One hundred

I made a little movie. It's my first foray into this sort of thing. I hope you like it. 

The dreams of the blind

In the lead up to the anniversary of Armistice day, I thought it would be appropriate to mention Isaac Rosenberg, whose poem, Returning, We Hear the Larks, I have been reading:

Returning, We Hear the Larks

Sombre the night is.
And though we have our lives, we know
What sinister threat lurks there.

Dragging these anguished limbs, we only know
This poison-blasted track opens on our camp-
On a little safe sleep.

But hark! joy-joy-strange joy.
Lo! heights of night ringing with unseen larks
Music showering on our upturned list'ning faces.

Death could drop from the dark
As easily as song-
But song only dropped,
Like a blind man's dreams on the sand
By dangerous tides,
Like a girl's dark hair for she dreams no ruin lies there,
Or her kisses where a serpent hides.

When reading the poem, my mind went off on a slight tangent, because of the line 'Like a blind man's dreams on the sand'. I began to wonder, and thought that you might like to read this article about an investigation into the dreams of blind people in comparison to the dreams of sighted people. I have no idea whether the article gives us an accurate interpretation of people's dreams, but I found it fascinating to read.

Plate

I wanted to make something about starvation, and I chose a plate. I thought I would subvert cheery propaganda, with images of starving children. It's not happy.

Crucifix?

I was toying with some design ideas for t-shirts ( I've bought some t-shirt transfer sheets) yesterday evening. I tried some phrases, names, and collages, and was trying to make quite bold images. Of course I tried love-hearts and stars, but then I tried a crucifix made of satsumas. I was perhaps influenced by the increasing ubiquitousness of the crucifix as a clothing or jewellery design. For example, this tank top relies on the distinctive cross-shape.

But this set me thinking, I don't know how comfortable I am about wearing such a potent symbol on my tummy. The crucifix has strong Christian connotations. It is also a method of execution, and I definitely wouldn't wear an electric chair on my t-shirt. I came across this article, which goes into the issue in more depth, and left me very unsure about my satsuma-cross. 

So, is it acceptable to wear the crucifix in the same way that one wears the love-heart? I suppose the heart, too, is an incredibly powerful symbol. As indeed are any such simple graphic shapes, the McDonald's golden arches, African Adinkra symbols, even the smily face. 

But does this ubiquity lead to a loss of meaning? I suppose it must do, to some extent. But perhaps strong, simple shapes can only result from a distillation, or simplification of big ideas. And so this logo has both symbolism, and graphic simplicity. And this suggests that use of the crucifix as a graphic design is justifiable. 

But I don't think I'll be printing my satsuma t-shirt.