Thread: Shaving with a Straight... Art!?!?!

I may just be picken a fight here.i believe that the act of shaving itself is in no way artistic. I say this because wether watching myself or others invokes no feelings of emotion of any kind. There is however true art and beauty in the hardware used for shaving.From this is where I derive the appreciation for the traditional shave.

Originally Posted by nobby

... I' m still waiting for my "Sistine Chapel" shave though!

haha

Originally Posted by spanx

...i believe that the act of shaving itself is in no way artistic. I say this because wether watching myself or others invokes no feelings of emotion of any kind. There is however true art and beauty in the hardware used for shaving.From this is where I derive the appreciation for the traditional shave.

You have a good point Spanx. Well said and I'll agree with you in the act of shaving is not an art, but the whole process of prep and storage can be pretty soothing.

When I see my straight as I pull them out of the box, it definitely gives me some appreciation for the work that went into creating a process for such a simple thing as skimming whiskers.

I think once you have contracted RAD it becomes an art. When you begin to appreciate the subtle differences in each of your many razors you can say straight razor shaving is an art.

Originally Posted by spanx

I may just be picken a fight here.i believe that the act of shaving itself is in no way artistic. I say this because wether watching myself or others invokes no feelings of emotion of any kind. There is however true art and beauty in the hardware used for shaving.From this is where I derive the appreciation for the traditional shave.

So, when you shave, you don't either feel happy, mediocre or annoyed because of how you shaved?

I think you could watch a hundred different people shave and see a thousand little subtleties, no two people shave exactly the same way, and not every one is trying to get the same result. It requires quite a high level of skill, and there are guidelines, but ultimately you can make it your own.

That's why it's an art for me.

Originally Posted by gregs656

That's why it's an art for me.

That is quite an interesting explanation. What other forms of art do you seek and consume?

Originally Posted by sparq

That is quite an interesting explanation. What other forms of art do you seek and consume?

err, nothing really special. Lots of day to day 'arty' type things like film, music, literature. People keep telling me I'm quite philosophical, so I suppose you could argue that (which is part of 'the arts' with classics etc).

A definition of art is 'a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation' so there is a case for almost anything to be art. Some of the things I think can be art are things like driving and riding a motorcycle, every day things, sure but things that are actually very induvidual. They reflect the kind of people we are, in the same way I think, that Monets paintings (for example) reflect the kind of person he was.

They're an expression of our selves, just using our face or a bit of road instead of a canvas.

I like to think that part of the art is taking something from being a necessary chore and making into a pleasure that you look forward to at every opportunity.

Lynn