Samstag, 21. Januar 2012

One often overlooked thing you can learn from classic sculpture:

…is stance, correct and beautiful poise. Why be content with merely having appealing physical features and tasteful accoutrements?

The best general/neutral stance to be used e.g. when waiting for the train, the plane, the conference to begin, for Godot (*spit*) or Ragnarök to commence is this one: Michelangelo’s David. Lower your left arm and instead of letting it hover over your shoulder, look at your stupid i-phone or something!

I was originally taught –amongst others by Elmayer- that neutral stance ought to be one foot forward, slightly upliftingly balanced on the heel (‘relaxed leg’) and the other (‘supporting leg’) straight and firmly planted to the ground like on this Demosthenes which is correct, certainly, but less elegant in my opinion. Then I’d rather prefer the half-striding stance as exemplified by the Augustus of Primaporta (now don’t say you don’t know it!) or- also excellent- the Doryphoros by Polyklet.

So next time you go down to the Musei Vanticani, the Academia or the Bargello, or even just your local glyptotheque, look at all the statues in this new way and learn from them!

Finally, here is my favourite ‘stance’.

7 Kommentare:

Paul Gervais de Bédée hat gesagt…

Very original post. Does it work as well fully clothed?

v. Braun. hat gesagt…

I'm not sure, I haven't tried it yet. ;)

Cadmium hat gesagt…

i could not agree more! the way someone stands and carries themselves is make or break. how often is a woman's beauty ruined by a duck waddle or hunchback. nowadays, the pigeon toe stance seems rather popular with young hip girl bloggers, but who actually finds it attractive?

Grausig Grantiger Gemahl hat gesagt…

Karima: Not me. No man. Theyre good for showing off the cloths, not the girl/woman behind em.

VB. Absolutely hilarious this last picture you 'Fuchs'!!!;-)
About the stance: The Iphoneism really sucks right now. People stop reading books, looking around. They become more alone, gain more distance to one another. Its such a shame how we human beings forget where we come from and get absorbed by effing media.

Anonym hat gesagt…

Iphone - what's that? I'm actually one of those hopelessly old-fashioned people who just use their mobile to phone.

By the way, I think I know these two guys - from my dreams, probably. Handsome!

Duymovochka

PS: The photos also made me think about Goethe and Schiller and their concept of beauty. You know, like beauty in the sense of grace and charm, something that comes from the inside and is not just about pretty features or a good figure. It's not hard to guess where they got their ideas from.

Anonym hat gesagt…

Sorry,slumped on my sofa the entire time reading this. Not spilling my drink prioritized above classical beauty. Down with iFanaticism. Up with books. :-)

v. Braun. hat gesagt…

SAII: That's why I never enjoyed jogging: I always kept spilling my drink while running around like that. Beats me how others manage it...