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Tuesday 31 January 2012

Kandinsky's Red Spot II


This the score
for his new symphony,
latest opus
of his visual music.

Not Chopin, mind,
nor Beethoven. More
Schoenberg's Second
String Quartet.

Harsher than before the war,
the lyricism gone
that had been there.

Shrill, discordant,
bursts of non-material
expressions from within.

Colour and line
a shorthand for
the inexpressible.

Lifting geometric shape
into the spirit realms.

Hard material
that softens at the touch.

For him
a square was never that
and only that, a triangle
had other angles. Here
the red spot has become
a thumbnail dipped
in blood. Proof perhaps
of guilt - or else a mark
a signature
to some new deal for man.

.........................

The poem is my response to The Magpie Tales picture prompt.

34 comments:

Madeleine Begun Kane said...

Lovely job melding musical and art terms!

Intelliblog said...

Wonderfully written, Dave, and of course music and art for Kandinsky were intimately related:

"Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul." - Kandinsky

haricot said...

Your depiction about the art is wonderful. I've read before that to see some abstruct arts remind us something past discordingly...
though yours is much more convincing and fascinating.

Cad said...

Shrill, discordant,
bursts of non-material
expressions from within.

I can hear the painting yelling at me as I read your words... :) Great job!

Williamz JungleJuice said...

I was inspired to read up on Kandinsky to better appreciate ur poem.I am certain WW1 left a lasting and lingering legacy of lawlessness over the human spirit and many of the artists of the day were transfixed by the impermanence of a moral imperative in human affairs. The "new deal" I suspect is a one way ticket to nowhere.....in a figurative sense shattering the theosophy built up by Kandinsky over years of personal, internal struggle. Thanks for sharing these insights.

Helen said...

Dave ... you are a musician, artist and poet! Great Mag ....

Lolamouse said...

Wonderful poem, Dave. This painting did remind me of music as well, but I could not seem to find the words to express it. You obviously did. Excellent job!

Brian Miller said...

nice..the score for a visual symphony...def a cool perspective on this one dave...

Rachna Chhabria said...

I like this poem with a musical touch to it :)

jabblog said...

Schoenberg, definitely - I like the way you've set the painting to music.

anthonynorth said...

An excellent mix of the art forms - visual, music and word.

Gerry Snape said...

one of my favourite artists Dave...and a really good mix of paint and music. Thankyou for that!

Isabel Doyle said...

I am always delighted when art forms inspire each other - wonderful movement from painting - to music - to poetry.

Thanks Dave

Jim Swindle said...

Creative and well-done.

Berowne said...

"Schoenberg's Second String Quartet."
Or something by Scriabin, perhaps?

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Impressive "the red spot" of guilt and I agree with the openness of "some new deal".

Trellissimo said...

Music and art of the period well married. Good job.
(Can you believe it! The verification word is "liked" I endorse Your Magpie with the same.)

Tumblewords: said...

Very nice piece. The words portray a push/pull sense that makes them balance on a thin dime. A really nifty read.

Windsmoke. said...

I like the way you've blended music and art together where one doesn't outshine the other :-).

Tess Kincaid said...

Yes, Schoenberg! Wonderful write, Dave.

chiccoreal said...

Dear Dave: Very musically emotive poem~! Enjoyed the reference to the redspot being "a thumbnail dipped in blood" and the historically apt references.

rch said...

Hi Dave, this is really really good, just love the mixture of art and words and that last verse is indeed sublime.

Dave King said...

Madeleine
Thank you.

Nicholas V
Absolutely, yes. Thank you.

haricot
Thanks very much for the nice compliment. Yes, there are so many interpretations. - No reason why the viewer should see what the artist saw.

Cad
Yelling in a nice way, I hope! Welcome and thanks.

Williamz
Thanks for this. Yes WWI obviously changed things for him as for many. Difficult to see the exact correlation, but there seems little doubt that it was there.

Helen
Too kind, but grateful thanks.

Lolamouse
My thanks for your thoughts and kind words. Always good to have (both of!) them.

Brian
Thanks Brian. Glad you thought so.

Rachna
Thank you for this. Good to know.

jabblog
Thank you. Much appreciated.

anthonynorth
Thanks. Good to know your thoughts.

Gerry
And my thanks for the encouragement of your response.

Isabel
I agree, it is always fascinating and often fruiitful when this happens. Thank you.

Jim
Your comment is much appreciated.

Berowne
Indeed - probably even closer!

Tommaso
Yes, has to be left open, I think. Thanks.

Trellissimo
Ah, the web's old synchronicity pulls it off again! Thanks for commenting.

Tumblewords
What a wonderful comment. Thank you for it.

Windsmoke
Thank you for that. You've put your finger on an essential I think.

Tess
Thank you very much for a very encouraging comment.

chiccoreal
Thanks, but methinks it's Kandinsky who should get the kudos.

rch
Hi again. Very many thanks for this.

Other Mary said...

Colour and line
a shorthand for
the inexpressible.

WWI must have been overwhelming. I didn't know about Kandinsky, so read up a bit before writing mine. Your poem speaks of deep wisdom and understanding, and the lines above particularly resonate with me. Kudos on this one.

Lyn said...

Definitely Schoenberg...you combined the discordance of both and made art..perfectly wonderful..

Carrie Van Horn said...

Love how you mixed the art of music with the painting Dave! :-)

JeannetteLS said...

You bring so much from other disciplines, art forms--from a mind well-informed and well-nourished.

And it comes to making a painting sing and shout to us.

I do not get how you DO this?

Kat Mortensen said...

I really like how you treated this as a music score. (Why didn't I think of that?) There, the conductor stands right in the middle of it all! Definitely not Chopin, nor Beethoven. Mahler, perhaps.

(Going to listen to the Schoenberg now.)

Kat Mortensen said...

Alright. You've convinced me.

miss pie said...

... i thought him an interesting man, with far reaching interest....

ds said...

Brilliant. I love your approach to this--and the truth of what lies behind the painting. Thank you.

susan m hinckley said...

Ooooh -- love this. Music was such a perfect place to take it, and visual music such a perfect image. There were many lines I really liked...

hard material
that softens at the touch

nicely done.

Unknown said...

I very much enjoyed reading your response to Kandinsky's painting. "Lifting geometric shapes into the spirit realm... Hard material that softens at the touch". To me these lines say so much about Kandinsky, and about the way the world was in 1921. I think you have captured the essence of the art. I connected this painting to different music... Gustav Holst's Planet Jupiter. Our responses have similarities, although my focus was a little different. I would like it very much if you would come by and comment on my attempt. Thank you Dave for sharing this wonderful poem.

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