And NOW, you've heard it all about art....

[DrLeftover]

Diego Velazquez's Las Meninas is one of the most famous paintings ever produced. The public admire the grandeur of its size and subject, artists drool over the conceptual nature of the composition. It is iconic.

So much so, that Mat Collishaw - one of the original Young British Artists - became a little worked up over seeing it for the first time. He feared he might suffer from Stendhal's Syndrome - a psychological reaction that can occur when a person is exposed to a very well known, very beautiful painting - which can lead to palpitations and dizziness. It's a sort of art Beatlemania.

Mat wanted to have a direct relationship with the picture: To feel as if he was seeing it in the artist's studio for the first time. He figured he needed to find a way of eradicating all the propaganda and "poison" that had infiltrated his mind about the painting, which he worried would neuter his own critical faculties. His aim was to look at the picture and have an unmediated reaction; to silence the hundreds of voices in his head telling him how magnificent it is and why.

He came up with an elaborate plan.

Back in his London studio, he persuaded a friend to place a blindfold over his eyes, escort him by taxi to Heathrow, catch a flight to Madrid, lead him into the Prado museum, and position him in directly in front of Velazquez's Las Meninas. Only at this point was the blindfold to be removed. For three minutes.
..... ....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22595987

 

[Amiga]

That's a lot of hassle to go through to look at a picture.



..But to each their own!

 

[Evil Eye]

I'm not sure I'd describe the man as being quite sane.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Stendhal's Syndrome - a psychological reaction that can occur when a person is exposed to a very well known, very beautiful painting - which can lead to palpitations and dizziness.

Now Ive heard everything.

 

[Nikki]

I shouldn't have looked at that painting. My heart is pounding and I feel dizzy now..

 

[DrLeftover]

So now you have to fly to Spain with a blindfold on?

 

[Jazzy]

I shouldn't have looked at that painting. My heart is pounding and I feel dizzy now..

Good one Nikki!