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Edward Green on Duke Ellington,
and more
Self and World: An Explanation of Aesthetic Realism
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“The deepest desire of every person is to like the world on an honest or accurate basis." — Eli Siegel, founder of Aesthetic Realism |
Current issue Happiness—& What Interferes •
June 24, 2009 • #1747
We publish here the first half of a lecture by Eli Siegel, given early in the history of Aesthetic Realism—in 1946, at Steinway Hall. Its title is Unhappiness in America. And working in it are two principles of the new philosophy he was teaching. The first: “All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves.” As he shows what that fervently desired thing happiness is, he speaks about the opposites of rest and motion, and the biggest opposites for everyone: our dear self and the wide outside world.
The second principle describes the thing which people think will make them happy but which really makes them miserable. “The greatest danger or temptation of man,” he writes, “is to get a false importance or glory from the lessening of things not oneself; which lessening is Contempt.” Mr. Siegel explains that if we go after being happy by contemptuous means—by lessening the world, and trying to own and manage portions of it—we will suffer.
To illustrate, I'm going to quote from Edmund Spenser's mighty and lovable work The Faerie Queene, published in 1590. Cantos 9 and 10 of Book 3 are about Malbecco, an ill-natured old man who (like everyone) makes the choices he makes because he thinks they're the way to be happy....  more
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* Thursday, July 9, 6:30 PM
How Can a Woman See Time & Age as Friendly? Marion Fennell,
Meryl Nietsch-Cooperman, Karen Van Outryve
*Seminar date changed due to holiday weekend
Contri. $10 (tax-deductible) |
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Saturday, July 18, 8 PM
About Art, Love, & Life
 Aesthetic Realism & the Dance Looking at the rich history of this art, from Native American dance, to Polynesian, to American jive, to classical ballet, Eli Siegel said:
“Deeply, the dance is an attempt to annul the hidden, selfish self by having it step out. It is an attempt to solve the problem of humility and pride.”
Winslow Homer's Breezing Up; or, Yes! The Unknown is Your Friend by Meryl Nietsch-Cooperman
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“As I studied this 1876 painting, I was moved to see that in it there's an answer to one of the largest matters in a person's life: the fight between wanting to manage the world and wanting to be affected by it in a big way.” |
Are You Afraid of Love?
A reenactment of an Aesthetic Realism lesson conducted by Eli Siegel
"Ms. Kramer, when you felt that a man was interested in you, did you respect him?" —Eli Siegel
— AND MORE!
Contri. $10 (tax-deductible)
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Sunday • August 23 • 2:30pm
The Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company proudly presents
 
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The Great Fight of
EGO vs. TRUTH
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Songs about Love, Justice, & Everybody's Feelings!
 Rock 'n' roll, ballads, musical comedy, & more!
To print information, click here
Contri. $12 (tax-deductible)
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"It is a deep and wonderful experience to see good work. This show of Dienes, Hall, and Poleskie will enrich one's sense of a reality that is often overlooked and undervalued. It will encourage you to think about things as having new and surprising possibilities, and should not be missed."
— Journal of the Print World, Spring 2009
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"In reality opposites are one; art shows this." —Eli Siegel |
The DRAMA in THINGS
Three Photographers
CURRENT SHOW THROUGH JULY
| AMY DIENES |
STEVE POLESKIE |
PERRY HALL |
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“Cloudscape” (detail)
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"Crystallized Ginger-II (detail) |
"High Window, Low Sun" (detail) |
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We proudly present new work by three contemporary American photographers. There are Steve Poleskie’s rich still lifes of daily objects, captivating in brilliant sunlight and deep shadow. There are Perry Hall’s acute observations of city buildings, objects, and happenings, where sharpness and softness mingle in many and surprising ways. And there is the diverse work of Amy Dienes, from an intimate portrait of the heart of a flower, to an awesome panoply of clouds.
This radiant show includes the photographers’ comments in relation to these definitive sentences from “The Dramatic Opposites in Photography,” by Eli Siegel, founder of the philosophy Aesthetic Realism:
Photography showed something that was beautiful about the world: that there was a oneness between light and dark. And in any rich photograph, the way the two are the same and different is an essential thing. Photography does dramatize light and shade, softness and sharpness, foreground and background; does dramatize where drama is: that is, in the surfaces, the depths, the relations of things.
Come to this exhibition and see photography and the world itself in a new way!
Hours: Wed.-Fri. 12-5, Sat. 12-4, & by appointment
TERRAIN GALLERY / AESTHETIC REALISM FOUNDATION
141 Greene Street, in SoHo • 212.777.4490 |
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