beauty will be convulsive - Page 4

Another example would be an object like a jug or vase or such item. I happen to collect white jugs of all kinds, mostly antique. I have about twenty or thirty. Every time I get a new one, it becomes my favorite and "the most beautiful" yet the other jugs have not changed - they are the same, but they are somehow lacking compared to this other jug. I can't pinpoint what it is about any given jug, since they are all white, all jugs and all pretty much plain - no detailing, save for minor details, and most come with a small wash basin as you'd see in a European bathroom or bedroom. So to this end, they are remarkably alike, yet even the way a certain one has aged can make it appear "more beautiful" or "most beautiful" depending on my mood. Objectively, a sane person would say, "Sadi, they are all white jugs…" and that person would be right, but what they don’t see is what I see, which are the minor difference in the details that go to make a thing beautiful.

I have found that for me, anyway, the true beauty of an object is often found not in its perfection, but its imperfection. It is found in the way its varnish has crackled over the years, or the way the lip has worn, or the angle of the handle etc. - very, very subtle changes, but then, think of humans: we are all basically alike: we all have eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth, cheeks etc. Yet still we find one person more beautiful than another. Likewise with animals, so part of our quest for beauty or defining it must include the minor details or quirks that make a thing distinguishable and less than perfect — in a way, you could say that a perfect thing would be almost hard pressed to be beautiful because it is too perfect. A slight crookedness in the smile, eyes on slightly different levels, a mouth slightly too big etc. We also know that symmetry, as the Greeks had noted, was to be found among what was considered the "truly beautiful." Contemporary studies have shown that if you put a group of men in a room with women of varying sizes and shapes, say one who is top heavy but narrow-waisted (large breasts, thin hips), small-breasted-large bottomed, and a woman who is evenly proportioned but say, a size 10 or 12 (for the record, Marilyn Monroe was about a size ten or twelve, though technically petite and small boned, she was heavier than the norm for today's standard of beauty) the evenly proportioned woman will be chosen as "the most beautiful." So the standard is that the symmetry is there, yet we all know that facial symmetry can often be too plain, like my white jugs, the jug that is too perfect is less interesting to me than the jug that is flawed.

Article Author: Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti

Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti is a published writer in both the United States and Europe. She is widely known for her music commentary, particularly her writings about Bob Dylan about whom she runs a highly-trafficked site. …

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