Metapictures

Metapictures force the viewer to take a moment and further evaluate the meaning concocted by the author or by the meaning of a picture within a picture. Without the inclusion of the artist in the drawing of the New World (p 38), we might forget about the artist. We forget how they set up a picture, write a story based on their life, or portray an image a certain way.

The Pulitzer Prize winning image in 1994 was a picture of a powerless, starving Sudanese girl crouching in the fetal position with a vulture only a few feet a way. This image is not metapicture; we only see what the photographer allows us to see or how he might wait until he gets the most powerful picture.

I am fascinated by how metapictures create a tension between the artist and the viewer and they do not let us forget the presence of the artist and the artist’s ability to manipulate or impact an image, but sometimes, not including the artist creates a greater tension.  read more »

The argument put forth by Magritte in Les trahison des images* seems to me an unnecessarily pedantic one. I may be giving my fellow human beings too much credit, but I am fairly certain that everyone realizes that you cannot actually smoke a picture of a pipe (at least, not in the same way that the pictured pipe would be smoked). To say that the verb "to be" can only be used in the context of strict one-to-one relationships between the noun and the actual, physical object it represents robs language of its rich complexity. Metaphor and hyperbole become impossible – if the drawing of the pipe is not a pipe, then all the world is definitely not a stage, and it was almost certainly neither the best of times nor the worst of times.  read more »

Assuming that this picture upload works, you should see an example of a meta-picture that I have pulled from a comic book. The image comes from issue #15 (pp. 8-9) of Promethea by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III.

Promethea15p8-9: Promethea #15, pp. 8-9

(Yay, I got it to work! Thanks for the tips today, Zach!)

I recommend that you click on the picture to go to the content page and view it in its original size in order to read the dialogue.

In the image, we see Sophie and Barbara, two incarnations of the Promethea character, walking along a Moebius Strip. If you follow their conversation as they walk along the path, you will see that they are "stuck" in a loop. The only way for them to continue on their journey is for the reader to intervene by turning the page. This calls attention to the "characterness" of the characters. It's going to be difficult to explain what I mean here, so please bear with me.  read more »

Our discussion about "multi-stable" pictures in class today reminded me of this interesting and fun email I received over winter break. Maybe all of you have seen it before, but I practically live on the internet and I hadn't seen it, so maybe a few of you will find it new. Either way, I still think it's appropriate to consider.

The email (usually titled "Your Brain" or "Right Brain vs. Left Brain") includes this image below:

Dancing Girl: Which way is she spinning... to YOU?

Dancing Girl
And says:

"Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or counter-clockwise? If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. Most of us would see the dancer turning counter-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it."

Then it lists characteristics that go with left and right brain functions, which supposedly apply to you if you are seeing the dancer turn clockwise or counter clockwise.  read more »

As i was reading the Metapictures chapter about picture theory, i was reminded of the painting classes i had taken in Community college and of the difficulties artists have in creating their artwork. the author of the chapter was telling his interpretations and the interpretations of others about a comic of the Egyptian art class, when i was reminded of my past experiences in art. the difficulty faced by most artists is trying to find a subject matter that is not cliche and that can be interpreted as what you truly mean. now, this may not seem difficult, but believe me it is. it is near impossible for an artist to get their point across, and only their point. if you ask anyone their opinion on a piece of work they will take their own interpretation of the work (this is why it is best never to show anyone any art work that has any particular meaning to you- the first lesson in painting) the interpretations reminded me of how difficult it actually is to send your message across only using art. i say art because even literature is up to interpretation.  read more »