Community Project

I am going to develop a menagerie of optical illusions, stack them upon one another, blow it up, and make them nearly transparent. I am going to ask people to write what they see on slips of paper and submit to my query. I will analyze these results after 2 weeks, filter out the obscenities, and then submit my results.

Mind's Eye Critique

Plattypus
Minds Eye Critique
Picture A ( Mr. Kefor's Painting)

A dark, dismal, lonely room is apparent in this untitled painting by Todd Kefor. A near grayscale painting is quite artistic and beautiful in it's own unique way. The odd assortment of items in a tight pile are placed in front of two separate boards, one black, one red. The dismal room engulfs this pile of forgotten belongings, dust gathers on top of the concrete block, stuffed primate, locked box, and two skulls. The petals of a small assortment of flowers bring the only life to the room. The vase is unseen, but it behind all of the belongings, sandwiched between the two boards. The light, presumably placed slightly in front and to the left of the belongings casts an eerie shadow over the objects. A slight reflection bounces from the crimson flowers, casting a very slight red haze among the objects.
(Break)
The detailed oil painting appears depressing, dark, and even disturbing in the beginning, but over time it comforts the eye. The simplicity of the painting even enhances the mood. All of the colors are absent from the piece until one examines the painting carefully. Red starts to stand out among the newer items. Other than the flowers and the red board, everything is covered in dust. A few words to describe the scene are weathered, abandoned, and decaying. The flowers bring life and energy to the piece. The juxtaposition, or placement, of the items adds to the void-like image. If the objects were not conformed to such a small area, the vacant room would not be visible. The empty, dark room may engulf the room, but the flowers seem to rebel.
One possible interpretation of this painting is that beauty can be found anywhere. Another possible interpretation is rebellion. Red can be seen as love, hate, or just simply life. The flowers could just be rebelling against the conformity of the other objects, or they could just be compared to the other objects in accordance to their beauty. Many other interpretations could be taken from this image of course, but those two emphasize the harmony of the ancient objects.

Short Story #1

^Child Looking in a Mirror painting by Elizabeth Louise Vigée le Brun (1755—1842^


Plattypus
Short Story 1

Observant

She said nothing, she just stared at me with her huge doe eyes. She was nine years old and looked absolutely beautiful. She wore a shawl around her head to cover the scars. She had surgery about a month ago, and I can tell that she is getting worse. Her health started improving once they removed the tumor. She is having trouble remembering how to do things. It took her about three hours to put on her dress this morning. Her mother had to help her tie the sash. She always stares at me, but never speaks. I am the one that helps her with many of her problems. She confides in me whenever she feels the need, but she never asks how I feel.

(Break)

* * *

The scars are healing, but my ... still hurts. I forgot how to tie knots, but I still manage to tie the ... around my head. Every day I know that what I say is wrong. I mix up words all the time, but I know inside what I mean. Sometimes my ... scolds me, she thinks I am just playing around. She always yells “I raised you, and I know you are rebellious. Can you please take the lord's forgiveness and heal? Ever since I breastfed you, you acted up. Girl, you must stay away from the Devil!”. She typically ... like that for about an hour, but then I go to .... I must go check if the staples are reopening or not, my head .... like its bleeding.

* * *

Here she comes again, staring at me. She always checks and picks at her scalp. She always comes to me when she needs someone to check her. I always reassure that she is fine. I worry so much about her, I think I may love her. When you get into someone else's shoes, and help them with a lot of their problems, and act as if you were them to solve the problem, you start to become them. I know it sounds strange, but sometimes I think am her, only with slight differences. I know it sounds somewhat bizarre, but I am much like her. Oh, she left again, leaving me in the dark. She didn't even say goodbye.

* * *

I feel really sick again, like when I had the tumor. It might be growing back. The doctor told me “Sometimes cookies grow back, when you have cancer tumors can grow back.” I am really scared. I don't know if it came back or not, but if I see the doctor again, my mom will think I am not doing genius things, and deserve this punishment from Him. Oh yeah, it's my birthday today, I am turning four. I wonder where Daddy is?

* * *

Eventually, today she found me. It looks as if her tumor is growing back, so I tried to show her everything I could, I mean, as best as a mute can. I do hope her health comes back soon...shes starting to become unstable. Her frame of time is warped. Her father is still alive, she is four years old, but the cancer still exists. She sometime cries for those that are dead or don't exist. I can feel her pain echo throughout my slight frame. Her mother may not know this, but I spend more time with the child than I do the mother. Some may be scared of my influence on her, but I swear to you, I am nothing of harm. Sometimes, I help show her a fantasy. I don't try to, but when she looks at me, she can only see what she wants to see. Sometimes she sees me, and she looks healthy. Other times, she can see people she hasn't seen in years. It is amazing what young children have to endure these days
* * *
I remember now. Grandma is baking cookies, Grandpa is feeding the unicorn. I am on Daddy's shoulders and Mommy is still happy. We are all in Ireland. We are on our Summer Trip. The snow is wonderful. Daddy just got hung. Mommy is crying. Grandma is dead, Daddy is reading her will. Grandpa is dead too, he had the flu. Daddy said “Hi” to the mailman. Mommy is going to church now. I am alone again. Kitty is dead. Mommy isn't eating again. I love Daddy. I miss him. He is calling me.
* * *
She is falling down a steep path. Her mother thinks I am the root of this evil, and blames the Devil for possessing her daughter. The Devil may have held hands with the father, but God is leading the girl out of this Hell of a world. I do hope that wherever this girl goes, she regains her peace.

I was dropped. Shards of me went everywhere. I was swept up like I was unimportant.

Critique #1

Plattypus

2/22/09

Painting Critique 1

“Tica” by Dru Blair


This image of a wonderful woman on her wedding day looks absolutely astounding. Her facial expression, her dress, her hair all dolled up to a realistic interpretation of a woman on her wedding day. Astoundingly, this is a painting, not a photo. The lighting used in this image is very realistic to a photograph, but she is truly a painting.

(Break)

Photorealism is the art of transposing a photograph into a painting. As seen from the image, it is a painstaking process who took this artist roughly 70 hours to complete. While this image is beautiful, what defines it as real? It is an image of a woman, who was real, and who was modeling a wedding dress, and had a real photograph taken, and that photograph was replicated into a painting with very minor differences. Is this image still true to reality? The image was altered and being such, it is not “real”. Also, the idea of having a field is not real. This woman was not just free floating in space. This image is a near exact interpretation of a real woman, but it is not the same. Being as this is a copy of a copy, is it real? It is very close to the original “doner” of the image, but it is not the same.