Saturday, October 4, 2014
Questions and Comments on Vertigo & Kandinsky
Post your questions/thoughts as comments to this post. Again: a paragraph is fine, or a couple if you feel so moved. You are posting on a question, problem or topic of your choice. Citing a particular passage is recommended but not required.
You should reread all of Vertigo and at least review highlights from Kandinsky.
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Kandinsky provided us a relatively systematic and scientific way to understand abstract artworks by explaining the color synthesis, musical qualities and the spiritual dimensions of art. In contrast to analyzing the color pairs directly across from each other on the color wheel, he set antitheses of white and black, yellow and blue, orange and purple, and green and red. According to him, yellow possess a warm mobility while blue is coldly inert; the former expresses a bodily experience, the latter spiritual. While Kandinsky is not confirmed to have synesthesia, a neurological condition in which stimulations of one sensory leads to automatic and involuntary responses in another sensory, he surely pioneered in the study of synesthesia. Since art itself, especially abstract art, is meant to evoke feelings, emotions and memories of the viewers, constructing an artwork with synesthesia is very much like reverse engineering the effects one would like to have from viewers. Legend Vincent Van Gogh, for example, is believed to have this condition. Van Gogh’s masterpiece Starry Night perfectly proves Kandinsky’s color theory, with its dark blue sky creating a concentric and calm feeling and the bright yellow moon and stars evoking an eccentric and aggressive mood.
ReplyDeleteIn rereading Vertigo, I really began to notice his use of repeating motifs to communicate certain themes. The repetition of these symbols throughout the woodcuts was not something that jumped out at me on my first reading. However, even though I did not consciously process every time a symbol was used, I was able to gather the theme being expressed. Ward's use of subtle symbols shows that they are instrumental even in subconsciously understanding an artist or writer's work. Although I did not explicitly notice each motif in every woodcut, I was able to gather what theme Ward was trying to express.
ReplyDeleteAn example that especially stood out to me was the symbol of the eagle. It is pictured atop many buildings, but is not the first detail to capture a viewer's eye. In spite of that, the repetition of this symbol throughout the woodcuts allows viewers to understand what Ward is using the eagle to represent.
Kandinsky's systematic understanding of color provides another lens through which to view not only art, but all images and graphics. Kandinsky's theories on art and its interpretation deal heavily with color, a matter of some perception. My question relates to change in these perceptions. For example, color theory applies to those that have fully functioning rods and cones, allowing for the accurate (agreed upon perception) of certain colors. Blue is blue, red is red, green is green. However, does Kandinsky's theories on colors and their meaning still apply to those that cannot or have not seen colors as everyone else? Is blue still spiritual to someone that can't see all the colors of the rainbow? Furthermore, another commentator mentioned synesthesia. This arises in me questions regarding other mental conditions. Do all the colors create the same emotions and meanings in people with psychologically altering affects, such as schizophrenia, personality disorder, etc...?
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Kandinsky, he mentions a triangle or pyramid on a few occasions to symbolize the upward movement of art, and other various movements. In the one triangle, at the top there are the true geniuses that are able to think about what may be coming next in the evolution of their art, but they are also the people who are heavily scrutinized and not always given credit during their time. The book talks about building a spiritual pyramid through the arts, which will someday reach to heaven. The idea of art converging with spiritual growth is interesting to me, because I think that art does not necessarily have to reach a certain peak that is centered on religion. I understand that a lot of the paintings and music during this time, may have been based around religion, there is not as much of that seen today. This book was an interesting read, but hard to follow some of the references at times, and hard to apply to how we interpret art today.
ReplyDeleteI was particularly interested in the triangle that Kandinsky spoke about. He relates it to art and the views humans have towards it. Every segment of the triangle is an artist, hungry for their “corresponding spiritual food” (7). The whole triangle moves slowly, forwards and upwards. Beethoven stands at the top section of the triangle and is viewed as the ideal figure that artists should strive to be. He is somewhere between solitary and insulted and although revered for his great work, it was only noticed after his death. I’m wondering what Kandinsky was trying to reveal through his explanation of Beethoven, because I became confused by what he was saying. I also enjoyed the comparison of spiritual life to swimming, as it drags art back. Competition among artists is inevitable, because art expresses meanings inherent to only the artist who created them.
ReplyDeleteAs I reread Vertigo, I noticed a detail I had missed the first time I read it. When the boy is a child, he works for his father’s store. The name of the store is shown first on the basket the boy is carrying and then again on the cart he is pushing. The store is called “Corner Grocery.” Not only did I think the name connected with the multiple angled scenes around corners in the graphic novel, but it also served a greater meaning. A corner is somewhere where something changes, a path perhaps. I think most of Vertigo is about changing paths, as well. All of the main characters have moments in the story where they have a choice. The choice they make has consequences that change the path of their lives. The foreshadowing effect that his father’s store is a corner represents that the boy will make a change to be freed from the wrath of his father and the many other decisions he must make in the hard time that is the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteIn my re-reading of Vertigo, I noticed more clearly the significance of time throughout the book. While it is organized primarily by looking at the separate stories of the girl, the old man, and the boy, the time frame for each of these stories goes from years to months to days, perhaps to show the historical context for the depression before zooming in to emphasize the day-to-day struggle of those who live within it. This is not the only way Ward uses time, however. I also noticed that in the section about the old man, Ward often includes a clock or some other timing device. As his health deteriorates, we see an hourglass behind him on one page, draining along with his life. Another image shows him awaken in the middle of the night: while this picture is very dark, the background shows very prominently the face of a clock on a tower, again giving us the impression that time is very precious for him as his life is fading.
ReplyDeleteIn rereading Vertigo, there is something I think i'll mention that I hadn't noticed the first time. Perhaps due to the nature of woodcuts, rays of light are really prominent. Whether they are radiating from a star, emanating from a particular object, or just streaming down onto something, there is a lot of emphasis on where light comes from and where it hits. In some images there are no particularly strong rays so it's not like the rays of light are just part of the style. It goes beyond just drawing with some shading, the rays of light is a strong tool for highlighting certain objects or scenes. It seems to be a repeating symbol just like the star or the telephone wires. It's a bit more subtle as it could seem to be just a result of the woodcutting process rather than a choice, but I think it's strong enough in some images that it was more deliberate.
ReplyDeleteAfter rereading Vertigo, I focused on what gives the image motion and relate the idea to Kandinsky’s explanations. Kandinsky describes color in artwork and how some colors such as grey or green are motionless. Since Vertigo lacks color, I turned towards the patterning and how it gives movement. Ward’s images all consist of repetitious lines and display pointy geometrical shapes. The shirts and coats of the men all contain this style of imagery. The coats look somewhat distorted, but the triangles give the image form and movement. Ward possibly uses this loud and choppy illustration for the images to coincide with the tough times described in the book. I wonder if there are any other reasons behind the choice of style.
ReplyDeleteAfter rereading Vertigo, I took a notice to the image of the girl waiting in line for relief. The police officer who is keeping watch over the civilians in line is clearly overweight while everybody else in line is not. This shows one of the main problems with society today. Even during the Great Depression, the United States was full of greed and still is today. The wealthy seem to not care about the state of the poor and the poor seem to hate the wealthy. With this in mind, consider the Elderly Gentleman. The reader sympathizes with the Elderly Gentleman, even though he is much wealthier than the Girl or the Boy, because his health is failing with his company. The ties of wealth and health are evident in Vertigo. The Girl's father's emotional health fails as he attempts suicide after being provoked by advertisements once he is let off from his job. In a capitalist society like the United States, work is the definition of who you are. Without a job, the individual is seen as a slacker and is looked down upon from society. Those who do not have a job also tend to not be healthy due to poor living and eating conditions. Why is the Elderly Gentleman sick then? It is a symbol of how the capitalist foundation of the United States is corrupt and ultimately crumble leaving all the citizens of the country vulnerable as the body is to germs?
ReplyDeleteRe-reading Vertigo again, I feel like the message I got from the book has changed. The first time I read it I thought it had a very cynical tone of America and how it was diseased and corrupted. But this time was different, and I saw it as telling a story of helpful change. The images of riots represent change that needed to happen for something positive to happen for America. Before I interpreted it as the upper echelon putting down the working class to preserve themselves, and now I see it more as the working class rising up to cure the corruption that was putting them down in the first place. The darkness of the story is more like the phrase "it's always darkest before the dawn" instead of the dark hell it was the first time.
ReplyDeleteAfter I re-read vertigo again, I feel more about the history of America. In the first time I read this book I only realized it is a book about how America start his century. I did not think to much about the meaning behind those picture. It is a book actually talked about a country's grow up and the cost that behind all the images we see. The outside is always beautiful, but the the inside we never know. The author use only black and white in the pictures, such simple and complicated. Two color, so much definitions behind these two color. I have to say this book made me think and it is worth to re-read again and again.
ReplyDeleteGoing back through Vertigo for a second time was not dissimilar to rereading a book or watching a movie for the second time and immediately having more detail appear on the page or screen. Having the basic premise of the story already known, I found myself focusing more on the way shapes were represented in terms of Kandinsky ideas on form. Even though Ward’s work lacks color Kandinsky referenced that, “Form alone, even though totally abstract and geometrical, has a power of inner suggestion” (Page 43). What stood out this time, were the harsh parallel lines representing light which were always placed in specific locations to illumination specific areas of the image and cast others in shadows. I also found it interesting that the intensity of light in making situations had drastically changed transgressing from the An Elderly Gentleman into The Boy chapters. The boy in many scenes appears to be shed in brighter intensity of light, but ultimately his face is covered in more shadow easily seen in the scene where the boy stands in from of all the billboard even though light appears to be radiating from building he is standing in front of.
ReplyDeleteAfter rereading Vertigo I wondered why did Ward use Vertigo as the title. Vertigo is defined as a sensation of whirling and loss of balance. To me it could be because the "illogical" events that were occurring leading up to the great depression could cause people to experience symptoms of vertigo, and experience feelings of despair. The pages are not numbered, the images do not have a traditional border (comparing to traditional comics), the images vary in size and detail and lastly the stories are broken up and told in different kind of times with overlapping characters. Wards book is organized in a fashion that could be confusing and questioning. so my question is are these the reasons why he named the book Vertigo?
ReplyDeleteUpon re-reading Vertigo it was remarkable how many different things I saw from the background. The first time through, I really only tried to pay attention to the people themselves and the story that Ward was trying to tell through them. But after the lecture and reading both Blake and Kandinsky it was made much more obvious how important the entirety of the pictures were to understanding what Ward was trying to get at. Kandinsky says on page 36 (nook version) that "every from is as sensitive as a puff of smoke, the slightest breath will alter it completely" and this is true of Vertigo. If you miss a single detail or look at the wrong thing the wrong way the story will not fully come to be understood. Such as several points in the book with the mailboxes askew, or the star present. Or how the addition of light changes the meaning given on which direction it comes from. Vertigo is a book to be read multiple times and each time gives me a new insight on the full story being told.
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