Artistic Reasons Research Articles

Displaying 3D images: algorithms for single-image random-dot stereograms

A new, simple, and symmetric algorithm can be implemented that results in higher levels of detail in solid objects than previously possible with autostereograms. In a stereoscope, an optical instrument similar to binoculars, each eye views a different picture and thereby receives the specific image that would have arisen naturally. An early suggestion for a color stereo computer display involved a rotating filter wheel held in front of the eyes. In contrast, this article describes a method for viewing on paper or on an ordinary computer screen without special equipment, although it is limited to the display of 3D monochromatic objects. (The image can be colored, say, for artistic reasons, but the method we describe does not allow colors to be allocated in a way that corresponds to an arbitrary coloring of the solid object depicted.) The image can easily be constructed by computer from any 3D scene or solid object description.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Geological Events in the Bible

The books of the bible contain numerous, frequently very exact, descriptions of geological events. Some of these are discussed here: earthquakes and their accompanying landslides (the crossing of the River Jordan), seiches and tsunamis (the flood), flooding (Sodom and Gomorrah), faulting, burning gas seepages (the Burning Bush) and volcanism (Mount Sinai). These geological events appear in the biblical text mainly for artistic reasons; they serve as a suitable background to dramatize the biblical account; they create a supernatural atmosphere for the main stories, but the time and place at which they occurred are of no importance to the narrator and might be shifted freely.

Geological events in the bible

ABSTRACTThe books of the bible contain numerous, frequently very exact, descriptions of geological events. Some of these are discussed here: earthquakes and their accompanying landslides (the crossing of the River Jordan), seiches and tsunamis (the flood), flooding (Sodom and Gomorrah), faulting, burning gas seepages (the Burning Bush) and volcanism (Mount Sinai). These geological events appear in the biblical text mainly for artistic reasons; they serve as a suitable background to dramatize the biblical account; they create a supernatural atmosphere for the main stories, but the time and place at which they occurred are of no importance to the narrator and might be shifted freely.

The great symphony orchestra--a relatively good place to grow old.

The retired musicians of one of America's great symphony orchestras were interviewed. Their careers, which began in the 1930s and 1940s, were long, with retirement sometimes occurring when they were well over seventy years old. Older players were valued for their excellence and experience and were difficult to replace. Obsolescence was not a problem, and the gradual deterioration of playing with age was generally not incompatible with working to an advanced age. Players of string instruments had longer careers than players of woodwind and brass instruments. The players liked their careers and usually cited artistic reasons and the current reputation of the orchestra for their satisfaction. Although the musicians continue to love music and listen to it after retirement, few continue to play seriously.

Degas's Fans

Degas, like many of his contemporaries, made fan-shaped pictures. He produced at least twenty-five fans between ca. 1868 and 1886 and exhibited five in the 1879 Impressionist exhibition. This article presents Degas's works in this format and examines their artistic, personal, and financial reasons for being, their relation to the contemporary fashion for fans, their place in his work, their use as vehicles for decorative and compositional experimentation, and their sources of inspiration. They are visually delectable and expressive works that have not heretofore received the attention they merit.

The preplanned rhinoplasty

In aesthetic rhinoplasty performed by the extramucosal method, the "skeletization" of the nose that is obtained allowsmeasurements during the operation. Thereby, it is possible and useful to preplan the rhinoplasty with more accuracy and to inform the patient about the choice to be made. This new approach to rhinoplasty is safer and more precise and provides for (1) a choice of preplanned result (based on artistic technique and psychological reasons), (2) measurements for the plan, and (3) transfer of this plan to the patient during the operation.

“For Artistic Reasons”

“For Artistic Reasons”

Chaucer's Artistic Use of Pope Innocent III's De Miseria Humane Conditionis in the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale

It has long been known that Chaucer translated portions of Pope Innocent III's De Miseria Humane Conditionis for use in the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale, but his artistic reasons for doing so have never been determined. If the translated passages from the De Miseria were short and all in one place, there might be no compelling reason to search for an artistic purpose: Chaucer may simply have wanted to insert a passage from a work that he was translating at the time out of his love for authorities—a love shared by almost all medieval writers. But the facts are that Chaucer made more extensive use of the De Miseria in the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale (nearly fifty lines) than anywhere else in his works, that the translated passages are from five different chapters and two different books in the De Miseria, and that they are scattered in five places throughout the Man of Law's Prologue and Tale. It is therefore highly likely that Chaucer added the passages from the De Miseria for particular artistic reasons, and it is the purpose of this paper to determine what those reasons were.

Distance and Predestination in Troilus and Criseyde

In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer as commentator occupies an unusual role. It is indeed common for authors to enter their own works in many ways. Writers as diverse as Homer, Virgil, Dante, Cervantes, Fielding, Thackeray, and George Eliot all do so. Sometimes, as with Fielding, the author may keep a distance between himself and his story; sometimes, as with Dante, he may penetrate into his story as a major or the major character; and sometimes, as with Homer, he may both enter and withdraw at will. When Homer directly addresses one of his characters, he is deliberately breaking down, for artistic reasons, the aloofness to which he generally holds.

Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale and Flanders

Chaucer scholars have long wondered why the scene of the Pardoner's Tale was laid in Flanders. Since the Pardoner treats two themes, the evils of drinking and of cupidity, why has the poet localized such a story in this vicinity? Was it for artistic reasons, was it because of a lost original, or did he have an ulterior motive? Certain facts connected with fourteenth-century Flanders tend strongly to justify Chaucer's choice; in fact, to make his selection seem a deliberate one. Not only was Flanders notorious for these two evils—Professor Manly has already pointed out the aptness of localizing the drinking theme there—but England in the 1380's and 90's might well have profited politically and economically by a glance at her unfortunate neighbor across the Channel.

The Image of Janus in African Sculpture

Opening ParagraphAmong the vast range of subjects found in African sculpture, the representations of Janus occupy an important position, primarily for purely artistic reasons. On the whole, African sculptors chiefly excel in their treatment of single figures, be they masks or statues. Each piece of work which is more than one figure is in itself a notable advance on the usual African style. Now there are Janus masks which in their formal structure are chefs-d'œvre of African sculpture and, indeed, of all primitive art. A number of these come from the Cross River district. It is not only, however, because of their artistic form and powerful expression that these masks are interesting. Again and again men have racked their brains in order to solve the problem of their inner meaning, and have risked the most daring hypotheses, as is shown in the book by R. Karutz, Das Rätsel des Janus (1927, Basle): I shall discuss this critically at the end of this article.