Aminet 48/Aminet 48 (2002)(GTI - Schatztruhe)[!][Apr 2002].iso/Aminet/demo/mag/gods-disc12.lha/D.I.S.C.12/text/lookingglass-puppetsanalysis

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«c2»«ac»THE PUPPETS; SYMBOLISM AND EXPRESSION«»
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«c1»By Darkhawk/IRIS«»
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«as»«c7»So, now the time has come for a rather «c6»ambitious project, «c7»that is, to
analyze the deeper meaning of the newly released slideshow, The Puppets..
I will be looking at each picture in turn, and write down my thoughts on
them. I hardly think I will hit the meaning right on. I will not be writing
about the music, the code, or the technical aspects of the slide. Infact I
will only concentrate on «c6»the meaning behind the pictures, «c7»and stuff like
that. Thus, I think it is somewhat safe for me, to write this, although it
is of course a dangerous path to take, reviewing my own groups slideshow,
hehe. Ahh well, you can take it or leave it, this article is going to be
rather long, and probably only of interest to a limited crowd in any case.«»
«»
«c6»Yon tried to express many things in this slide, «c7»it's rather advanced and
I don't exactly know how Yon's mind works. It does seem like there are,
overall, recurring things worth noting, which I will of course be doing,
so you come to see what themes and images appear in more than one picture.
And there is an «c6»overall theme «c7»here, shared by many of the pictures. I will
get back to that theme later.«»
«»
If you haven't seen this slide, «c6»you should definately watch it «c7»and form
your own opinion on the slide, before you read through this analysis,
the slide deserves that you experience it yourself, and ponder its images,
before 'polluting' your thoughts on the matter with the thoughts of another
person.«»
«»
You might remember people «c6»analyzing «c7»and demasking/deconstructing like this
from your school days. We all hated people who did that, and we all thought
that the conclusions they arrived at were very far-fetched, eh? However,
I sincerely hope I won't deconstruct anything, but just offer an analysis
and interpretation that might intrigue you and open you up for your own
thoughts on the matter. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin!«»
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«c6»01. Intro Screen 1«»
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«c7»Ok, as Yon writes to insiders, this is taken from another logo job he
did for some music group. Well, the background is interesting, one
can see 6 windows rising up to.. what, a moon, or a pond with some mercury
alike water? From one of the windows, you can see some treelimbs coming out..
Usually windows symbolize gates or peek-throughs into other worlds, other
levels of consciousness, which then shine through to the current scene. But
you can't see anything through these windows. Windows to other worlds, to
other opportunities and so on will be a theme we will see more of, in the
pictures to come, but here I can't really hazard a guess as to the meaning
of this.. Ehrr, I'll try anyway.. This seems to me to be a small chamber
in an open mind, nothing negative, but a tranquil place with a lot of
windows to explore, and the center, which is that weird pond or moon,
probably symbolizes the core of the mind. The windows might be doors too
though, which makes them a bit more active, but the meaning here still
stays the same.«»
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«c6»02. Intro Screen 2«»
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«c7»This one is the easiest in the entire slide.. It says 'Presents', hah.. I
won't analyze that.. «»
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«c6»03. Intro Screen 3«»
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«c7»Here we have a big eye and some puppets watching it.. And the other way
around, of course. Some note-worthy colors, blue and red, have been used
here and there, and that makes your attention go to these spots. In the
corner of the eye, a blue patch is seen coming out of the eye. This must be
something central, but I can't really figure out what it means. And in the
central iris of the eye, there's been used some red to liven it up. Apart
from that, the puppets watching are shadows falling on the eye. It must
also have significance, that you don't directly see those puppets, only
their shadows, falling over the all-seeing eye. One of the puppets is not a
shadow though, and has a blue patch of clothes on his left arm, while he is
standing as far away from the blue patch in the eye as possible.. Is there
a connection there? Of course there is, any art analyst would say. Maybe
it symbolizes that the puppet there is a small part of the eye, or that it
originally comes from the eye, while the others, as mere shadows, do not
have that extra quality of existence, they are more ephemeral. Overall,
there's something omni-scient, all-seeing and all-knowing being watching
some puppets, who seem helpless and broken (well, that comes later in the
slide), and the puppets are also watching back at this eye. That's the
central theme in this picture I think. So we have a god who watches his (or
who watches some lower) lifeforms.. «»
«»
Maybe the eye is looking on the puppets and pondering whether or not to
pass judgement on them for their carelessness in going about their own
existence and taking care of the world (as we shall see later). However,
being puppets, they don't really have a free will in their actions, and
thus, can't traditonally be blamed for those actions. «»
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«c6»04. The Panel«»
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«c7»Now this is an interesting piece of art, and quite possibly the best
selection panel ever done. It nicely represents the pictures you can
select, and I guess the symbol representing the picture about to be viewed
is essential in understanding some of the meaning in the picture, thus
we've also spent a lot of time puzzling over the meanings of these symbols,
when we tried to analyze the pictures. I will also mention the symbol
representing the picture, from now on, rather than to look at all the
symbols on this page all at once. «»
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«c6»05. Credits «»
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«c7»The symbol on the menu page for this one is just a scrap of paper, so
there's not much to ponder there. «»
«»
Quite the violent, but still intriguing picture here. Faceless puppets
fight desperately for survival against some rather hard wires. Sadly for
them, it is already certain they will die, as symbolized in the frontmost
doll having been staked through the heart and bleeding. Even faceless and
anonymous puppets can bleed, we see. And the wire did go straight for the
heart, so maybe they're controlled by this cold face we see in the lower
left? Her eyes are white, which normally signifies distance, coldness and
impassion. These deaths have to happen, according to her logic, and they're
only puppets anyway, or what? And the landscape.. Somehow it reminds me of
a vagina, and the 'cliff' might be legs. Well, abstractly speaking anyway..
So we have a cold, female face, and the traditional seat of female life
and energy, those two meanings seem to clash against each other, and some
face/genderless puppets seem to get caught in the clash. Also, the text
or numbers blurred into the background seem to me to look like transmuted
hex or binary rows. If that is the case, we have a fertile image of logic
and rationality, symbolized by the face and those blurred rows of ordered
numbers against the feelings and irrationality of life and spirit, as
symbolized by the vagina. And in this struggle, we all live and die as
faceless puppets in a preordained reality, which ends the same for all of
us, from being born to dying, and thus we're all puppets futilely fighting
to stay alive in a big cyclical event, bound to repeat itself endlessly. «»
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«c6»06. Farewell«»
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«c7»Ohh, all the details and meanings in this picture are just wonderful. And
it's like this with many of the pictures. Anyway, this is one of my
favourites. The things to give special significance to on this picture is the
dove, the two houses, the flying pages, the person sitting on the precipe,
aswell as the flower in the background, which looks somewhat like an Iris
flower (but the meaning of that flower I won't disclose, it's an internal
secret) There is also a closed book and a little backpack on either side of
the person. What will strike you first is that this picture looks like it is
about suicide. The person, male or female, is sitting with feet dangling,
rather high up in the air, and the picture is called 'farewell'. The symbol
on the panel page depicting this picture is a passively sitting doll, with
a book beside it. If it is about suicide though, it is probably about
spiritual suicide. However, I think this picture symbolizes reflection
about change, some big change that is about to take place to the person
sitting there, symbolized by the suicide signs. As for what the person can
see, there's an old concrete building with lots of (broken and bent)
antennas to one side, probably meaning that this is a shoddy house with lots
of families living inside it, a leftover from earlier times, when people
built like this. It could be from a communistic age. On the other side, we
then have this high-technology skyscraper with shiny windows, reflecting the
light (but not allowing light to enter it?). This could be a symbol of
western capitalism and life-style, reflecting feelings in its wondows, but
not letting any feelings in. So, the person sitting there has a
choice. The new life can include one of those things. However, there's also
a living thing, a dove, flying in between those two choices. The dove
traditionally symbolizes peace and hope.. Here I think it is the hope
aspect, that is relevant. The dove might mean there's still hope, still
possibilities and life in what the person ponders to leave behind. As for
the flying (black) pages, they likely symbolize the past, somehow this
could be the person's diary, flying to the winds, all that was said and
done in the past, but which is now over and fluttering away in the wind.
The book on the one side might be the diary, but it's closed, and the pages
are not flying out from that book, but rather seem to be coming from
farther inside the room, from somewhere we can't see, which fits in nicely
symbolically, with it being the past, past things and past hopes. The more
pages that fly out of the room, the more the person gets determined to
end (change) his life as it has been, and thus again, this is about change.
That's also why there's this backpack at the side of the person, he/she is
ready for change, and has brought along the backpack, which symbolizes
travel. However, the change is frightening, it's not a small thing, it's a
leap out into open air, it might be seen as suicide. The danish philosopher
Kierkegaard called this a blind leap of faith, out into the deep water that
is necessary for your maturing, but you never know what you leap into, it
is blind faith, and that is the most important thing with human life, the
most noble thing about us. «»
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«c6»07. Dragon Logo«»
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«c7»This appears to be a logo, without much symbolic stuff to look at. The
image for this on the panel page is a light-red worm or line thingie.
There's a hidden message in the upper left corner here, but somehow I don't
have a copy of this picture, so I can't check what it says. There's a
little lizard on the logo looking at the stones, and the stones might be
seen as forming a face, or some hands infact, but hrmm, let's just say
there's no deeper meaning in this picture, and thus I can get to:«»
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«c6»08. Death Flower«»
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«c7»The symbol on the menu page for this one is rather special, what looks like
a bunny is threatened by a green tentacle (well, plant) in a flowerpot. Now
THAT'S abstract ;) Infact it's too abstract for even me right now, heh. The
picture itself is called death flower, so the flower is a threatening
thing, and it sort of raises up and challenges the man standing there. One
could also think that it is sucking in some of the essence of the man,
because of the lines going from the man to the flower. It's not an ugly
flower, but it is clearly dangerous too, sort of like life itself. This man
is standing fast and maybe studying or interacting with the flower, but it
seems clear that he also knows that this interaction will change him and is
associated with some risks.«»
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«c6»09. The Tree«»
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«c7»Ok, this picture is the only one not originally drawn by Yon, and he
challenges us to say from where he got it. Well, sad to say, but I don't
know where it's from. The symbol for this on the mainscreen is a tree,
not a totally dead tree, but one with green leaves. The landscape is
desolate and there's a storm raging, while this person on the picture is
wiping a bloody blade.. Clearly this symbolizes strife, unrest and turmoil.
Something that is recurring in many of Yon's pictures is the desolateness
and, as Nutman writes in the scroll, hopelessness. However, I don't think
it's stark and absolute hopelessness. Gloom, darkness and desolateness sure,
but also a striving for something better, a search for more meaning behind
the apparent sinister 'reality', although the reality in most pictures seem
to be the strongest, leaving little chance for hope and change. «»
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«c6»10. Last Day on Earth«»
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«c7»Ahh yes, and with that we get to what must be my favourite picture. The
symbol on the mainscreen is very strong, a puppet lying facedown, seemingly
immobile. The picture itself is a very vivid and fertile thing to
behold and study I think. The interesting things here can be classified
like this (ohh, I hate classifying, that's like seperating things from
their holistic context, and making their meaning poorer, so bear over with
me, and see this as a try to classify the aspects of the picture, without
taking them out of the context). We have a bunny, a teddy and a little
yellow lego brick on a table. Then we have something which might be related
to that, but which has seperate meaning too, and that is a little nude
feminine sprite (also called fairy sometimes) with wings. Then there's what
seems to be a broken window, a man holding on to the window, either to
slowly immerse himself in what lies beyond, or to fight free of what lies
beyond. After extensive thinking of this, I have come to form the opinion
that the man is slowly immersing himself in what lies beyond, thus this
interpretation will branch off from what other meaning there might be if he
is infact trying to get away from what is beyond the broken window. Behind
him, we can see some green colours, shot through with red and blue
colours. Other, smaller things to note here is the light coming in
through the window, colouring the table in green and yellow (from the
brick) hues, aswell as getting reflected on the teddy. I won't speculate as
to the meaning of that though. Also, the room itself seems to be more of a
dungeon, as, when you look closely, you can see that there are stones
around the window, so that the whole room is built out of stone. It's a
fantastic picture, somehow this picture speaks to me subconsciously more
than the other pictures, and it is a bit hard for me to say why this is so.
I can analyze its meaning as I see it though, but I will likely miss some
details. First off, the room itself, which I think this man is leaving, is
symbolically speaking naturally his past, but more than that, it's his
childhood, symbolized by the bunny, teddy and lego brick. He leaves his
safe, but encapsulated and small world, one could almost say womb, and
ventures out into something bigger, something more intense but also, as a
consequence, something unsure and potentially dangerous. He is not totally
sure about this decision, there might still be some fear left in him, as he
still clings to the broken windowstills, wanting to immerse himself slowly,
instead of letting go all at once. Again, as Kierkegaard put it, this is
the leap of faith into the unknown. The broken window symbolizes that he
himself has looked out and seen what was beyond, when he grew up inside,
but now he decided to smash the window and venture outside. So far so
good, but what about the sprite, and just what is it, he immerses himself
in? The sprite, now she is tricky, but also very intriguing. She might
symbolize his childhood aswell, a fantasy product he has thought up and
consoled himself with while looking out of the window and dreaming of what
was beyond. Notice how her hair has the same color as the stream running
past outside. This suggests some connection between the outside and the
inside, namely the sprite. With that interpretation, the sprite becomes
something along the line of the rest of the room, but she still stands out
as special, because she has some connection with the outside, and because
of the fact that she was the only *living* thing inside this man's room,
apart from himself, so the man is (or was) probably bonded the most with
the sprite. It seems like she looks after him, and has her one hand on the
edge of the window, as though she is contemplating going after the man.
This might tell us that there are some things you'd better not leave
behind, some living things in your past, that you should carry with you
into the new world you leap out into. She is alive, she is feminine, and
thus she embodies spirit, passion, feelings, fantasy and beauty here, I
think. The man would not be complete if he didn't include her in his
travels outside of the room. Even though she might just be an illusion of
his own making, she has meaning and life now, and he also needs to take
care of her and nurture her. One says you have to give your imagination
wings to fly, and I think that's partly what happens here, she is also his
imagination. As for the man, he is slowly becoming a part of the green
stuff he is immersing himself in, slowly fading from what was, to some
uncertain thing in the future. The red thing in the middle of the picture
might be a symbol of the general lifestream, encapsulated by green (nature,
mother earth, vitality and energy, which nurtures and gives life to this
red life-stream, for lack of a better word). This stream is life itself,
danger and potentiality, nothing is safe there, but nothing is certain
either, and this person has come to loathe certainty and safety, because
there's no change, nothing new in the security of his own room. Now
however, he has, with the help of his winged imagination and zest for life
(who has the same haircolour as the central stream, as I said), taken the
step out into the real and pulsating life. «»
«»
The name of this picture, 'Last Day on Earth' suggest that a change is
about to occur, as we can indeed observe, and that this man is leaving what
is called 'Earth', his home-sphere, that which he has known so far. This
room represents Earth, the familiar, while that which is outside of the
window, represents everything else. As such, this picture is escapistic, it
deals with someone who wants to escape the confines of our mundane reality
and usual way of living, symbolized by his room with the safe childhood
toys. «»
«»
Lastly, notice that the red lifestream might have an eye under the groin of
the man, and something that might be an ear to the left side of his leg. A
dragon immersed in the green stuff, who is potentiality and energy? A dragon
is both majestic, awe-inspiring, deadly and unpredictable. And thus again, a
very fitting symbol of life. But why did Yon choose to represent this
picture with a puppet lying facedown on the mainpanel, hmm? Make your own
conclusions there. «»
This is nothing short of artistically impressive, this is real art,
technical stuff about drawing takes secondplace. There're so many layers
of meaning in this picture.. Wonderful, but I do hope that I can write a
little less than this about most of the other pictures, or else this
article will be very long indeed!«»
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«c6»11. The Dragons«»
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«c7»The man on this picture seems rather alien and sexless. In the
background, one can see 2 dragons twisting and looking at us, while the man
is walking in a barren, desolate rocky landscape with quite some storms and
a weirdly coloured sky. The man looks dead, and sinister, like a demon. The
symbol Yon has chosen to represent this picture on the mainscreen is a
humanoid shape with the same colours as the man on the picture, and with
somewhat distorted limbs. On this picture, the man is the central thing,
but he seems to be lost and not know it, or rather, he seems not to care
about his surroundings anymore, he just walks this barren wasteland, while
the only living beings are dangerous dragons, who move around him, in this
(eternal?) walk across the wastes, with the unnatural looking sky and
clouds likely representing unapproachable chaos, and the barren wasteland
symbolizing lifeless and stagnated order, something ugly, while the
dragons, though dangerous, are alive, and share traits with both the
wasteland and the living, changing sky. The man is left in the middle of
this, and somehow it strikes me that he doesn't know who he is, or what he
is to do. On top of that he isn't really a man, but some bent and twisted
creature, who might once have started out as a man, possibly before the
wasteland became what it is now. But now he has lost himself, and there
seems to be no hope for anything better, except for the dragons in the
background, who still live and are what they are. Perhaps his only hope
might be to approach them?«»
«»
What all this then might symbolize? Life, or rather, distorted life, empty
of meaning and hope, aswell as twisted humanity as a result of this, and
something deadly and primal being the only way out of this endless walk.  «»
«»
«c6»12. The Stone«»
«»
«c7»Quite appropriate a title for this picture, which is (mostly) all about
stone, the symbol for the picture is also a large stone. There's a tower in
this picture, a man looking like he was made from stone, but with some
greenery (moss?) on him, and his hair is also alive. Beyond him, there's
stone, and what I think is a doorway, not out into the open, but into a
hallway with even more stone. The tower in this picture is odd. Of course
it's a stone tower, but what relevance does it have? For that matter, what
meaning does the whole picture have? The tower seems to be a lighthouse,
and as such it symbolizes some sort of guidance for the man. We can't see the
face of the man, but one of the first impressions you might get, when looking
at this picture, is that he is somehow rising from his own grave, wandering up
into light and freedom, leaving the stone behind. Well, I must admit that I am
currently at a loss to insert meaning into this picture. Well, I could, but
I also need to believe the interpretation myself ;) And so far I can't come
up with any plausible explanation, so I am afraid I must pass over this
picture. «»
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«c6»13. The Born«»
«»
«c7»Shame on me, but it took me some tries before I managed to see that this
picture is dominated by a large face and body, rising out of the water.
Well, as the title says, something is born here. And into what context is
it born? In the distance, there's a wall of brown smoke, or maybe, more
likely, some stone or other massive construct. It might be smoke, rising
up from a ruined world. The trees on this picture are broken, bent, barren
and there certainly isn't anything remotely green on them. All hope is lost
here. And yet, out of the sea (the nurturing womb, life where everything else
is dead), this figure rises. The figure itself isn't green either, but
composed of what this dead world itself consists of, it's no miraculous
rebirth that will set things right straight away, but it IS a birth of
something. This something might be the best hope there is, in a world where
there is otherwise no hope, but only destruction and death. It means that
there are no absolute miracles, nothing will immediately set things right
for us, but there is still hope in that something can be born out of the
ashes we have created, something that can return the world to a better,
more living existence again. A birth symbolizes hope, and here, in this
context, this birth is the only hope left it seems. As for the thing
symbolizing this picture on the mainscreen.. Ehrr, we spent a lot of time
trying to guess what it could be, but in the end, none of us could see what
it might be, but I feel certain it is something pretty central to the
interpretation of this picture. «»
«»
And there's some more to this. I wrote that this is about a birth into a
barren land, but the land, the sea and the sky can themselves be a womb,
and the light just at the right side at the screen, might be where this
being will get flushed out so to speak, having been born in a dead and
barren womb, but still one that is capable of creating life.«»
«»
«c6»14. Iris«»
«»
«c7»This one picture was included in «c6»Abecedarian «c7»and fucked up by the one
responsible for the gfx competition at TRSAC, so that it wasn't shown,
which was quite sad. Well, in any case, what we have here is a statue of a
female angel, inside a room, and a very strong window symbolism, as there's
greenery outside of the window, and a lot of light is streaming into the
room, which is dusty and has a cobweb in the upper left corner. Empty,
black picture-frames are lined around in the room, together with the
statue. Atop the window, we see what must be a christian cross, and to the
right, on the wall, there's some yellow.. ehrr.. 'thing'. Since I can't see
what this is, I won't go into detail with it. Anyway, the other symbols are
fertile enough on their own. I don't really think this is just a critique
of christian shortsightedness, being locked away in a world on its own,
since the statue of this angel might both symbolize a christian angel and
human spirit. And the statue is the central thing, since Yon has also made
it the symbol for this picture on the main menu, although there it looks a
bit more lively and puppet like, not just cold stone. The theme is still
that the angel, or the human spirit and drive (it's also a female angel,
who traditionally stands for the 'softer' values, like compassion, creativity,
imagination, etc., as mentioned before), is standing inside a boring room,
locked away from the real world outside of it, which nonetheless manages to
shine through and show glimpses of itself through the window. The cross
might be blocking for this, or it might point the way to a broader, more
spiritual world outside of the room. As for the black frames. Well, the
room is barren, there is no content in there, except for the angel herself.
Clearly, staying in this room will mean stagnation. If the picture frames
were white, instead of black, they'd symbolize unused potential, but the
black color suggests that there just isn't anything on them, nor will there
ever be. Sadly the angel, that is, the human creativity or passion, is a
statue.. She can't leave the room on her own, although one can clearly see
that the world seems better and brighter outside of the room. And thus she
stays in the small room that never changes, except from without, and waits
for someone to come and move her out into the light. Certainly another of
my favourites, although it is hard to say, since most of the pictures in
the slide are wonderfully rich and moving in some way.«»
«»
«c6»15. An Elf«»
«»
«c7»I don't think there's all that much to say about this picture.. First off,
the symbol representing this one is also a puppet, a red haired one, with
his back turned to us. Items of interest on this picture might be the
symbol in his head, but I have no idea what that could allude to. The
background is something I can't make out either, and well.. I guess there's
not all that much meaning I can discern in this picture, so I will pass
right on to the next. «»
«»
«c6»16. The Shadow«»
«»
«c7»Well, there's certainly a lot of meaning in this one, let's see if we can
get to the.. Ehrm, heart of the matter here.. First off, the symbol used on
the mainscreen for this one, is yet another puppet, this one with green
hair, sitting in a slumped position. Again, we can't see its face. There's
a feeling of futility and human impotence in most of these puppets, I think.
The picture.. I kinda' dread starting on this, there is quite some stuff
to comment on here ;) Ok, we have a rather profusely bleeding elf, who has
apparently been stabbed through his heart by something, which might be the
person behind him, which is probably also 'the shadow'. He is holding
something that might be a knife, but there's no blood on it, so one can't
be completely sure that he is the one. Apart from that, the scene takes
place outside, during the night, and everything is bleak, sinister and the
sky is clouded over, naturally. There are houses here, this time, the light
comes from inside of those houses. And on one of them, one can see the
letters "KMB".. I won't speculate on the meaning there though, as they
might represent some polish text. Then there're two smaller things of note,
one is the two rats watching all this from a chain of metal, the other is
the yellow flower, near the foot of the elf. So.. Let's see then. This
time, being outside, as opposed to inside, is dangerous. The elf has been
stabbed, but continues onward it seems, having already passed his shadow,
who stabbed him. The elf typically represent a closer connection with
nature, and a nobler spirit than that of the human. And it seems like the
one standing behind him, is a human. So, the shadow, the spiritually poor
copy of the real, has in, what is probably an act of jealousy, killed a
noble and spiritual being. As for the houses, it seems like there is a lot
in them, and that the emptiness of existence is for once outside and not
inside, the houses seem like safe and warm places, while the outside
certainly is not. Something important about being a real human has just
been stabbed down. So far so good, what about the rats and the
chain then? Rats are traditionally seen as clever scavengers and
survivors. They're running along this chain and watching events from a safe
position. Their glowing red eyes are sinister, they look like opportunists,
ready to grab what they can of this situation, where humanity is killing
its nobler aspects. Maybe they're the scavengers ready to take over the
place of the vacated noble aspects. The chain is a bit tougher.. The rats
are situated on it, so it might be the chain holding all of life's events
together, the red thread through all of our existence, and the rats are
sitting on it. On the ground, where blood is failing, there is still real,
innocent life though, although some plants there seem vizened and dead,
there's still a yellow flower fighting for survival. In all these pictures,
there's still hope and a way to something better, but it fights against the
perceived dark reality of the world. The flower looks defiant but also has
some red in it. Maybe the blood has already touched the flower. Will this
act nurture or kill it? The overall colours of the picture are drab and
brown mostly, you notice the blood, the red in the eyes of the rats, and the
yellow colour of the flower. Those are also the central points in the picture
I think. Final conclusions here are up to you, but I do think you have by now
noticed some recurring theme's in some of these pictures..«»
«»
«c6»17. Makuleth«»
«»
«c7»Ok, the theme of this picture seems to be quite obvious, and I can't find
any hidden, deeper meaning than the apparent one, so let's assume that's
it. There is this being, who is obviously a judge, a judge over humanity
and what we've done so far, standing infront of a typical judgement chair,
which hints at godly power. It is a she, but she's not very feminine at
all, nothing like the sensuality of the sprite, or the otherworldly sadness
of the angel, rather she is approaching sexless, she is the cold, impartial
judge of mankind. Or to say it in a language you will understand: I don't
really get the urge to have wild and steamy sex with this woman ;) She also
has white eyes, just like the woman on the credits pic, again this shows
distance and lack of emotions, something good in judges, but not in
feminity. In the background, the world as it has become in this dark vision
appears.. Cold, anonymous factories brimming over with produced pollution,
which fills the sky, and makes everything grey and hopeless. As on many other
pictures of Yon's, a lone tree, dead and bent is standing in this bleak
landscape. It is clear that nature has long since departed from that place.
And that is in reality the problem in many of these pictures.. Mankinds
estrangement from the real, the spiritual, the lifegiving nature. And it seems
like there can be no real return, atleast not in this picture. There seems to
be no element of hope here, one can easily see what the decision of the judge
is to be. Apart from that, there's a connection between the folds of cloth
or limbs on the throne, and the world behind it, since there's this weird
thing running from the cloth and into the picture. This I take to mean that
the two scenes are not distant from eachother, and that these limbs might
be either feeding something in the background, or the other way around. In
any case, the judgement about all this must be harsh. And the woman is
holding a scale in her hand, where the right side is slightly heavier
than the left, although there's something falling down from both sides of
the scales. This is likely the most important thing (or close to) in the
picture, but sadly, I can't really make out what it is the scale contains,
so I can't comment on that. I'd be quite interested in knowing what there's
in them, Yon :) As for the symbol representing this one on the main panel,
it's the chair of judgement, but there's also some paper on it, with a red
circle aswell as something else close by. This might symbolize that
everything runs full circle, what you start on doing, will come back to
haunt you, and the red colour.. Well, what you start in ignorance will come
back to haunt you fatally, this seems to say.«»
«»
«c6»18. The Picture«»
«»
«c7»Again, one of my favourites, this picture has a lot of themes you will, by
now, be somewhat familiar with, since it is a repeating of elements from
many of the other pictures. We have a rat with red eyes looking on the rest
of the picture, we have bent and broken trees, polluting and grey
civilization in the form of towers, and a drainagetube with waste coming
out of it, we have a overclouded sky (never have we seen the clear sky in
any of the pictures so far, except through the window in the 'Iris' picture).
Also, there's this barren, desolate plain. However, this one picture has some
noteworthy differences, that make it a more positive picture than the others
(although it could be debated just how positive this scenery really is).
There are birds here, flying from a somewhat green oasis amidst the desolate
wasteland, while the young dreamer sitting in the wasteland watches them fly
and probably conjures up a vision of a better world. The back is turned to
the grey towers, while the head looks up into the sky and towards the birds.
That signifies a longing for hope and freedom. Also, eventhough the trees are
still bent, they're green, something we haven't seen before either, although
the green on the trees looks quite pale and sick, it's still there, so life
hasn't completely fled the world here, eventhough the birds taking flight, and
the rat watching it all, could symbolize that this will soon happen. As for
the rat, it is a bit different from the rats in the 'The Shadow' picture.
Somehow it looks less threatening and 'evil', it seems like it is just a
curious onlooker to the happenings, without any immediate want to step in
and take advantage of it, so it's not playing the part of scavenger here it
seems, more like an onlooker who has always been there, and who will
survive no matter which way the world turns. As noted, the rat has red
eyes, but the symbol representing this picture, is also the rat, here with
white and non-threatening eyes. The rat must be pretty essential on this
picture then, since it is what Yon chose to represent the picture. Also,
the sky, while clouded and in turmoil, like in the other pictures, does not
seem totally polluted, the colours look a bit more 'healthy' than the
choking brown clouds of the other pictures. The overall theme is negative
too though, as it seems only to be a matter of time before the last bit of
life and nature disappears or gets killed, as in the other pictures. Still,
the decay is not that widespread yet, and maybe the dreamer sitting there
and imagining something apart from the hopelessness and human depradation
will come up with something, a small spark of change or life, that will in
turn transform the world a bit, and save life. One can always hope.«»
«»
«c6»19. The Web«»
«»
«c7»This is the last picture of the 'real' slide, although there're also 2 bonus
pictures. This little picture is framed with a border, and has a winged
creature flying out of a digital tunnel, with the background being some
neat hex numbers. Apart from us trying to decipher if the hex numbers
actually are a picture or hidden message (we didn't get very far there,
we're lazy), the numbers of course add to the impression that this winged
creature is flying towards us, out of some electronic web. The creature is
certainly no angel, it's more like a demon, since it has those
characteristic bat-wings. It also look to be a female, and thus it might be
a succubi, sent out to tempt us into doing something. It might also flee
from the terrible electronic 'reality', but I lean more towards the first
interpretation. The symbol representing the picture, in the upper left part
of the screen (you might miss it), is that of a moth, an interesting choice
of symbol really. I can't remember the symbolism of a moth too well now,
but there's something with being lured to flames and only being active
during the night. Ahemm.. Ok, I can't have a wise-ass interpretation to
everything I admit, so I'll have to pass this moth over, but I'd be quite
interested to know the meaning behind this choice of object. Otherwise, the
picture to me seems to be about the lure of technology, the danger of
falling into this electronic world completely, the danger inherent in
letting go of chaos, nature, feelings and passion, to be immersed in a
cold, logical, ordered, synthetic world, which is in reality a weak
substitute for the real, living world. But that might be because this is
what I am philosophizing a lot about. Another, radically different
interpretation might be possible. I do think it fits somewhat with the
themes of the other pictures though, the focus in many of the others
was pollution and destruction of the real world, this picture ends it all
by showing us the alternative that is offered us. Escapism into a created,
technical realm, while we leave behind the reality we were born into, and
which we might not be able to bear looking on anymore, after we have
destroyed it. As such, it is a fitting end to the slideshow, but if this
interpretation goes, it ends on a negative note, although slightly
different than the general hopelessness in most other pictures. This
picture offers a way out for us, a way out from what we have destroyed, a
place where we can go. Unfortunately it is the lure of a succubi, a
demoness with bat-wings, which calls us into that realm, and that realm is
artificial, unreal, and maybe our final stop before the emptiness of our
human soul, which we have ourselves created and are maintaining, completely
engulfs us in darkness.«»
«»
Thus, while the slide starts out by not being that negative, especially not
the 'Last Day on Earth' it gradually changes into something quite negative,
showing human powerlessness and estrangement from the 'real' values. We
have something in our nature, this seems to say, that makes us do these
things, makes us destroy the life-giving, good things we have, and which
makes us create this empty world, devoid of meaning and significance, where
we have all reduced ourselves to merely being puppets, who act out our
shallow lifes according to some overall scheme, which we, tragically might
have pushed ourselves into, without having anyone but ourselves to blame
for this. We have taken and defiled something that was once beautiful, and
turned it into a nightmare, from where we can't seem to escape, although we
can sometimes wake up and realize what we have done and are doing. But
since we are puppets, we cannot change the way things go, we can only watch
in abject helplessness, as events bigger than ourselves pass before our
eyes. It seems it is too late to stop the train, although here and there in
the slide, hope shines through, whether in the form of a tree or a flower
that refuses to die, a dove, an angel, a sprite, a dreamer, or a newly born
entity, there are some who refuse to give into the artificially created
bleakness of existence, some who still search for something more, and some
who still want the world to change to something better. There's always hope,
but sadly, the overwhelming impression one gets here, is that even hope will
be futile in the end, although hope in itself, whether doomed or not, is an
inherent part of human nobility, and hope, longing, feelings, etc., are
important no matter what happens, since these are the values that make us
go against the hard reality our own bitterness, cold logic, need for
conformity and estrangement, which in turn are the things that are destroying
our will to live, our will to love, and our imagination itself. This I think
is the recurring theme in most of the slide, and the reason for these puppets
being drawn. We are simply puppets on the stage of life. We might have
written the play ourselves, but now we can't seem to escape it.«»
«»
And now over to the «c6»hidden bonus pictures, «c7»which can't really be said to be
a part of the 'The Puppets' theme in the slide, but must likely only be seen
as unrelated added bonuses. Find the hidden part yourself! :)«»
«»
«c6»20. Free the Orc!«»
«»
«c7»This picture has a funny theme, Yon has turned the classic fantasy fare on
its head, and here it is an orc who is behind bars, and a beautiful female
adventurer, who is torturing the bleeding orc with her whip. It's very
healthy to turn traditional images 180 degrees around, now and then,
because that might make people think about the original image in a new way.
The symbol representing this picture is, appropriately enough, a key. A key
to free the orc, and thus the viewer is told to free the orc from its
pains. An interesting thing here is the urinal behind the female figure.
Yes, an urinal, not exactly standard fantasy fare! The room is also
vaguely reminiscent of a WC, the rectangular stones (or tiles) give us
this impression, anyway. I have currently NO idea whatsoever what the deeper
meaning of this could be. Overall, one could say that this picture teaches
us not to judge a book by its cover.«»
«»
«c6»21. ???«»
«»
«c7»This is so totally different from the rest of Yon's style here in the
slide, in that it is a tranquil scene in nature, with a little
nature-spirit playing on a flute, a little bird watching from its nest, a
quiet pond at the feet of the spirit, aswell as a partly clear sky. So,
here we have something close to utopia, something radically different from
the desolation and despair of some of the other pictures. The nature-spirit
is female and naked too, with quite a lush body, which means that this
picture must strike us as depicting a spot of tranquility and fertility, a
quiet place where one can play music and be happy, where everything is in
balance. In short, the somewhat usual depiction of perfect nature, both
internal and external to ourselves. However, the colours strike me as a bit
weird. Not that warm and lush really, and what is that red colour doing on
the ground and in the trees? It looks like blood.. Also, the trees
themselves have no leaves, no greenery, and while they look alive (one tree
even has a limb going into the pond, over the barren stone), they still
look bent and in a weird, cold shape. In addition, that nice figure of
femininity actually seems to have horns on her head. This is worrying, does
this mean that things are not as tranquil and beautiful as one would at
first expect? That there is infact a deeper layer underneath the obvious?
I'd hope not, since I'd very much want this to be a real positive picture,
showing us what we might once get. However, these things beneath the
surface seem a bit too hard to discard, so the overall impression of this
picture and the scenery it depicts, must be that it strikes me as a bit
unreal and potentially as hiding something. The symbol for this one is just
the same as the title, that is '???'. Does this mean we have to put a
questionmark on anything we perceive? That not even such a peaceful scene
must (can) escape our cynicism and questioning? I don't know, the data here
are quite inconclusive, so.. I'll just leave it at that, and let you all
ponder the meaning of this picture on your own. The conclusions you arrive
at will probably decide whether you see Yon's slide as generally negative,
or negative with a light of hope here and there. Negative it is in any
case.«»
«»
Well, now I've gone ahead and tried to do it.. «c6»To analyze something that
shouldn't be coldly analyzed or put into boxes, «c7»something that should be
felt, and that each should arrive at on his own. «c6»Aesthetic experience «c7»it's
called (and there's something spiritual in this too), and you only detract
from the experience if you try to analyze and categorize before you have
had this experience or revelation.. But I felt it was kinda' neccessary
anyway, as people do not seem to reflect on these images at all, and thus
they don't get any aesthetic revelation either. It's typical in our society
nowadays, that people are not looking deeper, looking behind the superficial,
to get at the core, so.. I'm afraid most people won't appreciate this slide
for what it is... So please.. «c6»Look on the slide with fresh eyes, «c7»notice the
points I've talked about, let yourself go into the images, and let's see if
you do not agree with me :)«»
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