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Dublin Core
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Title
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The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
Text
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School
Dublin Core
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Contributor
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Sydnie, 18, Student
Date
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2010/2011
Source
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<em>The Starry Night</em> by Vincent van Gogh
Description
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My humanities moment took place over a few years. It all started one day when I was in the 4th grade. This was one of my favorite days in elementary school because we had an assembly that day. That meant that after lunch recess we got to do something fun instead of doing math or history or science or something else that was uncolorful and boring. I was really excited to find out that it was an art assemble, which meant that afterwards we would get to paint or draw for the rest of the day. Taped all over the walls of our gym were many colorful, bright, and interesting paintings. When we were all seated on the floor I was able to get a better view of the paintings on my side of the wall. It was very interesting to look back and forth between the different sides of the gym. On the far side the paintings looked just like standard paintings but on the side near to me I could see all the little details. <br /><br />The art teacher went on to explain why the paintings looked different from a distance. These were some of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous paintings and that he used a very unique style and technique. She explained that he is best known for his use of pointillism. This means that he painted using thousands of dots or strokes to create a very detailed and bright picture. My favorite picture that she showed us was of a little town at night. It had blue rolling hills and a swirly starry sky. <br /><br />After learning about his style and looking at more of his paintings we went back to our class and got to try out painting like him. I had so much fun learning about and painting in Van Gogh’s unique style. It was by far my most favorite assembly. In middle school I kept seeing the painting with the swirly night sky and so I decided to look more into Vincent van Gogh’s life. He was born on March 30, 1853 in Zundert, Netherlands to Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Carbentus. Van Gogh was introduced to art very early in life when he worked with his uncle as an art dealer. During his early adulthood he had trouble figuring out his purpose in life. He worked many jobs trying to figure this out; he worked as an art dealer, a bookseller, and even became a preacher at one point. On his preaching mission in Borinage, Belgium, a mining region, he would give Bible readings to the locals. While this was all happening he would write to his brother, Theo, about his journeys. In these letters he would draw little sketches and drawings of what he saw. Which caused Theo to advise him to pursue his passion for art. Van Gogh agreed and soon got art lessons from Anton Mauve. Since Van Gogh didn't have a paying job anymore, Theo would send him money. Later in his painting career, as compensation for Theo taking care of him, he would give Theo some of his paintings to sell. Vincent van Gogh’s mental health fluctuate all throughout his life. He began a relationship with a former prostitute Sien Hoornik. Together they rented a studio where they lived along with her baby and five year old daughter. The relationship broke off and Van Gogh moved to Arles, Paris to focus on his art. There he rented one of his rooms to fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Paul and him had very different art styles and would often get into heated arguments with one another. This along with the stress of his painting career being unsuccessful caused his mental health to deteriorate. At its worst, he cut off his ear then gave it to a prostitute wrapped in a newspaper. After his recovery in the hospital he went back home to paint. Then feeling his mental health declining again he admitted himself to the psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy. While there he experienced a period of extreme confusion and ate oil paint. It was at this asylum that Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, the swirly painting that I had liked so much. With everything becoming too much, on July 27, 1890 Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He was able to walk back to his house and was found, but it was to late for him. Vincent van Gogh died on July 29, 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France. Over his lifetime he drew over 850 paintings and about 1,300 works on paper. <br /><br />Sadly, it was only after his death that his paintings found any success and popularity. This has influenced me personally because it taught me to not take everything at face value. You might not know what is going on underneath the surface. With Van Gogh his paintings seemed so happy and playful but behind that he was struggling financially and with his mental health. It taught me to be aware of those around me and to remind myself that not everything is pretty. After learning more about Vincent van Gogh’s life and his struggles it made the painting have a deeper meaning. It was both sad and beautiful to learn about the man behind the paintings. I learned that even in the worst situations people can create eternal beauty.
Title
A name given to the resource
The Brightest Star in the Night
Identifier
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the-brightest-star-in-the-night
Art
Beauty
Inspiration
Painters
Paintings
Pointillism
Salt Lake City, Utah
Students
Teachers & Teaching
The Starry Night
van Gogh, Vincent
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http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/118/Lake_Nicaragua.jpg
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Dublin Core
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Lake Nicaragua
Text
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Title
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A House
Description
An account of the resource
Every single year, from first grade all the way up to senior year, we heard about one man: Ruben Darío. Growing up in Nicaragua, where this internationally renowned poet/writer is from, one would expect that. We covered his biography life’s works multiple times in our literature classes. I recognized his undeniable talent, but somehow I had managed to overlook the simple fact he was Nicaraguan. It was not until 11th grade when we had a field trip to his house, which is now a preserved landmark 45 minutes away from my school, that I truly understood he was truly Nicaraguan.
Coming from a small country, one that is often overlooked, I was ready to dismiss any accomplishment produced by it. So much, that I did not see around me the beauty in my country that inspired Dario. I regarded his work as a piece of art separate from Nicaragua, not born from it. This moment helped me regain confidence in telling other people where I was raised. It helped me see the beauty of a country.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Coming from a small country, one that is often overlooked, I was ready to dismiss any accomplishment produced by it. So much, that I did not see around me the beauty in my country that inspired Dario. I regarded his work as a piece of art separate from Nicaragua, not born from it. This moment helped me regain confidence in telling other people where I was raised. It helped me see the beauty of a country.
Source
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“Primaveral” by Ruben Dario
Creator
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Ruben Dario
Date
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2015
Contributor
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Alejandro, 19, student
Identifier
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a-house
Beauty
Ciudad Darío, Nicaragua
Darío, Rubén
Nicaraguan Poets
Poets
Primaveral
School Field Trips
Students
-
http://humanitiesmoments.org/files/original/116/Wabi_Sabi.jpg
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Wabi-Sabi
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
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Title
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Wabi-Sabi: The Perfectly Imperfect
Description
An account of the resource
As part of my undergraduate degree in Asian studies, I took a class on Haiku, a traditional form of Japanese poetry. At the time, I knew nothing about Japan beyond its youth’s obsession with Hello Kitty and similar colorful animated characters. In analyzing and understanding the magic of these three-lines poems, we talked a lot about the traditional Japanese aesthetics on which they are based. And it was nothing like Hello Kitty.
Traditional Japanese aesthetics–which can be found in their well-known gardens, teahouses, and architecture at large–not only produces well-designed artifacts and surroundings, but also promotes an acceptance of reality. Japanese aesthetics is based on a few principles that highlight the beauty in the impermanent, imperfect, and incomplete (of which wabi-sabi are the more known terms to a western audience). These concepts create a realistic understanding of beauty. Taken as a whole, these aesthetic elements unveil the splendor of temporality, constant change, simplicity, imperfections, and even aging. Or, in other words, they embrace and laud life and nature for what they really are.
Growing up in a western culture, consuming beauty ideals straight from Hollywood movies, this class opened my eyes to a whole different understanding of beauty. Initially, it seemed foreign and odd, but as the course went on and I had the chance to internalize these ideas they started to make more sense than the ones I have known all my life.
This new outlook on the meaning of beauty has been part of me since that illuminating course, in conscious and unconscious ways. It helped me come to terms with my own imperfections, value simplicity, and accept the fact that things I have loved ended. It helped me embrace my reality as it is, appreciate it, and see the beauty in it. Since then I always try to smile when I notice some damage or rust in things I own and am attached to. I do not want to quickly throw them away, rather, I pause to appreciate the changes time has imprinted on them. It shaped how I think of beauty and assisted me in undoing some of the unrealistic ideals my western culture had instilled in me. Of course, I’m not quite there yet, but I will always be grateful to that class for showing me the beauty of the real, simple, and natural.
Subject
The topic of the resource
This new outlook on the meaning of beauty has been part of me since that illuminating course, in conscious and unconscious ways. It helped me come to terms with my own imperfections, value simplicity, and accept the fact that things I have loved ended. It helped me embrace my reality as it is, appreciate it, and see the beauty in it. Since then I always try to smile when I notice some damage or rust in things I own and am attached to. I do not want to quickly throw them away, rather, I pause to appreciate the changes time has imprinted on them. It shaped how I think of beauty and assisted me in undoing some of the unrealistic ideals my western culture had instilled in me. Of course, I’m not quite there yet, but I will always be grateful to that class for showing me the beauty of the real, simple, and natural.
Date
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2006
Contributor
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Yael Lazar, PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Duke University and a curator for the Humanities Moments Project
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
perfectly-imperfect
Aesthetics
Beauty
Haiku
Japanese Aesthetics
Poetry
Students
Teachers & Teaching
Tel Aviv, Israel
Wabi-Sabi