Mary Shelley's Frankenstein describes some setting in the Alps that portray the Sublime. This is done by showing their natural beauty, but also the dangerous aura they give off as one looks up at them. The Sublime that Shelley captures so well is a special but rare occurence now that humans are building ugly things all over, but the fact that it is so rare makes our few encounters with the Sublime even more impressive. When we do encounter the Sublime, it is often through art, music, and photography, as shown below.
Mount Everest is an excellent example of the Sublime. It reaches beyond the clouds, dwarfing everything around it. This peak has jutting cliffs, sheer edges of snowcovered rock, and other undescribable forms of beauty on it, yet it remains extremely ominous. Clearly, this mountain is not to be toyed with.
This picture from the Sahara Desert depicts the Sublime very well in how the sand dune in the front completely dwarfs the human, and the whole dune cannot even be seen within the camera range! The other dunes in the background also show how the desert stretches on and on and on, another example of nature's power.
This photograph shows a mountain range shrouded in mist. This portrays the sublime by showing the mystery of nature. "What lies beneath the fog?" "How high are these mountains?" These questions are left unanswered, adding to the awed feeling one gets from looking at these mountains.
This photo of a lightning strike depicts the dangerous part of the Sublime well. The lighting is very beautiful, and the purple sky adds to the powerful aure of the lightning, but one looks at this pisture with the knowledge that the lighting is a deadly part of nature.
"Stormy Sea with Lighthouse" by Karl Blechen shows the power of the sea, along with the beautiful image of a ray of sun falling upon a lighthouse. From the point of view we have, one wants to get to the lighthouse in all its splendor, but the power of the ocean is stopping them.
This piece of music exemplifies the Sublime for me, because of the changes in dynamics, the strong beat, and the voices singing in the back. Whenever I hear this, I get an adrenaline rush, and feel stronger. This captures the idea of powerful beauty that is associated with the sublime.
In "Scudding Clouds" by Caspar Friedrich, the Sublime is shown by the sheer size of the things in the painting. At first, the mountains draw the attentions with their size, but they will never be able to compete with the clouds and sky when it comes to size and beauty. I like how Friedrich paints this with 4 layers: Forest, Plains, Mountain, and Sky. This makes each of them look sublime, but all together the sublimity is off the charts.
Ezra's Sublime
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein describes some setting in the Alps that portray the Sublime. This is done by showing their natural beauty, but also the dangerous aura they give off as one looks up at them. The Sublime that Shelley captures so well is a special but rare occurence now that humans are building ugly things all over, but the fact that it is so rare makes our few encounters with the Sublime even more impressive. When we do encounter the Sublime, it is often through art, music, and photography, as shown below.
http://maps.unomaha.edu/Peterson/funda/Pictures/SouthAsiaPeripheral/Peripheral_South_Asia.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wykowski/615140382/sizes/m/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/landcape/discuss/72157600024592502/
http://www.lightninglady.com/photos/
http://www.art-prints-on-demand.com/a/blechen-karl-eduard-ferdi/stormy-sea-with-lighthous.html
This piece of music exemplifies the Sublime for me, because of the changes in dynamics, the strong beat, and the voices singing in the back. Whenever I hear this, I get an adrenaline rush, and feel stronger. This captures the idea of powerful beauty that is associated with the sublime.
http://nga.gov.au/exhibition/turnertomonet/Detail.cfm?IRN=165833&ViewID=2