Tonight's Main Event: Thomson VS Dali

Today's blog requires us to compare two pieces of visual art by two different artists. Apart from the comparison, we must also determine the Intention, Quality, and Response of both works, and discuss these things. So without any further hubbub, let's introduce the two combatants in tonight's Art-off.

The first work we shall be examining is "The Jack Pine" by Tom Thomson. This image is of a noble solitary tree, silhouetted by the setting sun. A great range of mountains and a still body of water occupy the background. The intent of Mr. Thomson would have likely been to capture the image of a location that he may have been currently or previously visiting, so that others may enjoy the view that he was partaking in. The quality is what I would call very good. While in some spots such as the sky, it looks like it was painted rather than very realistic, the painting as a whole is very well done. As for the reaction, the reaction that it gets from me is a positive one. Looking at the painting gives me a feeling of tranquility and ease that can be captured through partaking in the observation of beautiful landscape pictures like this one.

This second painting, by Salvadore Dali, is titled "Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening". This rather unnerving image depicts a pomegranate spewing forth a fish, which spews a tiger, which spews a second tiger, which spews a rifle that points at a sleeping woman. In the background, a great elephant with long spider-like legs traverses an expanse of water, carrying some kind of obelisk or relic. The intent of this piece is most definitely of a far more symbolic nature. Dali is most likely trying to capture and express a deeper meaning with this picture, of which I was unable to determine. The quality of the painting of itself is quite supurb. While the presence of certain elements of the picture are questionable as far as their presence, each element is painted in a very realistic and lifelike manner. The reaction warranted from me by this painting is one of intrigue and speculation. It makes me ponder as to why Dali included certain things in the painting and what those things may symbolize. While others may look at this painting with a far too literal mind and be simply boggled by it, I try to search for the deeper meaning that Dali was attempting to capture. While I was unsuccessful in deducing this deeper meaning at this particular moment, I will likely continue to examine it, as it has intrigued me so.

So, in conclusion, Thomson painted pleasing landscapes with an intent of sharing the tranquil experiences with others, whilst Dali created his work with the intent of creating speculation and causing people to ponder the hidden meanings and symbolism of his art.

What be Art?

The question posed upon me to discuss and ponder today is "What is Art"?

Art, in my definition, is anything that is intentionally created with certain purposes. These purposes can be to convey an emotion or idea, or to creatively express ones thought or opinions.

Proof That Mr. McGillicutty Needs to Read The Whole E-Mail Before Doing His Ethical Problem Blog Entry.

After completing what I thought was all I needed to complete for the blog entry on ethical dilemmas, something made me decide to go back and re-read the e-mail. Well when I did this, I received a shocking surprise on par to the time I learned that my Theory of Knowledge teacher was, in reality, three ducks in a man costume. I most certainly had not completed the assignment, for there was a second blog that I was required to write on the ethical dilemma subject! Therefore, the purpose of this entry is to look at different ethical theories, and apply them to how we think and sort out our own moral dilemmas.

The first is Consequentialism, which states that a person holds the end result of an action as the justification for performing it. I would see this as a theory that I follow regularily, with the conditions that I will do whatever it takes to achieve the end, while not stepping outside of legal boundaries or my own code of morals during the means.

Another is Egoism, in which actions are done based on one's own self-interest. I often find myself placed in dilemmas in which I can choose an option that follows Egotism, or an option involving it's opposite, Utilitarianism, which leads to the happiness of a group, whether or not it leads to my own enjoyment. I am know to go either way with these choices based on the situation.

These are some of the ethical thoeries that I find I use or am faced with whilst making decisions in my life.

El Orfanato

Today the class has each been given their own personal moral dillema to ponder and discuss in our blogs. The one I am given reads as such and gives me countless opportunities to reference the fantastic Spanish suspense movie The Orphanage: I run an orphanage (hopefully with no spooky, deformed, burlap sack-headed children residing within) and have had a hard time making ends meet. A car dealership offers me a new van worth $15,000 for free if I will falsely report to the government that the dealership donated a van worth $30,000. I really need the van and it will give me an opportunity to make the children happy (So they don't come back from the dead and steal my adopted HIV Positive son). Do I agree to take the van?

Spanish film references aside (Go rent The Orphanage, it is amazing), My first insticts point me rather fervently in the direction of taking the van and lying to the government. This option has a great deal of advantages, being that I save a rather large sum of money, I can drive the childrens to the soup kitchen and second-hand clothes stores so that they will not have to walk jacketless in the cold, and the car dealership gains public approval. The downsides only occur if they government catches on to our ingenious scheme, but honestly, the price of cars decreases so rapidly, a $30,000 van today could easily be a $15,000 van tomorrow.

While this is the choice I most likely would make, it contradicts what one should do. One should not lie to one's government in order to gain benefit, as the consequences for this could be disastrous. However, I would risk it for the sake of my orphans, as I feel doing all I can to give them happiness is more important to me than being fully truthful with my government (especially since the Conservatives are back in).

Babies are blank slates?! BAH HUMBUG!!

So, word on the streets is that peoples are saying that babies are born as complete and total blank slates. Well in my opinion, the concept of someone coming into this world with an absolutely blank mind is 400 pounds of Grade-A, Rhode Island Red PHOOEY! And I'll be happy to tells you all why that is the case.

The most important factor that disprooves this blank slate hoo-hah is a simple thing most people take for granted. This is called instinct. This is defined as an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species. Therefore instinct, being inborn, is with us in our minds from the first moment we are dragged kicking and screaming into the world. Our minds are technically not blank if we have instinct. Though instinct is located in the subconscious, it is still within the mind.

If this is not convincing enough to those who still cling to the blank slate concept. Imagine a baby. The baby is hungry. Though the baby does not yet posess the intellectual or physical means to obtain the food, within the subconscious, an alarm is triggered. The alarm says "I AM HUNGRY" and the infant responds by crying in order to alert someone of the problem. There was no instruction or knowledge gained beforehand by the child on this process. Nobody taught the baby "Hey, if you're hungry, just start crying and yelling and such and we will provide you with food." This is all instinctual.

This proves that a baby's mind is not a blank slate, due to the subconscious knowledge and instinct that it posesses. Now a Grade Nine student on the other hand...

Concocting Knowledge. It's a Magical Thing.

In class today we were instructed to think of something that a teacher had told us and that we had taken at face value. That is to say, accepted it as truth without question. So after some thought, I recalled that this very teacher whos class I was in had told me that there would be a Film Club meeting in two weeks. We were then given a task to go on down to Ye Olde Library and find facts that could verify this thing we had been told as being knowledge. We were looking for the truth portion to add to our justification and belief portions of our knowledge stew.

So as soon as we arrived in the library I turned around, looked my teacher in the face, and asked him if there was a Film Club meeting in two weeks. He replied in the positive, handing me a big steaming pile of verification that I could use to accept the date and time of the upcoming meeting as knowledge. Had the meeting been more soon in it's coming, I could also have used the school announcement page to verify such a fact.

And there you have it. Like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, like a child becomes a man, and like a duck becomes a larger duck, I was able to metamorphosize the justification, belief, and truth into a new piece of knowledge, that there will be a Film Club meeting in two weeks. Provided the teacher remembers to show up this time (You know who you are).

The Killer is Behind the Door!

It's Friday night. Bored, dateless, and alone, you decide to spend the night watching movies and wallowing in your own solitude. You go to the video store, and find something that you've never seen before in the new release section. Your friend told you it was good, and of course you can trust your friend's opinion on everything. After arguing with the irritating redheaded kid at the counter about how you are old enough to rent this movie, you return home. You fix yourself a tasty treat and grab a soda from the fridge, then flop down on the couch and pop in the DVD.

The DVD whirs, sputters, and refuses to work because the last person to watch it got a mixture of Vaseline and strawberry jam all over the disc. So you return to the video store and repeat the process. Finally you return home and, tired and exasperated, begin the newly selected movie.

You sit there, cramming your face with greasy buttery munchies, and watching the film as it progresses. At some point, you may make an observation, either to yourself or out loud, about what is happening in the movie. More specifically, you may utter something like, "The killer is behind the door," "Mr. Johnson is actually Rachel's father," or even "The dead street worker is in the trunk of the car!"

Most of the time these predictions turn out to be false. But on the odd time, what you've said will happen actually occurs in the movie. So this brings up the question. If you predict something and it happens, did you actually know that it would happen?

The three things one needs to have knowledge of something are belief, justification, and truth. In this situation, do these three apply? Well yes and no. We have belief that the killer is behind the door. Our justification can stem from many sources in this case. If we are a person who has seen many films in their life, we can say that there are many other films that follow the cliche of a killer behind the door. We can also say that there are many atmospheric factors that justify our belief. Eerie music, frightening and dark atmospheres, and other factors of imagery can lead us to believe that something bad will occur right away. The factor of truth is where things become interesting. At the moment we make the prediction about the killer being behind the door, nothing has occurred to verify this as the truth. But when the killer emerges and crushes the pretty blonde females skull with a brick, then there's our truth, splattered all over the screen.

This suggests that overall, you didn't know it would happen. This is because you did not have the truth portion of the three essentials when the assumption was made. However, when the event you predicted occurs, you know that it has just happened because the element of truth has been added to the mix. And nothing could be farther from the honest brutal truth than seeing someone take a brick to the head.