Meet My Mangled Motif
October 12, 2010
Beautiful, isn’t it not?
What you see is one of my earliest attempts at art. An atrocity of copper and white space, this little abomination was originally an experiment with magnetic forces and solenoids. But, times change. Now, this small and dangerously pointy sculpture stands as a symbol of humanity, and the futility that fuels our existence. What you see here is the result of accidental processes, being formed by means of unwinding a particularly poor coil of wire and attempting to extract it from the remains of a particularly resilient second wire, which was considered the better wound of the two potential choices. Truly magical.
Now, as for what it’s supposed to be:
I have no idea. As mentioned in an earlier entry, I am not an artist, and this piece was just a fluke that I happened to notice before I gave up in frustration and melted both wires into a pretty copper slag. Thankfully, I have a knack for seeing meaning where no such thing is due, and I immediately noticed the potential that this ‘artwork’ could demonstrate.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from examining people and their psychology over the years, it’s that there is meaning in everything, and everything created by a human, both directly and indirectly, must have some meaning. The same goes for this orange oversight. In my interpretation, the sculpture reminds me of the essence of human nature to forever attempt to advance, to proceed further in their evolution of sciences and technologies. The sculpture also represents the futility of such a need.
Firstly, let us examine the shape. A simple wire, held on a wire, to make two wires. the first wire is the stand, and was special in that the weight balance upon it’s accidental creation was perfect for the purpose it now serves. the wire attached, however, is not so perfect. Actually, it is. The wire is being held on to the other wire by nothing more than sheer force of will and determination. It sits strong against the first wire, unmoving and resistant to most basic outside forces. This has some meaning, I’m sure of it.
The first wire represents time, and the further up one goes, the further up one goes. Time continues, and is both linear and finite in this case. Philosophers and physicists, I shun thee. the second wire represents humanity, and it’s progress. Note that the wire is both ugly and non-linear. Next consider the random formation of shapes and overall design that it has taken to reach the point of perfect balance. Finally, continue to read as if you know something that others don’t around you, wielding your skilful mastery of the English language with smug, pompous portentousness. This random formation is an indication of several key ideas: first and foremost is the idea that human development has only truly started at a later time in the timeline, suggesting inexperience on our part. This leads to the idea that humanity has enforced it’s goals on the natural, linear progress of things and therefore had a negative effect on the overall basis of nature.
The second wire’s shape also shows a definite beginning and end, showing a level of linear design and resultants. This is to symbolise that the struggle for perfection, the final hope of reaching the goal that humans forever strive for, will end just as fast as it has begun, and will be nothing more than a blemish on the great and powerful left cheek of time. that the second wire ends after going backwards suggests that the decline and eventual downfall of humanity’s exploits will be the result of their own ambition, and can therefore be seen as the subconscious factor of self-destruction that all humans are capable of. Take that, Pacifism As A Whole.
Note the colouring: a simple, continuous coppery sheen. Simply simplistic, if a tad overrated. But wait, is that a defining characteristic I peruse? Oh, my, what are the odds? The colouring is not constant, though the material remains the same throughout. The truth of the matter is that the wire wrapping around the main length appears to be a few shades darker, giving a strangely sinister and diseased feel to it. This darkness adds to the dark intentions of the original themes of human development, and can be used to express both the dark methods in which perversions of humanity are performed under the righteous cloak of progress.
This is the nature of this sculpture: to tell the dark tale of humanity, from beginning all the way into the foreseeable future. Isn’t that just dandy?
Still, I like it. Even if it is an abortion of artistic creativity. I should do this more often. But, I must give credit where credit is due, and so I thank Embed Design for the photographic work, located at the following location:
Now, I must leave, but I leave a small challenge to keep you cold at night:
If anyone can interpret this sculpture better, I would love to love to care about it. Take your best shot, and may the scrutiny commence.
Yours Daringly,
Crane.
Very interesting, I totally saw you drawing the conclusion about the second wire sinking before it ends. Overall a deep insight, my opinion of post-modern analysis is raised slightly, though I offer this:
As you clearly didn’t plan to make a statement about the progress of the human race when you formed the wire, everything you “learned” about what the sculpture was “saying” actually came from you. So my point is, perhaps post-modern analysis simply gives the views that the audience already had about their existence some credibility. Thus post-modern thought is unlikely to progress into anything, (well anything new or useful), as it simply helps people to confirm what they have already (possibly wrongly) surmised.
How deeply intriguing.
I have to say, some nail and hammer analogy of some sort is due here, as your accuracy is quite accurate. I like the idea that post-modernism is just a reaffirmation of existing knowledge, but I must point out an error in your description: While you say that the use of post-modernist views will lead to nothing useful, I have to disagree. Years of careful and dangerous analysis has made me realise that people will always manage to glean something from past intelligence, as reaffirmation is simply a way of opening up a thought tree that was pruned at one time or another, be it for practical or aesthetic purposes. When one revisits a thought pattern, they always have the option to progress that pattern further than last time, and come up with new and improved solutions to once impossible problems, or some such similar set of ideas yet to be comprehended.
However, there is another factor: if someone has not the mental capacity to collect their thoughts from a stimulus such as my copper conglomerate, then it is likely they lack the appropriate intelligence to understand the idea of post-modernism, and so they can be excluded from this particular branch of the argument. Therefore, three things can be confirmed:
Firstly, that old ideas will always open the path for new ones. Secondly, not every mind has the capacity to reach this stage, and those minds should be shunned. Lastly, you have an eye for understanding, and you should use that to the best of it’s ability before society pokes it out for you.
Yours Blearily,
Crane.