National Reformation

The following paper will develop the theory that Dali and O’Keefe manipulated illusion of the real world in such a way to evoke visionary incoherence of the dream life.   Under this theory the paper will present several works by each artist and analyze these pieces to further illustrate surrealism and its use of expressing real events in a fantastical manner, as Janson states of surrealists, â€Å"They defined their aim as pure psychic automatism†¦intended to express†¦the true process of thought†¦free from the exercise of reason and from any aesthetic or moral purpose† (Janson â€Å"The History of Art† 807).Salvador Dali.In Dali’s oil on canvas The Persistence of Memory (1913) the theme of paranoia is persistent in this dreamscape.   The distortion of the piece exudes a frightening use of spatial mobility and form.   Surrealism is a way in which the expression of fantasy can be forthcoming in the world of Art.   Dali exemplifies this notion in his use of foreground and background shapes and the pure psychic automatism which is symbolized in the clocks.  Ã‚   Dali’s focus in this work is mainly about freedom;   although the context of this work is based on paranoia and the weightiness of time the work is also free from previous constraints of other artistic movements in that it is not a painting dedicated to reason or moral purpose.Dali’s painting is that of a dream and reason becomes a series of disjointed objects in space; there is no rhyme in his work unless it is free verse; that is to say that there is no structure as prior to surrealism the viewer is used to seeing structure.   Dali’s work often reflect what Virginia Woolf was so diligently experimenting with, which is unconscious writing or free narrative.   Dali painted as though the conscious mind was sleeping, and that is why his paintings are so often reminiscent of dreams as Janson states, â€Å"The notion that adream ca n be transposed by ‘automatiatic handwriting; directly from the unconscious mind to the canvas, bypassing the conscious awareness of the artist, did not work in practice.   Some degree of control was unavoidable.   Nevertheless, Surrealism stimulated several novel techniques for soliciting and exploiting chance effects† (Janson â€Å"The History of Art 807) .   Even the central figure in The Persistence of Memory is portrayed as though it were sleeping.The unfinished background is almost anachronistic with the foreground as it exhibits a cliff sliding off into a body of water.   It seems as though Dali made the background on purpose to confuse the viewer since dreams are intended to be symbolic of personal meaning.   The sky in the background also seems incomplete with no visible clouds but merely a color palette that drifts off into a sfumato haze.   The background however is not what Dali wanted the viewer to be stricken with as a first impression.The cent ral figure of the painting is unfinished as well.   Dali painted an eyeball, and a nose and made no more attention to the rest of the figure.   This feeling of incompleteness is unnerving and truly embodies the emotional state and perception of dreaming.   The painting is purely inspired by that part of Dali’s unconscious mind.   Although the painting exhibits that Dali used controlled in certain aspects of the work such as the use of diagonals, and linear shapes, but the overall impression of the painting lies within the angles, the objects and the general ambience of the piece.   The clocks themselves prove to be unnerving both their positions and their lack of solid form, as though they are oozing across the plane in the foreground and the limb near the horizon of the painting, as well as across the half finished face.Another artistic ploy that Dali uses in The Persistence of Memory is his use of shadow; not merely darkness but the chiaroscuro so prevalent in the piece.   This furthers the theory of this paper that Dali uses surrealism to tap into the unconscious and the dream world.   Dali does the opposite in this painting of previous artists; he places the darkness in the foreground of the painting and the brightness in the background.This is symbolic because Dali wants to evoke to the audience that in the dream world the objects that are in front of the dreamer’s face are not always tangible but looming and undefined.   In the background the objects are illuminated but this illumination does not add in defining the object because Dali here uses space to further illustrate his unconscious perspective; the objects in the background are too far away and cannot be seen.   Thus, each part of the painting is uncomfortably defined.   It is almost nonsensical; these objects of Dali’s in space without a coherent theme except for these persistence clocks.The clocks are the main meaning and focus of the painting and it is t hrough these objects that the theory of this paper rests.   The clocks present the theme of paranoia (as mentioned prior). Not only are they draped over the main objects in the foreground but their rendering is disconcerting.   Each clock offers a different time, and one clock is closed so that the viewer cannot decipher its time.It is interesting that Dali did not distort the closed clock; it signifies a secret and further exemplifies the state of the dream world present in this painting; that is, the one clock that could offer a valid time is closed and unable to be seen by the painter, or the audience.   The contention in the painting is that the central figure of the face is sleeping and is thus oblivious to the clocks, to time, to the unfinished landscape.   That is the quintessential meaning of a dream; the sleeping figure is unaware to symbolism, to action, to time, and that is how Dali exudes incoherence in the dream world.O’Keefe O’Keefe’s organ ic abstraction is what lends itself to the New Objectivity era of art as well as the thesis of this paper in the unconscious mind and dream images.   Her fantastical style was also tinted with expressionism and realism; which made her work that much more enticing.   This dichotomy of O’Keefe (realism and abstraction) ties in with the subconscious and dreamscape.   O’Keefe’s genius came with her incorporation of the abstract to the simpler approach of the object.   O’Keefe’s abstract works were very progressive, as Janson states, â€Å"†¦she practiced a form of organic abstraction indebted to Expressionism, but she also adopted the Precisionism of Charles Demuth, so that she is sometimes considered an abstract artist.   Her work often combined aspects of both approaches: as she assimilated a subject into her imagination, she would alter and simplify it to convey a personal meaning† (Janson â€Å"The History of Art† 817). Although her work exhibited quite a range of composition, and her objects were used in their real life definition their application in her paintings were representational of the dreamscape.   From objects such as rocks, flowers to skulls O’Keefe gave the art world a dichotomy of abstract and realism art.   Within the succinct contour of these objects O’Keefe embraced a range of colours; it is with these colors that the formation of the dreamscape begins to take shape.   In her Red Tree Yellow Sky piece the viewer is assailed by two brilliant and vibrant colours each in representation of the surrealist’s color palate.   The disharmony of colours is what transforms these otherwise banal portraits into the dreamscape and surrealist category.   The realism involved in these works is that the landscape in the southwest is directly correlated with O’Keefe’s representation of it but it is in her further emphasis of these colors, in their brillia ncy the viewer finds an unfamiliar painting that perhaps would best be defined in the nature of the unconscious.O’Keefe was very deliberate in her painting style; she seldom left her structure to chance (as Dali had and as Pollock had).   Although O’Keefe is famous for her renditions of flowers or vaginas it is her earlier charcoal drawings and especially her skulls that portray a slightly more lucid ambiance to her work.   Even in her plethora of flower portraits the grand scale of these blossoms leaves the imagination reeling.   Their color and their scale in dimension lead the viewer into a different interpretation of the natural world.   It is as though the viewer is given a chance to be Alice in Wonderland and to get a close up look at the intricate layers of a flower which does happen in real life (at least to the scale that O’Keefe represented).   In her presentation of the geometric form, her use of line, and her flat planes all lead to definin g O’Keefe as an abstract artist.As an abstract artist the use of the illusion of the real world (in O’Keefe’s case, her flower and skull pieces)   evokes in the audience a definite dreamscape.   This is proven by her presentation of proportion of an object.   Her Ram's Head, White Hollyhocks-Hills is a great example of this use of dimension.   The ram’s head is suspended in air with no body structure (real or skeletal) on which the skull could be supported; next to this picture is a hollyhock.   Although these two images when placed side by side as O’Keefe has done are not by any means disproportionate or grand in scale that fact that their surrounding environment is a background of a desert landscape suggests that these two objects are at once an integral part of this landscape but they are suspended beyond it’s realm as well.   This is how O’Keefe manages to portray the illusion of dream in her paintings.Another example of O’Keefe’s abstract art is Ranchos Church.   This painting is pure line, shading and geometric renditions.   There is no focus on a primary object (although the lines and shapes do appear to form a church) but instead the artist is working in the abstract form which is enhanced by the artist’s definition of shape.   O’Keefe does not reveal a definite structure in the painting and the only way to decipher what the painting is, is by reading the title.   This echoes what Dali was doing in his works; both artists give very vague definitions of their subjects and merely allow the viewer to surmise for themselves what the object is truly.The element that occurs continuously in O’Keefe’s work is that of the stark landscape.   Whenever O’Keefe renders the desert she paints a very stark portrait; albeit the desert is a very blanched atmospheric world, O’Keefe’s use of making it extremely stark is what further defines abstraction and the dream in her work.   These stark landscapes are devoid of life; the skulls, the sun baked clay and houses with no people are eerie in their rendering but this contrasted with the full and lush flowers is what marks dichotomy in Georgia O’Keefe.   Dreams are often times dichotomized, both in perspective and the realm between the unconscious and conscious mind.O’Keefe also represents the abstract dream world in her use of angles. Often times her subject matter is represented in full perspective, such as the skulls facing forward, the flowers are viewed in a direction that emphasizes their center and the landscape is typically level.   Each of these variables however lead to a false sense of reality since O’Keefe in typical New Objectivity style uses these angles to benefit her own sense of reality outside of the realm of linear thought, and time.   The skulls are blanched and suspended the flowers next to this picture of death are full of life (i.e. the   Ram's Head, White Hollyhocks-Hills).   It is within these several juxtapositions that O’Keefe embellishes in the dichotomy of life and death, dream and reality, color and the absence of color.ConclusionBoth of these artists work in the realm of the in between; their work is abstract in nature and each though representational of separate subject matter are linked in that their use of the illusion lends to the viewer a new perspective.   For both Dali and O’Keefe this illusion is necessary in the artwork because it enables the typical concepts of time and space to become secondary to symbolism.   The symbolism for Dali was in the clocks; how time makes a person paranoid but how this paranoia cannot be reflected as angst in an unconscious person.   O’Keefe gave her audience another perspective, a much grander in scale perspective of flowers.   These flowers viewed at this angle and up close allow the viewer to feel very close to the artwork and this personal feeling lends itself to the viewer in a voyeuristic fashion.   It is as though the viewer was invading the flower and this is what brings O’Keefe the quality of the abstract, of the illusion in dream.In the forms of every day objects in unfamiliar surroundings or placed in those surroundings in a less than familiar way (i.e. suspended) these artists give illusion in the real world and present this vision as a dream which is what I felt when I saw them.   The artworks become manipulated not only through the artists’ use of space by through the viewer’s interpretation of these objects and their strategic placement in the work which is the worth of the painting.   The reason they belong in a museum is because of their new inventions of perception:   for Dali the invention of dreamscape and the disintegration of it and for O’Keefe for her close up of nature.When asked if these art works influence Western Society the answer w ould be yes, in a Jungian way at least since both deal with the abstract or surreal elements of the psyche.   Since the pieces adhere to this element it is appropriate to say that their influence, although not a strong influence, has contributed to the progression of art in the Western world as is found with the avant-guarde work which is being created in modernity.When I asked another patron whether or not these works had influence on Western Society they answered no, because how could one painting so greatly influence an era of thought, and they doubted that new perception in art could create an entire new process of creation.   They did however believe the pieces should be in a museum because of the reputation of the artists but not necessarily for the artwork.   When I asked them how it made them feel they said they weren’t sure but perhaps they felt somewhat sad when they viewed the work because the colors and angles were so unfamiliar it was like being exposed too quickly to something too new and that left them out of touch with their base of knowledge which made them uncomfortable.Work CitedJanson, H.W. & Anthony F. Janson.   History of Art.   Fifth Edition Revised.   PrenticeHall, Inc., and Harry Abrams, Inc., Publishers.   New York.   1997. National Reformation A popular theme among developing nations is the modernization of the economic, social, and political forums. Countries are now looking to democracy to put themselves in a competitive position in the world market. Central Asia, which consists of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikista, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, is continuing to show their strength and growth as they strive to demonstrate their independence and self-reliability separate from Russia. Kazakhstan has adopted democracy and has demonstrated how it has been a symbolism for growth, competitiveness, and success.In the last decade, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Central Asian countries have established an active presence in the international economy. Kazakhstan has represented a leading figure in Central Asia through modernization, reform, and democracy. As the fight against terrorism, development of democratic nations, and economic stability continues to parallel success and prosperous nations, the United States wants to be an â€Å"engine for change† in Central Asia.Since Kazakhstan gained its independence from Russia in 1991, it has made significant progress to prove its national purpose as a leader and innovator for the Central Asian region. Although President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan is a former Soviet leader who inherited Kazakhstan, he has been successful leading the country by socially, economically, and politically reforming the country.   â€Å"Kazakhstan’s economy is continuing its robust expansion, over the past six years, the gross domestic product has shown growth of just fewer than 10 percent in the first half of 2006.†( Kazakh 2)   Kazakhstan attributes this growth to its energy and large oil sector, gas, and mineral services.The country has introduced new concepts that other countries are now adopting due to its proven success like privatization reforms in the banking and mortgage industries and education reforms. Kazakhstan has been able sustain itsel f as a growing nation but it still relies heavily on Russia’s pipeline network for exporting much of its oil and natural gas. If the country is able to produce 3 million barrels per day, Kazakhstan will put itself as one of the worlds top 10 oil producing nations in the world.Kazakhstan has outlined a strategy for long-term domestic political stability and consolidation of their society. One of the top goals, which is, â€Å"to guarantee developing our own uniform civic motivation based on equality of opportunities for all the citizens of our country,† represents Kazakhstan strong belief in change for their country.The United States has shown its support to Central Asia; to countries like Georgia and Kazakhstan’s in their mutual goals to transform the state into a democratic nation. This transformation will be beneficial to the United States because it will bridge the lines of communication, by allowing for greater flexibility in areas dealing with oil, gas, and energy.With the help from the United States, President Nazarbayev has shared a vision of expansion and opportunities that extend beyond the boarders of Kazakhstan. Central Asian countries share the same vision of stability, prosperity, and democratic reform. As the people realize the growth potential of their country it has been a relatively easy battle for the government to conform the people to change. The reforms of the pension program, expansion of educational opportunities, reforms in the banking industry, all of these changes have and will continuously improve the livelihood of the citizens of the country.In a joint statement by the United States and Kazakhstan, â€Å"We will expand our joint activities to ensure the development of energy resources, while supporting economic diversification and reform, market principles, and the development of small and medium size enterprises. We recognize that peaceful democratization invests citizens in the future of their nation. Develop ing democratic institutions is therefore the crucial condition of long-term stability.† (Joint 1).Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s President has performed exceedingly well as the leader by implementing social, political, and economic reforms. It is completely evident that his goal is to provide economic stability in his country while being an example for Russia and other neighboring countries. GDP has risen, poverty is down, privatization reforms, and democracy on the horizon. Kazakhstan has broaden its export of oil and energy potential to countries like China and the United States, â€Å"it also joined the U.S.-sponsored Bu-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline that breaks Russia’s long-standing monopoly on delivering Caspian Sea oil to world markets. (Hill 3) Money is power; Kazakhstan has put itself in a powerful financial position through its energy and oil sector. â€Å"The Growth Competitiveness Index Rankings report ranks Kazakhstan as the most competitive of the post- Soviet states.†The country’s oil wealth has sprung vast investment opportunities across Central Asia. With plans on becoming part of the group of 10 leading exporters within a decade, Kazakhstan will need to expand the development of the country’s energy infrastructure to meet growing oil shipments to world markets. Kazakhstan’s surging economy continues to maintain economic growth and stability. However, while oil continues to be the biggest economic engine for Kazakhstan as it exports 80% of its oil, any drop in oil production will pose the biggest threat to the Kazakhstan economy. Exports could represent slow demand for the international community when there is fluctuating prices, lack of investments, and disagreements among neighboring nations regarding regional affairs.Although Russia is no longer a leading nation in this region it still has a lot of influence on Kazakhstan due to the pipeline control.   Kazakhstan relies on Russia’s pipeline to export its oil. Kazakhstan has a substantial investment in Georgia in its oil and gas sector. Currently Georgia and Russia are experiencing confrontation due to the Russian military occupancy in Georgia, this is putting Kazakhstan in the middle.This confrontation could hurt Kazakhstan’s oil exports as well as its ties with Georgia and the United States. Kazakhstan’s accession to the Baku-Tbilis-Ceyhan pipline is a bilateral move away from a heavy reliance Russia’s pipeline.A Colored Revolution in Kazakhstan has been a concern that analyst have identified since its independence in 1991. Kazakhstan has a large Slavic Population in the northern and eastern steppe regions. The Slavic population wants to obtain dual citizenship with Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as an establishment of the Russian language as recognized second state language. It would be to the best interest of the Kazakhstan government to develop a cohesive national identity for both Russians an d Kazakh’s alike. Still Nazarbayev â€Å"designated Russian the language of inter-ethnic communication, and has ensured non-ethnic Kazakhs still occupy significant posts in the government.† (Hill 5) This is an important step for the country as it represents a social and cultural step toward democracy. â€Å"Every day public servants must have the awareness of the strategic goals and priorities, and settle them without wasting their time in meddling with minor, daily chores.† (Prosperity)Kazakhstan has implemented an excellent idea to improve the education and skill of its young people to secure strength and profitability in the future. They have adopted an education reform that will send the brightest and best students from all over the country to study abroad. The students are then brought back home and placed in the Kazakhstan government, thereby diversifying the production of ideas that will be able to combat world issues. â€Å"In addition, Kazakhstan under Nazarbayev has not just sent its young people to study abroad, but has also launched a global quest for ideas on reform and modernization, as well as trying to learn from its own past mistakes.† (Hill 4)As the relationship between the United States and Kazakhstan grows the ideas and progress that they produce together becomes an example for other Central Asian countries.Kazakhstan is an active player in the fight against international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It even â€Å"rid itself of the weapons in cooperation with the Unites States under the Nunn-Lugar program.† (Central 1). They’ve sealed nuclear testing tunnels, transported enriched uranium to the United States, and have become a proud member in the fight against terrorism. It has even vowed to help Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism and narcotics.The United States and Kazakhstan share a similar vision to an end to terrorism and corruption. The United States h as enumerated its desire to assist financially, and to cooperate in matters regarding enhancement of regional security and economic improvements. The United States and Kazakhstan together plan to strengthen their relationship into a partnership through educate one another concerning national, regional, worldwide matters.Kazakhstan has shown great interest in the matters evolving around Iraq and Afghanistan. They are committed and determined to partner with the United States in the strengthening these countries. Kazakhstan has already committed over 800 of its military personnel to the cause and is prepared to enter strategic relationships with Middle Eastern countries to obtain peace for the region.There are many challenges that Kazakhstan faces regarding national security ranging â€Å"from terrorism to a significant narcotics problem, which is always accompanied with a lot of criminal activity and other threats to security.†( Abizaid 1) For this reason, Kazakhstan is workin g extensively with the United States to strengthen is defense capabilities on the Caspian Sea. They have vowed to strengthen and broaden their military capabilities in the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal proliferation of weapons, etc. The United States defense officials have been speaking with Kazakhstan officials on ways to strengthen military ties between the U.S. and Kazakhstan. This is an important and strategic move for Kazakhstan leaders, they are a relatively new country and it is important to strengthen their defense capabilities to secure their future endeavors.They are placing security forces along the Caspian Sea Region as this region poses the biggest threat to the country. Their goal is to provide an organized, professional military force. Kazakhstan is also working very closely with the United States to expand their military presence in neighboring Afghanistan in an effort to strengthen its country.â€Å"That's why it is utterly indispensable to set up a system in which each and every ministry and department would organize its work in such a way that each day, month and year could bring us ever nearer to the objectives we've set.† (Prosperity). Kazakhstan has admitted that they could use advice and analyze the tendencies from other countries in their effort to rebuild and reform Kazakhstan.Kazakhstan has publicly made commitments to provide assistance to Afghanistan in their fight to counter narcotics. The Central Asian country has been building strong strategic relationships with its neighboring countries and other countries in the international community that share the same views. For example they have extended a promise to assist in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq.â€Å"We shall advance to strengthening of our relationships with Russia, China, Central Asian neighbors, Islamic states and Western countries.† (Prosperity) This relationship building efforts made by Kazakhstan represents their commitment to enhance regional security and economic integration by forming strategic partnerships within Central Asia. Kazakhstan has created strategic partnerships with countries like China, Kazakhstan understands that it is important to keep relations with these countries because they all still share common goals of sustainability, economic growth, and international terrorism.Kazakhstan has identified a system where strategic planning, strategic control, accountability and responsibility are its major objectives. Kazakhstan need for a government who views the world according to 21st century realities and who doesn’t apply 20th century problem-solving methods to 21st century problems will become evident as the country incorporates its long term goals. These goals of National Security, health, education, and welfare of it people, economic growth and political stability, and consolidation of society will all play an integral role Kazakhstan desire to maintain an image in the world as a regional power with economic stability. Kazakhstan has a bright future ahead, with all of the factors of production in place, and the right leadership and cooperation with the international community and particularly its regional neighbors, this country will be representative of a leader in the world economy.Works Citedâ€Å"Abizaid Visits Kazakhstan, Strengthens Military Ties.† Kazakhstan News Bulletin 4 August 2006.http://www.kazakhembus.com.htmlâ€Å"Central Asia Declares Itself a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.† Kazakhstan News Bulletin11 September 2006.http://www.kazakhembus.com.htmlHill, Fiona. â€Å"Whither Kazakhstan?† The National Interest Jun. 2005http://www.ciaonet.org/olj/ni/ni_win0506/ni_win0506k.htmlâ€Å"Joint Statement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Kazakhstan.† Kazakhstan News Bulletin 29 September 2006.http://www.kazakhembus.com.htmlâ€Å"Kazakh Economy Shows No Slowdown, Grows 9.3 Percent.† Kazakhstan News Bu lletin 18 August 2006.http://www.kazakhembus.com.htmlâ€Å"Kazakhstan Support Russia-US Initiative Against Nuclear Terrorism.† Kazakhstan News Bulletin 17 July 2006http://www.kazakhembus.com.htmlâ€Å"Nazarbayev Sworn in as Kazakhstan’s President for New Term, Stresses Democracy, Growth and Security.† Kazakhstan News Bulletin 13 January 2006.http://www.kazakhembus.com.htmlâ€Å"Prosperity, Security and Ever Growing Welfare of all the Kazakhstanis.† Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Indiahttp://www.kazind.com/strategy2030.html