"Lee Blair won a gold medal for the U.S. in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles without ever training in a gym, on a track or in a pool.Blair's event: watercolor painting."
"Lee Blair won a gold medal for the U.S. in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles without ever training in a gym, on a track or in a pool.
7 comments:
This is the coolest thing ever, and I mean the coolest. To allow arts to come together at such a large gathering and recieve as much attention as sports is spectacular! I wish this was still part of the Olympics because arts have come so far and have so much to show off. Maybe someone will see the greatness in the arts and allow them to rejoin the Olympics in the future...maybe for 2012 so someone can take home more metals than Michael Phelps!?!
I love to think of how the arts used to be considered equally eventful and worthy of praise as athletics. I think what the author says about muscle and mind being a long divorced couple much in need of reconciling is absolutely true. The issue about putting the arts back into the olympics is that a lot of people would be pretty upset simply by the fact that the art is being judged. I personally dont have a problem with that but I can see how many people would. Also, I dont know how thrilling (or easy to judge) it would be to watch 15 people sit down and write papers in various languages.
Wow. I never would have imagined that there used to be an Arts competition at the Olympics! I don't think that a running/essay writing event would neccessarily be the best idea, because how would you judge the best essays? But i like the idea of material arts like paintings of various mediums, sculpture and architecture to come back. The article mentioned an opposition to non-amateurs. I think that perhaps Arts could be qualified amateurs if they earned under a certain amount for their work. Also, basketball and other sports allow pros so why couldnt arts? I think that they should come back for the next Olympic Games. :-)
This is so mind-blowing and exciting to me that at one time arts were presented on such an international stage. Although I thinks it's so cool, I can't imagine every bringing that aspect back, although I am artist. The Olympics are all about athletic ability and agility. There is something very appealing about the games fostering the same ideals the Greeks upheld: honoring the body, speed, grace, gold...
My father is very much against new technology like the iphone, which combines too many things which already exist as separate units: here the phone and music and internet. To me putting art/music/literature into the Olympics is just like this, combining too many things. Although, I am so that art person who complains that football gets all the money/attention, it’s not bad to just celebrate athletes.
Also, on a practical level the television stations would never air those competitions, because there is really nothing to watch.
If anything I think a different international competition should be created to specifically celebrate the arts. But one must also not forget that architecture is still a large part of the Olympics, as noted by the Bejing swimming cube, and the Bird’s Nest.
I really don't think that art belongs in an athletic competition. While I appreciate and value art greatly, I also appreciate the beauty of athletics. The Olympics is all about basking in the spectacle of pure physical and mental training and ability. Adding art competitions to the Olympics would take something away from this spectacle. I agree with Sarah, however, that there should be a separate international art competition. Competition breeds ingenuity, so a large international competition could produce some amazing art. Just keep it out of the Olympics!
Yeah, sounds like it was mainly an "i'll show you" to put the arts jusges out of jobs and to hold to the practice of "if i can't have it, no one can" on the part of Avery Brundage.
I'd love to see the arts become a more world-wide interest. Granted, there are many conferences designed to exhibit all areas of the arts, yet none as competitive nor well known as the olympics. The global interest in art seems to have dried up in recent years - something needs to be done to change this. (Shameless plug for our chosen careers). I want a nice cardboard box to live in.
I understand and appreciate wanting to combine art and sports and competing them at the same level. However, I believe that in this forum, it is not only unnecessary, but also counterintuitive. The Olympics, from the beginning have represented accomplishments of the human body, and although some may argue that art is one and the same – there is a difference. It is like trying to judge pies the same way you would grade a school report… they simply cannot be evaluated in the same way.
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