Wiinajamizzi 
If you could include specific artists and works that would be great too. I know that the Brony community is quite vast and varied, so any other insights concerning philosophy, politics, history, natural sciences, anthropology, archaeology, music, literature, theatre or any other fields which impact on art would be welcome.
As for me, I like so many types of art, but right now i’m reading about Anglo Saxon, Celtic and Viking art. I’m particularly interested in Anglo Saxon metal work such as pommels from swords and brooches for cloaks. This example from the British Museum is of a sword pommel which I find fascinating, as I respond to it both intellectually and emotionally:
[safe] http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/o/openwork_sword_pommel.aspx
It’s almost like unraveling a code by learning to read the complex imagery within as a visual language, with multiple levels of complexity. The technique of the silver casting is so intricate and inventive, having a multitude of intermingling forms of flora and fauna familiar to the people. The painstaking details of the images flow into each other, and even the whole pommel itself is an image.
Since this pommel was originally set in the end of an iron sword, we can imagine it in the context in which it was a functional object. When at rest at the swordsman’s side, we you can imagine the sword with the blade pointing downward and sheathed so that the pommel is at the same orientation that we see it now. The overall appearance of the pommel resembles a foreboding avian face, which can be described as alert and watchful. The pommel bar at the sides are like giant eyes, slightly squinted and glaring; whilst the central upper portion of the pommel resembles a beak and a plumage above.
When at rest the pommel takes the form of a watchful owl, vigilant, and protective of the owner; however when the blade is drawn and the blade is turned upward, the pommel would also be turned up-side-down. Now the pommel miraculously morphs from a watchful owl, to an enraged bull. The eyes of the owl become the bull’s horns, and the bull’s face had once been the plumage of the owl. I think it is so remarkable that such an intricate and abstract work with many layers of morphing imagery was also a functional object. It really speaks to the personal relationship in which a swordsman would have with his/ her sword.
As for me, I like so many types of art, but right now i’m reading about Anglo Saxon, Celtic and Viking art. I’m particularly interested in Anglo Saxon metal work such as pommels from swords and brooches for cloaks. This example from the British Museum is of a sword pommel which I find fascinating, as I respond to it both intellectually and emotionally:
[safe] http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/o/openwork_sword_pommel.aspx
It’s almost like unraveling a code by learning to read the complex imagery within as a visual language, with multiple levels of complexity. The technique of the silver casting is so intricate and inventive, having a multitude of intermingling forms of flora and fauna familiar to the people. The painstaking details of the images flow into each other, and even the whole pommel itself is an image.
Since this pommel was originally set in the end of an iron sword, we can imagine it in the context in which it was a functional object. When at rest at the swordsman’s side, we you can imagine the sword with the blade pointing downward and sheathed so that the pommel is at the same orientation that we see it now. The overall appearance of the pommel resembles a foreboding avian face, which can be described as alert and watchful. The pommel bar at the sides are like giant eyes, slightly squinted and glaring; whilst the central upper portion of the pommel resembles a beak and a plumage above.
When at rest the pommel takes the form of a watchful owl, vigilant, and protective of the owner; however when the blade is drawn and the blade is turned upward, the pommel would also be turned up-side-down. Now the pommel miraculously morphs from a watchful owl, to an enraged bull. The eyes of the owl become the bull’s horns, and the bull’s face had once been the plumage of the owl. I think it is so remarkable that such an intricate and abstract work with many layers of morphing imagery was also a functional object. It really speaks to the personal relationship in which a swordsman would have with his/ her sword.