This is a barley visible smudge of graphite on a canvas. It was "drawn" by Shirazeh Houshiary an english "artist" originally from Iran. Shirazeh claims the idea for this painting was inspired when she saw her breath evaporate on a mirror and realized this was a representation of human life. As Shiazeh says " I realized this is who we really are—not concrete and not permanent, or definable. It is this illusive presence, which can only be experienced directly, a part of life, or breath.". I found this very similar to Cormac McCarthy's rather bleak out look on life in the road. Everything is fleeting and there is a constant knowing through out the book that the boy and the man will eventually fade, just like breath on a mirror.
Good choice! I had to upload it twice before I figured out that the image was actually there. You make a good observation about impermanence as a key idea in both works.
ReplyDeleteI really like your choice. This is some heavily conceptual art.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes some people "artists" and others artists? Is it right, or accurate, to make this distinction?
I think this artwork represents the road in the sense that there is nothing there except for a "smudge" of hope. And the blankness of this picture is the life that they all currently live in the book day to day. while the smudge on the artwork repents the hope that they have to survive to the next day.
ReplyDeleteI like what Hayley said about the smudge of hope. This painting embodies the bleak and, some would say, meaningless life in The Road. The small smudge shows the small amount of "hope," as Hayley said, in the life of people on the road; and represents the book very well.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the smudge is a glimmer of hope. There are parts in the book for example when the man and the boy find the bunker with a lot of food in it. Also the smudge could represent the boy and show how there are few people that share his kindness, generosity and all around selfless nature.
ReplyDeleteThe smudge is a stand-in for just about everything--hope, the sun they can occasionally sense behind the haze of ash, the humanity they encounter, the remnants of civilization they scavenge from houses and towns. Barely visible.
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