you spruced up your avatar to look as good as new. I agree with what you say about museums and art galleries. To say that digital art isn't art is to me so uppity and very prejudiced. We do see the most fantastic art here at RR and it is my favourite place.

Oooh, I love a good juicy post! And I must say that this is incredibly brilliant. You know, because of your avatar, I tend to find paint random paint brushes all over the place now, but so far have only captured one that has yet to be posted! Timing is everything, and at times I have the timing of a watch with broken springs, rusty flywheels, and a missing minute hand. As for the whole matter of art/Art, museums, galleries (on and offline) and even coffee houses, I have to say that I love a good museum, stuffy or not. They're fantastic in that they DO preserve and restore art, and what's even better is the fact that in doing so, they keep it alive. Chicago's Art Institute is just one of many fine examples, especially in that they have such a collection of everything ranging from hyper-mannered, more-serious-than-thou stuff to whimsical, floppy things that are so ugly they're cute; heck there are even some really gorgeous naked people standing around with one hip thrust forward, and what's even better is that they're often standing next to abstract things that one artist or another has "said" is a naked person standing around with one hip thrust forward...although the naked "person" in question looked more like a dinner fork welded to an aluminum can with a head cold. What's brilliant about that is the fact that aside from preserving works that need to be preserved, it sets them in conversation with newer pieces by artists who are alive. I love the fact that an old, venerable master and a young, upstart whippersnapper can actually exist in the same room, or at least in the same building, and it's really only up to viewers to decide what rooms to go into or what walls to look at. For me, I tend to gravitate more toward the newer stuff, in much the same way that my musical tastes gravitate to the more obscure. It's persona, but it all hinges on the fact that the "super-popular" doesn't need me to view it or hear it; it's already worked its way into human culture so deeply that on a level it doesn't need to be seen. It'll be preserved and cherished (as it should be) simply because it's already recognized and has earned its place. The only problem is that humans tend to have one track minds, and do need to be shaken up on occasion. When art/Art, artists and Artists have already done the hard work of becoming established, the "common" viewer tends to forget that at one time Rembrandt, Tanguy, (one of my favorites) Mattisse, O'Keefe, and company were at one time, just regular people doing what they loved. They didn't set out to be masters, they didn't set out to change the world, or secure their positions books, history, and the dominant social psyche. They were people with rent to pay, with love lives that had gone horrendously sour, or head colds on a particular rainy Tuesday; they probably had ingrown toenails, countless neuroses, and everything else that gives them something in common with the "regular" or "little" people who venerate them so adamantly today. What I like about places like Renderosity (and by extension) independent coffee houses is that we're beginning to see a shift in artistic expression, and quite possibly, a number of art pieces that WILL appear in already established museums, though I wonder how curators and restorers might restore something that was originally digital. Ah, they'd do it digitally: getting rid of bit rot and such, but the point is, I love the fact that the more popular forms of art are slowly beginning to make their way into museums. A lot of the stuff that we call "Classical" art, hung in rich people's homes at one time...and even in hostels OWNED by rich people. We still have such artwork making its way into history like that, but we also have things in digital galleries and on obscure coffee-house walls. It's quite gratifying to see that there is a shift taking place. Museums are becoming more alive and less critic-driven, artists are beginning to gain recognition as regular people. Heck, even Rembrandt was featured in a biographical, fictional novel a couple of years ago, and the story of his later life was not glamorized or made pretty. His nose wasn't made any smaller either! His reputation wasn't degraded in any way, but for one of the few times I'm aware of, he was made into a human being, complete with digestive quirks, body odor, and a multitude of little annoying qualities. In short, he was made into a form of Pop Art, not necessarily a historical figure so much as the protagonist in a historical story told in a very modern way. Of course, I also think that Museums around the world would do good to put a few living Czech artists on their various boards of directors. When I lived in the Czech Republic, a country known for its artistic beauty, I saw everything from the Middle Ages to the day before yesterday arranged in profoundly interesting ways. There's something to be said for Classical Italian architecture (with original interior artwork restored) playing host to an exhibition featuring, get this: photographs of Chicago--complete with disco-ball miniatures of the Sears Tower standing guard at the front entrance! Funny how disco ball versions of the Sears Tower, standing like two pillars doesn't look tacky.) I don't know who did the disco-ball Sears Tower twins, but they were such a whimsical and inviting part of the exhibition, and apparently little Czech kids loved them as they could stand close and see broken reflections of their friends doing typically kid-things, like picking their noses. The whole attitude toward art over there is refreshing: there's room for the Classical stuff, there's room for stainless steel panties, and giant, faceless babies, and there's also room for kids picking their noses because they are kids after all. But what really strikes me is how likely it actually is for some of those really young kids who were picking their noses in Czech are so familiar with art that it's not impossible to think that THEY will be the future curators and preservers of both fine and not-so-fine art. I think, ultimately, places like the Czech Republic, Russia, Renderosity, and various coffee houses, are exactly what art needs. Art is such a huge part of life in the places I just named; it's isn't something an art teacher teaches you from the pages of a badly-written, super-dry book; it's something your first grade teacher shows you while you're busy picking your nose and then asks you if you like it or not, and if you don't like it, what you'd change about it to make it fun. I suppose that's also why everyone in the Czech Republic is so comfortable with art and so incredibly willing to see the classical gorgeous stuff rubbing shoulders with giant, disembodied legs standing drunkenly in the middle of Prague. I have to admit though, that I'm still a bit confused by that giant human rear-end with a ladder provided for a fuller viewing experience. Ah, but that's Prague for you! As for your piece here, it's incredible. As always, and it raises a new question in my mind. That in itself has set me off in all sorts of interesting artistic directions. For as much as I love museums and the incredible amount of work that goes into both creating and preserving artwork, wouldn't it be interesting to see art that is supposed to rot and degrade over the centuries? I'd actually love to see a piece of art with artist-written instructions that say: "Don't preserve this. Let it get moldy and grotty and faded, just to see how interesting it gets before it crumbles to dust all together." Wouldn't that be something! Death and decay as an intimate part of the artistic experience. But that's a rant for another time! As always, this is a brilliant piece of work, and you know, I'll never see paint brushes in the same way. Ever. That's a good thing.

Very interesting point but beside the point i love the effects you added to your avatar:)Amazing how they preserve the art.it is an art in itself.

It's always hard for me to talk about art / Art. I live in Italy, that is in a place where, digging deep enough to plant a rose bush, you can find an Ancient Roman lantern or some medieval pottery sherds (objects that fill the museums of classic art). When I was a teenager, my "summer job" was a tourist guide in Venice (which allowed me to buy a Vespa - yes that one of Audrey Hepburn / Gregory Peck, an object currently exibited in modern art galleries - that I sold years later to buy a Fiat 600, etc). Hence I realize that my perception of "art" may be particular. The umpteenth Apulian vase of the third century BC, that was produced in series for well-off, provincial customers, is it art (since it is exhibited in every museum of "classical art") or is it just "very old" craft? The museums are made for conservation, but sometimes that is true only theoretically. Anyone who visits an Italian museum understands that museums are especially made for the sake of the curators' and critics'careers, the actual satraps of Art. Here in Italy a lot of the pieces are stowed in warehouses, sometimes not even registered. And it is not surprising to find them, years later, on display abroad, sold on the black market by custodians. Imagine if the latter "preserve" old items. Here, you save only what is famous and well known, for other objects there is only the oblivion and the dust of a warehouse. Some years ago Sandra and I organized an exhibition on Montezuma and Maximilian of Austria, emperor of Mexico. During this event, we opened for the first time a trunk belonging to Miguel Miramon, one of the generals executed with Maximilian in Queretaro. Nobody had opened the trunk after the acquisition date of the trunk, about 1890. Inside, inter alia, Miramon's daughter placed the general's bloody shirt, taken from his body after the shooting. Given the nature of the biological material, one can understand the risk to other objects (a flag, photographs etc.). Another example: the entire collection of Marie Louise of Austria, second wife of Napoleon, and duchess of Parma at that time an indipendent state, is held in number of garages along the Via Emilia and no one has ever classified the items after her death in 1847! The collection, however, belongs to the Museo Civico of Reggio Emilia.

What a wonderful discussion on art. It is so obvious how much you adore and understand art when you say things like 'art is about dance, play, love & simply being human'. And when you pay tribute to the many unknown artists here on R'osity, well, that warms my heart because it is so true. It is a gift to be able to share and enjoy art here, with like souls, and artists of all ages and backgrounds, from all over the world, in our 'museum without walls'. CC

i wanted to add something to the heated debate, but then i decided that it was better to think of a small series... so i'm preparing it! In the meanwhile, i'll say that Cattelan is from my city, Padova, but he'll never be permitted to show his works here, lest of a conservative revolution: even Milan refused his work!

Your brush is wonderful. The avi one. But I really like the aged, beaten, weathered new version. I got stuck on Chipka's comment .. the end .. maybe someday an artist will insist his work NOT be preserved to see how it evolves as nature takes it course. You see it all the time in cemetaries. You can watch those marvelous old cemetary art pieces slowly degrade, gently molder and disintegrate away. Somehow it all stays beatufiul anyway .. at least to my eyes. And then there's the old derelict buildings. To me, often they are more beautiful as they decay then when they were brand new and sparkling bright. But that's just me .. slowly agind and moldering away, grins.

This is a very beautiful and very nice!

I have this vision of you lying in an enclosed chamber, arms clamped to your sides and eyeballs frantically jiggling back and forth behind closed eyelids as you direct your avatar brush over a giant canvas the size of a planet (or at least the size of a large museum), filling the canvas with marvelous vision and thoughts, participating in the preservation of works of static Art and the decay of works of dynamic Art, putting up walls to hang Works of Art created hundreds of years ago, tearing down walls to hang Creativity in all its forms in Cyberia, some to remain for eons, others to flash for an instant... Best of all, when you wake it is all still there, feeding our imaginations, our emotions, our humanity, permanently altering our neural pathways, changing our view of what is, and what is possible... BTW, I love museums, both brick and mortar and electronic... Thanks for these great images and for tickling our brain cells!

artistiquement bien fait !