Formalism Today

Formalism today

The concept of formalism in art continues to evolve through the 21st century. Some art critics argue for a return to the Platonic definition for Form as a collection of elements which falsely represent the thing itself and which are mediated by art and mental processes. A second view argues that representational elements must be somewhat intelligible, but must still aim to capture the object's 'Form'. A third view argues for a dialectic-discursive ontological knowledge. Instead, structuralists focused on how the creation of art communicates the idea behind the art. Whereas formalists manipulated elements within a medium, structuralists purposely mixed media and included context as an element of the artistic work. Whereas formalism's focus was the aesthetic experience, structuralists played down response in favour of communication.

Structuralism's focus on the 'grammar' of art reaches as far back as the work of Marcel Duchamp. In many ways, structuralism draws on the tools of formalism without adopting the theory behind them.




George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur.

He became the oldest man ever to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world when, at age 45, he knocked out Michael Moorer, age 26, to reclaim the title he held 20 years earlier.

During the summer of 1973, Foreman travelled to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to defend his title against Ali. The bout was promoted as “The Rumble in the Jungle.”

During training in Zaire, Foreman suffered a cut above his eye, forcing postponement of the match for a month. Ali used this time to tour Zaire, endearing himself to the public while taunting Foreman at every opportunity. Nevertheless, Foreman was a heavy favourite, due in large part to the fact that Frazier and Norton had given Ali four difficult fights, lasted the distance in all, and won two of them, while Foreman had scored TKOs over both in the second round.

When Foreman and Ali finally met in the ring, Ali started on his toes, dancing around as advertised. Such was the intensity of Foreman's attack, however, that he was soon driven into the ropes. Foreman dug vicious body punches into Ali's sides; however, it quickly became clear that Foreman was unable to land a clean punch to Ali's head. The ring ropes, being reasonably elastic in nature, allowed Ali to lean back and away from Foreman's wild swings and then maul him in a clinch, forcing Foreman to expend extra energy untangling himself. To this day, it is unclear whether Ali's pre-fight talk of using speed and movement against Foreman had been just a diversionary trick, or whether his use of what became known as the "Rope-a-dope" tactic was an improvisation necessitated by Foreman's constant pressure.

In either case, Ali was able to counter off the ropes with blows to the face, and was able to penetrate Foreman's defence. As the early rounds passed, Ali continued to take heavy punishment to the body, and occasionally a hard jolt to the head, but Foreman could not land his best punches directly on Ali's chin. Eventually, Foreman began to tire and his punches became increasingly wild, losing power in the process. An increasingly-confident Ali taunted Foreman throughout the bout. Late in the eighth, Ali sprang off the ropes with a sudden flurry of blows to Foreman's head, punctuated by a hard right cross that landed flush on Foreman's jaw. Foreman after being hit in an awkward stance tripped and fell down. He managed to regain his feet, but the referee stopped the bout. Foreman later said that he was not hurt but more shocked that an opponent had knocked him down, which had never previously happened to him. Unsure whether he should immediately get up, he waited until the 8 count purposely before rising, then the ref called the fight. Prior to the bout nobody had ever even hit Foreman hard enough to slow him down,

Foreman also toured the world promoting the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine. Foreman has said that he has made more money from his grilling machine contracts than he made during his entire boxing career, and has suggested that he is better known for the grill than he is for his boxing.

Foreman will not disclose how much he has earned as a product endorser, but he does not dispute a published estimate that his lifetime earnings are about $240 million—three times what he earned in the ring. In 1999, Salton Inc. bought the rights to use his name and selling skills in perpetuity for $127.5 million in cash and $10 million in stock. It stands as one of the biggest endorsement deals for any athlete. Under the original 1995 deal, Foreman had a right to 60% of the profits from the grills, which range in price from $20 to $150. At the height of its success, Foreman received $4.5 million a month in payouts according to former Salton CEO Leonhard Dreimann. But, in the past few years, consumers have put off replacing their old Foreman grills and Salton reported a loss of $3.2 million on sales of $274 million in a recent quarter.

The Foreman Grill is credited with saving millions of Americans and people around the world from the sudden death of coronary thrombosis.

Illustrations;

1. The Foreman Grill.

2. The Formal Grid.