Subscribe: Writing Assignment
Exercise: Writing about Art
Apology.John Chaka. date unknown
Instructions: Using the supplied image as a reference and the comments section of this blog write your interpretations of the artist's concept while creating it. If you're not sure how to approach this, answer these questions:
- What is the artist trying to say- if anything?
- Why did he choose the colors he did?
- Are the artist's "thoughts" being sufficiently articulated?
- What do the elements of the work represent?
Post your results/critique of the work in the comments section. Don't forget to check back because we will be discussing the work here as the semester progresses.
K
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The due date for responding to the exercise is Tuesday, May 18
in this work the artist used 3 different elements that do not relate directly to each others. A woman, flowers and geometric shapes. Geometric shapes are opposing to the two organic shapes. The woman is in the center of the art work. Her eyes are hidden. The way the artist is hiding the eyes is a symbol of anger or being agression. The pose of the woman reminds me of the 15th century paintings. Even the style of the clothes recalls renaissance period. The color of the background is emphasizing the time also. This beige color is usually associated with old documents. The hand drawings of the cubes and the writing look like it is ruining the image. The geometric shapes do not give any information about the main image. The hand writing looks like it is written by a child and not an adult. The" I am sorry" is positioned next to the flowers. Maybe because the fact of being sorry is associated with flowers. But the flowers are black and white, so it is not really a "sorry". The artist might be sarcastic.
I believe that in this painting the artist is trying to convey his message to the blindfolded person of letting her away. Knowing how harsh it would be and at the same time caring for her, he has blinded her showing that he does not want to hurt her. This is shown by the sharp/crisp which is lying under the sofa being the first thing she walks through upon standing. Accompanied with the cubes which are considered as complex shapes, he is portraying how complicated of a matter it is. Breaking it out to once again the flowers are portrayed as well as the handwriting showing a personal impact along with the sentimental value evident through the white flowers. The color scheme is more of warm colors to suit the emotions conveyed through the painting.
Very clearly, there are literal hints for the meaning of an apology as a lingual term. In the top right quarter of the image there is the word "sorry" as well as the bottom of the image where the word Apology is expressed with its definition. These two elements give a very clear lead towards the analysis of the rest of the elements of the image. However, the contrast between the elements seems rather ambiguous.
The big block of black paint in the middle of the image seems to be shaped as waves covering hints of words and letters underneath them. On the other hand, the form of the large couch which the lady is sitting on seems to resemble a ship from history. A ship that is probably sailing in a sea of guilt; a sea that turned black by someone's own deeds (probably the lady's deeds). This block of darkness (representing the sea) gives a lead to the eye from left to right, making the ship seem like it is meant to sail in that direction but it is being held back by the opposing waves. That is also supported by the lady's position facing east.
Besides the waves, there seems to be other obstacles on the way. The small grey boxes around the black paint seem to support the resemblance of the sea which reaches to a dead end towards the right. The whole thing feels like a trap, which is supported by the disfigured outlines of cubes falling down. The different layers of cubic outlines set on top of the ship and the lady probably resemble an attempt of communication to express the emotion of being trapped in guilt. Especially that it is these cubes that lead to the bubble saying the word sorry with the gift of flowers, which eventually lead to eternity or freedom through a line that goes to the unknown (the edge of the image). The flowers are colorless, probably, in desperation for forgiveness, giving a very shy apology rather than a bold colored one.
The rest of the outlines of cubes below the sea can be an expression of freedom, and of the trap falling apart beyond the sea of guilt.
One can also spot an expression of goodness at heart through the warm colors and perfected details in the figure of the lady and the couch, as opposed to the rather sketchy style in the rest of the image. Though, this perfection is distorted with shameful stroke of black on top of the lady's eyes.
Additionally, the concept of repetition is clearly expressed through the waves, the boxes, the outlines and the pattern circles that lay on top of the whole image, probably to represent the repeated deeds of hurt or shame for which the apology arises. The whole image resembles the desperate emotions associated with the idea of an apology projected from the lady on the ship out to the whoever it is meant to be for.
Jawad
Part 2 of this exercise:
First read the posts that the others made and the subsequent comments by me. Second answer the questions that I posed to you. If after reading the other posts, you would like to rewrite your critique you may do so. Remember, I'm looking for a solid conclusion of the conceptualization by the artist, and you must be able to defend your conclusion(s).
Part 2 of this exercise will be due Saturday, May, 22.
The artist is emphasizing on apology. He used a written text" i am sorry", a definition of the world apology, and flowers. The geometric shapes represent perfection. So,the message might be that the perfect solution is the apology. The color of the background and the woman give the idea of old. Usually the idea of time represents tradition. These are norms and values our society have to follow. The artist might be representing the apology as a value or a norm we need to be aware of. The eyes of the woman are scratched which represents hurt, abuse. Under the woman the black block and black boxes might symbolize the miserable repetitive times. Thus, The artist is telling his audience to say sorry whenever you are aware that you made a mistake. This is the rule, and how humans should be.
In conclusion, John Chaka's Apology seems to find a middle-ground between the subjectivity of abstraction and objectivity of lingual communication. The act of apologizing along with the emotions associated with it has a deeply rooted resemblance in the artist's perspective. It is an act that triggers a struggle between the lady's ego, as she rests on her golden glorious couch, and the reality of felt damage conveying her towards the inevitable. The stains of darkness in the piece can only enhance the factor of guilt and shame, probably to hide the feelings of guilt, whether expressed in words; underneath the black water; or in the lady's eyes that can not be seen. At the end, the two flowers somehow sum up the apologetic emotion and reaction along with the hesitant hand that wrote sorry in hope of bringing a lost bond back together.
Well, as for the flower, other than their setnimental value, the color the artist chose which is the dull white and black stem would portray a feeling of sadness and loss. The colors would show something close to the feeling of death and agony. That is why i think although many other objects can be sentimental, but the flowers in my opinion were the most suitable for such a case. A case where one is really sad for how things ended but at the same time letting go of some love and feelings. Which shows the reason of blinding the person in the painting. Although blindness is such a violent act, the way it was done shows that the person who did it had so much anger inside to the person he cares about.
So i believe that the person apologizing is the artist to a lady who once meant alot to him but hurt him so much that he had to do this out of anger and not his heart, and that is why he is apologizing.
Well done guys. I still have some questions about the conclusions that were made, but I want you all to do the next part of this writing assignment before I add my comments. Hopefully they will be asked or mentioned by one of you.
For the next part I want you to comment on each of the others conclusions based on their initial observations. What that means is you read their conclusion, and ask yourself if first, it makes sense, and second if you agree or disagree with their conclusion.
This part can be difficult so give it some thought before you start writing. Think about the other's comments based on a subjective relationship the writer had with their original thesis. For example the writer may have written something like, "...the artist believes that the word 'apology' is a way of denying their own guilt." (no one wrote this) You may not understand the comment or you may not agree with the comment if you don't put it in context with the writer's original thesis, so try to think of the conclusions based on the original author's perspective.
This next part of the writing assignment will be due by Saturday at 11:59pm. I'm giving you more time because I expect thoughtful insight by you of the other's comments.
Maya,
i agree with your believe that the phrase "i'm sorry" connects to and defines the flower and the word apology. i do get your connection of time and tradition, but what i dont really understand is what does it have to do with norms and values? although it makes sense to link time with tradition, but i think doing so would be drifting away from the concept of the image, where most of the elements won't actually reinforce your interpretation. I like how you looked at the boxes to be repetitive.but, why did you look at them to be the repition of miserable time? is it because they are organized in away as if they are attacking?
Jawad,
I like the way you interpret things. starting with you talking about the woman's ego. i do agree that the way she is sitting might show this ego, but, the chair doesnt look like it is made of gold nor anything luxuarious. and arent you contradicting your self when you first said that the chair is a ship, then a chair? as for the stains of darkness which would be the scratching on her eyes, you made look like it is all because of something the woman did and the artist is the victim. where as, the scratching shows a really violent act, could't that mean or show that the artist is the harsh one? and couldnt it be that the artist is giving this love away rather than trying to bring this bond back together as you mentioned.
THANKS :D
In my opinion Jawad's conclusion has some interesting points. I did not think of this work of art this way. The fact that he saw the black part as water erasing the shame and guilt might be true. However I always think that the hidden eyes of the woman still represents anger. I should agree on the hesitated hand who wrote "I am sorry" next to the flowers. Since I think this is the point of the artist.
I agree also with Ahmed in the part where he sees the colors chosen have symbolic meaning. He also states that there is a violent act in blinding the eyes, which is a valid argument.
Okay,
For the most part I think that we've discussed this image enough. Having said that, there are some comments that I'd like to make. I want to thank you all for writing thoughtfully about the work. For the most part I think that there were some valid points raised, and discussed. Whether you were critiquing the work or other student's comments I think that you all were honest and fair.
On to the next writing exercise...