When one views these three collages without knowing the context or the assignment for which they were created, they may seem rather ambiguous or random. Once they are approached with the knowledge that all three of them together illustrate one word, the meaning and uniting theme behind the three images, i think, becomes obvious: balance. The motif of balance is extremely pervasive throughout the three images. In the first image we see several various examples of balance in the physical realm, as in the rock piles, the girl on the balance beam, the card pyramid, and the African woman with a basket of food on her head. The first image also includes a well known image from the metaphysical realm: the ying yang, which symbolizes a balance of personalities, of good and evil. In the second image, again, we are presented with multiple examples of balancing acts from the physical realm, namely, the skier on the left, and the rock pile, as well as what I think is a spinning top in the high center. The cartoon in the lower right depicts a man riding a unicycle, on a narrow beam, and carrying another beam to maintain his balance. And balancing on one side of the carried beam are dollar bills, symbolizing capitalism, and on the other side is balanced the Chinese flag, which represents communism. Basically a minor discourse on the competition for political superiority. In the third image we have images repeated from the first two images, namely the rock piles, and the girl on the balance beam. However, we are also presented with an elephant maintaining its balance on a tiny beach ball, which epitomizes the concept of balance. In essence, the three images, when viewed together, all communicate a motif of balance in a very straight-forward fashion. This is done by presenting a variety of images that communicate this motif in the different facets in which it present in our lives: physically, metaphysically, and politically.
When one views these three collages without knowing the context or the assignment for which they were created, they may seem rather ambiguous or random. Once they are approached with the knowledge that all three of them together illustrate one word, the meaning and uniting theme behind the three images, i think, becomes obvious: balance.
ReplyDeleteThe motif of balance is extremely pervasive throughout the three images. In the first image we see several various examples of balance in the physical realm, as in the rock piles, the girl on the balance beam, the card pyramid, and the African woman with a basket of food on her head. The first image also includes a well known image from the metaphysical realm: the ying yang, which symbolizes a balance of personalities, of good and evil.
In the second image, again, we are presented with multiple examples of balancing acts from the physical realm, namely, the skier on the left, and the rock pile, as well as what I think is a spinning top in the high center. The cartoon in the lower right depicts a man riding a unicycle, on a narrow beam, and carrying another beam to maintain his balance. And balancing on one side of the carried beam are dollar bills, symbolizing capitalism, and on the other side is balanced the Chinese flag, which represents communism. Basically a minor discourse on the competition for political superiority.
In the third image we have images repeated from the first two images, namely the rock piles, and the girl on the balance beam. However, we are also presented with an elephant maintaining its balance on a tiny beach ball, which epitomizes the concept of balance.
In essence, the three images, when viewed together, all communicate a motif of balance in a very straight-forward fashion. This is done by presenting a variety of images that communicate this motif in the different facets in which it present in our lives: physically, metaphysically, and politically.