“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de St. Exupery
One of my favorite quotes. All programmers should keep this in mind when working.
Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
21–28 of 28 posts
Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#22that it captures the absolute essence of the creature in as concise an image as possible No, it doesn't. It looks like crap. A bull without the massive bullhead is no longer a bull, but some freaky artist's conceit attached to a declaration, "This is a bull." The fact that he changed the pene so wildly between pictures is a hint that he's playing a joke on us. Here are some superior, simple bull pictures: http://www.…
You're reading the commentator back into the artist. When I see the series I see it as a commentary on reductionism with an element of humor and absurdity. A lot of times people get so caught up in the pretension associated with "serious" art that they ignore that it's often supposed to be funny. I remember getting scowled at once at the symphony for laughing at loud at a certain point that was (for the musically inc…
Verdi Spoiler Alert
In Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden this past spring, Fiesco says "Simone, I morti ti salutano!" -- "Simon, the [previously-thought] dead salute you!".
To the classically minded, it's a riff on the gladitorial salute to the Roman emperor "Nos te morituri te salutant" -- we who are about to die salute you.
Takeaway lesson: only date people who laugh as much at Latin jokes as you do.
Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#23“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de St. Exupery One of my favorite quotes. All programmers should keep this in mind when working.
That should be -- "Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away."
Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#24“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de St. Exupery One of my favorite quotes. All programmers should keep this in mind when working.
That should be -- "Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away."
Is the translation wrong (I got it from wikiquotes), or do you disagree with what he said?
Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#25Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#26Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#27Very interesting metamorphisis. But what is up with the first "Pablo Picasso Facts" at the bottom of the page... "Picasso was the greatest artist of the 20th century."
It is not an unreasonable claim. Of course it's a bit jarring to see it stated in such a matter of fact way, when we are used to hearing that everything related to art is "subjective".
But if we look at somewhat objective criteria like influence on other artists and his range of different styles and media, he is probably unsurpassed in the 20th century. And then his productive years nicely overlaps with 3/4 of the century (during which he kept reinventing himself), while many other artists are associated with a single period or movement.
Of course that doesn't mean that he has to be your favorite artist.
Re: Pablo Picasso's version of refactoring: Reducing a drawing to 12 perfect pen strokes
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is the translation wrong (I got it from wikiquotes), or do you disagree with what he said?
Oh, I was just applying the principle of the quote to itself.
Then you should remove all the words from the quote, leaving nothing more to take away.
(Yes, I consider the quote superficially appealing but essentially content-free.)