Lit Apropos of Nothing - ACKBAR IN CAPITALS - The Lit Forum Social Thread, v2.0.15

So what you're really saying is that the large mannequin represents you, the smaller mannequins are your ideas (which invariably reflect you as a person), and the unzipping of its head symbolises your understanding that those ideas are "cool" and should be shared in the form of art? You chose monochrome as a way to imply that things were "black and white", without deeper meaning.




Seriously, though, I agree. You don't interpret art, art interprets you. "When one gazes into the abyss" and all that.

 

My kid plays in a street hockey game every Sunday afternoon that's now interrupted by a Secret Service patrol. Turns out my neighbor is Obama's new chief of staff.

 

I often wonder just how many Renaissance artists painted what they did just because they liked the look of it, or did it just to mess around with anyone who viewed it. More, I suspect, than the artistic analysts would prefer to acknowledge.

 

The correlation between art and psychology is a very, very loaded conversation to say the least. I believe that to an extent, all art is a reflection of the artist and, in turn, a reflection of the society the artist has grown up in, but I don't believe an artists true thoughts can be gleamed from their work. I just wrote a paper on William Blake's work, and one thing I made sure to never do was to say that "Blake thought" or anything similar. The truth is, we have no idea what his true views on most things were, we can only infer it from his poetry. Music is my trade, and while I do believe the music a person writes can easily reflect the person, it's also very possible to write in a style that's deliberately not you. Of course, you could argue that's also a reflection of yourself, but that can easily go around in circles.

That said, I'm a strong believer in the idea that art takes a life of its own after it's written. I don't believe in the idea of "looking for meanings that aren't there". If you can find meaning in a work, whether it's a book, piece of music, painting, or even video game (let's not open that debate ) it's there, regardless of whether the artist ever intended it to be. The Mona Lisa is a good example of a work that has picked up so many interpretations that Da Vinci almost surely never intended.

While Thrawn's art ability has some merit, at it's core it's pretty unbelievable. I just chalk it up to a superpower and move on (in the HTTE anniversary edition, Zahn even called it a "near supernatural" ability.) That said, perhaps it does have more merit in the Star Wars universe than our own. I'm sure the diversity guys will eat me alive for this, but for the most part Star Wars does readily embrace the age old sci-fi trope that every member of every species is ridiculously similar. In a universe where every member of every species seems to act and think the same way, perhaps it's not surprising that Thrawn can gleam some psychological insight from the species artworks. Of course, Thrawn also pulls it with Talon Karrde

 

BY ZOR COMMAND:

 

Well, why did you think it looked cool? What thought or emotional process was there behind the fact that that imagery was appealing to you enough that you decided to manifest it? You may not intend to put meaning into things, but what you do reflects your choices, and your choices can reflect your thought processes and personality.

Of course, we could get into the loop of "at what point do your choices affect your personality, and when does your personality affect your choices."

 

It's also worth noting that everyone has different reactions to different things. It's why two people can look at a picture and see two different things, or read a book and have two different ideas about why things happened the way they did. A near infinite number of variables and experience form us as individuals, and we often attach different meanings and memories to objects or words. So, while I might just simply see an otter, Corran Horn might see his future wife. Art interpretation is very interesting and creepy like that.

 

And, on that note: EXTREMELY RELEVANT STOVER BLOG POST FROM LONG AGO.

 

Agreed with every word of that post. Except that I don't like the idea of Ruins of Dantooine judging me

 

Do you want to know what judges you? This, or should I say he.



Some activity to you all:
- Find the inner meaning in this (Hint: It's in the glove)
- One sentence or less: What happens in this image? What is he thinking? Is this before or after the Glove becomes the Glove of Darth Vader, and if after, what has happened?
- Make this a variant cover for Darth Vader and The Glove of Darth Vader #1, soon in a comic store near you!
- Just feel your inferiority to a snow statue

 

Stare into the snowman, and the snowman stares back... and finds you lacking.

 

Seen any black helicopters yet?

 

They have stealth helicopters now, so you are not as likely to see them.

 

Well. That's no fun.

 

I own that shirt. Sad to say most people don't get it and just look at me funny after I explain it.

 

I don't get it.

"Database error" all day! I can take my business elsewhere! Surely I can find a place in which I can discuss "cad Bane does he contradict the EU" for 17 pages.

And another first world problem: c in my keyboard has stopped working. I have to use ctrl-v to write it, which slows down my writing by several seconds.

 

IKR? I want my money back.

 

I prefer Knight of Summer, thank you.

 

I got it last summer at the local Trex Expo at a Cosmic City booth. I just checked their website, and yes, it is available. Only in a small though, which is odd.