The Alpha Seer understanding true art

June 3, 2015

DON’T TELL ME YOU LOVE ART, PROFESSOR!

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 4:32 pm
If you have not spent a single moment of your life in the meditation on art, professor, don’t talk to me about your “love” for art, or of being “an artist” etc. Talk to me instead about the plants at the arboretum, the weather, politics, or the stock market, since those are what one can understand. Tell me something real instead, which would make you a better person, since you must now play your hand with the real  for once, instead of dwelling on some fabricated or phony stuffs that have made you so unbearably fake and overly pretentious! One thing is for sure, without art or poetry this is a dull place, and life can be so dry and bland and unbearable, but without your abominable lies this world will be so much better and cleaner! So just don’t pretend you love art when in fact you don’t even understand what art is!
Once again, I must equate the study of art with the examination of, or an investigation into, the works of those who have come before us, those who know what art is, in other words, the artistic geniuses. I am not trying consciously to shame you here, even though shaming the academia has become a necessary by-product whenever a discussion on the topic of art is in force. That brings to mind a recent speech by Jack Ma at Columbia University. For the uninitiated, Jack Ma is currently the greatest entrepreneur in the world. Right in the face of many world-renowned academics, Jack Ma had told the audience at Columbia that if you invest enough money on an academic for him to set up shop, Jack was almost certain that the academic would bankrupt that shop in no time. Yet the same kind of folks are teaching our young people how to run their shops at business schools or make art at art schools! As I have said before, the two most worthless kinds of degrees ever created by the academia are called MFA and MBA, and now hearing that blunt but candid comment coming from a guy who was rejected 10 times in his life applying to study in Harvard sounds both ironical and familiar. (To be frank with you, I also applied once,– to teach in Harvard in 2005 and was rejected, –but 10 times! this guy must be some sort of a nut! However, Cezanne also applied to exhibit at the Paris Salon as much as Jack Ma did for Harvard, and was rejected too, just as much,–so Jack was not alone!)
As for an academic exhorting young people, congratulating and encouraging  them on the grim purpose of having achieved a completely worthless degree as the MFA is not just wrong in my opinion, but also a cover-up for all the failures and ignorance he has created in his own life as a result of an incorrect first view of the universe, and therefore, all the subsequent notions and actions in tow that are inevitably chewed up by his own mistaken first step.
How then do you study art and be in love with it eventually? What is the first thing about that notion really? At point is the narrative that the Alpha Seer, or the great Knox Martin, and all those venerable souls who had studied Brouwver and Yeats in a correct way and fell in love, despite the many years in between from the time those works were first created. And the proof for such correctness is the fact that we are still deeply in love even though many years have passed since. If it is an experience we have, then it is entirely possible for some young brilliant minds in the future to study art in such a way, and become in love with the works likewise, as an indication of the correctness of this method. And this love, I can guarantee, will by no means fade away with the passage of time.
What is the second thing about this so-called CORRECT FIRST VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE?   The following attachments, WHICH ARE SELF- EXPLANATORY, will tell you what I mean by the correct first view of the universe. If you look at the lower skirt of Brouwver’s Yin element, you will see a calligraphic wavy line. Why is that line important? It is important because this line indicates the lower reach of the Yin element in Brouwver’s composition.  The Yin element is responsible for all the black forms, i.e. the totality of the black in the composition. The correct first view of the universe lies in the understanding of a painting that is composed of Yin and Yang, and all knowledge of its very composition start from there.  And what with W.B. Yeats’ verses being composed of 10 intonations in each line, which are perfectly rhymed at every alternate turn, or something to that effect? Studying art and poetry in such a manner is what I call sustaining the correct first view of the universe. What happens when your first view of the universe is broken or downright wrong? With the first view being mistaken, all subsequent stages of learning will be doomed, and they will become one big mess! In both the art of Adrien Brouwver and the poetry of W.B. Yeats, the divine attempt is made in establishing, whether through numbers or geometry or beats created by  rhyming, their extraordinary perception. After being re-ordered in their expressions in this manner, they begin to make good sense in their elements against the mundane, the prosaic, the vulgar, and the mediocre, which appear to us in the forms shaped by random and chaotic forces. To both men therefore, engaging their act of creation based on the correct first view of their specific universe has become the focus of art.
But look at what the professors have to say. They are essentially telling their students that:
 
Yes, Andy Warhol is art, Damien Hirst is art, Jeff Koons is art, Francis Bacon is art, Frida Kahlo is art, oh yes, just name it, my friend, there is really no limit for the possibility in anything to become art!
 
Yeah, this is art, that and that are art of course, and why? Let’s face it: everything, anything at all, has the potential to be art, and so can every piece of crap in the world,– oh sure,– mark my words for it: they are no craps, their names are just “art!” Isn’t it exciting, sirs?
 
As soon as a skeptic registers his protest : Ah! what sinister forces of randomness and chaos! What ugliness! they would retort, “So? We are popular! We are in the majority. The majority always rule, not to mention the fact that we are so much more popular!!!!”
And would you blame Jack Ma for saying that the academics are here to bankrupt us all?  
I am sorry I’ve hurt your feeling, professor! But isn’t it more important to preserve the correct first view of the universe for the young than nourish vindictiveness for a hurt ego? After all, like Jack Ma, I am only speaking the truth!
 
DON’T FORGET, THEY ARE OUR YOUNG, AND YOU ARE MISLEADING THEM: DOES THAT NOT MAKE YOU AN ASSHOLE???!!!
ADRIEN BROUWVERSTUDYING ADRIEN BROUWVER
STUDYING W.T.YEATS

April 3, 2015

APPRECIATING A TRUE MASTERPIECE BY KNOX MARTIN

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 8:39 pm

IT IS HARD FOR THE UNINFORMED LAYMEN TO LOVE A MASTERPIECE AT FIRST SIGHT  WITHOUT GOING THROUGH AN EPISODE FOR THE CORRECT UNDERSTANDING  OF ITS DYNAMICS,– ONCE THOSE ARE MADE CLEAR AND THEIR ROLES BECOME VISIBLE, IT WILL THEN BECOME VIRTUALLY  IMPOSSIBLE FOR US  NOT TO LOVE THE WORK!

 LIKING SOMETHING AT RANDOM IS PERSONAL, TEMPERAMENTAL, AND NECESSARILY IMPERMANENT; WHILE EMBRACING SOMETHING AS PRECIOUS WITH PROFOUND UNDERSTANDING AND  UNDYING LOVE CAN BE UNIVERSAL, REASONABLE, FULFILLING, AND EVERLASTING!  A REAL MASTERPIECE IS THE PHYSICAL EMBODIMENT OF BEAUTY!  TAJ MALHAL, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN BE CALLED AN  EMBODIMENT OF BEAUTY,– SO IS A PROPER FRAGMENT OF EGYPTIAN ART. WHY? BECAUSE THEY ARE THINGS OF PERFECTION, AND BEAUTY RESIDES IN THE DIVINE, THAT WHICH STARTLES THE SOUL INTO THE RECOGNITION THAT MAN IS THE ACTUAL CREATOR OF HIS OWN UNIVERSE.
ONLY SOME INTEMPERATE AND SUPERFICIAL DEMONS CAN DECIPHER WHAT AND WHY THE GENERAL PUBLIC LIKE OR DISLIKE,–NOR DOES THE ALPHA SEER CARE IN THE LEAST !   THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO LIKE A MICKEY MOUSE ON A STICK, A PILE OF DUNG AT THE PLATE, AN ANDY WARHOL IN A CAN, A DAMIEN HIRST MASTURBATING AS A SHARK, OR AN ODIOUS JEFF KOONS LOUDLY SODOMIZING HIMSELF IN PUBLIC,–THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY AFTER ALL, ALBEIT ONE WITHIN THE DOMAIN OF,–ALAS– WHAT ABYSMALLY MEDIOCRE EPOCH!
EVEN THOUGH HUMANITY HAS BEEN CONFRONTED BY SUCH IMMENSE CHALLENGE, ONCE THE SEED OF REALITY IS PLANTED UPON THE COLLECTIVE WISDOM IT IS STILL POSSIBLE TO ALLOW HUMANITY TO FEAST IN THE LUXURIOUS BANQUET OF ARTISTIC BLISS LATER ON.
ARE YOU ARTISTICALLY LITERATE, OR ARE YOU WILLFULLY CLINGING TO YOUR HERD INSTINCT, PROUD OF YOUR OWN ILLITERACY, UNENLIGHTENED ASPECTS, AND UGLY PROSPECT, AND UNASHAMED IN THE SLIGHTEST, AND AT THE RISK OF BECOMING A LAUGHING STOCK TO A MORE SOPHISTICATED FUTURE? THAT, I SAY, IS THE ULTIMATE QUESTION!  YES, THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS ALSO FOLLOWS THE GLORIOUS TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF UP AND DOWN LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE. THERE ARE DECAY AND RENEWAL AROUND EACH CORNER. THE FACT THAT SOMETHING IS INVISIBLE TO YOU DOES NOT MEAN IT DOES NOT EXIST.

THE CASE IN POINT IS ONE MASTERPIECE BY THE GENIUS KNOX MARTIN, WHICH THE ALPHA SEER HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE OF RETRIEVING FROM AN OLD PILE.
A GREAT K.M.FIGURE 1 : WOMAN IN RED SKIRT BY KNOX MARTIN
TAJ MAHAL 7FIGURE 2: TAJ MAHAL VIEWED FROM INSIDE A BUILDING.
MAGIC AND FRESHNESS PERMEATE THIS COMPOSITION. THE DOMINATING APPLICATION OF RED HAS GIVEN IT A VERY STRONG CHEMISTRY, PARTAKING OF YIN AND YANG.
THEN YOU HAVE THE MULTIPLE MOVEMENTS WITH WHICH THE ENTIRE ENTITY SUDDENLY COMES ALIVE. SIX MAIN TYPES OF MOTIONS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED. THE MOST OBVIOUS IS THE CIRCULAR MOTION OF THE RED, FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY THE CIRCULAR MOTION OF THE WHITE. THEN THERE IS THE RADIATING MOTION FORMED BY THE LIMBS, AND THE MOTION PLAYED BY THE LINES THAT TURN OUT TO BE THE CREASES OF A SKIRT, GIVING THE IMPRESSION OF A RED-HOT LARVA OUTFLOW FROM A FEVERISH VOLCANO. THERE IS ALSO A TANTALIZING DANCE, ALL AT ONCE INTIMATE, INTRICATE, DELICATE, DELICIOUS AND GRACEFUL, OF LOCAL LINES REPRESENTING THE FINGERS, THE NAILS, THE EYES, THE EYEBROWS, THE BRIDGE OF THE NOSE, THE FACIAL PARTITION, THE CHIN, THE LIPS AND THE ROSY COSMETIC SPOTS.
BUT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT THING ABOUT A KNOX MARTIN LIES IN THE CREATION OF THOSE WONDROUS METAPHORS, CHIEFLY FACIAL PORTRAYAL BY NATURE, ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A NEW PARADIGM OF FLAT, GEOMETRIC, PRECISELY RELATING, MAGICALLY INTERTWINED, FIERCELY LOGICAL, AND MATHEMATICALLY SUPREME, SET OF LINES AND SHAPES.
KNOX HAS ALWAYS BEEN A WONDERFUL PORTRAITIST,– SUCH AN INCARNATE OF THE GREAT PORTRAITIST FRANZ HALS IS KNOX MARTIN! THOSE EXOTIC FEATURES DEEPLY INVOKING OF AFRICAN ART HAVE BECOME ALTOGETHER ONE OF LINGERING POETIC CHARM AND A FANTASTIC REINVENTING OF PAINTING ITSELF,–A DIVINE EXECUTION  NOT KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTED BEFORE OR ONE THAT CAN BE DUPLICATED HEREAFTER. BECAUSE OF THAT, ONE DARESAY KNOX MARTIN WILL ONE DAY BE HAILED AS A PAINTERLY PROPHET WHOSE ACHIEVEMENT IS COMPARABLE TO, IF NOT  BEYOND THAT OF, THE ARTISTIC EFFORT OF THE GREAT VAN EYCK OR TITIAN.
THE DASH OF INTENSE YELLOW ON THE LOWER LEFT WITH A SUGGESTION OF PINK ON THE RIGHT ENTERTAIN A SUBTLE COLOR RENDITION THAT LOOKS UP TO THE IMMENSITY OF THE RED, SOMEWHAT LIKE A PINCH OF SALT DASHED ONTO AN OTHERWISE SPARTAN AND BASIC, (YET NOURISHING) DISH FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF ITS FLAVOR.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, IS THE BALANCE AND HARMONIZING EFFECT PROVIDED BY THE WHITE IN THE LOWER LEFT, THE SNOW OF THE LEGS, AND THEN THE PINK OF THE TRIANGLES FROM THE LOWER RIGHT. THIS DYNAMIC GENERATED FROM THE YANG ENERGY HAS BEEN COUNTERACTED BY THE CRIS-CROSSED RECTANGLE, FOLLOWED IN TOW LIKE A CHAIN OF GOLD, BY A  WELL PROPORTIONED, CALLIGRAPHIC SIGNATURE, ALONG WITH THE  HIGH HEELS AT THE BASES OF TWO DELICIOUS LEGS. AT THIS JUNCTURE ONE MAY CONCLUDE THAT YIN IS YANG AND YANG IS YIN, BECAUSE SUCH A YANG CAN ONLY BEGET THAT PARTICULAR YIN! YIN AND YANG WILL THEREAFTER BECOME ONE UNDER THE DHARMA, A.K.A.THE UNIVERSAL LAW,  OF TRUE PAINTING.
THERE IS NEVER ANY SHORTAGE IN THE SUPPLY OF EROTICA. THE FINGERS, THE TEATS, THE LEGS, THE HIGH HEELS, EYES, NOSE, NOSE BRIDGE AND PARTITION OF THE FACE, NOSTRILS, ETC.,– THEY HAVE  ALL COME TOGETHER IN WEAVING A SEDUCTIVE PATTERN OF FEMININE FETISH WHICH ONLY AN AROUSED SATYR LIKE PICASSO OR MATISSE MAY FULLY COMPREHEND, AND HAVE STRONG APPETITE FOR.
THE SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT DEMONSTRATES A GAME- CHANGING SABOTAGE AGAINST THE CONVENTION OF FIGURE/GROUND TRANSPORTATION. THROUGH THE MERGER OF THAT DUALITY IS EMERGED THE METAPHORS FOR A BRAND NEW PAINTERLY LANGUAGE UNIQUELY SUITED TO THE POETIC EXPRESSION OF THE ARTIST KNOX MARTIN. THAT FIGURE/GROUND SABOTAGE IS VIVIDLY AND ESPECIALLY EVIDENT WITH THE WOMAN’S EXOTIC FINGERS, EYES AND OTHER INTRIGUING LINES SUPPORTING AND REPRESENTING THE FACIAL FEATURES, WITH ONE SHAPE CUTTING UNTO THE OTHER, FORMING THE FELICITY OF AN ENCHANTING  MAZE GARDEN THEREIN!
THE LINEAGE AND THE CALLIGRAPHIC ASPECTS OF A KNOX MARTIN CAN ONLY BE FELT IN FULL FORCE BY SOMEONE WITH EXCEPTIONAL PERCEPTION AND TALENT. THAT IS INEVITABLE, AND SINCE THE NUMBER OF THAT GROUP IS EXTREMELY SMALL, TOTAL ENJOYMENT CAN ONLY EXIST FOR A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE. LET’S FACE IT, ART IS NOT SOMETHING THAT ONE CAN ACQUIRE THROUGH MERE COGNITIVE LEARNING! TO COMPREHEND REALITY ONE MUST LOOK INWARD WITH DEEP ABSORPTION AND SPIRITUALITY.
 IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE UNDERSTANDING OF A MASTERPIECE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT A HOLISTIC APPROACH. IN OTHER WORDS, PARTIAL UNDERSTANDING WILL NEVER YIELD THE MAXIMUM VISUAL BENEFITS. YOU CANNOT TAKE A KNOX MARTIN APART, FOR EXAMPLE, OTHERWISE IT’S JUST THE SUPERFICIAL PERSON PROCLAIMING HIS/HER “LOVE” FOR THIS PIECE OF MATHEMATICS, AS ESSENTIALLY A GERMAN ONE, OR A “PASSION” FOR THAT PIECE OF SCIENCE, AS BASICALLY CHINESE OR AMERICAN IN CHARACTER, SOUNDING VERY MUCH LIKE SOME OF OUR IGNORANT AND PARASITIC FOLKS, WHOM THE PUBLIC NAIVELY BELIEVE TO BE THE PUNDITS, OR GURUS, OF ART IN THE CONTEMPORARY ART SCENE. THAT IS NONSENSICAL AND FOOLISH TO THE EXTREME, BOTH THE PUBLIC AND THE “PUNDITS!”
THE MAXIMAL VISUAL EFFECT CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED HOLISTICALLY. ANYTHING LESS THAN WHOLE IN UNDERSTANDING A MASTERPIECE MAY JUST BE ANOTHER DOSE OF SELF- INDULGENCE, I.E. BOTH SELF-DECEPTIVE AND UNRELIABLE.

February 12, 2015

NOW FOLKS: THIS IS ART!

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 5:32 am

Is real art excellent? Of course! 

But even excellent is unacceptable. It has to be perfect!
How perfect? 
Have you seen Egyptian art?
It has to be Egyptian art perfect!
Have you seen Greek art?
It has to be Greek art perfect!
Have you seen the Alhambra? It has to be Alhambra perfect!
Have you seen the Taj Mahal? It has to be Taj Mahal perfect!

Everyone talks about the Renaissance. But do you know that it is a period of corruption OF REAL ART?– this Renaissance hanging in everyone’s lips? The Alpha Seer’s first conjecture is this: Folks: you have all been fooled and misled by an old fart called Vasari. Of course we have greater art before the period called Renaissance, and many more artistic geniuses in the world before this period called Renaissance!!

Today we even have Postmodernism, and that is a real plague!

Open your eyes and survey all the so-called great buildings in the world today. Try to find me one building that is even one percent as close in beauty as the Taj Mahal, or the Alhambra!

How dare the modern nowadays associate those godly structures of yore with terrorism and anti-terrorism?

Postmodernism is a modern phenomenon, so is terrorism,–its political and existential offspring,–and that also go for its reaction to it, the religion spear-headed anti-terrorism.

You don’t agree, of course.
Why? because, “I don’t see the connections!” You said.

Of course you don’t see it. For that reason you have argued with Galileo about the shape of the world. There are many things that lead to this non-seeing. The I, me and myself thing, the belief thing, the moderation thing, the popularity thing, the herd instinct, the adoration of money and might, –it is not just stupidity or ignorance, it is way more complicated than that! The human mind is already well fucked up before one dies.

Enough! Speak with moderation!

But moderation is not the truth!

That reminds one of an advice the Alpha Seer gave to his teen daughter many years ago,– on writing.

And here it is:

Write with the luminosity and purity of your soul,
that is all you have and that is all you do,–nothing
more, nothing less,– so others may find a path to
you–TO TERRORIZE THE NIGHT!

****************************

REAL ART QUIZ

WHY IS THE IMAGE IN THIS ATTACHMENT CALLED ART? BECAUSE IN EVERY WAY IT IS A WORK OF ART. IT IS A WORK OF PERFECTION!
IT IS NOT JUST EXCELLENT.
IT IS PERFECT!
IT BELONGS IN THE REALM OF THE GODLY!

At the beginning another version of this same image was presented to the great master Knox Martin,– I believe many of you here in this room still recall… That was a version which is without the horizontal line on the upper left. It was still excellent, and everything was already in its right place. But guess what? The great master has rejected it? Why?– If you also know why, please go straight ahead and by all means continue as an artist, as art is definitely in your blood! Why did Knox reject it? He rejected it for no other reason than simply because excellent is less than perfect! Excellent still belongs in this world, wrought with accidents, conjectures, narratives, and sentiments, while perfection is the work and vocabulary of the godly.

One line has made such an impact! One line,–one line on the upper left has caused such a world of difference!

WHY IS THIS ART?
BECAUSE IT IS PERFECT!
HOW PERFECT?
IT IS ALHAMBRA PERFECT!
HOW PERFECT?
IT IS TAJ MAHAL PERFECT!
HOW PERFECT?
IT IS EGYPTIAN ART PERFECT?
HOW PERFECT?
IT IS GREEK ART PERFECT!
HOW PERFECT?
IN EVERY WAY, ART SHOULD BE COMMANDED BY THE LAWS OF YIN AND YANG (which involves supreme mathematics and geometry as well)

AND PLEASE NOTE : YIN IS YANG AND YANG IS YIN. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE BACKGROUND OR THE SPACE IN BETWEEN. WHY? BECAUSE YIN IS YANG AND YANG IS YIN

 

 

IMG_0289 (2)IMG_1056IMG_1055

Knox 12:28 PM (10 hours ago)

RITE ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…

THE ABOVE COMMENT IS FROM THE GREAT MASTER KNOX MARTIN (WWW.KNOXMARTIN.COM)

February 2, 2015

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 7:34 am
The painter Chiang Tai Chin had a show in Paris. He was so famous in China that his work were sold for millions of dollars, and he specialized in “Chinese landscape.”
 
He invited Picasso to come to his opening.
 
Picasso walked in, made a round of the exhibition hall and came out. It took him less than 3 minutes. On his way out there was an old guy with a long white beard, all smiles, and bowing incessantly. Picasso’s friends told him it was the artist Chiang Tai Chin. 
 
And there was this conversation, I was told:
Picasso: “Mr. Chiang, where is your art?”
IMG_0397 (2)

January 22, 2015

MARCEL DUCHAMP: OSAMA BIN LADEN OF ART

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 5:55 pm
Master Olivia concurred!!!!!

thetaland8@aol.com

11:15 PM (17 hours ago)

to me
Wonderful!!!!

Master Olivia concurs. She knows art is indeed hard for the laymen! She is a chip off the old block: her Dad is the great Knox Martin,–she grew up with great art. 
 
Her Dad must have pointed out great art to her every now and then,– and as privileged as Olivia is, she can tell you that art is by no means easy! 
 
She concurs with the Alpha Seer because she must agree, that art may be the hardest thing in the universe!  It is never as simple as it looks. And this adage, as well as its own twin, apply:
 
YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET!
 
 
YOU GET WHAT YOU SEE!
 
 
 
NOW THINK MARCEL DUCHAMP FOR A MINUTE:
I HAVE SEEN DUCHAMP’S WORK. GUY HAS ABSOLUTELY NO TALENT AT ALL!
SEEING HIM DRAW IS AS TORTUOUS AS HEARING BEN LAU SING MOZART.
BEN HAS NO TALENT AT ALL IN THAT,– I MEAN ZERO. AND THAT IS THE FACT!
 
“I REALLY DON’T KNOW HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME,” SAID MARCEL DUCHAMP.  
 
“BUT NEITHER CAN ANY OF THOSE FOLKS OUT THERE. THEY CALL THEMSELVES ARTISTS, ART CRITICS, MUSEUM DIRECTORS, AND SO FORTH, WHAT A JOKE! 
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS, I KNOW MYSELF AND THEY DON’T. 
 
“NOBODY KNOWS WHAT ART IS ANYWAY. I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!
 
” SO LET ME DESTROY IT ALTOGETHER. WE DON’T NEED ART ANYWAY, IT DOES NOT INTEREST ME AT ALL!
 
“WHY? NEITHER DOES ART INTEREST THOSE FOLKS, I CAN SEE IT CLEARLY,– I AM A FUCKING MIRROR OF THEM. 
 
“EVERYONE ATTACH THEMSELVES TO IT BECAUSE THEY ALL WANT TO LOOK GOOD!
 
 “THAT IS VANITY, NOT ART!!!!!!!!
 
“I’LL HENCEFORTH CALL THIS THING “ELITE STUFF” 
 
” I MAY EVEN MAKE A GREAT FOLLOWING OUT OF THOSE FOOLS. EVERYONE HATE ELITE!  
 
“AHA, I ‘LL BE THE KING OF THE DUNCE!!!!!!!!!!!!”
 
AND VOILA: 
 
DADA/POSTMODERNISM IS BORN!
 
SAME FOR OSAMA BIN LADEN POLITICALLY! 
 
THAT’S WHY MARCHEL DUCHAMP CAN BE CALLED 
 
“THE OSAMA BIN LADEN OF ART!”
  
 
TERRORISM IS AS TOXIC AS BP IN THE GULF OF MEXICO.

January 21, 2015

MY FRIEND MR. JIMMY SWIFT

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 6:50 pm

swift196@aol.com

Jan 19 (2 days ago)

to me
You look great…and well said….I don’t know much about art but I always enjoy seeing your work….you are a gifted artist and wordsmith…
 
 
 
I met Jimmy while taking kids to Edina High School. Oh,–  it was many years since,– even Billy here was still a baby, hee, hee,… ( I can imagine Amanda, aka Li Ying taking note now!) Ben was driving a school bus and Jimmy was a teacher at Edina High School. That was how we first met,– little expecting that the relationship would blossom to this day!
 
That Jimmy Swift is an extremely intelligent man is without question in my mind at all!  
Who else would have kept a school bus driver in his correspondence for so long ?
 
I am posting this reply of his because I want to point out a few things, things that are quite revealing. 
He says: “I don’t know much about art,” He is simply telling the truth. Art is really, really hard unless you are a born artist like Knox or Cezanne, then the chance is you can know everything about art!
 
Then he says : You are a gifted artist and word smith. 
 
Again, he has no way of knowing whether I am really gifted or not as artist, but a gifted wordsmith,–well– he used to be a teacher, so it is not hard to figure that out.
 
The identification of Ben as a “gifted artist” is partly from his faith in me as a friend, and partly from the frequent certification by Knox of Ben’s stuffs,– not because he really knows it as a fact.  Here in this room only one person can figure that out and is certain of it as a fact and you know who. 
 
It does not mean that Jimmy Swift is naive. Hell no,– It only means that he is wise enough to make that choice. After 10 years of such conversations,( I have been sending countless art talks to this group since 2005, with the aim of building up my blogwww.thealphaseer.com) If you are still skeptical after all these years, you are really not so smart,–and I don’t care if you are holding a Ph.D. degree or what, like our booted friend, Robin.  
 
Let me also take this opportunity to answer him here: 
 
Thank you, Jimmy! You are a terrific friend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 19, 2015

ABOUT THE GREAT MASTER KNOX MARTIN

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 10:23 pm

IMG_0397 (2)

 

FIGURE 1: THE ALPHA SEER A.K.A.  BEN LAU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one should call himself “master” the way impostors such as Jeff Koons,Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Ai Wei Wei etc. etc. call themselves “masters.”

To be a master you must be the real thing.

And you’d better be the real thing,– because the Alpha Seer a.k.a. Ben Lau won’t be happy about it. 

In the domain of real art, only one genius can recognize another, so the title of one master is always conferred from another artist of equal or superior caliber!

When Ben Lau was young he went around  looking for a person in Pablo Picasso’s caliber to tell him what art is. He knew that since New York had exceeded Paris as the capital of auction houses and museums, he vaguely concluded that New York would be the place to be if you want to be an artist. Sure enough, Arshile Gorky, deKooning and Elias Goldberg were based in New York. But he knew nothing about Knox Martin at all. Knox has never enjoyed the same kind of fame as deKooning’s and he was selling his work at, maybe a hundred thousand at the most,– while deKooning was already selling his in the range of millions. However, it was more than obvious to Ben that even at that tender age in his life, Knox’s talent is much bigger than that of Gorky, Goldberg or deKooning combined! Putting it in a less complicated way, Knox is bigger even than  Ingres, Cezanne, Picasso or Matisse!

And it just turned out that Ben had the great fortune to meet Knox Martin at the Art Students League in New York City. Looking back, Ben would acknowledge that as his bit of crazy luck in life! Ben would write his dad in Hong Kong about this piece of good luck. He wrote: “The odds of meeting someone in Master Knox Martin’s standing is so great, and the window of opportunity so narrow– and yet I made it!”

 

That was the year 1976. Ben originally wanted to become a scientist and he had his B.A. from SUNY at Stony Brook.  Ben went to Stony Brook because the famous Nobel prize winner Yang Chun Ning, a fellow Chinaman , taught at Stony Brook. In 1977, Ben’s father passed away and Ben would return to Hong Kong for the funeral. On record Ben could only claim to have studied with Master Knox Martin for about a semester at the Art Students League.

After seeing Ben’s artistic effort, Knox Martin, a former professor at Yale University, pulled his student aside and said to him: “Ben, I don’t know what your plan is, but you need to continue this course. I do not have any doubt  in giving you this advice. You won’t catch me talking to another student like this. To be an artist is not  exactly an easy or romantic life- style, you know.

To be fair, Knox Martin is an artistic genius of  I.Q. 196. Compared with Einstein’s 160+ and JFK’s 98 or so, ( at 98, you can become a pretty decent US President already,– and what with GWB’s dismal standing and so forth,…? So I really don’t think the GWB’s  decision in picking up the paint brush by way of unfolding the next stage of his life is such an awesome choice,…  someone really needs to tell him that, not Dick Cheney again, I hope! )

 

Real art is real  hard for the laymen. That is to be expected. It has taken the Alpha Seer called Ben Lau,  ( recognized by Master Knox Martin in 1976 )  another 40 years before Ben truly finds himself fully matured as an artist. Universal recognition from the public VERY OFTEN will only come to a great artist posthumously. There is nothing you can do about it!  Imagine this: no way, –absolutely no way , can Master Knox Martin’s talent be fathomed by his contemporaries. You cannot see the summit of the Himalayas as you walk directly under it! The contemporaries of Knox Martin won’t be able to see how great Knox Martin is, they are walking directly under the Himalayas! And the Himalayas in this particular personification represent the great master Knox Martin. Eras will pass before history is able to make the correct judgement. It will then be like  everyone seeing the Himalayas from a distance. You just cannot see its top when you walk under the foot of the Himalayas.

 

Yeah, you won’t believe me, right? I know you won’t, but that’s O.K. I’ll tell you why you cannot believe me.

First, you are not an artistic genius. Second, you only believe those with the dollar sign attached. I would too if I have no other way in knowing what great art is, or whether the Alpha Seer a.k.a. Master Ben Lau is telling me the truth.

I don’t blame you. After all, that is how things are.

How can one blame  Ignorance when Blindness itself fails to see its own predicament?

When Van Gogh tried to give a painting to the mailman, guess what the latter  told him?

” Thanks, –but no thank, Master Vincent! My wife will be mad at me if I take this thing home. You must understand, –we are living in a very small house, and you know what that means!”

So Vincent Van Gogh could not even give away his work when he was alive.

And Paul Cezanne,– look:  Cezanne was ridiculed by the Paris public all his life. The whole of Paris really came to the conclusion that Cezanne was a perfect mad man, that he was indeed the poster child of eccentricity!

Cezanne, a genius, was taken to be a lunatic. How crazy can Paris be? Is it not mirroring  on us, reflecting the so-called human condition that keeps on repeating itself?

The Paris public was blind to real art. I am not saying this to insult anyone, just pointing it out as a fact. They were only able to see the trail of money when it came to art. And likewise, since everyone today think Andy Warhol was a master, (alas!)  and  deep-pocketed fools listen to the so-called pundits, ( i.e. the art critics, the art professors, the so-called art historians, the art magazine editors, gallery owners, those who run the auction houses, the art directors,….etc.–who themselves know next to nothing about real art,) then go on to follow their herd instincts and vanity without question,– no doubt they are willing to pay big bucks at  fancy auction houses for a piece of  shit like  the Campbell Soup, or photocopied portraits of Monroe. Other odious impostors like Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Ai Wei Wei etc. etc. can eventually thrive because of such stupidity, blindness, ignorance, superstition, vanity, or herd instincts, –or all of the above.

Use your arithmetic, friends,  since I am sure that anyone perusing this blog is far from dumb,– most  of my readers may be lacking some kind of  vision for art, but , hell no, you are not  dumb, –of course you  know how to count!

In the last centuries, we only had Ingres, Degas, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse  Gorky, Juan Gris, Seurat, Miro, and deKooning. The number of real artists is a little more than the number of fingers on my hands. How they come up with the number of one million is really beyond me.  Not only that, but each impostor are at the same time,– what gut!– proclaiming themselves as “masters” ?

Let me put thing in the proper perspectives then:

Real art does not necessarily come to us with a price tag!

Real art is the labor of the artistic genius, since no one else except the genius can know the secret of beauty, and therefore what it means to be great.

Real art is timeless, why?  because it is priceless!

Real art belongs to all humanity, not just the nauseating , pretentious walls of some deep-pocketed fools! 

January 14, 2015

THE GREAT MASTER KNOX MARTIN HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 4:32 pm

IMG_0391 (2)     FIGURE 1: SATYR AND NYMPH SERIES 391

Ben Lau Jan 10 (4 days ago)

Knox

Jan 11 (3 days ago)
to me

YOU DID IT  /////////////////////  AGAIN  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   KNOX MARTIN: (www.knoxmartin.com)

Are the Alpha Seer’s work about sex? Don’t get deceived by the cover of the book:  His work have a deeper layer of meaning than sex. He adopts as his theme the interaction of Yin and Yang, of which the secret action of the satyr and the nymph represents the guilt-free condition of what is inherent with existence. Color is deliberately left out so that the essence of the calligraphy in art, or the purity of perception, if you would, may be attained with immediacy.

This work, which the great genius Knox Martin has praised profusely, can hang on your wall for any length of time,– i.e. even if you were to look at it everyday — still you will feel no fatigue in the visual contact.  Why so? –because all great art generates good Fung Shui. It moves the Qi in its vicinity, it will only make you feel energized, so you will be replenished with a most precious thing,– unseen, but most precious, — fresh energy. Is it a theory? No, it can well be proven. There is no way, for example that you can get tired viewing a scroll on the wall containing the masterful calligraphy of Wang Hsih- chih or a Picasso drawing. You can only grow to like it more and more! The great compositions by Mozart and Beethoven have similar fascination on us. One just cannot get tired of listening to them,– but not the raps, or the Beatles, which are bad Fung Shui to start with,… ( Now I ‘d better get out of here quick before some Beatles fans hit me hard with a broom,…..!)

One may hate this composition at first, for example, –especially if you are a Christian or a fanatic Muslim, –or a die-hard Beatles fans, or an Andy Warhol follower…. ,

If you look at this composition in the attachment long enough, it will promise to replenish the freshness of your perception with the powerful movements of the total white, something you will never experience in works by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koon, or Damien Hirsts.

Any fool will worship those “artists”  because of a certain appeal of their work,– not inherent in the work itself, but for the dollar sign that is attached to it.

 

Unfortunately, a garbage can is always a garbage can, even though it may be one that is made of gold!

(To read the above, use your mouse on the line to highlight it.) How do you read this composition? Learning how is an art in and of itself. One will appreciate this instruction even more later on, especially  as it can become a general guidance for anyone with above average intelligence to read great art in general. For example, one may read Titian’s composition, or that of Picasso’s, in a very similar manner. Reading Knox Martin’s work is a lot more complex, which belongs to another chapter. First narrow your eyes and gaze at the total white, (or the  whole Yang , if you want,) and simply allow your vision to be taken to whatever corner in the composition. Starting from the nymph’s head you come to the breast. Now you follow the  bend of the nymph’s curling body, her leg on the satyr’s back, only to be continued by the satyr’s body,which takes a Z shape. Pause, then if you  follow the straight of the curtain it will take you to the  pure white of the cave exit, which points back at the back of the head of the satyr. Next there is the white of the satyr’s eyes linking  the small curve that defines the satyr’s face. From that point on the white comes down perpendicularly in the shape of the nymph’s arm. Knox Martin is reading exactly the same thing. But he was fascinated enough to say : “You did it again!!!!!!!!……” The reason why Knox is fascinated but the public is not, is perhaps due to the fact that Master Knox is an artistic genius with an I.Q. of 196, way above that of Einstein’s. In other words, that also represents an I.Q. superior to that of Picasso, Matisse, or even Cezanne anytime of the year.

January 13, 2015

A SIMILARITY: THE PERCEPTION OF TRUTH AND THAT OF BEAUTY

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 1:04 pm

IMG_0388 (2) FIGURE 1: THE ALPHA SEER A.K.A. MASTER BEN LAU   **********************************************************************************************************

First, a story.

It was said that many years after the Buddha Gautama had discovered the ultimate truth on existence he returned to the palace he had once deserted in order to bring enlightenment to his folks as well. He knew that he would be facing the accusatory eyes of both his Dad the old king and his own wife, the beautiful princess, –especially the latter,– since he could still  recall that chain of events on the day  he departed from the old kingdom. Right at the moment of mounting his chariot for the forests  his wife gave birth to their first child. That was how it was. He did not bade farewell for fear that his wife would raise objection.  He was at first tempted to take one last look at the baby, but he  waived that desire. He was afraid that approaching the baby might wake his wife up. So he just ascended his chariot without looking back.

However, it would be safe to assume that the Gautama was enlightened enough to be free of guilt. It was reasonable to think that he had attained the ultimate freedom through discarding his own ego. One would feel guilty only when the ego lingers.  When the ego is no longer, who is there to answer to the guilt? So it  makes sense to believe that the Gautama was by that time entirely free of guilt.

The conversation between the Gautama and his wife was particularly noteworthy. At the reunion his wife asked him a question, one that had never even crossed his mind. It was an excellent question.

“Come to think of it , World Revered One,” said his wife, ” Do you think I would have stopped you from embarking on your search for  truth, even though knowing that your mind was already set on it ? Why was there then the need to desert all your folks here at the palace,– why was it necessary to cause the sufferance of a king in the loss of a son; a loving wife in the disappearance of her husband, and this beautiful child here, pointing to the young man the Gautama had deserted at birth, in the sufferance of growing up without a father?  “It is an excellent question, woman, one that  had never crossed my mind at all until now! You are perfectly right, none of that sufferance was ever necessary, I could still have attained enlightenment right here in the palace, but the fact was that neither you was I unsure of, nor my father, nor the burden of parent-hood, nor that of a kingdom, that  I was afraid would  deter me from my goal.” None of those considerations would have deterred me ,… .It  was I myself that I was unsure of!  I myself was the one that I was afraid of! I, and no one else, being the one that would have created enough obstruction  from my goal! It was easy to answer your question on hindsight but never quite so at the moment of my departure for the forests, when I wasn’t even sure of myself!

In many ways, the search for beauty is similar to the search for truth. It was the “I” that a searcher for BEAUTY is unsure of. It was no one else but the “I” that is stopping a searcher from his goal of beauty.   It is the “I” that makes me search elsewhere, because of my own uncertainty there is created the illusion that BEAUTY is out there somewhere! The illusion that BEAUTY is always out there  has stopped the searcher on his track! Instead of looking within, he looks somewhere else, because he believe that BEAUTY is “out there” somewhere!

January 9, 2015

ANOTHER MASTERPIECE BY THE ALPHA SEER A.K.A. BEN LAU

Filed under: Uncategorized — MASTER BEN LAU @ 8:21 pm

IMG_0378 (2)

 

FIGURE 1. SATYR AND NYMPH SERIES 0378

 

Most of the Alpha Seer’s work appear to be about sex. Don’t get deceived. If he is interested in pornography, he would have taken up a camera instead! All of his work have a deeper layer of meaning. It is about the interaction of Yin and Yang, of which the sex act is inherent with existence. Color is deliberately avoided so that the essence of art, its purity, if you would, may be achieved with ease and with clarity.

Knox <knox@nyc.rr.com>

11/6/14
to me

Y                       E                                 S                                                                            !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     The above comment is given by the great master Knox Martin, one of the greatest artistic geniuses of all times. Note the number of cigars (exclamation marks) that give away the surprise and fascination of a kid. Master Knox Martin is 92 years old in fact. www.knoxmartin.com

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