19 replies to this topic

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

[Bofur]

Are the two shadows his shadows?

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

Nice try, but actually the shadows are society, alienating the deliberately ambiguously-gendered from them to the point of having to wear a mask, to hide feelings, truth and hope behind a wall of coldness, a wall which can destroy you. The wall behind which you would die, and nobody would ever know; the wall which might crack a little and let your soul spill, but when your nature shines through it can destroy you.

[Bofur]

Ah...

[Mathijs]

I like the idea of those shadows being his a lot better. So I'll go with that interpretation.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

I agree, so I'll just say it's open to interpretation. Cop out, I know, but hey.

[Mathijs]

Nah, no cop out. That's just how art works.

[Pasidon]

As much as I dig the image, the shadows are a bit 'Uhhh... Heimdall?  Is that you?"  for me.  I think it would be much better if you somehow reflected society in the mask, somehow.  Somehow.  But over-all, you get two bony thumbs right up your eye sockets to congratulate you on how good this is, and since eye gouging seems like something that would be apart of your element.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

Thanks, but unfortunately I'm not actually allowed to use any suggestions I get. It's A level now. Lovely stuff.

[Pasidon]

How suspicious.  This for a class, or something?

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

Yesh.

[Kwen]

To be brutally honest, I don't like this piece at all. Not to say the quality of work is bad, because it's not bad, it's fantastic. But in all reality it fails to portray the theme of "convicted for love" entirely. If you removed the little plaque and changed the title of the topic, I bet nobody at all would ever even consider that as the idea behind the piece.

 

Yes, art is meant to be interpreted and appreciated differently, but to put such a bold claim on the focus of the piece, and having it not represent the concept in the least bit other than a small statement at the bottom does not constitute brilliance.

 

In my honest opinion if you were trying to accomplish the idea of a criminal "convicted for love", then you would want to make a piece that makes viewers think and wonder, but also visually guide them towards your concept. I look at this, and I see the idea of a criminal outcasted from society going on, but there is no visual representation of "love" anywhere to be seen. At all. Nothing makes me think that this man (person?) is in this state because of love being a forbidden concept. 

 

I think it masks emotion too much with visual complexity. You have a lot of effects that compliment the character, but cloud the concept.

[Pasidon]

You need to be one with Ren's infinity complex mind.  It's like a slab of red paint that no one really understands, but in the end, that's the point.  Stuff so deep, it makes my head hurt.

[Kwen]

The deepest of things may be found on the surface. Once you have to start digging, you've gone too far.

 

That is not to say it has to be blatantly obvious, it can be incredibly subtle. I just think there should be some path to follow that explains everything. If you know where to look.

Edited by Kwen, 10 January 2014 - 06:36 PM.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

... Kwen, are you the god of art critics? Yep, you're (unfortunately) right on every point you've made there. Wow.

 

I'll need to look back at this every time I make final piece art now.

[Gen.Kenobi]

I'm not sure... The way I see, Ren pictured love by those fire-ish, lava-ish scars on the guy's mask. Since love is indeed usually pictured as a fire, I don't think he failed on that purpose.

However without the title it would really be hard to get love by these fireish things. I don't know... The art itself is not only in the picture, but in the picture with it's name. The name is complementar to the picture as the picture is complementar to the name. One thing cannot be without another. That's the beauty of art, because everything is art. The process is art, as what we're doing here is also art.

[Kwen]

"god of art critics?" I don't think so.. I just look at pieces for more than the quality of work, and more about portrayal of theme.

 

I took a few college art courses in design and theory, and I was strongly considering going to an art school and majoring in contemporary arts.

 

But I joined the military instead, and here I am now.

Edited by Kwen, 11 January 2014 - 10:18 AM.

[Pasidon]

Now you've done it, Renny.

 

To be fair, if you called the picture "Dog Man" instead, there would of been no debate.  It would just be a cool picture of of a man wearing a metal mussel.  No symbolism or any of that pickled nonsense.  I saw a guy who made a painting of a robot fighting a dinosaur.  I asked him why he made it... just because it's awesome, he said.  I had no choice but to agree.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

... thanks for that Pasidon. Not entirely sure what to do with that information, but one day there will be a use for it, no doubt.

[Pasidon]

It's surprisingly coherent, I thought.