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Art that Changed Your Life

Kate MonsterKate Monster
edited June 2009 in Art!
Have any pieces of art of any variety (music, visual art, dance, film, literature, poetry, and so forth) profoundly changed your life, outlook, ideals, etc.? If so, how?
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Comments

  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited June 2009
    Enough said.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    Goldfinger got me into punk rock and from there more into rock in general. From there over bands like Dead Kennedys and Bad Religion I got more into politics and so on.
    Dragonball got me into manga and anime. Not really sure how Manga has influenced me personally though.
    Yes, neither are crown jewels of their respective media, but if it gets a 13-15 year old into it and discovers the great stuff from there, who is going to argue?
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage

    Watching Pipe Dreams by Animusic sort of pushed my own art in interesting directions. I try to capture the same magic in my shows, though the direct influence is more subtle.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    edited June 2009
    Puccini's Operas.


    They totally changed the way I listen to and play music, especially classical music, and made me appreciate the music a lot more. I've even been going to the opera every few weeks now, listening to many breath-taking renditions I may have ignored before and started playing the piano again.
    Post edited by kiwi_bird on
  • SailSail
    edited June 2009
    Not any particular piece by him but, because of John Cage, I'll never look at music the same way again.


    Post edited by Sail on
  • IlmarinenIlmarinen
    Shattered Dreams by UGK (although it was all Pimp C AFAIK, he produced it and rapped it)
    If I ever feel like giving up, I just listen to it and remind myself that I can achieve my goals.
  • ZeehatZeehat
    The Watchmen.

    Thank you Alan Moore.
  • RailithRailith
    Bonus Stage is not the greatest cartoon on the internet, but it really resonated with me. It was one of the reasons for me to try to get into animation and make my own cartoon. That plan failed miserably, but I had some interesting times.

    Sometimes, I still steal borrow steal jokes from this sucker.
  • SailSail
    Bonus Stageis not the greatest cartoon on the internet, but it really resonated with me. It was one of the reasons for me to try to get into animation and make my own cartoon.
    Wow. I used to watch that. I forgot all about it.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    edited June 2009
    imageimage
    The two catalysts that have essentially dictated the direction of my entire life.
    Post edited by Funfetus on
  • SailSail
    I've listened to this record for the great majority of my life.

    image
  • ananthymousananthymous
    Funfetus, you're a man after my own heart!

    I think I saw Tekkaman Blade on Sunday once, and that was my first exposure to anime ... manga followed, although I'm not really sure what my first one was. I don't really gravitate towards anime or manga specifically, but it fixed in my head the idea that there was a world outside of superheroes and superhero comics. Big deal for little me!

    Also - and this is corny - but Yuko's art def changed my life. I read her old comic before I met her, and I didn't realize she was the artist until about 10 minutes after I'd met her (I got really quiet and embarrassed). It was the most expressive art I'd ever seen, especially in the faces - she was/is in my top 5 favorite artists, and there's really no way I can prove that that's not favoritism, but it's not.

    Musically, I grew up in house where all I heard were Bollywood tracks ... someone played me Nirvana one day, and that was a start, but things didn't get really crazy until I was introduced to the tail end of the DC punk/hardcore scene. Funfetus, there's actually a documentary called American Hardcore that you might dig - Minor Threat is a significant part of it.
  • Mr. EricMr. Eric
    edited June 2009
    Glenn Gould has changed my life in more ways than I can probably know. Especially this piece here:
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    edited June 2009
    but Yuko's art def changed my life. ... It was the most expressive art I'd ever seen, especially in the faces -
    Yuko is a really excellent cartoonist. Tons of life in her characters, and she picks great shots and great moments. Johnny Wander is the only new webcomic I've added to my regulars in a long time (though you've probably got a bit to do with that, as well).
    Funfetus, there's actually a documentary called American Hardcore that you might dig - Minor Threat is a significant part of it.
    Yep, I saw it in the theaters when it was first released. The best thing was seeing live footage of Bad Brains. I'd had some VHS tapes of Minor Threat, but I never got the chance to see Bad Brains before. Though I suppose it was probably on Youtube, if I'd ever bothered to check.

    To expound on my choices a little, Ninja Turtles got me into comics and drawing when I was very very young, and Minor Threat was the punk band that really sealed the deal for me and dictated what I'd be listening to almost exclusively for the next 10 years. Drawing was all I did until I was about 19, when I basically quit drawing and played in a punk band for the next 7 years, before sorta rededicating my life to drawing.
    Post edited by Funfetus on
  • WalkerWalker
    edited June 2009
    Reading many of Scott Adams' comics and books as a young boy set the tone for my sense of humor for the rest of my life. In other words I'm often jestingly cynical, I make very odd jokes that few people seem to understand, and I mock people by reflex. This is what happens when you read things like The Dilbert Principle and Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel as an impressionable ten year old.

    MC Frontalot was the first rap artist that I ever enjoyed listening to, and ever since I discovered him I've been immersing myself in Hip-Hop culture more and more. I made a single as a Christmas gift for a friend (the pastor's son, incidentally). One thing lead to another and I made a rap song for a children's sermon at the local Lutheran church, and I even did a show with the aforementioned at a cafe about a mile from said church. After a hiatus I am now working on a full-length album and I'm teaching myself to freestyle. I don't honestly expect all of this to go anywhere, but it's been fun so far.
    Post edited by Walker on
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    I'm teaching myself to freestyle
    How do you do that?
  • Loganator456Loganator456



    Watching Pipe Dreams by Animusic sort of pushed my own art in interesting directions. I try to capture the same magic in my shows, though the direct influence is more subtle.
    Kinda progressive-y, Dream Theater-ish, it's pretty cool.
  • WalkerWalker
    edited June 2009
    How do youdothat?
    Well, I've been writing rhymes for a while now now so lyrics come to me much easier than they did a year and a half ago. I've built up a mental rhyme dictionary, I've worked on my flow to the point where it comes naturally, and I've got a feel for how long a bar has to be to sound good. But, forgetting all that, you just have to just jump into it; try it and don't stop trying it. The lyrics will come slowly and will suck ass at first (mine still suck ass), but the more you do it the more natural and interesting it'll get. You'll discover what fits your style, what sort of rhyme schemes you can get away with, and how and where to put filler (random words and phrases that fill time you're not using). It can also help to know someone who can freestyle (the pastor's son, in my case) to jam with you and provide advice and inspiration, or even recordings of really talented freestyle artists (freestylers? ) like Eyedea or Sage Francis.
    Post edited by Walker on
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    I guess it's like learning to do anything else, then. :) Writing anything just seems like a magical mystery to me. Do you have any sorta stock phrases or anything? A lot of times when I listen to freestyles, I think "man, he had to have that one in the bank".
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    edited June 2009
    Sage Francis
    You're my favorite person right now. Fell in love with Sage when my brother first played "Hopeless" for me. The man's a lyrical genius.

    Cradle of Filth's Midian marked my first real foray into extreme metal, and the point at which I switched from passively listening to music to actively exploring it as a primary activity. The album doesn't stand up so well these days (it's decent, but it gets old), but it gets a ton of respect for really showing me how to explore music. My previous experiences with trying to get into music all sucked in some capacity, so it took something pretty radically different to create that spark.
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • WalkerWalker
    I guess it's like learning to do anything else, then. :) Writing anything just seems like a magical mystery to me. Do you have any sorta stock phrases or anything? A lot of times when I listen to freestyles, I think "man, he had to have that one in the bank".
    Often in a cypher or rap battle each person spends a good amount of time not freestyling, so there's time to come up with something interesting before you're put on the spot. "Stock phrases" fall into the category of filler for me; it keeps things moving and impresses people, but I try to avoid it for the sake of practice.
  • whateverwhatever
    edited June 2009
    The Watchmen.

    Thank you Alan Moore.
    I found Watchmen at a library when I was 10 or 11, and it served as the catalyst for my current love of comic books. I had absolutely no context when I was reading it, having only read Dragon Ball up until that point. On future readings, I noticed how much must have went over my head as a 10 year old, yet the story works on so many levels that even at that age I really appreciated it, and now I appreciate it even more.

    image

    Strawberry Jam, by Animal Collective, which I first heard on February 26, 2008 (I know this because I made a post saying it was the best record ever on this forum) has been one of the most important records in the development of my current taste in music. However, I would not have even thought to check this one out if it hadn't been for In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, which I heard at around the same time I read Watchmen. Aeroplane made me love music and actively seek out any music out of the ordinary and interesting, with the assistance of wikipedia. I'm 15 though, so I can't really say if these things have truly changed my life.
    Post edited by whatever on
  • MrRobotoMrRoboto
    edited June 2009
    David Lachapelle
    image
    Just his general aesthetic opened my eyes to the possibilities of color and composition that can be done in photography and not to limit myself to what comes out on film but to the endless changes and tweaks one can make with digital post-production.

    Edward Hopper
    image
    Along with E. Schiele, G. Klimt, Pollock and others made me realize that I do like art all of them looking so different form each other and yet moving the same emotions inside of me when I first saw their works.


    London Police
    image
    With Banksy, Obey and lots more, showed me how graffiti is something else, and pushed me to do something daring in my life for the first time.

    Miyazaki
    image
    First time I realized I liked animation was with Totoro and GITS back in the early 90's, just the detail and depth captivated me as a kid.

    Kenji Kawai

    No one can listen to that track and not feel like bursting from the inside out.

    To name a few. Each of them and their works have played a part in how I view art and make it.
    Post edited by MrRoboto on
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited June 2009
    "Blue in Green" by Miles Davis. I first heard it on a sampler CD that came with a Rolling Stone magazine. When I heard it, I was inspired to write my first short story. It was about a Private Eye who had to tell the love of his life to leave town and never come back after he finds out she is the murderer. He loves her, but he could never send her to jail. Whenever I want to get into the mood to write a mystery type story or a story in a place where it rains a lot, I listen to this song.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • StillworksStillworks
    I was interested in computers from a young age due to my dad's job and aspired to be a software engineer but it all changed when I saw this:
    image

    It changed my choice from software engineer to artist. I began to draw lots and slowly realized that art was more my gig. Wasn't sure what type of artist until Zelda on the N64 came about. That was when I realized I wanted to design games, to design their worlds and to create something that would stick in the players' minds long into their life. Then came the man with the plan who showed me how to go about it. He truly changed my life.
    [Andrew Jones - 1000 Self Portraits in 365 days]
    His self portraits showed me that with steady work, one could improve more than they ever dreamed, more than they ever hoped. That day is the day I chose to strive to become a concept artist. Been drawing ever since and haven't stopped yet.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    [Andrew Jones - 1000 Self Portraits in 365 days]
    Android Jones is awesome.

    Got any links to your work?
  • cosmicenemacosmicenema
    image

    This photograph is the main reason I got into B&W; photography. It illustrates the use of light and composition in the manual process and to this day I find it a very meditative process.
  • VigaViga
    edited July 2009
    I was actually thinking about this thread for about two days. Thinking of my answer. I have artists I love and some that has influenced my own work, but never one that changed my life. What changed my life wasn't a single piece of art but a whole medium. Animation! I watched a lot of it as a kid. Anything from the Betty Boop era to what was present. I didn't start appreciating it in a different way until I was a teenager and would rather run home for cartoons than MTV. Then I figured out what anime was and it changed everything. Each era of my fandom for this medium brought new epiphanies. I still I have a long ways to go though.
    Post edited by Viga on
  • ErwinErwin
    Osamu Tezuka's art :D
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  • Admiral HotcakesAdmiral Hotcakes
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, along with the books of Terry Pratchett, basically gave me my sense of humor. I poke fun at everything, because it's there.

    The art of Andy Warhol also had an effect on me, partly because he displayed ingenuity, and partly because I dislike a lot of other art.

    Also, this:
    image
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