As we've done in class this week, please use your reading strategies to draw conclusions about this image.
2. As you let your eyes wander all over the painting (up to down, left to right, corner to corner), which details of the painting do you have questions about? In other words, if you could ask the artist one question about a specific detail in this painting, what would it be? **Ask questions.
3. Let your mind attempt to draw together the details and make sense of the painting as a whole. What do you think this painting is trying to convey to us? Defend your thinking. **Make inferences.**
4. What specific images, colors, or objects are important to your ideas above? Why? **Explain your reasoning.
**After you've done your own thinking, please follow this link to develop your thinking skills and ideas about this painting. Make notes in a Google doc.
DUE: Tuesday, 8/25 by 9:00 a.m.
DUE: Tuesday, 8/25 by 9:00 a.m.
My eye was immediately drawn to the upper right corner where there are three hands just hanging there. They are the only real objects in the picture and they're very random. I have a couple questions for the artist. What is the purpose of the hands? Why are they there? Why are there boxes around certain things? What is the purpose of the different backgrounds? I think this painting is trying to convey a dark time in the artist's' life. I think that there are a lot of things going on in the painters life, just like in the painting. I think the napkin looking thing in the middle of the painting and the three hands are really important. They are really random and very creepy.
ReplyDeleteMy eye was first drawn to the arms in the upper right hand corner of the painting. I think I was drawn to this portion due to the bizarre nature of this piece of the painting. Most arms are attached to a person, and yet it appears that the artist very deliberately created this portion to be without a body. Since there is no contextual evidence to explain the absence of bodies (scene of destruction), my eyes continue to focus on that portion painting in an effort to explain it.
ReplyDeleteIf I could ask the artist about a specific detail of this painting, I would ask them what event/emotion motivated them to paint arms and hands without a body attached. Also, what he felt was the significance of the boxes drawn throughout the painting and why there is additional boxes drawn over some arms but not others.
However, overall I feel that this painting conveys sort of military sense. The darkness and grey undertone of the colors has a sort of somber tone, and the fact that only the sides of the arms are shown without the individuality of bodies makes me feel like they’re marching. The lack of faces speaks of the artist’s perception of the lack of identity in the military, and the faceless body parts of the sacrifice of individuality and of anything other than the usefulness of one’s hands. Of course, these inferences can only be drawn with the focus of the painting on the arms, along with the deliberate choice of colors.
While observing the picture the first item that comes to my eye are the arms that are in the upper right corner of the painting. The boxes around the arms really seem to attract attention to it, almost cropping out part of the fingers. Also, since I am colorblind and a lot of the picture is darker shades, the bandanas tied around the tops of the arms also draw my attention because they are different shades. As I look at the rest of this painting I would want to ask the artist what all of the different boxes are for. They seem to really draw attention away from the rest of the picture. Also, The bats that are hanging on the left of the picture, how does this relate to the rest of the picture? It seems sort of out of place. Overall this painting seems to look like something representing the Vietnam War. The bats remind me of the tropical environment that it was fought on and the darkness reminds me of the mass death that happened during the war. The arms also bring this war to mind because of the fact that they have the different colored ties around them, indicating the are part of another squad or battalion.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes are first drawn to the severed hands hung on what appears to be nails. I also was intrigued by the divisions which seem to separate but yet further highlight areas of the painting. I definitely think this is because these are the most important parts of the painting. I think the works brings together several worlds, and those severed hands mean something for sure. A missing limb is not soon forgotten.
ReplyDeleteMoving on, I would like to know why the author includes all of these separate frames, especially the one with the dark objects. This and the wood paneling must have a pretty significant role, as they wouldn't be featured in this form otherwise. The dark objects appear to have wings and maybe even masks, which furthers the push for questioning on this topic. Why to these specters seem to be here?
Based on all of these clues, I think the painting is trying to convey death. The wooden panels as well as the figures to the left and the limbs make it seem like this was a brutal and gory demise. The panels most likely signify a coffin, and the limbs are obviously not attached to their original owners. And those figured definitely appear to be a representation of Death to me. They may have been lost in a bloody battle or something of the sort, and I believe that is what is being conveyed here.
In all of the comments before me people were drawn to the arms hanging in the corner, whereas I was first drawn to the left side of the painting with the dark pattern. At first glance, the red lines in the black looked as though it was forming some sort of animal or some object with wings. I believe I was drawn to this because of the artists use of highlighting and color. The rest of the painting is in lighter color and the darkness of the left side seems to have a significance in the painting. As I allowed myself to study the rest of the painting I noticed the furthest arm that is hanging down from the right side of the painting has blood dripping from the top of it. This detail seemingly has the meaning of loss or failure. I would ask the artist many questions. Why did he/she chose to only have one out of the three arms to have blood on it? Why did the artist choose to place rectangles of different textures across the painting? Such as wood seen on the bottom right of the painting. I feel like the artist is trying to convey the message of sadness and grief while trying to make it hard for the viewer to understand the full extent of the painting because of all of the different elements. There are many different colors and images that I found in the painting such as the white cloth and the burst of color that is placed behind the middle dangling arm. All of these differences together makes for a very confusing yet inspiring message from the artist.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at this painting, my eyes are first drawn to the severed arms in the upper right hand corner of the painting. I think that the reason that my eyes were drawn up there in the first place is because they are a shock factor in the painting. As a human being, violence startles me, and the grotesque image of severed arms hanging from what appears to be nails, is certainly eye catching. The severed arms are also very eye catching because they offer a bright contrast from the dark and dull background of the painting. As for the questions I would ask the artist why they felt the need to make the arms the focus of the painting. I would also ask them why the painting is so gloomy and focuses on violence, and what had inspired them to make this piece. My inference from this painting is that the artist went through some dark times in their life, given the gloomy background, and may see violence as a way to manage pain or anger, because of the severed arms. However, I could also infer that the artist likes to make a big splash when revealing paintings, and they believed the shock factor of the severed arms would help them sell their paintings.
ReplyDeleteThough I also noticed the arms pretty quickly, my eyes were first drawn to the left half of the painting, which is mostly green but appears to have red or pink lines that form a pattern. These lines seem to form a monster-like creature, perhaps with horns or sharp teeth. I think I was initially intrigued by the pattern, rather than the more conspicuous images on the opposite side of the painting, because of its subtle appearance. It seems to me as though the painter purposely made the left side of the painting come off as plain or inconsequential in the hope that people would view the painting and wonder why it was like that, prompting them to examine the area further to discover something significant. If I were able to speak with the artist, I feel it would be necessary to ask about the arms, since they are the most shocking part of the piece. Specifically, I am curious to know why the severed ends of the arms show three different colors of blood. Perhaps this is meant to represent racial or social divisions between the victims. Based on my observations, I can make a general inference of violence. This would explain the severed arms, monstrous figure and dark background. Additionally, there appears to be a spearhead in the middle of the bottom of the painting, which would further supIplement the concept of violence. Several aspects of the background seem to imitate parts of nature, like wood from tree trunks or green grass and moss. This setting, combined with the depiction of a spearhead rather than a gun, implies a primitive situation. I can infer that the severed arms are meant to represent victims. The varied colors of their blood seem to demonstrate victims from mixed backgrounds. Based on all of these details, I believe the author is trying to show the primitive nature of humans, similar to the themes presented in "Lord of the Flies". In desperation, people revert to their most instinctive form of argument. If this violence persists, it spreads to everyone, regardless of their background.
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ReplyDeleteLike so many of my peers that have commented before me, the first thing that I notice in this painting are the three arms in the upper right hand corner. The three arms draw the viewer eyes because it is the brightest area in the artwork. The three arms draw the viewer eyes because they are the only recognizable figures in the is piece of art. What I notice about the arms are that they seem to originate from a older person from left to right. I suggest this symbolizes the maturation and growth of person from which those arms originated. Then, as I let my eyes wonder, I secondly notice the handkerchief nailed to the wall. I wondering what this symbolizes, and if given the opportunity, I would most definitely ask the artist what the handkerchief nailed the wall means to entirety of this painting. How can the handkerchief highlight details about the artwork, or the artist? Between the handkerchief and the growing arms, I can draw a conclusion of the purpose of this piece of art. I have inferred that the difference in size of the arms is to symbolize a person growing up.This inference is further cemented by the handkerchief nailed to the wall. I can see this handkerchief being used to keep track of how tall something is. The handkerchief could be keeping track of how much a person grows throughout time. As the person grows the handkerchief is removed and place to match the height of a person. Between the growing arms and the handkerchief used to keep track of how tall a person is, I infer this artwork to be about the maturation of the body in childhood and young adult years.
ReplyDeleteThe first object that comes to my eye is the arms in the corner because they are highly contrasted against the rest of the painting. While the arms have a little bit of bright color and a light colored base, the rest of the painting is cloudy and dark. I also noticed that the palm of the hand is facing in all different directions, and the colors that are at the end of the extended wrists are primary colors. My question for the artist would be, What is the significance of the multiple styles of background? Are they all representative of pieces of wood? I believe the artist is trying to convey himself as being open as an artist. With the way the hand starts with the palm being turned over and then ends with the last arm having the palm facing upwards, that comes off as becoming open. The second thing that shows this is the background makes the image look as if it has the arms and the other art pieces pinned up to it. As with the background, it represents how our backgrounds shape us as people and various things influence who we are today. In his case, it is becoming an artist.
ReplyDelete1. My eye is first drawn to the white triangle in the bottom middle of the painting. I think this is because arrows are often used to draw attention and the white color contrasts the dark murkiness of the rest of the painting.
ReplyDelete2. I would ask the artist why they chose to paint disembodied arms. This does not seem like a normal focus for painting.
3. I believe the painting is attempting to convey a sense of confusion and horror to the viewer. The dark and swirling textures combined with disembodied arms and overall ambiguity support that idea.
4. The dark colors, random and strange textures, as well as the white arrow and arms support my above ideas.
As a whole, this painting conveys a scene of despir or depression because if all the dark shades and colors used in this painting. Therefore, the colors and light shades of paint used to portray the poster and disembodied arms from three different people in the upper right corner draw my attention right away. Also, the entire right hand side of the painting is more interesting and more detailed than the left. If i had to ask one question, it would be what is the purpose of the three arms? As a whole, this painting conveys despair and sadness, but there is also a sense of death and horror to it. The left side of the painting is ominous and spooky, and it reminds me of ghosts with the white accents contrasting to the dark almost hazy background. There is no one object that supports why this portrays sadness and death. All the things put together create the feel of the painting, but taking up half of the entire painting with a dark, spooky theme definately adds to it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at this painting, the yellow boxes that divide the painting into portions stood out the most to me. I think this is due to the fact that paintings are often one image, not usually broken up into multiple parts, so my eye is drawn to the oddities first. I am curious about the colors chosen in this piece. For instance, why is it primarily darkly colored, yet the most grotesque details of the painting (the severed arms/hands) are surrounded in brighter colors? Does this have anything to do with what the hands represent? The color of human personality trapped in a dark space? I think this work almost looks like a map. The diagram in the lower right hand corner as well as the white arrow suggest it is trying to show the way to something. It may be trying to convey ideas of a road to death, due to the dark colors, the portion resembling a map, and the severed hands.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance, I notice the hands in the top right corner. I think that my eyes are drawn there first because of the colors. In a lot of paintings artists use light colors to bring to attention the most important part of the painting. In this case, the most light was around the arms. After looking at the painting for a while, and making some observations my question to the artist, would be about the importance of the boxes. Is there a reason for the boxes? Why did you include them, am I missing their importance? This leads me to my inference. My family owns a lot of antique Persian rugs, and this painting reminds me of one in particular, the training rug. The training rug was a rug that a young person learning the craft of weaving would sit down on, and just practice, experiment with patterns and colors, and develop their style. This jumble of patterns (from wood to almost green rain) makes me think that this could be a training painting for the artist. He uses a lot of dark colors making me think he wanted to test out his darks that day, and the use of the boxes could be (however, I'm not 100%, the boxes still confuse me) a trial with geometrical shapes in accordance to the overall picture. I think this is a very logical explanation for a piece that from my eye, has a lot of different things going on, after all, artists practice too.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing my eyes are drawn to is the big rectangle at the left with red and black. I think I first see this because it is the darkest and biggest part of the painting. I immediately see red lines, like veins, in a pattern. I feel like it could be outlining something, but I can't seem to figure out what quite yet.
ReplyDeleteIf I could ask the artist one question, it would be: What is the significance of each piece that comes together to make this painting whole?
This painting conveys darkness. The three arms in the corner have irregular spots on them, that could mean bad luck or sickness, because it is out of the ordinary. Because there are two halfs to the painting, one side could be good and one could be bad. The right side being bad and the left side resembling hope and such. As I make observations, I notice that each arm has a different color at the top of where they are cut. Also each arm has a background. I don't know the significance of this, but I think it means something.
I first noticed in this painting not the arms, but rather the boxes encircling the arms and what could be a piece of white cloth. The left side of the painting just seems like something that might be used to scare people but what I don't understand is why the left half of the photo is a spooky painting, while the right side is a bunch of disembodied hands with boxes encircling them. I agree that the painting seems to be calling attention to the hands but why? My question would be why the artist didn't make just one big picture, but had two different paintings and aspects in the piece. The painting has a very ominous feeling to me. I feel like it could be the painter's description of one of his fears or his interpretation of dread, due to the color scheme being really dark and just having an overall tone of dread.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at this painting, the black box that takes up pretty much the whole left side of the painting drew my attention. I think this is because the box is so big and because inside the box there are some occasional white splotches that sort of contrast with the dark. I noticed that if you stare at this part of the painting long enough and let your eyes lose focus, you can make out the faces of two animals, maybe wolves or pigs. Is this something that the author intended? Why are there three hands hanging at the top of the painting, and why is the skin all blotchy? Also, what is the purpose of the random white rectangles? Why is there a piece of white cloth pinned to the floor?
ReplyDeleteI think that the author is making a statement about how dangerous it can be to walk blindly into a situation, using the metaphor of a room. The left side of the painting represents the same room on the right side of the painting, but with the lights off. When looking at the room with the lights off, you can't see the items in the room that might serve as a warning, such as the ominous arms hanging from the celing or the strange white cloth pinned to the floor. You could very easily walk into the darkness and never come out. With the lights on, though, you can see those warnings and might have the common sense to avoid the room. This is a metaphor for life in how we as humans often walk blindly into situations and later wish that we hadn't. The way that the darkness has certain ominous shapes hidden in it and the arms and the white cloth helped me come to this conclusion.
When I first look at the painting, my eye is drawn to the three arms at the top right corner. I think I see them first because they seem to be coming out of a texture or possibly a wall rather than a human body. The arms themselves also look full of texture. I also noticed how the sleeve of each arm is a different primary color. One of the questions that I had was “What is the significance of the handkerchief hanging on the wood flooring texture?” I also wondered why the arms are each different and why they are there in the first place? Another question I had was “Why are there seemingly unrelated textures next to each other? I am also curious to know why the whole painting is dark when the arms, which seem to be the darkest aspect, have so much color? To me the painting looks like a bulletin board or a chalkboard. It looks like a chalkboard because of the green texture which looks to be behind the other textures and the textures and objects have been pinned or hung up on the chalkboard. I am inferring that because of the dark textures and the arms that look to be tacked on the board, that this painting could be a warning of some kind. I am also inferring that it could be warning of something that brings sadness because the handkerchief is also hanging there. I think it is very ironic how the whole painting is very dark, yet the colors around the arms are very bright when the severed arms seem to be the darkest and scariest part of the picture.
ReplyDeleteWhen first looking at this painting my eyes were drawn to the hanging arms in the upper right hand corner. They are all severed and if you look closely the blood is all different colors, red, yellow, and blue. I think these arms caught my eyes right off the bat because of the oddity of them. They are very out of place in this painting, being really the only definitive object in the whole painting other than the rag nailed to the wall. As I look at the painting more and more, other things start to stand out. There were also various squares around parts of the painting (The rag, the arms, some of the textures), which I think was put there to makes me think that they are put there because there is a correlation between the parts of the painting. So that is probably what I would ask the artist, what does every object, texture, square, have to do with one another? When I put this painting together, I would see a nightmare. The painting is painted with almost all dark colors, and some of the textures seem very disturbing, like the left half of the painting I see spider legs, nothing definite, but still there none the less. As you look around more, there is the nailed rag and arms, what other way could they be connected other than a nightmare? When you have them they never seem to make sense when you wake up, but when your asleep they are crystal clear, and are very logical. That is what I think of about this painting. All I see are disturbed images put together in a non-nonsensical matter, to best reflect a nightmare, I mean spiders? Severed arms? A loan cloth nailed to a piece of wood?
ReplyDeleteMy eyes were first drawn to the swirling black figure on the left of the painting because it was darker and less defined than the rest of the painting. Of all the details on the painting, the one that stands out the most is the two separate halves of the painting, one seemingly lighter than the other. I would ask what the significance of the two pieces are in coordination to one another. The divide between the two halves demonstrates the separation between the painting.
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