I intend to analyze and critique the piece of art created by Gregg, which he states is untitled at this point. Visually, we see a background of screen-printed images depicting the fortunes that are commonly found inside fortune cookies. The fortunes are arranged in a horizontal grid pattern. They are printed in black ink. A silhouette of a head created out of negative space obstructs the center of the grid of fortunes. Inside this silhouette are two strips comprised of fortune cookie fortunes that sit side by side. The strips start at the top most portion of the figure and descend vertically down to the bottom of the image. Inside the head shape the strips make various 90 degrees turns, which create a visual appearance of a maze. The strips appear to be arranged in this way to hint at facial features. The two strips are screen printed in different colors. One strip of fortunes is printed in red ink, the other in blue. Each individual fortune in the piece is different.
Upon first glance I immediately recognized that I was looking at an image that was mostly comprised of fortune cookie fortunes. This raised the question of the importance of the fortunes. I then began to think about the importance the fortune cookie had on our culture. As I began to think about these things I had to take into consideration the other imagery in front me. There was this negative space that seemed to create a silhouette of a head or face. And what were these red and blue lines of printed fortunes that occupied the space inside the head? I began to think of all the information we are spoon fed in our culture. Almost all of the ‘pop culture’ information we interact with on a daily basis is misconstrued or glamorized to evoke us to do something. It’s all around us as well. It consumes us to the point where we don’t even realize it’s there.
When I think a fortune cookie, I immediately think about the Americanized food industry. Fortune cookies are handed out freely at Chinese restaurants and buffets across the United States. Some people probably assume it is an authentic part of the cuisine, just as they think the buffet food they are eating is authentic. Others probably don’t really give the actual origin of the cookie or their food much thought. This leads me to wonder what exactly the people eating these cookies are thinking.
When I think about times I have opened a fortune cookie, there is this sense of wonderment. If I am eating with other people it takes me a long time to decide which cookie I should choose. Sometimes I leave it up to chance, allowing my company to choose first. There seems to be this idea that whichever fortune I get will somehow be pertinent to my daily life. The ironic thing is, that there are a hundred other fortunes out there exactly like mine. A lot of times the fortunes aren’t even slightly serious either. I think about the times I have gotten absurd fortune and how silly it seemed to me. But the one time you get one that remotely relates to something you have been thinking about, you smile and think ‘that’s so true!’
To me this piece is humorous. When you begin reading all of the fortunes, you realize that most of them say the same things using different words. Some of the fortunes are silly, some really don’t make much logical sense, and most of them are really cliché. This work provokes the viewer to question the information we are given day to day. I don’t think it would be as effective in this way if it weren’t for the head shape in the middle of the image. The silhouette itself is actually created by negative space. This visual effect creates a lot of implications. I immediately see it as human, but inhuman. It has no brain, no face, so substance. The only thing that fills this voided shape is the fortune cookie fortunes, which seem to outline the face. Visually our face is our most defining feature. People relate to each other through eye contact and verbal language. None of these forms of communication would be available if it weren’t for our faces.
So I begin to see this empty head filled with fortune cookie fortunes as an idea that we fill our head with what society feeds us. Who would refuse a fortune cookie? After all it’s free! And even if you don’t really want to eat the cookie, everyone wants to know what his or her fortune will say. It leads me to think of deeper issues, such as what the media feeds us, how advertising is used to manipulate us, and how complacent we are to all of this. We shrug our shoulders and say ‘why not’ without ever thinking about the things we are buying into.
I feel as though the piece is most successful at simply provoking thought. Its hard to look at all these fortunes and not wonder about where they all came from. How many people have received these same fortunes only to think how it actually pertains to their life? Who is the image of the head suppose to be? It seems to be a very ambiguous figure. It seems to suggest it could represent anyone. It seems to ask the question of “what dose your fortune mean to you?” I interpret this as asking, what does any information we are given mean to us? Do we even think twice about it most of the time? I know I don’t usually give much after thought to the fortune cookie fortunes I’ve ever opened.
My print is intended to be ambiguously human as you suggested Sarah. While the negative space that creates a head shape could represent anyone, in this case it represents myself, a self-portrait so to speak. The grid like pattern of the image has no intended significance, other than that I was limited in the fortunes I had in my possession, and I wanted the head shape to be subtle but identifiable. The fortunes simply represent the advice that we all seek when we need to make decisions. As mentioned, some of these fortunes are silly, and this hopefully adds a playful element to the image. The head shape and blue and red elements are intended to create enough mystery that the viewer does think about what the image could mean. Since the fortunes represent advice, this image is about myself as I look for direction in life.
ReplyDeleteIt may be important for us to at least consider what our culture spoon feeds us through various forms of media. Is this good advice? Does it make sense to do things this or that way? Is this what I want for my life? There seem to be many pieces of wisdom to consider in the decision making processes of our lives. The red and blue elements create a maze-like element as suggested in the critique, and this is to represent a confusion of sorts created by a path of suggestions that could also be bloodlines, or veins. The wise advice of my friends, of God, of our cultural norms, floats around in and out of my head (in a structured thinking pattern) as I try to make good decisions for the many possibilities and opportunities that exist for my life.