Arts Fighting Words
posted by on November 2 at 14:28 PM
From some mosquito at Artdish:
Charles Mudede’s arguments are themselves too reliant upon the “association” theory that he posits in his Slog post. Perhaps this is because he has spent so much time pouring over the writings of Hegel and his intellectual descendants. Like most of the Continental philosophers who have followed him, Hegel’s idea of argument was to make every phenomenon a metaphor for his theory and then extrapolate this theory into a metaphor for everything else.This takes me back twenty years to when I was a college sophomore. At that time, I could not write a paper or have a conversation without grafting the names of everybody I had read over the last few semesters onto my own thoughts. So it is with Charles: he can imbue his romantic and child-like observations with all the weight of the Western intellectual tradition, but it only succeeds in leaving the more astute reader somewhat embarrassed for him.
As one who has taught at the college level, I can assure the old bean that a vast distance exists between what I produce and what college students frequently produce for their professors. Also, it’s very American of him to believe that once you are done with college, you are done with reading and mentioning hard books. Also, sir, do your best, your damnedest not to play the Hegel game with me. And remember this for future contests: I received a European education and so European thought dominates my thought. Your education or background might find that kind of thing hard to accept. The problem might be a matter of you becoming accustomed to people who don’t exactly look like you but take ideas very seriously.
From the who?
No source?
This isn't your own little billboard for personal responses.
plus, he or she is right. you suck and I'm embarrassed to lend my eyeballs to the advertising that pays your salary.
Stick with your pontification amid police reports, and get a day job kthx.
I think that character from Artdish is spot on with his analysis of you.
Yup. You fail.
Seriously, Charles -- you're ridiculous. This Artdish of which you speak (why no link?) has you nailed: these days, only college sophomores in the Duke English Department can get away with one-note Marxist critiques of, well, everything. Bragging about your education only confirms Artdish's point -- that you're far too insistent on proving, over and over again, just how smart you really are, really. Most people outgrow that, no matter their academic pedigree. Could you please, please stop being a pompous asshole before I quit reading Slog just to avoid your self-impressed bullshit? Kisses!
Perhaps you should all retire to the comfort of your cubes and stop talking trash about things you clearly know nothing about. Get back to what you do best, wasting time on the corporate dime... let it lie, you're blathering is more boring than watching oatmeal congeal.
He nailed you. This is was a headshot that connected and killed.
this will come as a surprise to you people, and the idiot at artdish, but i actually do sustained and researched work in marxist theory. the slog, however, is not best venue for that kind writing. this is a blog!
The Enemies of Mudede do more to make me feel more smug and superior than all the non-vegetarians and men who have abdominal fat sculpting in the world combined. Those who hate Charles Mudede make me feel special in a way that I can only compare to the way Ayn Rand's fans make me feel.
Thank you all.
Did you seriously just type the words, "You people?" That is so bourgeoise. How's that for Marxist theory?
Enough with the seemingly virulent Mudede hate already. Don't read his posts, simple enough!
I only have a vague idea what "Hegel" and "Marx" and "art" are, but I still enjoy every one of Charles' posts.
PS link here because I was curious
I'll take a Mudede post over a Brittney's naked pussy post any day!
i like charles. i like marx. the stranger needs more class-consciousness overall. More marxism!
Haters suck. Mudede rocks.
True dat, Irena.
yep.
I like Charles' posts... He needs some help understanding Kubrick, but the posts are weird and sometimes beautiful.
Plus, I'd also like tap Britney Spears' ass. I don't care if people think it is chunky.
Jesus Charles, please just the stfu. Why don't you go back to education so you have a real pulpit to convert your little mueduede'ians.
Intellectual = Artificial. Always.
Please don't try so hard. You're naturally a genius. Just use your own mind instead of recycling dead men's thoughts. And extrapolating ivory-tower "book smarts" to falsely rationalize things that need no explanation because they are thoroughly inconsequential? That's also a rather bad habit. You can do so much better than...
You know what? You're right, Charles. This is a blog. Who cares what you write here? Save your good stuff for actual publication.
Why is a blog not an appropriate venue for "sustained and researched work in Marxist theory"? What is the appropriate place, an academic journal read by no one? Also, do you think it's even possible that the guy's criticism of you had nothing to do with race?
I admit to being one of the perhaps majority who feels slightly noxious when I read the phrase "Marxist critique" or esoteric references to existential philosophers. But I do occasionally enjoy Mudede's posts even if I don't take them too seriously.
I meant "nauseous"! Maybe I need do need to go back to school!
The idiocy of the blogger class.
Carlitos Marx
Charles is fantastic. It's not his fault if some of the people who read him feel like mental midgets afterwards and must profess pure hate just to assauge the frustration with their own dinosaur brains.
"mosquito", ehh?
I would suggest that a "mosquito" on the internet is someone who anonymously posts smartass quips, while using a funny, phony name and without any history, address, or credibility.
The person Charles is slagging here, however, is far from a "farnf" or "Mr. Doe".
He is an actual person, namely, Jim Demetre.
Unlike a mosquito, he has been writing criticism for various Seattle papers, including the Stranger, the Weekly, Reflex, Aorta, and the Dailies, for longer than Charles has been rewriting police blotters. He has been writing and editing a serious discussion of art and culture online, Artdish, since 1999, a bit longer than Charles has been posting tittie shots with cryptic comments on Slog. He is far from an "Old Bean", is personally present at many Seattle arts and literary events, is imminently approachable, personable, smart, funny, and credible.
So who here, exactly, is the "mosquito"?
I am unsure what exactly Charles means by "people who look different than you"? Its true, Jim is somewhat slimmer than Charles- perhaps he is complaining about discrimination against the portly? Or is this a veiled accusation of racisim?
Charles, one of your frequent tactics is to refuse to acknowledge the reality of anyone else in your discussions- by refusing to use actual names, you avoid having to deal with real people, with their histories and accomplisments, and can instead swing at straw men of your own devising, ignoring any comments in return.
You have set yourself up as a public intellectual- this is a european concept, so I am sure you are aware of what that means. I am happy to see this, as I think the USA, and Seattle in specific, is pretty anti-intellectual, and I welcome serious discussion of topics like class and culture. But as a public intellectual, you must expect that others will discuss and debate your pronouncements- in forums both formal and informal. Artdish is one such forum, serious and silly by turns, but as I mentioned, a place where since 1998 locals have discussed these things.
Not a haven for "mosquitos", but an ongoing, serious discussion of art and culture. When commenting publicly on these things, you must expect to be publicly commented on.
Charles, what exactly were you "pouring over the writings of Hegel," anyway?
Charles reminds me of the Andy Bernard character on The Office.
"Did I mention I went to Cornell?...Oh by the way I went to Cornell....Yes, that was Cornell."
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