The 300 writing prompts so far has given be 2 topics so far which have been thought provoking and made me reflect a bit on my past. This next one I see as a challenge because I am not the kind of person to express my words about art. This piece of art properly called “The Scream” is done by Edvard Munch. I’ve seen this piece of art before and I wanted to talk a bit about it. The reason I first like this piece of art is because it gives off the impression about a person (sex not described or indicated), who is in anguish or who has some sort of anxiety running through them. I can remember growing up or even through my adult years where I wasn’t feeling my best mentally because I was worried about something that was going on in my life or someone had just told me some shocking news that I had a hard time holding in.
I also really enjoy the painting because of the background that is in the painting. The skies are red with a blue and sort of black water. You kind of get the feeling from seeing the painting that if anything the colors provoke something within the viewer. When I see red, I think of blood or romance and in this essence it could be that it brings these two together to bring some sort of chaos where nothing is perfect in the world. I also notice that the red is mixed in with green as well and from my interpretation that can also be a sign of the green nature that is in and around our world. Now, to get into the characters within the painting itself. I notice that something I love about the painting is that the person that is screaming has eyes and his mouth open while the two characters in the back have no role. The two people in the background could be seen as observers who do not pay attention to what is going on around them. In fact, something that has been theorized about this painting is that artists were becoming more expressive during this time. Hence, this is why I make the connection to these two characters not being able to pay attention to what is going on around them. I can see what Munch means by his painting here is that artists have become afraid to express their opinions on social issues or the well-being of artists. Sometime back, I also read that art at this time was changing and was giving way for new artists in the field. It would be like today when artists from pop culture are starting to collaborate on projects such as movies, music, or even tv shows. I think back in those times it would seem almost impossible to bring so many artists together because everyone wants to have an input on what it is they do. One other thing I enjoy and love about this painting is that it paints a clearer picture of what else may be going in the background of this picture.
One article I read is that the person in the picture could be screaming at the horror of the slaughterhouse that is nearby. The main character that we see could be shouting at the horror that is going in during the actual proceeding where they are crossing. It goes back to what I said in the beginning, the main character is somewhat worried as to what is happening around him as he crosses the bridge. The artist also originally meant this to be a piece of how his friends had left him behind and he stopped to gaze at what was the red sky. Yet, he somehow stayed behind and he gazed on in fear. One other thing that needs to be pointed out about this piece of work is how Munch takes apart his work by not clearly explaining what gender the person in the work is. This is one of the parts of the painting because we who are viewing the painting could be in this painting. I sometimes think when we are not feeling our best we could be crying out for help. The sounds that is also covering up inside the main character is quite something to view as well because of how we may want to block out everyone else out. We may do this along these lines because we may cover up our ears with earphones when we are on the bus, airplane, on the train, or at our jobs. The idea of sound is also something that we tend to ignore in our lives because sounds can sometimes tell us something that we may or may not want to hear. When we hear directions, cues, or when we see something on a screen we tend to look for sounds that may trigger a certain emotion. I also feel the sounds when I may be reading a book that I really like.
Once again, this idea of how we take sounds may sound far fetched, but sounds make a profound impact on our lives and it is one of the final reasons I really enjoy this piece. I sometimes wonder what one’s perspective may be about slaughterhouses or being near some sort of thing that they may dislike. For example, I am not the world’s biggest fan of people that are having drinking issues being near a bar.
I can imagine having them resist a drink is something that is difficult for them to resist. Anyway, these are just a few reasons I really love this painting because of the amount of effort that is put into the detail. One thing that I think I forgot to mention is that Munch does a fantastic job of expressing with this painting with the bridge that is covering apart of the painting. This was definitely one of the most difficult pieces to write because of how I had never written about a piece of art but I am happy to get this one in because it felt like I was back in school. I’d be curious to get across what this painting maybe meant for other people back in older times but now I will never get that chance because time travel does not exist. Anyway, this does it for this piece. I will continue on with this 300 writing prompts piece until I can no longer write about the awesome prompts in here. Till next time, signing off!
Just Another Day... 