up the hill backwards

up the hill backwards

The vacuum created by the arrival of freedom
And the possibilities it seems to offer
It's got nothing to do with you, if one can grasp it

(Title credits: David Bowie)

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Explanation and interpretation
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The imagery first

The "orange-grey", or "yellow-grey", or "orange-grey/blue", or "orange-and-something", or whatever we call the combo has been with me more or less always, or at least for a good while... earlier pieces are eg. "doorstop and roadblock", "drums and triangles", "fat old sun", "orange tower" ... and so on.

It's a powerful one, and ... well, it's charcoal, fire, and smoke...

So, we have these two similar-yet-different objects floating in mid air, and on the opposite side some kind of more solid structure that clearly represents some kind of "base". It is connected to the two objects, not only by means of the colour but also from the diagonal that your eyes draw from the endpoints of the floating objects to the "base". The "weight" of the solid structure left technically balances the picture, as without it the "weight" of the two floating objects would bee too much for the right side.

And then, from experience we know what it is, and we know that outside the picture the three parts are connected. But, that's our experience; we know that they're supposed to be connected - in the picture they're not.

The separation is underlined by the hostile environment these three objects are placed in. First, the blue-ish tone provides a contrast colour to the orange. Second, there's nothing even remotely appealing about that charcoal-blueish-gray landscape, except for the orange objects. It's a desert wasteland with no life - the only sign of life is the orange objects.

The choice of colour also serves to add motion to the picture.. stare at it for a while, and the hooks will move. Just a little bit, but they will.

Interpretation

This, the grey space, is "The vacuum created by the arrival of freedom - And the possibilities it seems to offer". And indeed there are possibilities... seemingly. The three objects could could interact in many odd ways. And they should; we -- the observers -- know that. But, alas, they don't.

The two hooks are two people. They should obviously be closely connected but they're not. They're floating in mid-air not really connected and not really apart. And the "base-like" structure is their "golden cage", their common base. They are clearly separated more from it than from each other, and based on the diagonal movement it seems as if they're moving away from it, either together or one-by-one.

"It's got nothing to do with you - if one can grasp it" refers to the fact that they are closely connected, somehow. A strong bond, which in this picture is a steel wire. So, there's absolutely no bad will between them. They try to grasp that freedom that they've somehow chosen in stead of the golden cage (the history only says "what", not "why"), but sofar there's really nothing interesting out there anyway. So, they're both in a vacuum.

Interpretation 2

This is a classic tragedy. No more, no less. But pretty much up-to-date in a language the Greeks could not write.

Plot summary: There's a golden base with two people destined for each other. However one, or the other, decides to leave the party... As there is no other life on mars it all ends sadly - exit bottom right corner.

Themes

Desire, love, loneliness, solitude, sadness, melancholy, broken dreams, and high hopes ... all the usual suspects

About the image

Things to do:

More like it:

Darkroom

Where?:

See satellite view

More?:

See larger version on deviantART

Technical details:

Camera model:

Nikon E775

Shutter speed:

10/5675 seconds

F Number:

F/4.9

Focal length:

17 mm

ISO:

100

Image finished:

2006-09-20

Photo taken:

2006-06-09 19:06:13