A Style For Thought

Get your mind ready - New Styles Ahead!

In the last post , we were “forewarned” that we would be encountering some new styles as we continue with the “art journey” that we’ve been on for quite a while now (with some little “breaks” from it now and then)…

We are now entering a phase in the “voyage” where the images are drawn in a style which is intended to convey rather complex arrays of thought – where the images are constructed out of smaller elements, which sum up to form overall images, with more complex meanings behind them.

The commentaries which go with the images are also meant to carry certain social and psychological resonances as well…

The Rat Race (AKA: Chasing After The Pie In The Sky)

Have you ever felt that your life is a rat race, and an endless struggle to “beat the other guy”? Have you ever caught yourself chasing after that elusive “pie in the sky”? We like to judge each others’ merit and worth almost soley by our money’s worth, and calculate our every move in a chess game just to move up the ladder of the corporate groove.

And so we argue and fuss and fume over status to see who’s “made it”, and weigh each other against the norm, and are under pressure to conform. The buffoonery becomes a circus, a merry go round of bloated elephants and egos, riding on their pedestals, going up and down, like a bunch of bloated clowns.

The noisy chirping and twittering over who makes more money than who, and who is better than who goes on and on and on. Their lives become a rat race and a race of rats, always being watched by hungry cats.

And so the beat goes on and on, an endless parade of stop and go, and often all for show!

BTW: The two birdies who are engaged in a little “confrontation on the tightwire” in the above image have appeared in a previous post as well. Click here to view.

Status Conscious

He sits atop his pedestal, and looks down upon the world; he thinks that he’s above it all, a hundred-nine feet tall. The curtains part, and the doors swing open, and he steps out of his limo, and then waltzes to his strut. His corporate office beckons to his every beck and call, and by his haughty air he seems to think that he’s King Tut. The fluorescent lighting shines down on him while the air conditioning hums, but his office curtains bear reminders of a place of fun and sun. Yes, he’s just come back from there, and has always flown by jet on private air. How much did it cost him? He really doesn’t care. His word is his command, and he always makes demands – it would take a fleet of elephants to fight someone so defiant!

BTW: The above image appears in a somewhat different context as a painting, and also as a computer graphic. Click here to view.

Suburban Fable Talk

There once was a birdie from Stratton
Who flew into a place called Manhattan
She met a giraffe there
And they made such a good pair
That they rode in a limo to Staten!

Musical Muse

We’re having a musical discourse here, over sounds and ideas to gladden the ear. The players calculate their moves, and are thinking of ways to fashion their grooves – all for eliciting musical moods. Talk of chords and motifs quickly floats on by, as if borne on fine finned entities which glide through the sky. The stage is being set, the scores are being read, and all pre-concert jitters will be soon put to bed. The time to perform will be soon drawing near, and the audience waits – very anxious to hear.

The Bull's Eye Norm

There’s a target for your aspirations, aiming for status; weighed down by frustrations. The time goes by, before watchful eyes – is this guy really going to “make it”? He’s getting old, and he can’t fake it; he’d better hurry or he’ll never make it! Who are the leaders of the pack, who’s out in front, and way in back? It’s just the norm, we must conform; you’d better perform, or else reform. We fight for status, wealth and esteem, and hope to escape to some tropical dream – it’s all a delusion – or so it seems…

A Frieze For Thought

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW.

NOTES ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS: These images were drawn by hand with pencil. They were spontaneously rendered – that is, they were drawn from the imagination, with no predetermined direction or set goals in mind. (You might say that these were like “mini Art Journeys” in a way!) The kinds of thoughts that ran through my mind as I drew them may have ranged from those involving “social conscience” to the more whimsical and fanciful kinds of visions.

ICONS AND “INTERCONTEXTING”: You might have noticed that the images appear to be made up of many little “Icons” that combine to make up the whole picture. They serve to add little bits of meaning, which ultimately add up to form the context as a whole. I like to refer to this approach as “Intercontexting”. You can learn more about how this “intercontexting” style works in This Post and This Post .

EVOLVING INTO POETRY? You may have noticed that while the commentaries were not arranged into “verses”, there was an extensive use of Rhyme, as well as a kind of rhythmic Meter in this segment. It might be said that the written commentaries are now evolving into poetry. I wrote the rhyming “poetry” as I looked at the images, and got ideas from them. And so the ideas which were based on images were expressed in words, thus in effect translating the “Visual” to the “Verbal” .

IN SEARCH OF PARADISE: Each of the images in this segment has some reference to a special tropical locale – some are large and rather obvious, while others are quite small. Can you find them in the images?

OK, let’s tie this “image frieze” into the “Train of Thought” that we’ve been riding on…

Detouring Into A Style For Thought

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW, AS A HORIZONTALLY SCROLLING IMAGE.