Lets have some fun today, Party People. When we talk about school, life, and art, we talk about meaning. What do these things mean to you? When you hear a piece of music, what strikes you as interesting?

We ALL do this. We all find interest in something. That's why we like certain TV shows, movies, music, paintings, etc. The only thing that separates people who sound 'non-intellectual' from those who look and sound like they are 'intellectual' is the ability to speak about these things.

Check it:

I liked it. The beat was good. I liked the horn thingy in the middle.

Compare that to this:

The rhythm took on a hypnotic quality. Repetitive drums and piano in synch really draws the listener into an effective lulling. Then, when the horn sections come in on the bridge, it is wholly dissonant and contrasting. The tension in that is very intriguing.

Damnit, THEY SAY THE SAME THING. Just by the size of what the 'regular guy' is saying and what the 'intellectual' is saying, it seems like the later person is very smart. That smart guy has a lot to say. But, nope, that's not the case. It's all in how you say something, all in your ability to talk about the details.

These two people had the same reaction. One just knew how to talk about it better. So, what can you talk about? How much ass can you kick when you talk about this picture. I Googled it up, searching with the word 'art' and picked the first one that I saw. The rest is off the top of my head (remember the definition of freestyle from the Great Build series?). It took me about 30 minutes to type this up:



Let's battle our wits and observations, shall we?

Picture

Taking the picture as a whole, it's simply a man opening himself up, spilling his 'guts' out. We get a sense of confession, or perhaps an extreme case of sharing. Sharing. Even thought that sounds like a funny word to use, think about when you WANT to share something. There is some excitement, some revelation that compels you to share.

You are essentially exposing the excitement in hopes to effect the person or people in the same or in a similar way.

That this shows a man exposing the contents of his upper body, is more related to the 'soul' or 'heart'. A creative expression (sharing), rather than a physical one - physical sharing, or the Eros, would be another choice but that would require another opening, lower, around the actual physical parts related to that type of connection. This is something that can go up for subjective debate, but there can be something said about the choice of creating only the upper torso, rather than the whole body.



Spilling the guts. As I mentioned before, this is reminiscent of a confession. The fact that the contents have been splayed out, still spilling, makes the piece aire more toward this suggestion of confession.

One cannot help the fact that the subject is turning face up toward the heavens. It may be bold to further say that its a confession in the Judeo Christian sense. Man looking up to God, exposing and therefore recognizing his sins, hoping to purge himself of them.

The Christian argument can be taken further when we notice the aspect of anonymity. The man has no discerning features. No eyes, no lips, no recognizable marks that would make him unique. The idea that all are God's children. There is no uniqueness.

Even so, a similar argument can be made that it is a societal message, man, further reduced to an unrecognizable object, a number, as is the case often in a capitalistic society, individualistic society, where the observer does not recognize others as unique as him/herself. We then, are the observer in this case.



Legos

The medium is an interesting choice. It lends easily to erasing the unique features of our subject, almost creating a digitized look, a man almost pixelated. Pixelation, a prevalent aspect of technology, entertainment and the computer age. This would lend to the argument that its more of a modern societal view than a one of religious. How about that?

Taking it further, the subject looks upward to the sky in anguish, the pressures almost breaking the psyche down, and there is no real hope present since the prospect of religion is but a mere part of the rest of society, if we're using the argument that this art is an expression of modern society. Therefore, religion, just another part of the modern dilemma, is yet a participant of the antagonism.

Legos as a medium also suggests the toy/childhood aspect. On one level, it's a contradiction, displaying such an 'adult crisis' or 'real-world dilemma' rather than the toys, monsters and fantasy that is usually attached to Legos.

However, this tension can also be seen from a view that this subject is reacting to the fact that that childhood fantasy cannot be accessed anymore. The innocence can never be visited again and this visage is but a mere pitiful attempt.

The genius comes with hope. Although hope is taken away by the smothering of religion, it remains with the medium. When a confession is told, when you spill your guts out, there is a relief accompanying that purge that can only be compared with childhood innocence. Indeed, that innocence is somewhat revisited, regained, if not wholly then partially. Therefore, using legos as a suggestion of childhood, in this piece a reaching back toward childhood, is a compelling and good choice.



Beat that, party people.

Thanks to Nathan Sawaya for the cool art! Check out his other work.