| Lawrence |
Date: November 27, 2004 To: Wired Editorials, Wired News, 660 3rd Street, 1st Floor, San Francisco, CA 94107
Wired Story Pitch, http://www.wired.com/news/feedback/
Kari Lynn Dean, Wired Writer
Margaret Livingstone, Neurobiologist, Harvard University
Leonid Kontsevich and Fellow Vision Researchers
Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute From: LG Williams, Unemployed Surfer in Hawaii Re: She Can’t Smile Without You: The Science Behind Mona’s Smile,
Wired, Issue 12.10 - October 2004
DURING THESE GREAT WINTER SURFING MONTHS on Hawaii’s North Shore, only an article that demonstrates unequivocally how scientists, academia, ‘so-called’ research institutes -- trumpeted by science journals, pr@edu machines, websites and texts -- blow big wind up their colossal, collegial CPU could attract my undivided attention. Luckily, such is the case with Wired’s recent brief, "She Can’t Smile Without You: The Science Behind Mona’s Smile", Issue 12.10, October 2004, and for this I am hilariously thankful. With all due respect and admiration for today’s information age reporting, just where does one find Art Historians arguing that Mona Lisa’s now-suddenly-shrunken half-smile (Honey, how’d I missed that article?) is a ‘special f/x’? I’ll tell you where: nowhere. That is because a ‘special effect’ is an effect used to produce scenes that cannot be achieved by normal techniques. Obviously, during the Renaissance ‘normal techniques‘ were all they had. It follows then, as in the present case of trying to unravel Leonardo’s hallmark accomplishment, that one should be wary, especially the so-called ‘learned’, of enlisting the services of Luke Skywalker and the BMW-kiddies from ILM, Inc. Actually surveying the never-ending popular and specialized media and literature surrounding Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile over the decades, one finds most of the pertinent commentaries
casting about two crucial questions: First, Is Mona smiling?; and, secondly, What emotion/s should one attribute to her mouth? These two questions alone (plus one never-ending feature: her ever-attentive ‘moving eyes’) fuel the global market, fever, and ever-renewable energy that inspires legions of writers to grab their pens, or visitors to cram themselves like Borg into the most famous holodeck in the modern western world. Lately, it appears, a few nouveau Neuroscientists suffering from Photoshop envy, have been feeling left out and, as a consequence, have decided to hurl a couple of ‘findings’ at the Mona Lisa posters decorating their plush cubicles. Well then, let me give these well-equipped, colorful characters and esteemed research teams that inform Wired’s recent article a strong dose of real insight. The all-illusive, hidden-secret-formula™ that unlocks the long-standing mystery behind Mona’s mouth (WARNING: THE HOLY GRAIL OF ART HISTORY PROBLEMS) is the equation most oft repeated – surprise! surprise! – by Leonardo himself, time and time again. Unfortunately, silly rabbits, this formula cannot simply be downloaded onto your hard drives, awarded during faculty and convention meetings, or purchased by Nano-Technology Up Starts (NUTS). In other words, Leonardo had no such resources, nor should you: he worked simply with his mind and hands. Try this during the next power-outage or virus outbreak, you might like it.
THE GOLDEN KEY, the only key, which unlocks Leonardo’s genius lay with his mantra: acute observation and unhampered human imagination. Nothing more and nothing less is required, thank you. In fact, anything else is completely absurd. Honestly, all the pixilated, prestigious, post-doc fellowships, software plug-in’s, CAT scans and electrodes seem crude, if not barbaric, in comparison. As a result, Wired’s, dare I say, ‘announcements, insights and revelations’ are so far removed from Art in general, and Leonardo’s artistic genius, in particular, one could accurately pin-point the comments and conclusions of these supposed PhDs as originating from distant planet Group-Think, far, far away. And this is where they shall spend the rest of eternity. That is because this posse has no grasp of artistic genius, no interest in doing their homework and cannot see beyond the next line of their resume or product. I can only imagine what you and your comrades would say if some mediocrity -- for instance, any one of today’s popular artists -- was heaping upon your discipline, atop its most ancient and complex-majestic-conundrum, some ... after taking a two-hour ‘Introduction to Power Point’ tutorial! As in, "Pass it on, Crimson coated colleagues, images get blurry when using Photoshop’s Gaussian blur filter! LOL ", or better yet, "Tell me, unpaid Mission Street research volunteers, what do you see when I pour a cold beer over the happy face depicted here on my brand new 30" Apple Cinema HD computer monitor?! …WOW! You got it?! Unbelievable! Quickly, publish the results! " Memo: To The Aforementioned Distinguished Scientists and Research Institutions Re: HELLO ! ! ! WAKE THE HELL UP
AND GET REAL ! ! ! As I describe in my forthcoming book, Gorgeous Nonsense: The Missing History of Artistic Genius, published by PCP Press, no, Mona Lisa is not smiling. Nor is she grimacing or frowning… so much for the longstanding, mysterious question #1-ML-LDV. No, in fact, Mona Lisa is doing all of the above, and more. Only this type of hybrid, recombinative construction can account for her mouth’s legendary expressive and emotional range -- that settles longstanding, mysterious question #2-ML-LDV. See here, Leonardo viewed both sfumato and anatomy (as well as every other visual element in his huge, fluffy, dandy-pink bag-of-artistic-tricks) as independent, expressive devices, which should never-ever be limited or hampered by such remedial objectives, as say, verisimilitude – the world-view most Neuro-Visio-scientists are forever imprisoned to re-engineer. Indeed, this fatal presumption is the origin of this lot’s apish errors. Rather, with Leonardo, each visual element reported only to artistic genius. Be that as it may, the magic formula for the anatomical structure informing The Greatest Puzzle in Art History: FINALLY SOLVED!!, aka The Mystery Behind Mona Lisa’s Mouth, is simply a mouth depicted at rest (flat), with sfumato added subtly at both ends, with the intent of advancing a multitude of directional and emotional signals to the viewer. "My only hope, Distinguished Nobel Search Committee Members, is that when you read this letter, you immediately include The Visual Arts in your pantheon of merit, and rightly bestow upon me the honors this long-awaited grand discovery warrants while my mother and unpaid friend/editor can still appreciate all the award monies." (APPLAUSE) TO FULLY APPRECIATE THIS VISUAL INVENTION, Nobel attendees, start by looking at the right corner of Mona’s mouth. Notice that the dominant area of sfumato -- not the ‘mouth’, but the ‘bold shading’ -- curves and ascends above mouth-line. This important tonal feature independently activates and accentuates the area above the mouth. This, in turn, gives rise to an ‘illusion’ that fills the entire right region of the mouth. This illusion asserts that all within this area of the mouth must ascend, too – when, in fact, all do not. Hence, the ‘illusion’. If you look carefully at the ‘physical’ mouth you will notice that it does not follow the ‘shadow’ of the mouth.
The second part of the invention can be found at the other end or left corner of Mona Lisa’s mouth. Here, Leonardo again followed the same recipe for illusionism and tomfoolery. Except, in this case, he subtly placed sfumato below mouth-line, which, as you can guess by now, activates another ‘illusion’. This illusion, on the other hand, makes the entire left side of her mouth apparently descend -- when, in fact, all does not descend. Likewise, as in the previous illusion, her mouth does not follow the shadow down.
The illustration below articulates Leonardo’s hidden formula: The illusive formula behind Mona Lisa’s mouth is an illusion in 3 parts.
Copyright © 2004 LG Williams and The Estate of LG Williams.
All Rights Reserved. Illustration by lgofbeverlyhills. The remaining third of Leonardo’s hidden formula includes the central area of Mona’s mouth. It alone remains perceptually undisturbed by discernable interventions from sfumato. As a result, it appears stationary, flat, and at-rest. This middle feature is essential not only because it introduces a neutral element, but it also serves to calmly transition and smoothly redirect the mouth’s peripheral momentums. It is the formula’s bedrock, the piece of the puzzle that supports, connects and holds the opposing forces in check. NOW EXPOSED AND FULLY REVEALED ! and freed from the Attack of the Killer Clones, Leonardo’s illusive, secret visual strategy and invention, which generations after generations have sought to understand, can finally be brought to light. Mona’s mouth rests fundamentally and simply upon three pivotal, interconnected, visual sub-components or spaces that perceptually convey to the viewer three distinct stratagems
{ down – flat – up }. The implications for emotion are significant. In addition, only with this important, landmark discovery can one fully appreciate the puzzle’s magnificence and radiance, founded upon a remarkable synthesis of observable facts, reason, and good-old-fashioned hijinks. Finally understood and clearly appreciated, it will rank as one of the greatest visual equations in the history of art: marvelously rich in its poignant, concentrated elegance and ever-ready symmetry; as wonderful to behold as it is powerfully captivating. And, this discovery will never diminish its timeless luster. The mysterious phenomena underlying Mona’s mouth, so patently powerful it literally spans world and age -- the hallmark mechanism from the first virtual time machine of the modern era -- can now be seen for what it really is: the confusion one naturally feels when presented ‘simultaneously’ with three or more contradictory stimuli within a given moment. In other words, the instant, intermediate and long-lasting perceptual confusion over Mona’s mysterious mouth, Is she smiling?, What is she feeling?,
is the result of a multi-layered, supra-structural, compound device composed for the expressed purpose of advancing a dizzying array of possible arrangements from 3 independent variables
{ down – flat – up }. For example, a simple assessment of Mona’s mouth can lead a receptive / perceptive viewer to assume her mouth conveys one of three conventional emotions { d, f, u }; or (d) down = sad, (f) flat = at rest, or (u) up = happy. Now, once an attentive viewer has consciously or unconsciously grasped these rudimentary details, Leonardo’s trap springs open. Whereupon, milliseconds later, the viewers assumptions of Mona’s mouth can quickly amount to { d, f, u, df, du, ud, fd, fu, uf, dfu, duf, fdu, fud, udf, ufd }. In other words, without warning and at lightning insta-glance speed, comes 6 permutations,
9 combinations, or 12 new emotional possibilities; raising the viewer’s total perceptual choices to 15. Then, in the next blink-of-an-eye that number can grow to 15! or 1,307,674,368,000 and so on. With each passing fraction of a second that the mind can process, determine and re-determine the significance of Mona Lisa’s mouth, the set of emotional possibilities can increase exponentially. A more nuanced understanding and complex awareness arrives with time; perhaps through repeated contacts with, or ruminations upon the emotional state/s expressed by Mona Lisa’s mouth. At this stage, one has entered the acute or power level. This is where we see the emotional possibilities within Leonardo’s invention quickly spike. Indeed, I am sympathetic to the notion that one of the hardest aspects about viewing Mona Lisa after so long is deciding, with so many psychological combinations advanced and available, just where does one begin? No wonder millions of people from every generation and all walks of life for hundreds of years are left standing spellbound. What happens at this advanced stage is that hunches form hunches, combinations multiply combinations. At each moment you get some new flash of insight or complexity of emotion, which cause you to see the mouth anew. This recurring process creates the stuff of life and legend. You end up with, sooner or later, an infinite number of emotions embedding within, canceling out, and multiplying with any number of other infinite emotions. At that point the viewer is left with an enigma. And, enigma is the very definition of the Mona Lisa and
the substance that continues to put a smile on
her face. SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, this small, unsuspecting detail is an artistic Pandora's box, or if you prefer, a Pascal ‘Emotional’ Triangle.
The source of our historic troubles and turbulence. This invention mixed as it is with movement and pictorial beauty, brings Mona Lisa’s mouth alive and loaded to the brim with inter/extra-expressive and emotional signals all derived from coordinates and combinations of
{ down – flat – up }. No more computer-generated illustrations are necessary, just use your brain. Literally, this stunning conceptual contraption is a mouth that has never been seen or imagined before – and it is even more impressive when one understands it complicated machinery. In retrospect, it is beyond ones wildest comprehension just-how-on-Earth Harvard Neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone kept her cafeteria privileges when she stated, "The shadows around the lips seem to pull up [both] corners of the mouth". "Glorious grin?", somebody scream, "THANK YOU TENURE!" Not only do both ‘studies’ replace simple observation with science fiction or fantasy, they discard 99-98% of the painting’s magical legacy which has been confirmed by 499 years of countless personal, intergenerational and transnational testimonies and crusades. The article’s techno... is so-far-from-the-frame that one wonders if the authors ever really looked over an illustration (oh, pardon me: TRAVEL GRANT!) after the recovering grad student handed in the thesis? Scientific concensus, indeed! Is the residue of Richard Alpert’s experiments still trailing around those Cambridge labs and cubicles? Similarly, with all the pixelated noise, tested effects and millions of neurons firing off at the San Francisco’s Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, let’s just hope these vision experts and pioneers can recognize their way home -- and their unpublished significant others -- through their own fog.
LG Williams
PO Box 88935, Waikiki, Hawaii
la_sf_lg@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2004 LG Williams and The Estate of LG Williams. All Rights Reserved.
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12/3/2004 |
