The Jay-Blog

Statement, 1943

by Mark Rothko, Adolf Gottlieb, Barnett Newman

Statement
June 7, 1943

1. To us art is an adventure into an unknown world,

which can be explored only by those willing to take

the risks.

2. This world of imagination is fancy-free and violently

opposed to common sense.

3. It is our function as artists to make the spectator see

the world our way not his way.

4. We favor the simple expression of the complex thought.

We are for the large shape because it has the impact of

the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane.

We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and

reveal truth.

5. It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it

does not matter what one paints as long as it is well

painted. This is the essence of academicism.

There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing.

We assert that the subject is crucial and only that

subject matter is valid which is tragic and timeless.

That is why we profess spiritual kinship with primitive

and archaic art.

The Blues

Truffles

When returning from Nice last year, I wanted to bring home some small but interesting gifts, so I ended up in a French supermarket with lots of exotic salt, a collection of specialty mustards, a jug of anchoiade, and a single black truffle. In case you haven't seen a truffle before, here's what it looks like:

That's about the size of a healthy cherry tomato.

I sliced the truffe into thin pieces, some of which I buried between similarly thin slices of parmesan cheese, placed on the mini-toasts and zapped in the microwave for 20 seconds. We nibbled the remaining slides raw just to savor the flavor.

Did I say flavor? There wasn't much. The box they came in warns, "A consommer de preference avant voir date sure le couvercle," and I couldn't find a date on the couvercle or anywhere else, so this could be a truffle from the last century for all I know.

Putting the to the ultimate aroma test, Smokey devoured his but Latte played with his slice, chewed it a bit, and left it on the sofa. I think Smokey finally got it. Smokey likes to eat flies, too, when he can catch them.