Liberators

Dutch SS-Storm Magazine published "Liberators" in 1944 as part of a anti-america socialist movement. This image uses irony to depict the United States as false heroes. The central figure in the image represents the United States, and is made up of all it's problems. The lower right arm depicts the high criminal activity and gun violence  in the 40s. Miss Victory on the creature left wing, along with the female right leg represents the prejudice against women in the history of the United States. On the right shoulder of this figure is Miss America. She wears a head dress which portrays the mistreatment of natives americans. The two black arms, one holding a record the other a boxing glove holding a money back, embodies the only to ways a black man can make it in America, this being in music or sports. The noose hanging from the black arm and the hood the figure wears, represent the Ku Klux Klan and america's issue with racism. The pilot wings on the creatures back, along with it's nuclear left leg symbolize the military culture of the United States in this time. The irony comes from the title. Despite all these problems the United States still claim to be "Liberators."

Words Hurt

In this picture there is a hand around a young boy's neck. The hand is made up of mean and offensive words and it is making him cry. I believe this picture is trying to say that words hurt. Many times we don't realize how our words can affect others and we tend to be insensitive towards other people's feelings. Words have the potential to hurt more than physical pain. A cut will heal in a few weeks but whenever someone hurts your feelings you will always remember it even if you forgive them. You don't know how sensitive a person is and your words may affect them differently.

Advertisement Posters

These posters are made from an organization called World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). On the bottom of the poster on the left, it says that, “19.6kg of different resources including wood are spent on 1 roll of bumf production. Wood-feeling conduces to huge gullies expanding, animal migration and extinction, planet lungs annihilation. Excessive paper expending is killing the Earth.” But the toilet paper and plastic bottle itself signifies a lot even without the description. On the poster on the right, it states that, “Time is running out from them, not for plastic.”

Purpose: It is to arouse our attention to nature and to conserve papers. It also reminds us about things that we used inadvertently; things like water, energy, use of plastic, not recycling correctly, etc.  The poster on the right is delivering a message of our usage of plastic which is causing extinction and destruction of nature.

Aesthetic impression: Left- It is using a toilet paper to portray the Earth. This is the top side of earth shown along with the details of geographic colors. Right- there is a rhino inside the plastic bottle trying to get out from the plastic bottle.

Creativity: Left- this poster makes us think that the trees and other resources are rapidly diminishing as we use/finish this toilet paper. Right- The plastic bottle is twisted and it is causing rhino to choke from it.

Economic feasibility: This environmental organization gives us a message to lessen the usage of plastic and natural resources.

Melanin Picture

Melanin Picture  Analysis

The painting is by an anonymous author. It consists of three African-American women with different skin tones. Looking at the picture you can see the lighter-skinned girl at the top right corner, the medium brown-skinned girl in the middle left, and the darker-skinned at the center of the bottom. The author portrays this as how skin tones are depicted in society. Among the African-American community people with lighter skin tones are seen as the most beautiful. It is a controversial topic with the history dating back to slavery. The lighter skinned people always had better jobs and were treated with a little more decency then those that were darker. Due to circumstances of slavery,  people with skin tones that appeared lighter or close to the "European glow" were deemed as more attractive. It is common for darker-skinned people to be made fun of because of the color of  their skin. There are so many discrepancies in what is deemed acceptable in society regarding the color of your skin. All of their eyes being closed ties in to the mood and tone of the painting. It makes the ambiance of this piece slightly darker and innocent. When your eyes are shut, you shield out the world and your surroundings. The eyes are known as the gateway to the soul, so in this picture it symbolizes the absence of that characteristic. The envious nature of this topic makes us less inhumane to one another. It makes us blind to judgment. We can't see that we are all the same despite of our diverse skin shades.  Blindness prevents us from seeing the truth about the nature of a person.  Overall this unique painting gives us awareness about mindset of society in relation to skin tones in the African-American community.

Picture

This photo reflects the effects that war has on people. In the photo, the soldier in the bandanna is being comforted by another soldier. The soldier in the bandanna must've heard some bad news or experienced something that would make him break down. To the left of the photo, you can see another man who doesn't seem like he's in a good mood either. When you think of war, it's common to assume soldiers are the tough and aren't affected much emotionally. This picture helps us come to terms that soldiers are human too and go through many emotions while going through combat. Many soldiers come home with PTSD because of what they experience. The soldiers might've been staying in that environment as they have sand bags and cots. The soldiers might feel homesick and is crying because he misses his home or family.  

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

          

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1503), the picture on the left, is an iconic painting, often referred to as enigmatic because no one knows who the subject of the painting is. The color scheme further conveys the mystery surrounding the painting; despite the appearance of blue, orange, and golden-yellow, the colors are fashioned in a way that makes them appear neutral and  dark. The subject's face is a closed-mouth, slight smile that can be described as if she is withholding a secret.

The painting on the right, however, adds an entirely different slant to the significance of the original. It is called Mujer de mano de Leonardo Abince and was found during a restoration project in 2012. At first, it was credited as one of da Vinci's paintings, but was later attributed to being a painting by one of his young pupils. Many have speculated that the painting depicts a younger version of the original. Such youth is expressed with the use of  colors such as red, blue, and white - none of which appear neutral, but rather bold, compared to the original. While being reserved an modest is associated with being older, being bold and adventurous is associated with being younger.

              Perhaps, the paintings have nothing to do with youth and aging, but life and death instead. In the pupil's painting the subject's cheeks are reddish as if she still has blood pumping through her veins whereas the original looks as if her skin tone is the same throughout as if she is pale and lifeless. That would explain the grim background in the original versus the lively one in the pupil's painting.