Thought Exercises
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Pictures: Conveying Meaning Through it Parts
The three photos I decided to use all depict a woman. This woman is the root of all the images, for she is the main focal point of the pieces. It is her that is the source of the image in which the viewer emotional connects to the piece.
In the first image, the woman cries as she thinks about a man. At this moment, it is unclear whether they are romantically involved, until you view the other two images. Once viewing the other two pictures, it becomes apparent that the man is her significant other. But the third image creates further confusion, for the woman may no longer love her partner.
In the first image, the thought of the man is an unbound affix. Although he is unbound, he is derivational. This is because, the thought of the man gives significant insight to the emotion the woman is feeling. She is either saddened over him or misses him. The emotion of sadness is conveyed through the way her mouth forms a frown, while in the second image it appears to be a smile conveying a sense of pleasure.
In the second image, the man is an unbound derivational affix as well. This is because, without the man, the viewer would not be able to understand why the woman is crying and an incorrect assumption would most likely be drawn. For the woman is crying due to overwhelming joy, but if the man wasn’t there holding her, she would merely appear sad.
The tears the woman is shedding may be considered an allomorph but I would argue against it, for in the first image they appear to be tears of sorrow. But in the second image I believe the tears are tears of joy. This is because she is reunited with her lover and she is crying because she is so happy that they are together. In either case, the tears are bound affixes for on their own they wouldn’t convey significant meaning, but attached to the woman, the viewer is able to sympathize and understand how the woman feels.
In the last image though, the woman maintains a blank composure. She has a slightly empathetic look on her face, but I feel that is because she is about to break it off with her boyfriend. She says, “I love you, too… But…” This creates a very ominous feeling in the viewer; as if the woman is about to say something she doesn’t want to say but has too. The speech bubble in the third image is an unbound derivational affix, for without it, the piece’s meaning would be unclear to the viewer.
#roylichtenstein #popart #comicart #morphology #visualdissection
Turning Pictures into Morphemes
Throughout all of the images there is the pattern of organic life. The child inside the brain of the man who is smoking the essence of butterflies which to me is an allusion to DMT. The reason I believe it provides that allusion because there are endegenous stores of DMT in our brain for which we have no reason; some have theorized its the flash between your life or that it is associated with sleep. No one really knows and those who do usually have ulterior motives. Perhaps the child is a metaphor for the sense of Self. I also see this picture as a blend of the mechanistic sciences that Newton and to a lesser degree Descartes had a hand in to the more modern approaches in quantum physics which does not disregard Newton’s accomplishments but you could say improved them. Then there are the male and female citizens chasing after a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object). Here we see a male and female most likely outside their teenage years holding hands and trying to communicate with this flying object; they presume it is innocent. Perhaps they both had a positive abduction experience and are wanting to thank them. The third one is a ladybug on a surrealist landmark of a fork and spoon intertwined. This intertwining only happens once and the ladybug is located on the spoon. It is done in a very surrealistic form which seems like an influence from Salvador Dali.
The morphology for the man breaks down into the substance he is smoking; for without the butterfly essence there would be no power for the child inside. It is vital to its nutrition. For the male and female citizens following the UFO the morphology must be the organic whole that we can see. We could assume that this UFO is operated by an extraterrestrial which is what the author may have intended but to stick with the pattern it is organic life. The fork and spoon landmark morphology comes down to the tiny lady bug despite the colossal difference in size it still is the only thing that contains organic life. Another theme I’ve been noticing is it is a very unique to Earth to have organic life though Drake’s equation says we are not the only organic beings in existence but for now I’ll stick with what the world knows.
For the man smoking I would say the man is the root since the child is self-contained within him and that the pipe with its butterfly essence is the affix. For the male and female who are chasing the UFO it is the UFO which is the root because without the UFO what would the male and female be chasing? This makes them the affix. For the fork and spoon landmark it is the fork and spoon intertwined as the root and the ladybug as an affix.
Adopting a derivational mode could completely change the root and affixes for all of the images. For example if we changed the meaning of what is the root opposite of the standard then in the man smoking image it would be the butterfly essence as the root. In an inflective sense it could alter it slightly for examples adding an s to ladybug would make multiple ladybugs there is no way of knowing if it would just be like 2 more or over 9000. Say it is over 9000, we would have to change the root in an almost derivational sense.
I was unable to find any allophones because of how distinct each of my images were.
Images from Omni Magazine on tumblr.
Morphology of Images
What parts of the image do you see?
I see outer space, a naked woman, a star erupting, and a skeletal man smoking.
How do these parts interact with each other?
When I look at these images together I think it could possibly represent new life. In the first image it seems to me that the woman is in pain, which could possibly have to do with child birth. In the second image, I think that the bursting star against the earth represents the beginning of new life on earth. In the third image, a small child sleeps inside a skeletal head, which could refer to the innocence every child is born with before the influence of toxicity which is human life form.
Are these images telling a story?
Yes, I believe that each image tells the story of a beginning of new life. A woman bares a child, that child makes a permanent impact on the earth (represented by the exploding star) and that new life is within all human existence.
Which parts of this image are characters in the story?
I believe that the woman is the main character in the story, because she creates new life on earth. The small child in the last image represents new life and the characteristics which make new life pure.
Which parts of this image are crucial for the setting of the story ?
The parts I see which are crucial for the setting of the story, is the way that the woman is laying. To me, it looks like she is evoking a feeling of pain and bliss. This pain represents the physical pain of new life, and the bliss represents the joy of creation.
Which parts of this images are crucial for the plot?
The idea of the story is about the creation of new life. I think that the exploding star represents the moment new life arrives on earth which is what the entire story of images is based off of.
How do these parts interact?
The theme of new life interacts with the theme of outer space, in that with new life it can be changed in a small moment of life. Along with the small moment of emotion created by new life, the galaxy shows signs of new life as well.
What parts of this image are “root” or “stem” parts and which parts feel like “affixes”?
The parts of this image that feel like “root or “stem” parts, I think that the specific way the woman is laying is a root of the events which will soon occur; I believe that these events will be child birth and the formation of new life.
As far as the “stem” is concerned, to me it seems that the galaxy/milky way apparition that the woman is lying on come hand in hand with the root to form the affix.
In this image the affix is most likely the small stars which make up the galaxy in the middle image. If the image is blown up you can see small stars shooting from the large star, representing the different walks of life all new beings come from.
Of the affixes, can you say which are “inflectional” (they only exist to hold the grammar together) and which parts are “derivational” (they add some important information to the meaning, or change the kind of meaning of a given part)?
In the images I think that the only inflectional images are inside of the middle picture. I placed these images in this order for that specific reason. To me, the bursting star represents the woman’s child birth and the last picture of the small child inside the man’s head. The middle image serves as a means of communication between the woman and her child. For me the derivational images in the picture focus in on the last image. I really love this picture because I think that it makes the connection between new life and innocence, with ending life and toxicity. The fact that a small child is inside the head of a man smoking symbolizes the delicate balance of innocence and knowledge+experience.
By Julia McGonigal
Images from: Omni Magazine Reboot :http://theomnieffect.com/archive
The Morphology of Images
Take a look at the image “Minor Changes 50” by Todd Webb (all images by Todd Webb, take from Comics Workbook and Wall Drawing).
- What parts of the image do you see?
- How do those parts interact with each other?
- Is this image telling a story?
- Which parts of this image are characters in the story?
- Which parts of this image are crucial for the setting of the story ?
- Which parts of this images are crucial for the plot?
- How do these parts interact?
Now, look at Minor Changes 46.
- Does this new information change your interpretation of the morphology of Minor Changes 50?
- What do you know now that you didn’t know before?
- What parts of this image are “root” or “stem” parts and which parts feel like “affixes”? Why?
- Of the affixes, can you say which are “inflectional” (they only exist to hold the grammar together) and which parts are “derivational” (they add some important information to the meaning, or change the kind of meaning of a given part)?
Now look at” Minor Changes 63″–
- Did your opinion about the morphology of this image change?
Now look at the entire series of images in this group of “Minor Changes” (Minor Changes 39-63) and think about morphology.
- How does the visual morphology change?
- How does it stay the same?
One possible set of answers…
-doug
D5 Creation