The Man Behind the Curtain and Understanding Pictures

I’ve known for a long time that people read different meanings into pictures.  Their perspectives are focused on how they connect to the pictures in front of them. This image I’ve made in Spark, as I was trying to learn how to use the software, seeking meaning in visual expression.

All Brilliant Ideas

But really what do the pictures tell you.  What do you read into them.  Denotations and connotations — which do you prefer?

The choices you make, may be subtle and not mindful.  There is a USA flag and a fence in one picture.  Does that mean anything to you?  Does it mean that liberty is behind a wall?

Does the bench in the wood mean that nature has be “surbanized”?

Does the stretch of road mean their is hope on the horizon?

Really I’m not really sure there is any meaning which I an promoting.  The picture was just an exercise in learning the software.  How to create a layout.  The pictures were selected by how well they grooved together.

I could write a story from the images.  One could take inferences, and model a fiction. The bench could mean in one person’s mind solitude; in another’s loneliness.  When we use pictures to paint a picture, sometimes our meaning is lost as the party perceiving it have a point of view that is quiet different.  The flag is the strongest and most likely skewed symbol.  Some want to stomp on it, light it afire, send wmds (weapons of mass destruction) at it.  Others honor it like a sacred and holy icon.

I spoke to  neighbor the other day about his yard, and referencing the land of Oz.  His yard was recently redone and planted with rye.  The green is bright and vibrant, much brighter than everyone else’s yard in the neighborhood.  He didn’t get the reference.

Land of Oz

In order to understand the picture you should go talk to the man behind the scenes, the wizard.  Pictures are generated to convey a meaning, most of the time.  To some photography is a form of art, and to others it is a form of message manipulation.  Strong images can elicit strong emotions!

The4 same can be said for modern media.  The images and stories they project carry meaning.  But who is the man behind the media.  What is it that they are saying.  much of the media is owned and operated by a few companies.

These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America

According to the above mentioned article there are 233 media executives that control what 277 million Americans read everyday.  The men behind the curtain hold the key to what the message is.

Since the news is controlled by companies, you can bet that the number one reason for the media is to tell Americans something that  these executives want you to know.  [Propaganda is the spreading of information in support of a cause. It’s not so important whether the information is true or false or if the cause is just or not — it’s all propaganda. (Taken from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/propaganda).] Being a capitalist nation, the focus is on making money. Yes, the imagery of green naturally!

The primary investors in these companies may have something to day about other messages that they want.  The spin doctors use their magic to make the world as green as possible.  Wouldn’t we all like to know what is really going in behind those curtains?

It’s curtains for curtains!

 

Should we care? The Universe!

Arthur Runs This Place

I know some people who are interested in the planets, the universe, and everything.  Of course we already know that the answer is 42, but I’m still wondering why we should care.  I learned recently that my cat, Arthur, actually runs the world.  He decides which things are up and which things go down.  (See photo)

Now I’m not here to dispute his powers, but maybe you wonder why things are as they are.

Really what is happening 12 gozillazillon light years away has little significance in my world and probably in yours, so what explains this desire to know whether the nebula is colliding with a black hole the size of 100 billion galaxies.  What does the study of the cosmos matter?

The only big bang I’m concerned with is the BMW that struck my daughter’s car and killed her.  I have buttons of her now, and she looks like an angel, a shooting star, who died too young.

Now the scientist asks all these questions about how the creation occurred and suggests that it happened randomly.  And they wonder why the rest of us don’t think they are brilliant.  They really don’t get it.  The beauty of the night’s sky came from chaos?  Really.  Well beauty doesn’t come from randomness.

Think about music.  Can you throw it together at random and make music.  I think 2 years olds make better music than that.

Can you take a bucket of paint and throw it at random to create a painting.  My experience with that is you end with the color brown.

That is the color of Arthur, ruler of the universe.

It amazes me that scientists don’t see the larger picture, and they are the ones measuring and cataloging this universe, but they don’t have faith in the one who made the whole thing.   Madness I tell you.

Further Readings

The Meaning of Life

Astronomy Introduction