I made the executive decision of keeping the interpretations to a minimum "bloggable" version. This doesn't mean that I would be able to elaborate later on. It just means that I tend to synthesize concepts due to my training as a graphic designer and advertiser. Both professions driven by the aphorism: Less Is More. Quite the contrary case of Literary Criticism. Here they are: Three stories, concisely analyzed.
Story One: The Man That Was Used Up.
I interpret The Man That Was Used Up as a social commentary of how technology makes us better humans, better living creatures, whole. The downside of this artificial betterment however, is our loss of unity and its subsequent dependency on bodily augmentations that provide the key to access societal acceptance. When the story is translated into contemporary terms the parallels are remarkable. Everything "i" attests this phenomenon; it is all about the self, the individual: iphone, ipod, imovie, idvd, ibook. My first creature inherited some descriptions about how agent John Smith A.B.C.might have looked like when he was not constructed as such: A leg with an eye.
However, everything was also there. How to explain it? How to depict it? I designed the monster so it has a first frontal view of the eye and the leg with all the other parts "carried over" in the back. The awkward motion of this creature pretends to establish a comparison with our erratic way of moving around a given space when we forget our cell phone at home -if that ever happens,- or any other device that defines who we are. Here the creature animated.
When the creature takes the form of Agent Smith A..B.C, it becomes human (nized). Or at least what we perceive it to be: human. He moves and acts as such, however, the sounds still have that animal quality to them thanks to the interface of the game itself. The "human" version of Agent Smith A.B.C. was created directly from its predecessor, no parts had been added. They have been modified in terms of scale in order to create the human look in the creature.
Story Two: The Tell-Tale Heart
I
interpret The Tell-Tale Heart as a social commentary about the narratives of power between generations. The old man symbolizes the status quo, the establishment with all its regulations and uncontested rules that are taken for granted. The young man is urged to commit an atrocious crime for society at large: Silence the elder and blind the powers of control imposed over us. The eye in the story represents control, overlooking every act, regardless of it being closed from time to time, it remains forever vigilant. The young man needs to wait for the darkness, a moment of blindness happening just a few minutes during certain hours of the day/night when cameras switch modes. A few seconds are enough to complete the task of termination. However, in the same fashion of a hard core computer hacker the revelation of the great accomplishment must be shared with the highest authorities. Otherwise, the whole story losses its meaning and purpose of liberation from the old establishment. Proving that liberation is possible empowers future generations to continue acknowledging the eye, and the everlasting palpitation of his hideous heart, that for me represents the role of technology in today's society. Ever present, making us feel "connected," "alive."
I chose to design the Spore® creature to resemble a piece of meat, almost a heart, but not really, with veins in a poor attempt (I must move within the constrains of the software) to connect the graphic to a living creature. A palpitating one. The resemblance of a heart was necessary given the use of an eye. A blue big eye that looks everywhere. The hands of the creature can't really help the suffocation that will follow. They were placed and designed so they visually signify "impossible reach" therefore impossible protection. The mouth is pointing downwards right below the nose. They can't bite but they can make a big noise. Big enough as to alert the possible system flaw.
Story Three: The Raven / The Real Poe
I interpret Poe's favorite poem, the one he said was most willing to perform in front of any audience: The Raven as Poe's auto biography.
His command of language in the construction of the poem was what Poe was all about: Control.
At least that is my reading after getting to know him for this short period of time. I am aware that this reading has no "scholarship," real or fictional that could support my arguments without much further and deeper research. This reading is just a byproduct of what the poem makes me feel after several readings of it. its rhythm fits perfectly that of a sound piece. As a visual composition the continuous use of "nevermore" and other similar words provide the same sense of unity and controlled flow of events.
For me the raven, the black feathered animal represents the way he saw himself in relationship to society. Unwelcome, dark, unexpected. However, always present yet unreachable. His dark soul is perched above himself, impossible to be caught, grabbed, told what to do. Constantly talking to himself with the famous "nevermore." Poe couldn't find a way out of his serial killing, blood thirsty brain. Awake, sleep, in between. The result is a sour man, sadly beaten by a life of misfortunes.
The Raven, goes through every step of his life in every stanza. From his unexpected arrival to this world and the loss of his parents to his very own impossibility to become successful and free in a society that becomes more violently hungry of ideas and commodities.
Who loves a Raven anyway? Who wants a Raven visiting in the middle of night? The repetitive nature of the beautiful rhythm imposed by the language represents the amazing limitless capacity of Poe to reshape the same story structure over and over again, with enough changes as to make it unique.Always willing to stop, never having been able to do it.
When I designed the first Poe as the Raven, in the early section of this course, I made the fundamental design mistake of interpreting the character in its literal reading. During a design process the first drafts always corresponds to what is perceived as "cliche." Therefore this mean looking raven is a monster with wings to resemble those of the actual black bird. At least I didn't paint it black! That is some serious progress in my way of designing first state cliches!
This was the first animation ever uploaded to YouTube® The one that has been sitting there for the entire semester. The name Spraven was the result of a combination of the terms Spore and Raven; another cliche eager to call attention upon itself. yet another mistake.
As my "scholarship" of the design-interpretation enhanced I came up with a second version. A Poe that was more human and sad looking. I began to understand that the poem wasn't about the death of her lover but the dead of his future as an author. The bird wouldn't fly away. Any feathered animal -that flies- represents freedom semiotically by virtue of the ability to defy gravity, our common ruler and impossible hurdle to overcome without the use of external devices.
A bird that instead of flying away flies inside the room (his head) and doesn't want to leave talks about his frustrations. The second Poe was about sadness and frustration. This Poe-Raven preserves some monster features to it just to connote discomfort and danger.
The final version of The Raven engulfs the previous reflections and adds some other layers of meaning to it. At this stage I definitely wanted the animation to convey the message of sadness and burden. Defeat. The animal characteristics deriving from the relationship between the subject (Poe) and the Object (Raven) are present in the designed creature. A body that somehow resembles that of a dying, and starving man was achieved. The effect is enhanced with the bones sticking outwards from the sides of the body; bones that double play as weapons to be aware of.
The arms are long to enhance the effect of weight upon the back. The additional layer of meaning that I was referring to comes from another creature study. As a matter of fact a self-portrait (available in my YouTube videos.) It consists in an additional mouth located very purposefully in the buttocks' area to signify what it does: Criticism.
Poe's criticism could have been precise and keen, no question about it. However, it threw him into a self-imposed category of hard critic. Which means in return that he wasn't perceived as friendly. I am convinced that his attitude was the result of his hyper-brain. I am also convinced that he suffered ADD. Can I argue this "scholarly"? Of course not. This observation comes as the result of personal experience. Interestingly, enough if you search for Poe and ADD, some sites claim he suffered from it. After reading so many books about this very modern condition, Poe shows all the symptoms not only through the history of his life but also through his work. At any rate I can't confirm any of these claims nor have I the desire to do it. I am pretty sure that out there (or is it in there?) a scholar must be developing this idea. One who may take it all the way through if interest be to discover one more clue about this lab frog called Poe.
Poe's criticism would come as unfriendly as possible. Precise, sharp, and acute. Just like shark teeth. Uncontrollable and destructive. Above the shark mouth an eye looks everything that is out of reach of his frontal eyes. This eye in the back represents, in tandem with the critical devouring mouth, his keen critical observations. The whole composition then creates a Poe that is very sad in one side, and completely destructive in the other. They are one, impossible to separate. That is my interpretation of The Raven, an autobiographical poem.
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