Intellectuality and Sensuality Coexist in Frank Ocean’s Music

Schiller gives an account of how beauty and advantageous thinking must coexist, and this follows under his belief that rationale and nature are two standards that must persevere in tandem for the well being of society. These things are immutable and equally embedded in the human condition or human nature, so they must be respected in society. Sensuality, or the appeal to the heart according to Schiller, is a necessary companion for intellectuality, or the appeal to the rational mind which is weighing out good and bad. I believe this is seen in one of my favorite songs by Frank Ocean, Provider.

In this song, Frank speaks about how he has been focusing on his career and how this has prevented him from seeing his best friend, which is his way of understating the fact that this is his lover in this song. This person who he loves is getting restless without him, but his intellectual side has caused Frank to prioritize accumulating awards, money, acclaim, and jewelry through these musical ventures; these are all things of value in society and are a rational pursuit. However, Frank, having reached success, longs to be back with his lover and ponders innocently, “said I’ll be your new best friend, or maybe more” at the 1:36 mark. While his intellectual appeals lead him to be goal oriented for the sake of his family’s well being, his friend appeals to his sensual desires, and these coexist as valuable pursuits for frank.

Moreover, his statement of “You had you some birthdays, could you prove it? Show me the wisdom in your movement” is a strong message showing the intellectual standards of Frank that he sets for a potential lover, thus showing that even in love Frank must have a partner who exhibits a balance between sensual and intellectual characteristics.

Picturing Picasso’s Aesthetic

Woman with a Book Pablo Picasso 1932

When I was visiting Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of seeing a collection of art consisting of the pieces of many renowned artists. I was particularly drawn to the creations of Picasso, and I believe this particular painting, Woman with a Book, represents Schiller’s aesthetic experience especially well. Picasso was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, famous for greatly influencing the art movement known as Cubism. Cubism consisted of analyzing natural forms and reducing them into basic geometric parts. Picasso had an eclectic attitude to style, and while his pieces normally focused on one dominant approach, he often moved interchangeably between different art styles, such as Surrealism, throughout the course of his career. The woman of his focus, depicted in soft, disproportional shapes, and with an unnatural assortment of colors, provokes a feeling of melancholy, with her pensive gaze, open book, and head resting heavily on one hand. The head casts a prominent shadow on the back wall, making one who looks at this painting feel a sense of desolation. The expression on the woman’s face, along with the mostly cool palette, indicate serious and deep reflection. The emotions produced when one looks at this painting additionally inspire an intellectual response. When one looks at the strokes and the thickness of lines Picasso utilizes, one can visualize what his intentions of the painting were, and thus gain greater insight to his work of art. Thus, paintings are a great method of merging the sensual and intellectual in order to create Schiller’s aesthetic experience. Additionally, this painting can help us to be morally better. As an artist, Picasso is an example of committing to an absolute: loving an absolute quality of his subjects and sharing them through different styles of painting. When we view works of art such as this, we can appreciate Picasso’s commitment, and we can apply that commitment into our everyday lives, becoming inspired to follow a set of morals or standards to keep yourself accountable. Thus, Woman with a Book is a perfect example of Schiller’s aesthetic experience, blending the intellectual and sensual and inspiring individuals to become morally better.

A peaceful chaos~

Image result for pictures of chaos that look peaceful
By Veil Bariskan

This picture seems like a calm dawn, with the ocean at peace and no one out on the water to disrupt it and the creatures that exist within it. Yet the fog blocks our view from the full picture, not allowing us to fully see all the levels of the sea and what is there with it, making us question what is being masked by the fog.

Therefore, this merges sensual and intellectual aspects by giving us different levels and textures to try to interpret within the environment (such as, what is beyond the fog, or what is the fog sheltering us from and what is existing above and beneath the ocean). The intellectual aspects comes in by forcing us to think further beyond what we initially see and to see what is happening in each level of this picture, and are we fully aware of these answers. Therefore, this can help us morally because pictures like this tend to awaken our curiosity and push our ability to think forward and figure out what is happening beyond our initial thoughts of the world we observe around us.

Looking Within

Fallen Angel by Jean-Michel Basquiat

Basquiat painted this abstract image with vibrant colors and strange lines. The graffiti art attracts people’s attention and draws out one’s emotions with its intensity and peculiar style. There are a lot of strokes in this painting, but the main focus remains on the fallen angel. One will notice that the face is rather disturbing and masked. On the other hand, the body is exposed for everyone to see. The contrasts and odd details in this painting make viewers think about what it is Basquiat wants us to see within this fallen angel. He wants us to look within this creature that tries to hide behind a mask. In this manner, Basquiat uses his art to give an experience that prompts the readers to wonder what is within such strange creatures, as well as ourselves. So, Basquiat brings us to questions what devilish things could be within us.

Alignment: True Neutral

This is a scene from a web-comic called Fisheye Placebo by Yuumei. It takes the perspective of a photojournalist in a country with high censorship. To be found with the camera means certain death, and thus the photographer must remain in the shadows without interfering even for the morally “right” reasons. This scene blends dull and warm colors together to highlight this clash. We can make out the faces of some of the figures in this scene. Sensually, we can only see what the photographer sees. Intellectually, we feel distraught at the injustice of the situation; we feel sympathy for the family but understand the plight of the photographer: their neutrality.

Art transforms

I took a picture of this painting the last time I went to the museum. This caught my eye because it was so pretty. I was in so much awe with this painting and didn’t realize until now that I have no clue of what the title of this piece is or who made it. Art, although it doesn’t say anything, has the ability to engage its viewers to the point that they get lost in it. Art has the power to merge both sensual and intellectual. What initially attracts a person to art is its appearance and what draws the person closer to a specific piece is the person’s ability to interpret the meaning behind the art. This painting did exactly that for me, its visual appearance is what caught my eye initially, from its colors to the structures of the building and to its life-likeness. Once this painting got my attention, I was able to put myself in this piece and just think, think of all the possible meanings that corresponds with the painting. It’s quite fascinating how art has this ability to guide us morally because it’s our interpretation of the art that really transforms it.

Don’t tag

Photograph-A Scientist

Many people might have seen this iconic picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out. This picture is one of my personal favorites, not only it is ironic since it does not match any other picture of him being serious, so it create a sense of humor; but also how it let me know and take that people are multifaceted, it is never absolute to judge a person, thus, don’t stereotype.

As Schiller believes that art can arise intellectual for people and make them better morally. The idea from this photograph for me is that don’t hold stereotypes. The reason why people find this funny because it create a diverse impression how we usually think Einstein is-serious, genius, and big-brain. However, here he can also be humorous, playful, and maybe…cute. I think that’s is why the caption is called “A Scientist”. A scientist might not be what people believe he or she is, each of them have different characteristics. Scientists are also people, they should not be tagged with a trait of such people often present, and it applies to all of us.

If the idea rises from this photo need to improve us morally, then I guess it tells us that people are complicated, like what Muse said about Odysseus:”Tell me about a complicated man…” .Like Odysseus, and in this picture, Einstein, people can’t be judged or left an impression of a single word, just we can’t merely describe Odysseus as good, or bad. So it is insufficient to judge a person according to stereotype.

(Aside from this but not quite… What I liked about the Champions’ Ballad (DLC2 of Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild) is that it shows an opposite characteristic of all the four champions in their past story, distinct from what they have shown in the main storyline. That gives me a feel that they are REAL characters than a programmed NPC. ) : )

Where is the nest?

In this picture, a fledgling rest on the tree stump. The fledgling still has thick feathers, so it is obvious that it is not able to fly. What’s more, as most kinds of fledglings have the habit to stay in the nest so that they can be fed by their parents and avoid the predator outside, it can be deduced from the picture that the nest of this fledgling is on the tree which has been cut down because this is the only reason why this little creature would leave its nest. Adding the fact that this fledgling cannot fly yet, which indicates it has no ability to live on itself, there is no wonder that it is in extremely dangerous situations.

Viewing this fledgling, people will have a better understanding of the importance of environmental protection. Because in the dark quiet night (the universe), humans are just fledglings rest on the only nest, earth. Just like the destiny of this fledgling who is out of its nest, the only destiny for humans when they left the “nest” is death (for now at least). Hence, people will understand that protect the environment is never about protecting the earth. Instead, we protect the environment just because we want to protect ourselves. Understanding this, people would reconsider their actions when they left permanent damage to the environment.

I lost my torso while traveling, lol

“Le Grand van Gogh”, one of 10 sculptures part of a series called “Les Voyageurs” by French sculptor Bruno Catalano

It’s been said that traveling is a great way to escape from everyday life and go on an adventure to explore different cultures, meet new people, broaden your perspective, and discover ourselves. Traveling, in general, has a very good reputation and is very much recommended. Why else would universities invest in a study abroad program?

These sculptures seem to suggest otherwise. Here, we see lone travelers, each carrying a small suitcase. The most striking feature is the omitted portion of the bodies. The sculptures, while interesting to look at, display themes of belonging, home, completeness, emptiness, and the like. They seem to convey that traveling, which most would expect to be fulfilling in some sense, takes away fragments of ourselves. What do we leave behind to gain what traveling offers? While exploring the big, wide world, how much of ourselves do we lose in the process and is that always a good thing?

It is also interesting how the sculpture is made to show how the suitcase eventually becomes its means of support. This detail appears to ask, “Is it possible to travel too much to the point that traveling becomes a crutch?” Does traveling become a bad thing only when we choose to prioritize it over investing in a home, which is our main support system?

Regardless of how these sculptures are interpreted, I see these them as a nice reminder that learning new things and expanding one’s perspective does not always mean that we have to give a part of ourselves away. Instead, learning new things should enhance who we already are, and we can incorporate what we learn to how we currently live to be better people. In this way, these sculptures appeal to both the intellect and the sensual as an eye-catching art piece.

What Can You See From Her Eyes?

This photo is a propagandist picture title as “I want to go to school” of the Project Hope of China Youth Development Foundation that is very famous. For the first time I saw this picture, I was struck by the big eyes of this little girl that is so clear and innocent. Her firm eyes looking directly to the camera reveals the great desire for knowledge that is so heart-touching and impressive.  The character in this picture is MingJuan who comes from a low-income family in rural areas and lives a hard life. Her family cannot afford her to go to school to receive better educations. Under the help of the foundation in Project Hope, she went to school for the first time and fulfill her dreams finally. Everyone looking at this picture will be definitely caught by the pretty eyes of this little girl since they are so appealing. When looking at her eyes, I always think of how much happiness and comforts that I have enjoyed during my growth. Since there are so many children in every corner of the world that cannot receive educations or even in the face of starvation and wars that threaten their lives at any time, we who live in a peaceful life should always be grateful for what we have had.

2 Different Worlds on the Same Planet

In general, most people believe that we should explore more outside of this planet to places like Mars, Jupiter, etc. However, the ocean often goes under looked when we realize that we haven’t fully explored all of it and it covers the majority of our own planet. When we take a look at this picture, we can see the two contrasting worlds just separated by the surface of the water. On the top, we have the industrialized, modern world while below the surface, we have the natural, wild and free ecosystem of marine life. Schiller argues that this beauty is it’s own authority in the sense that mankind’s ideals can not affect or corrupt it’s ideal. When we begin to admire what the art displays, it demonstrates its sensual experience of observing the contrast between both worlds. Then we begin combine that beauty with our intellectual sense as mankind and make judgement where we can question and challenge art and man’s ideals. This composes the aesthetic experience when we have a free play between our sensual and intellectual experiences.

Our aesthetic experience of learning about the distinction between the industrialized and natural world integrated with our intellect can “ameliorate” the fractured state between the contrasting ideals that each experience teaches us. We can begin to be morally better when we understand both worlds and respect the differences to preserve the beauties that both worlds exclusively have from the aesthetic experience we undergo when viewing this art piece.