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Monday, July 27, 2009

Arts Her Shiny Earring

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 8:32 AM

One of the best opening sentences I have read this year: "It was in Bali that I punched my first monkey." For the whole story, go here. As for this picture of a Bali monkey?
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The image, which is by Crissy Olson, is interesting because it collapses three artificial layers into one instant. First is the image itself (a picture of something that happened in reality). Next is the statue of the monkey (art). Third is the reflection of the monkey on the water.

Also, we see something like an idea of the real in this construction within the image: above the real monkey, a work of art; below the real monkey, a mirror, mirror on the pond. Art is a higher form of representation than mere reflection, but it is the accident of reflection that makes art possible. The movement from one (below) to the the other (above) shows a continuity between the unconscious reflection and conscious art. The monkey in the middle, the real, mediates this movement.

Comments (9) RSS

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you left out the monkey writing this post -- a sort of professional mediateur of reality, and now monkeys --

and the countless monkeys reading the post.....

and the reflections of the monkeys in the post by the monkeys commenting on each other others' posts ...
ad infinitum

(Apol. to M.C. Escher).

Posted by PC on July 27, 2009 at 8:36 AM

Nice analysis of the photo C.M.

@#1
Shrimps see their reflection from the other side of the water. Escher understood this.

Posted by FreudianShrimp on July 27, 2009 at 8:41 AM

Dreamy and poetic as always.

Posted by meowmeowkitty on July 27, 2009 at 8:42 AM

When I was a kid, we played a game called "monkey in the middle" with two kids throwing a ball back and forth, and one kid in between trying to intercept.

Posted by Betsy Ross on July 27, 2009 at 8:52 AM

David Sedaris tells the story of asking fans questions as he signs their books. One question he employed was "when was the last time you touched a monkey?"

Most people would answer "never," or perhaps, "well, there was that one time in Borneo...."

One woman, however, was taken aback by the question. "Why?" she asked. "Can you smell it on me?"

Posted by MonkeyNose on July 27, 2009 at 8:58 AM