Monday, October 27, 2008

What makes this photo "Art"?



Before I explain anything about this photo, give me your thoughts. What I’m looking for is how you would explain your composition if you had created this dramatic photo.
What do you think that it might be all about? What do you notice?






More:
I was scanning through a group of photos listed as art, when I came across this one. Once you get past the double-take that most men will make. Okay! I made a triple take, so scold me! I stared to wonder about it’s composition and what the photo was all about.

Left brained people are more logical people. If they see that if gear “A” turns to the right, gear “B” has to turn to the left, and it either works or it doesn’t, what you see is what you get, period. Right brained people see things much differently. They can clearly see that gear “A” doesn’t necessarily have to turn to the right, it could turn to the left, so either gear could really turn either way. They might say something like; “Which way do you feel about how gear “B” should really turn”.

Most people use both sides of their brains “A” and “B”, but some people seem to be at negative equilibrium, like a marble on a pipe, the marble will either roll to the right and stay there, or to the left and stay there. Myself? I like to “think like a marble in a bowl”. No matter which flight of fancy that my brain takes off on, it will always find that comfortable spot in the middle, where all thoughts are equal.

I started off thinking with my left brain, so I clicked on the enlarge feature to look at the photo much closer. My first thought was; “Why is she hiding her head? Then I noticed that there was no loose dirt around the hole, so it must have been a preexisting hole, or someone hauled off all of the dirt. Hmmm… Is she looking for something? If she is, it isn’t obvious what she‘s looking for, so I deducted that this girl (Yes, I noticed that it was a girl) must be implying that she is hiding from something.

I noticed that there is an extension cord running to the back of the round frame-like thing it the middle of the photo, and I noticed that the grass in the frame is different than the grass that the frame is setting on. I deducted that it is probably a backlit photo setting on a lawn. So, it was a photo of a photo and there is at least two artists with a camera involved here!

I right clicked on the picture, the caption said: “Earth Day”. I fiddled around with Google for a bit, and found the photo connected to an Earth Day celebration, and the title read; “Don’t stick your head in the sand about the environment, pay attention.” Then my right brain kicked in and I thought, “what a great use of art, it caught my eye, it made me think, It tickled my fancy,” (The guys know what I mean, and maybe a few girls) Then I thought, “that must be what art is all about, to get your attention and make you think. Wow, mission accomplished!’

Then my marble started to roll back to it’s point of equilibrium, in the center of my bowl, but I have to admit it was a wild ride. My bowl not only has a left and a right side, it also has an “A” for alcohol, an “S” sex, an “A” for adventure, an “E” for excitement. On so on, but you get my drift. The only time that my marble really rests is when I’m asleep, but sometimes I wake up and find it rolling around in it’s bowl all by itself without my permission, and it does some pretty interesting things.

After I looked at the photo I went to bed and went to sleep, a few hours later I woke up and caught my marble playing by itself again. The logical part of my brain slapped my face and said, pay attention! What happened here is some dude got his girlfriend drunk, told her that she could have a part in saving the world by getting herself half naked and sticking her head in a hole in the dirt while he pranced around and took pictures. My marble rolled passed the part of my brain that said that I could be an artist too. I fantasized about it a while, then I told my marble to get back to the middle where it belonged, and went back to sleep. Sometimes my marble gets so wild that I almost loose it, but so far so good!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, what keeps your marble in it's bowl when you lay down?

Ernie Branscomb said...

It's gimbal mounted like a ships compass, it's also gyroscopically stabilized and shock mounted. So, I stay level headed, I always know the direction that I’m headed, and I’m hard to shock. My left brain did that.

Greg said...

Glad to see you still have a marble, Ernie.

Anonymous said...

Artsturbation.


jason

Kym said...

Following your marble as it went around made me a bit dizzy but I enjoyed the trip!

USelaine said...

It's all about holes.

Anonymous said...

You people overthink too much.

That lady is using the modern-day environmental method of ridding gophers by not using poisons or drowning them with a garden hose....she is simply calmly conversing down the hole, "Pardon me, Mrs. Gopher, I don't want to harm you, but could you and your family please move to another residential location. I know that you need to live a peaceful life, but my newly planted lawn needs to be kept rodent-free for the political fundraiser I am hosting on Saturday. Begging your forgiveness, I will speak to my candidate to see if there is any funding available for rodent relocation to say, a rodent campground on the outskirts of town. Thank you , kindly. Remember to vote!

Ernie, that ain't art. Unless it's displayed with an offering of fine wine and goat cheese, it ain't art.

Ernie Branscomb said...

I think that the "Artist" used all the goat cheese and wine to get her do that.

Eko, you are probably right, it's all about Gopher relocation.

Robin Shelley said...

This looks like a single man's gopher trap to me. I would probably shoot it if I found it in my backyard.

Anonymous said...

You have to be kidding. Look at the photo again. The first thing you see is a B--T with a black thong on. Now, what kind of a gopher trap is that!! It is art.