F2F Class Notes 26th July (Celeste)***

Please continue to edit this story.

Original

I read a book which was written by a French writer, called Jean Genet. At the beginning I am interested in the art work of Alberto Giacometti. There is a comprehensive retrospective exhibition going on in Shanghai After 50 years of his death. Giacometti is known for his unique sculptures. They all like burned ghosts with coarse surface. These sculptures are like compressed,so their bodies are very thin and make you feel a sense of fragility, even they are actually made of bronze. The size of many Giacometti’s sculptures are very small, he therefore created a distance between his works and the viewer.
One of his good friend is Jean Genet, he wrote some article about Giacometti and his work. Those article are very sharp. Jean Genet was not saying how great Giacometti’s work was. It was more like he recorded their conversation and what the feeling or shock Jean had. It is the feeling he can tell and we can feel. It is also a feeling for me that I can never know how to describe. It is something I can get a little bit but not fully.
I become quite interested in Jean Genet. I looked information about him. I was totally shocked by the introduction of Jean Genet. He was abandoned by his parents when he was very young. He developed terrible behaviors. He travelled as homeless people, he became a thief can got caught many times. He even prostituted himself. I never know anyone like him became a world famous writer.
I read the introduction of his novel the thief’s journal. He basically wrote all the dirty things he had done, he was totally truth and calm to himself. It is like he was talking about someone else. No hiding, no secret, make you face with all these dark side of society and humanity at that time. It makes me to compare the Giacometti’s sculpture with Jean’s novel. They all try to find somethings inside human, the fragile lonely pain of human. Make it in the public and make us look directly at them.

Edited

I am interested in the art work of Alberto Giacometti. There is a comprehensive retrospective exhibition going on in Shanghai after 50 years of his death. Giacometti is known for his unique sculptures. They are all like burned ghosts with a coarse surface. These sculptures look like they are compressed, so their bodies are very thin and make you feel a sense of fragility, even though they are actually made of bronze. The size of many Giacometti’s sculptures are very small, He created a distance between his works and the viewer.

Giacometti believes that people are lonely, in pain and isolated from each other. Therefore, he created his sculptures to be very small in order to show the audience this distant relationship between people.
TBC
One of his good friends was Jean Genet, he wrote some articles about Giacometti and his work. Those article are very sharp. Jean Genet was not saying how great Giacometti’s work was. It was more like he recorded their conversation and the feelings and shock that Jean had. It is the feeling he can tell and we can feel. It is also a feeling for me that I can never know how to describe. The writer may have understood the meaning of the artwork but he did not dive/dig down deep into the meaning of it, so It is something I can get a little bit but not fully.
TBC
I become quite interested in Jean Genet. I looked information about him. I was totally shocked by the introduction of Jean Genet. He was abandoned by his parents when he was very young. He developed terrible behaviors. He travelled as homeless people, he became a thief can got caught many times. He even prostituted himself. I never know anyone like him became a world famous writer.
I read the introduction of his novel the thief’s journal. He basically wrote all the dirty things he had done, he was totally truth and calm to himself. It is like he was talking about someone else. No hiding, no secret, make you face with all these dark side of society and humanity at that time. It makes me to compare the Giacometti’s sculpture with Jean’s novel. They all try to find somethings inside human, the fragile lonely pain of human. Make it in the public and make us look directly at them.