I discovered the visually rich and mesmerizing link above off of a link from the fabulous blog eternallycool.net. The link I came across is http://eternallycool.net/?p=1004. It seems that eternallycool.net is all about the scene of my favorite places in the world - Rome! They describe themselves as a hip hub where "you can keep up with all that’s happening in the world’s oldest and coolest city. From art to food, from fashion to furniture, from advertising to literature, and from street life to art exhibits, we’ll keep you up on everything that makes Rome eternally cool." I feel in love with Rome during a visit there last Autumn and I will be back. Eternallycool just helps me to realize why my love affair with the "eternal city" continues.
Now - back to Ms. Venus. It seems that Konica Minolta was able to take over 300 scans of her by means of a non-contact 3D digitizer which projects a red laser light on the statue and captures the reflected light with a CCD camera ( you can see a demo at the Museum of Beauty). They have created an online presentation of the work that you can scroll through and see some truly amazing imagery.
The only caveat that they seem to focus on which has never held much fascination for me is the old "what would she look like if she had arms" question. They spend a good amount of time on that issue on the site and still, of course, it is all conjecture. I personally don't care what she would look like with arms as it won't change the fact that she doesn't have arms in reality! One of the visual aspects of the statue that I find so intriguing is that fact. There is symmetry and beauty in her as is. It's one of the facets that I find so amazing. Imaging a work of art so compelling that even flawed, it still entrances. We live in a society that is so quick to change, disguise and conceal what is really there - like a high-tech "emperor's new clothes". When I found that this was one of the main aspects of this site, I began to wonder if the giant proverbial snowball hadn't been pushed over the edge already. What was next? Perhaps we should digitally remove the wrinkles from Rembrandt's aged self-portraits or digitally re-attach Van Gough's ear. You get my point. The photos on the site are lovely nevertheless.
I remember when I saw Venus for the first time at the Louvre. It was an amazing visit that day.
It was my first time in Paris and George and I had visited with a friend about one month after 9/11. Of course, we had planned the trip months prior to that, but that's how it worked out. Initially we were insecure about making the trip, but then we figured that security was so tight that the chances of anything else occurring at that time were slim to none. Fortunately, we were right and the trip was phenomenal. What was so amazing however, was how few tourists there were in Paris that autumn and it meant two things. First, the Parisians (of whom we had been warned continuously about due to their supposed rudeness towards Americans at that time) were absolutely welcoming and charming. Secondly, we were practically the only three people visiting the sites everywhere we went. Now, to be fair, it was cold and rainy the day we went to the Louvre ( perfect weather actually). But I'll never forget standing in front of the Venus De Milo with perhaps only 10 other people, two of which were my traveling companions! I thought it was odd, but I just soaked in the experience. When you read this quote about the VDM from eternallycool.net you'll understand why that was such a rarity: "She so fascinates the public that the gallery in which she stands in the Louvre is usually mobbed with visitors snapping photos as quickly as possible - making a real and reverential visit impossible".
As if that wasn't wonderful enough during my visit to the Louvre, we later found ourselves standing in front of the Mona Lisa. Again, just the three of us and two security guards. I turned to the one companion who had been to Paris before and I asked her if that was normal. She seemed as stunned as I and said "absolutely not". I swear it's a true story, but I can tell that anyone that I mention that to that has visited the Louvre and has tried to see the Mona Lisa or the Venus De Milo doesn't believe me. That's fine however, because my wonderful experience there is one reality that is not going to change.
Hey - check this out, while I was typing this entry I received an email from TalentDataBase.com informing me that I have just been chosen to be "spotlighted" on their Talent Portal. How cool is that?
Here's the link: http://www.talentdatabase.com/profiles?pf%5Btype%5D=TalentProfile
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