Myth & Medium

By Dave Alber
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Paperback, 72 pages
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Myth & Medium
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Myth & Medium: The Art of Dave Alber is an art catalogue focusing on mythological themes. The graphic work offers a glimpse into the simultaneity of the present moment, the artistic vision, and the mythological theme underlying the work. The catalogue, which displays over fifty pieces of art in a variety of medium, also contains information about the art, the artist, and three related essays: The Myth of Prometheus; Frame, Crucible, Cosmos, Seeing Through the Boundaries of Epic; and The Discriminating Yoga of the Tiger’s Psyche, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton’s Tantric Adventure. “Dave Alber’s book Myth and Medium is a courageous work that combines prose poetry and painting, two of the timeless forms that tap the numinous roots of art. I hope his work inspires artists everywhere to stretch their own mythic imagination." Phil Cousineau, author of The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work and Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Myths in Modern Times
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Sep. 15, 2007 By Ron Green
"The Art of Myth"
Dave Alber's artist statement in Myth & Medium: the Art of Dave Alber suggests a mystical approach to art, not only for the artist, but also for the viewer. It suggests a recognition (or interpenetration) of the artist, art, and viewer at a primary and fundamental level. The art and essays that fill this tall 72-page 4-color book cover a lot of territory. The Essay `The Myth of Prometheus' explores the history and transformation of the Prometheus myth. It also presents a challenging look at Promethean creativity. The essay `Frame, Crucible, Cosmos: Seeing Through the Boundaries of Epic' explores and expands the concept of epic. Alber sees the genre of epic as an... More > aesthetic frame. Then by drawing on both Eastern and Western philosophies and aesthetics, he forces that frame open to show us the familiar genre in a new light. This is obviously the philosophy that inspired his epic poem To the Dawn, published by Mythic Eye Press. Perhaps the best of the essays, `The Discriminating Yoga of the Tiger's Psyche: Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton's Tantric Adventure' takes a wild and unexpected look at the famous explorer's life. The style of the essay is intentionally structured to suggest a series of stories within stories (mirroring the Eastern text it illuminates). Burton's discrimination between spiritual paths and his descriptions of Tantric initiation are elaborated upon with Alber's examples from India's history, literature, and spiritual traditions. The artwork in the book shows a tremendous variety of subject matter, technique and medium. However, all of the art has a distinctly mythological flair. The artwork seems to press back and forth from soft to hard focus, drawing us into its subjectivity (and applicability of a particular myth to our lives) then projecting out to look at the myth as form, color, or history. Florentine cathedrals, Egyptian horns, Russian villages appear side-by-side with forces of mythological power, and the immediate subjectivity of individual figures. The figures, the history, and the myths are held in a stasis of interpenetration. Furthermore, it is an interpenetration that implicates the viewer. The paintings, drawings, and prints are essentially mystical, inviting a mystical response from the viewer. This is the hidden meaning by the term `medium' (as in `art-medium'). The viewer, the art, and artist are all vehicles of mythological consciousness. They are transmissions of the eternal values of myth. DAVE ALBER, M.A. is the founder of Mythic Eye Press: http://www.mythiceyepress.com/ and the author of the poetry book To the Dawn. He earned his Masters in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute and contributed scholarly work and a short story to Mythology: A CD-ROM Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, Greek & Roman. He is currently finishing his forthcoming satirical novel Alien Sex in Silicon Valley and writing a non-fiction book about cultural mythology. His fine art is online at http://www.mythandmedium.com < Less
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Jun. 20, 2009 By Hsi Tzu
"Important Artist"
Art is very misunderstood, abused as propaganda, and distorted as meaning `anything you want art to mean' in post-modern culture. This has contributed to a `valuelessness' of art, or worse, a value for art as a `consumable product'. By contrast, Myth and Medium: the Art of Dave Alber frames the artist's work in the eternal values of myth. His work does not pander to the `dumbing down' of cultural values and consumer culture's lack of a mature aesthetic. Instead he offers art with a mature poise. It is art rooted in the timeless values of myth. It is also art, which is deeply personal and subjective (I hesitate to say psychological, because its not intellectual, but... More > rather primal with a mystical subjectivity). The art is tempered in permanent values and always looking to eternity for stasis. It is art looking at eternity through the eyes of transient forms. However, these transient forms perceive from the hermeneutic of a self-recognition as eternity looking at eternity as inflected in impermanent forms. It is an art of presence. It is an art of deep self-recognition with who we are. I met the artist at the opening of the Pacific Prints exhibition by the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. The artist was showing his woodblock print The Minotaur at the exhibition. The complex line work of the print was really amazing. The artist has a website at http://www.davealber.com/. He has written the poetry book To the Dawn, also through Mythic Eye Press. They are online at http://www.mythiceyepress.com/. < Less
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Product Details

ISBN 978-1-4116-6126-4
Copyright Standard Copyright License
Publisher Dave Alber
Published April 20, 2011
Language English
Pages 72
 
Binding Perfect-bound Paperback
Interior Ink Full color
Dimensions (inches) 8.5 wide × 11.0 tall

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