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.

[incaseineedyou.livejournal.com]

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