Eyes, for Lauren (and for myself)

[readingredhead]

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together,
Headpiece filled with straw...

 

This was the first of the Hollow Men sketches.  I was sitting and watching X-Files on TV and looking at a blank page when I drew the central figure -- the "Hollow Man" of the image.  Then I thought of the quote and decided he needed a "direct eye," and when there was room I decided the poetry was necessary to explain the image.  I don't like the scan of this very much -- it's pretty high res, but that means that it looks funky if you shrink the image too much.

I dunno, something about the figure's gesture really does strike me as empty.  It's movement, sure -- but where to, and where from, and why does it matter to the viewer?  Under the scrutiny of such a clear gaze, the figure is frozen, a mere shadow.



This, Lauren, was probably as a direct result of your eye picture.  I wanted to try the shading out, so I did it.  But then I thought about what it means to have an eye in black and white -- the irony of this great capturer of color being pictured in monochrome.  Hence the quote: "The eyes are not here.  There are no eyes here."  For how can it be an eye if it can't see?  It's a hollow eye, providing the user with only a shadow of sight.

The quote for this is, "Here, the eyes are sunlight on a broken column."  This takes a bit of explaining, but when Tony and I were studying Hollow Men (and everything else) for IB orals, we came across a site which mentioned that a broken column is a common grave marker in the case of a premature death (http://www.aduni.org/~heather/occs/honors/Poem.htm).  I thought this was so much more fitting than Dr. Chris's interpretation of the crumbling churches, because hollowness isn't just about religion -- it's about the inherent will and passion to live, or lack thereof.

The death of a child dying young is mourned because they have not yet had the time to live.  The death of the Hollow Men should be mourned for different reasons -- because they had all the time they could have wanted, but they made nothing of it but their own personal Hell, the "desert kingdom" here on Earth.

And that's all the ones I feel like scanning, though I've got one more...but I think I'm going to color it in, just to see what it looks like that way.  I'd be afraid of ruining it, but it's not good enough to begin with for me to worry about that.

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Comments

[incaseineedyou.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean about the eye fixation. It's cool.

I never even considered the irony of capturing an eye in black and white, but it is very interesting. Like taking a silent video of an ear... or no. Like recording an... no, ears cna't make sounds. Hm. I can't think of what it would be like exactly, but I like the idea.

The "shape without form..." lines were some of my favorite in the poem. But then, I could take any line from that poem and if I thought about it long enough, it would be my new favorite.

I like your interpretation of the broken columns better too; or I should say I think it's better with that added meaning than it was without it, because technically it could still be meant to bring a church to mind, too. You guys find the coolest things.

And on a random note, "Headpiece filled with straw" made me think of Fiyero. Mostly because everything makes me think of Wicked. But look, everything ties in together; the eyes, the poem, the play... it all fits. How nice.

[readingredhead.livejournal.com]

Oh, that line definitely makes me think Fiyero -- it's not just you.

And I like what you said about having a "new favorite" line every time you think about it. I love Eliot because he never leaves me, even if I want him too. I just finished writing a sonnet inspired by something in Wasteland (I'm really proud of it, surprisingly).

Maybe like drawing an ear without a body? Because without a brain, it can't process the sounds, anyway. The sounds are still there, but they're meaningless without the rest of the person. Granted, you can say the same thing for the eye -- without the person it's nothing. Beauty's not so much in the eye of the beholder as it is quite literally *in* the beholder -- the eye on its own doesn't do much good. (This reminds me of what Mrs. McClure said last year about how disembodied body parts in Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock show the chaos and lack of connection felt by the speaker. I like that idea.)

[incaseineedyou.livejournal.com]

Can I read the sonnet? Can I please?

That's how I know I love an author or a piece; when I can't pick a favorite piece or line.

That does sound like a cool idea. I was in McClure until November last year, and the switched to Roelen (or how do you spell that?), and McClure didn't cover Prufrock until after I left her class, at which point Roelen already had, so I never got instruction on it. I kind of wish I had.

Drawing an ear without the body would make sense. I was trying to figure out a way to take onyl one part of the sound out, because technically an eye can still see in black and white, it just isn't the same without the color. I was thinking sound without.. language? comprehension? Like being able to hear speech and music, but not tie the sounds together, so that each one was meaningless and incomprehensible. Or something. But it didn't really work, and besides I don't know how you would indicate a lack of comprehension in the picture. Haha. I killed it.

[readingredhead.livejournal.com]

I posted the sonnet. I had to -- it made me.

Sorry to hear you were deprived of preliminary Prufrock instruction. It's a really good poem, though I like Hollow Men better (I think).

And I like what you said about the ear, and the idea of lacking comprehension of sounds. You definitely didn't kill it. I don't know how you could show that in a picture, but I definitely know you can *feel* that, because there are some days when people say things to me that I should desperately understand and it just comes out as ...?... and I feel terrible because I have to ask again and again and again what they just said.

[incaseineedyou.livejournal.com]

yeah, I know what you mean. Well, unless you're talking on a deeper than physical level- I am distracted often (ok, all the time) by thoughts like this, and by the time I can tear my attention away from whatever new revolution is occuring in my mind, I have no idea what is going on around me, and people always have to repeat things. My friends get really mad sometimes. Also, I will hear really random phrases that make no sense in the context of the conversation, but have the same basic sounds as what they are saying. Something about intonation, I don't know. I think my hearing just really sucks.
There are other times, though, where someone will say something and it feels like there is a meaning to it I am not grasping. Sometimes it's phrasing, but usually it's facial expression or intonation... like all that I get from it is the idea that there is a connection I'm not making, a meaning I'm not grasping, but nothing about what it is. It actually happens a lot, but usually only really mildly.

I'm going to go read it! Yay!

And I hate asking more than once for someone to repeat something. If I don't hear it the second time I usually just nod and go "mmm," and hope it wasn't a question. Or, you know, a declaration of love.

[incaseineedyou.livejournal.com]

oh and, bonus points, I'm in the title! I feel so important! Haha.