fandomhigh | Art History, Period 1, Class 7 [3-7]

"Today we move forward, and a little bit east, to talk about Byzantine art, centered at Constantinople, which is now Istanbul." Steve smiled. "You may have heard the song. Rome fell. The Roman empire did not; it continued in the east, in Constantinople. Now, Byzantine art is specifically religious art, but it's not the polytheistic religions we've dealt with in the past, in Egypt, Greece, Rome. This is Christianity, a monotheist religion which is uh, still around." To say the least. "This is art class, not religion class, so I'm not going to go into any detail on Christianity's tenets, so let's talk about the art."

Steve proceeded to lecture on the move from representing naturalism to more symbolic, less realistic works to represent the divine, on mosaics and icons, finally coming to the Iconoclasm. "A lot of art was destroyed at this time," Steve explained, "by people who believed it was sacrilege to represent the divine in art. I want to know what you think. Do you believe it's all right to make images of the divine, whatever it may be? And if not, is it your responsibility to destroy what other people might believe is perfectly fine; even part of how they worship? Discuss."

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A.J. grinned a little.

Definitely. Besides, considering how long it takes me to ever finish anything, I'll actually most likely need until I'm seventy.

She couldn't help the giggle that escaped. Not slow. Patient. Exacting. Demanding.

A.J.'s nose seemed to wrinkle increasingly at each word.

You're not helping to convince me, here, y'know.

Sorry? I meant it to be complimentary.

A.J. bit his lip a little.

I was just teasing. It's just a suck at patience.

Which, really, wasn't intended to be ironic, although it was. A.J. couldn't really help it that he was completely obvious to the fact that he was actually the type of person that might be able to wait out an eternity for certain things.

She smiled slightly. He didn't seem to know himself as well as he might in a few years. Join the club. I have to meditate to get it to work.

A.J.'s head tilted a little.

I don't even think I'd have the patience to meditate. That's probably just about how, like, devoid of patience I am.

Wow. That's fairly impressive. How do you manage to wait for your paint to dry?

A.J. blinked a little at Inara's note before he could answer, because he realized he didn't immediately know the answer to that. It was just second nature, really, how he managed, so it took some thought to realize exactly what it was. When he did get to writing, he wondered if written letters could convey a tone of obviousness.

Start on something else.

She nodded as she read the note. Do you ever work on commission?

A.J.'s pencil tapped on his desk with his expression deeply thoughtful as if it was a hard question to answer before he wrote back.

Not really. Never really thought about it. I probably wouldn't say no to the idea, but if I made anything for anyone, I'd probably just feel bad charging them for what they got, and end up just doing it for free.

And he wondered why his potential future showed the whole starving artist route....

She eyed him, unsure if he understood the ramifications of what he was saying.

Would you take money for art that you made without someone in mind?

The end of his pencil scratched the side of his head a little.

If someone wanted to buy it, sure. That suggests, though, that someone would want to buy it.

Why wouldn't they?

Why would they? seems a better question, I think.

Because you've created something that speaks to them?

Hopefully, eventually, maybe. Again, though, if that were the case, I think I'd just be so glad to see that someone besides myself like it that I'd probably just give it to them.

There was a space, as if to indicate a pause.

I'll probably never be a rich artist, like, ever.

But it sounds like you'll be happy?

Below that she drew a little smiley face. A.J. wouldn't even have to tilt his head to see it.

Art History, Period 1, Class 7 [3-7]

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