5.27.2005

form & content

what i dream of is an art of balance.
-henri matisse.


in my 4 years studying art history, i spent a lot of time thinking about form versus content. what the work is - what it means.

for example:

form: a figure wearing a yellow shirt.
content: judas iscariot wearing a yellow shirt to symbolize his cowardice.

so, what's more important? how a piece looks? or what it means? pop art or minimalism? (this is going somewhere. i promise.)

i dated a guy last spring. well, dated may be too strong a word, but we went out a couple of times. nice guy. hotcop and i called him "practice boy." it was a blind date fix-up by one of my then co-workers (random thought #1: i only agreed to it because i had a thing for the co-worker, who was engaged). the first time we hung out , we met my co-worker and his fiancee for a drink (random though #2: it was at the place i later met the celery stick. thank goodness that place closed). he was nice. we had pretty good conversation. (random thought #3: unless one participant is completely devoid of personality, or debilitatingly shy, it's really not that hard to have decent conversation). he asked if he could call. i agreed. i gave him a hug at the end of the evening. (random thought #4: it turned out he grew up across the street from hc, and i had met him a few times while we were growing up.)

he called while i was at work (random thought #5: i had funny hours at the time). i didn't call him back. he called again. this story could go on and on... but the real fact is: i just wasn't attracted to him.

the content was there, just not the form.

i went out with him a couple more times, i thought the attraction would grow. maybe he would make me laugh, or cry or angry or happy and all that attraction stuff would come later. (random fact #6: both hc and italian villa sister told me this wouldn't work.)

so, can content be enough? if the form just isn't what you want, can what the yellow shirt, or the witty remark, represent make up for it? hc and my sis say no, but i still wonder. in the long run, the paint is going to fade.

there is something to be said, though, for feeling attractive. or at least, feeling like your partner finds you attractive. there's just no hiding that.

i don't know.

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5 Comments:

  • At 8:17 AM, Blogger TheGirard said…

    Wow, that was pretty freaking deep, hopefully I didn't misunderstand any of your colorful metaphors.

     
  • At 12:06 PM, Blogger thisismarcus said…

    I know what you mean. Content is definitely more important than form but it's nice when you get both!

     
  • At 8:42 PM, Blogger Tom said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     
  • At 9:04 PM, Blogger Tom said…

    the content was there, just not the form.

    Doesn't sound like the content there was strong enough to test the theory. Unless there was more to it than you were reporting. Did he make you laught and cry and all that good stuff?

    I think there are different ways of meeting people and getting to know them, which feature form and content to different extents. A bar being the best example of risking "content challenged" happenings.

    If that guy gave high end content, the form would have been less and less important over time. Not irrelevant, but it wouldn't have to be the dominant thing. But the less you felt physically drawn to him, the more quickly he would have had to overcome it with his sparkling personality.

    so, can content be enough? if the form just isn't what you want, can what the yellow shirt, or the witty remark, represent make up for it? hc and my sis say no

    Well, they are entitled to their opinion obviously (ain't we all), but boy, that sure seems cynical and short sighted.

    Put it this way. In six months, or a year, or 20 years, that person is going to look different...but will you care if they make you happy, make you think, make you laugh, make you smile?

    Or something. There is probably some calculas of physical magnetism vs. personality impact vs. time vs. you.

     
  • At 3:40 PM, Blogger erika said…

    ah, i now see how you tricked your wife. :-)

    you are right, the content just wasn't strong enough. he was just nice. at the time, i was a little lonely and wondered why his niceness just wasn't enough.

    dammit.

     

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