Yoshitoshi Abe Wallpaper: Death is a lonely business

Stagnation, or complacency, or mediocrity, or standardization, or loneliness. Giving up, or leaving things/situations as they are, or limiting one's potential by imposing rigid frames and rules. That is death itself. Death, at least according to your caption by Anais Nin, is definitely not a journey (I'd have to disagree with OracleAngel's comment, sorry); death is the destination. Life is the journey; when we struggle to live out our existence (whether we are disatisfied with it or not), we move on this 'journey'. And where life's journey ends (or when one has finally attained his/her goals/aims or when you've finally given up and have accepted whatever the fates have granted you), there is where you meet death. But death is not necessarily a 'bad thing'. Absolutely, I am not entertaining any form of morals here.

My first impression of your work was that there was some kind of motion going on between the 'eye' and the 'fist/blob', that the fist/blob is about to hit or make violent contact with the 'eye'. However, after reading the caption you made (of course, DernierCri-friend, you taught me that the caption, the title of the artwork and the artwork itself are complementary ^^), I had a change of perception. Now, I perceive that the 'act' of 'eye-meets-fist/blob' had been frozen or stilled; otherwise, shouldn't there be more lines and other patterns which indicate more motion leading to the impending violence? (I must really see the original scan to compare notes, but the graphics on the site you provided aren't showing on the browser Im using [ie]).

The 'scratches' and 'dirty patterns' you made somehow remind me of a worn-down wooden school desk (ahh, memories of elementary school days...) and of a child divulging his frustrations on the desk by sketching an 'eye' and the 'fist/blob' hitting it -- maybe he was involved in a school fight and this is his way of re-living the moment. He's not satisfied (or he's really pissed off with the whole affair) with his drawing that he takes out his art class cutting blade and proceeds to etch the desk, unmindful of the possible consequences of his actions! After making his marks of frustration on it, he gets up and leaves. He never gets to realize his mistakes, he never takes responsibility for the fight or for mauling the wooden desk, he never gets to talk again to the playmate he punched, he never reflects on his actions, he ends up alone, his business is his own.

And that is the 'death' of that boy. 'Hope this comment helps.
(Oh, and I just realized -- is it the grunge style you are so fond of using, or are you really fascinated with 'antiquities', 'age' and 'old-ness'? At least for me, it is evident in your works. ^_^)

Edit#2:
Oh, and in my humble opinion, although 'darkness' is commonly/stereotypically attributed to black-white-grey colors, it is not limited to that. There are many aspects and facets of darkness; color is but one of them. So, I just feel that the 'red' here is OK. It would look too drab in black-white-grey, though. Hmm, Im sounding esoteric again... 'hope I got my message thru. ^^

Critical edit #3:
(err, gomen, mods, really this is looong... but I just feel this piece deserves it)

Funny how perspectives change when people use different 'lenses' to view truths, so to speak. ^^ Thanks, DernierCri-friend, for giving me a different 'lens' (the original artwork from Yoshitoshi ABe). I had to flip the original scan 90 degrees counterclockwise so that I can compare it with your latest wall. Tricky to figure out without clues, really, but I had a fun experience figuring it out!

Now most comments that I have written above changes. It's not the eye-fist that I see now, but the 'femme demon' figure positioned differently. I think that what happened is that this is an instance of being 'trapped' or enclosed by whoever 'framed the discussion/comments' or whoever set the mood/tone/limits. (Hope that message gets thru ^_^') Since it was shirahana who first said that she saw the 'eye' on your wall, she set or 'framed the discussion'. She set the mood/tone/limits on what I see in the wall.

Anyway, 'framing the discussion' isn't really bad per se. But as any artwork impresses differently on different viewers, different viewers can impress on the artwork itself. (haha, now that's really esoteric...) It's kinda like the observer-affects-the-observed-&-vice-versa effect. Though I attempted to 'get out of the trap' or 'frame' by giving a different opinion on your caption.

OK, now I have to revise my comments! The original scan had lots of motion and the character is showing a lot of emotion in it (she seems to be smirking, in my view). What I feel happened in your wall is that the scan lost the motion and the character lost its emotion, probably because of the grunge effect ya used and the scratch lines/blotch patterns which seems to 'enclose/limit' or 'trap' the femme demon figure. And by doing so, it imposes 'death' on the femme demon. ^^

Oh, also, I had another kerazy thought! If I would reconcile my first comment with that of my second comment, then your wall would be some sort of 'optical illusion' kind of wall. It would solely depend on the viewer what he/she sees in your wall: does he see the eye-fist, or does she see the femme demon? ^^ In that case, the caption from Ananis Nin would not be complementary with this 'optical illusion' perception, because since different people see different things on your wall, they undergo 'different states of being', therefore there is life and not death. (haha, again I hope this makes sense ^_^")

Yoshitoshi Abe Wallpaper: Death is a lonely business

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