“Las Meninas” once again
VELAZQUEZ, Diego
Las Meninas
1656
Oil on canvas
10′5″ x 9′1″
Museo del Prado, Madrid
This is a blog entry I wrote a while ago, slight altered, but with the same ideas intact. Recently the inspiration of an essay I’m writing, I thought I would post it again here.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to travel around Spain with my aunt. It was absolutely amazing to go for so many reasons. Despite the overabundance of museums in Spain, El Prado still enticed us with promises of works by Picasso, Gaudi and El Greco. Our vacation had become a lesson in art history prior to which I had not heard of Velazquez, a 17th century court painter from Madrid. Yet his painting stood before me – overwhelming, magnificent and precise. An amateur painter myself, I approached his masterpiece with eager anticipation. On the left-hand side, Velazquez himself contemplates an oversized canvas that we cannot see. Infanta Margerita, daughter of the Spanish King and Queen, stands dignified in the center. She is surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, who appease her by bringing court-appointed entertainers: the jester and a dwarf.
The painting gained artistic merit by Velazquez’s departure from the norm; he reversed the role of the viewer by painting himself inside the frame, breaking down the boundary inherent in art. However from the perspective of a scientist the painting reveals other meanings. In 17th century Spain it was common practice to promote mating between people afflicted with dwarfism in order to select for the same condition. Oblivious or indifferent to the additional health complications that could arise, this was done purely for the entertainment of the court. Scientifically accurate, one can observe that Velazquez portrayed two types of dwarfism in his painting, achondroplasia and growth hormone deficiency. Maribarbola, the female dwarf standing closest to la infanta Margerita, had achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism where they have a normal size trunk with short limbs. Apparently this is the most common type. The other dwarf (introduced as the court jester in the audioguide), Nicolasito, had a growth hormone deficiency as his limbs and features are in proportion with the rest of his body. By depicting the Infanta and the dwarfs on the same level, Velazquez tells of the injustices in society facing people affected by a genetic condition and of our continual struggle towards equality. However, it is inspiring that education about the biological basis for a condition may help to dispel judgment.
Velazquez’s painting shows how science can define itself within other disciplines, and how it can provide an explanatory framework in an unexpected context- the reason why people (like me) enjoy and love the study of science :)
On futility
I haven’t posted in a while, as my time has been occupied by (1) school, (2) planning for “the future”, (3) attempts to have a normal eating/sleeping schedule and social life. Unfortunately this normally does not include posts on the blogosphere. However, I am most definitely a night person – the mind clears and functionality returns as soon as the clock strikes twelve. So at this particularly effective time, I’ve decided to speak my mind about a few things I’ve been contemplating recently.
First, futility. Or life in general. Does it really matter? All this education and planning and living for the future? Does it really matter at all if life is so short? Yes, I may be starting to feel old. Sometimes I think it doesn’t, and the only thing that matters is that you enjoy the time you have. To travel. To love. Other days, I think that it does matter. And what would life be without creativity and the pursuit of intelligence? The belief of reincarnation may be encouraging to some people, not for the purpose of consoling against upcoming death, but for the purpose of allowing yourself concessions in this lifetime – I mean, you can always do it next time.
And with that, the rant shall continue….next blog entry, of course.
Facebook: functionality discovered
Facebook, the online “social networking tool” that often is the source of much unproductivity and time wastage, appears to actually have a function (other than the obligatory keeping in touch…or stalking): scrabble. A new facebook application exhibits less ridiculousness than some of it’s counterparts – allowing facebook users to play scrabble against their friends, regardless of your time zone / physical location / time. In addition, this single game has been responsible for an exponential increase in time spent on facebook (and an increase in time down the drain) in my household alone.
For all you facebook users out there, want to play?
inspiration
Undergrad was long. Long and tedious. Although there was a good amount of social interaction to keep us going, and in the later years of undergrad the courses were more detailed (and therefore more intellectually challenging and exciting), it was still a little bit like torture sometimes.
Research is really, honestly exciting. And I don’t care who calls me a geek – I like to think of it as passion. It’s especially exciting when you work for so long to get somewhere, and you finally reach your goal. Research is exciting because you don’t quite know what the true outcome will be, you are working based upon a hypothesis, an idea, and you are observing and learning about things that no one else has before.
(and it’s so pretty!!)
Cupcakes
I think happiness can be found in cupcakes. The best part about baking them is being the official (self-designated) taste-tester. Or maybe licking the bowl (is that gross?). These are the things that one contemplates when living alone…I’m thinking I need a roommate (to share such yummy desserts with , of course).
On another note, in preparation for a certain upcoming sangria party, and in the absence of contribution from certain Spanish friends, we are currently in the middle of a rigorous sangria-testing protocol. Once a final recipe has been found and approved, a party shall be held and of course, the recipe posted here. Suggestions? Our newest, most exciting, ingredient: cinnamon sticks.
Foresight should be 20/20 instead
After undergrad was over, the end of graduate school seemed all so far away. Now that it’s been over a year, it’s quickly coming to an end, when it feels like it just began. It’s ridiculous how fast a year can go by, and how much can change. This whole idea of facing “the future” is daunting. Narrowing down the options. Making a choice. It’s intimidating.
Teacher? MD? Mother? PhD? Artist (wanna-be)? Vineyard owner? Tea shop owner? A student forever?
Does passion lead to success? How do you define success?
Confused, big-time.
I’m hooked
Crocheting. I’ll admit it, I’m addicted and I may have a problem. I worry about running out of yarn. I neglect everyday social and work activities to crochet. I stay up late at night crocheting in front of cool movies (like Kill Bill) instead of watching them. I think it has to do something with the instant gratification that crocheting or knitting provides – the goal is easily in sight. Must crochet more. Although having learnt how to crochet and knit from family members, I have no clue how to read a pattern and find them ridiculously confusing.
For example:
K1, SSK, k to last 3 sts, k2 tog, k1. Rep this dec every 2-1/4” 4 times more, then work even on 78(82-92-104-114-128) sts until piece measures 11” from beg, end on WS.
Honestly?
Last night I was up late googling crochet patterns (for what I cannot disclose…yet. Let’s just say it’s Top Secret), and was confused. Very confused. Perhaps one day this strange language will make sense to me. I mean there really can’t be that many terms to memorize. Alas. What we need is not a tutorial on crocheting, but a step-by-step “in normal language” pattern for novices like myself.
Hopefully soon I will be able to post picture of my current work-in-progress, despite my lack of crocheting-linguistics…but for now, back to the hook I go.
