Analysis of Symbolism in the Film The Wizard of Oz

If you’ve never read or watched The Wizard of Oz or need your memory refreshed, here’s a quick sum-up of the movie:

The film follows 12-year-old farmgirl Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) who lives on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, but dreams of a better place “somewhere over the rainbow.” After being struck unconscious during a tornado by a window which has come loose from its frame, Dorothy dreams that she, her dog Toto and the farmhouse are transported to the magical Land of Oz. There, the Good Witch of the North, Glinda (Billie Burke), advises Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and meet the Wizard of Oz, who can return her to Kansas. During her journey, she meets a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who join her, hoping to receive what they lack themselves (a brain, a heart and courage, respectively). All of this is done while also trying to avoid the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) and her attempt to get her sister’s ruby slippers from Dorothy, who received them from Glinda.

The said above, the entire story of the Wizard of Oz is an allegorical tale of the soul’s path to illumination – the Yellow Brick Road. In Buddhism (an important part of Theosophical teachings) the same concept is referred to as the “Golden Path”.

The story starts with Dorothy Gale living in Kansas, which symbolizes the material world, the physical plane where each one of us starts our spiritual journey. Dorothy feels an urge to “go over the rainbow”, to reach the ethereal realm and follow the path to illumination. She has basically “passed the Nadir” by demonstrating the urge to seek a higher truth.

Dorothy is then brought to Oz by a giant cyclone spiraling upward, representing the cycles of karma, the cycle of errors and lessons learned. It also represents the theosophical belief in reincarnation, the round of physical births and deaths of a soul until it is fit to become divine. It is also interesting to note that the Yellow Brick Road of Oz begins as an outwardly expanding spiral. In occult symbolism, this spiral represents the evolving self, the soul ascending from matter into the spirit world.



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Cubic Cubed

Gregg Fleishman's show, "Cubism," is up at the Tahoe Gallery through November 17th. There's something stubbornly literal about the title. The show has nothing to do with the illusionistic representation of three dimensions on a two dimensional plane. "Cubism" in its art-historical flavors -- analytic or synthetic -- isn't the purview of the work. If the type of cubism could be tagged here, maybe "functional cubism" would do. Fleishman is interested in the architectural possibilities of cubic forms, their adaptability and modularity (and also their beauty, but I suspect that, for Fleishman, their beauty is a direct extension of their adaptability and modularity).



Fleishman, in his artist's talk, revealed a mind at absolute ease in the manicured wilds of geometry. Not everyone is able to sensibly incorporate "icosehedrons" and "archimidean solids" into their patter. And I get the impression that those words don't just tumble out of his mouth when he's giving a speech. For him, I suspect they amount to an everyday argot. His vocabulary has the recklessly technical clarity of a specialist or an autodidact -- and it's sprinkled, too, with the autodidact's propensity for new coinages -- like "rhombicube."

("Rhombicube" has a nice ring to it, especially when set against the term it's meant to simplify: "rhombicuboctahedron.")






As mentioned above, the modularity of the forms Fleishman works with is a big part of their appeal. The architectural structures he creates seem to multiply outward, from an implacable recombinatory logic. A shape multiplies, like an apartment growing out of an expanding crystal formation. There's a self-sufficiency of means, as the structures hinge together via tab and slot systems. On a graphical level, I was reminded of M. C. Escher, who used the six-paned window of the cube to free the eye from gravity and unitary perspective. On a procedural level, I was reminded of Albers and Sol Le Witt, in their patience for playing variations on a theme -- using a finite number of elements to point toward infinity.





In the gallery, I was particularly taken by the work's tendency to re-frame itself. Portals and windows cropped interiors or other structures in gratifying ways.


The work isn't just "art stuff" -- it's designed to be deployed, used, inhabited. Fleishman intends for his larger structures to be used as housing for disaster relief (so the modularity and self-sufficiency aren't just aesthetic gestures). His studio in Culver City is close to a school, and he's designed charming playgrounds for it. He claimed the play structures were "incidental" to his practice, but honestly, the playfulness of the use seems perfectly wedded to the playfulness of design.

More recently, a structure of his was erected at Burning Man -- Black Rock being, as he framed it, a place in need of sudden infrastructures.






Below are a few pics taken the night of the reception and artists' talk. The night of the reception, there was a bit of a playground vibe to the gallery. Students climbed up the large structure, and tried to piece together elements of some of the smaller structures, while Fleishman looked benevolently on, sometimes giving hints.

When Fleishman asked how long it took for the gallery crew to put together the large structure in the gallery, Russell said (if I'm remembering correctly) "four or five hours." There was a beat and Fleishman said "That's too long."






The last pic is Sheri, beaming over her latest acquisitions: some tiny squiggly chairs designed by Fleishman, scaled to the size (if not the comfort) of a mouse. She already had one in her collection, but couldn't resist a couple more, especially because they're cheaper now that Fleishman is using computers in his production workflow -- no longer cutting the serpentines by hand.

This Thurs at the Reference Gallery: Cyborgs and Dandelions

This Thurs, Nov.10, is the reception for a new show in the Reference Gallery: "Cyborgs and Dandelions."


It's a non-themed, juried exhibition hosted by Sierra Nevada College’s Student Gallery, and it will feature student works from Lake Tahoe Community College, Sierra College, Western Nevada College, Truckee Meadows Community College and Sierra Nevada College. The reception runs from 5-7, and the show itself runs through December 10.

Here's a link to the facebook event page.

Local Event: Prospectives.09

UNR is hosting what sound like a very exciting three-day festival of digital artworks, starting this Thursday, Nov. 12. Events include a symposium, an exhibit at the Sheppard gallery, a projection at the Fleischmann Planetarium, and performances at the Nevada Museum of Art.


As the blurb has it:

Prospectives.09 is an international festival showcasing the work of graduate and Phd candidates working across a diverse spectrum of digital arts practice. The festival showcases the work of 37 artists and performers from throughout the United States and internationally (including artists from Australia, United Kingdom, India, South Africa, Chile, Sweden and Portugal).

The main link is here:
http://www.unr.edu/art/prospectives09.html

And even if you can't make any of the local events, they're hosting some net art as well, which you can experience from the comfort of whatever seat you happen to be sitting in right now. The direct link for that is:
http://www.unr.edu/art/prospectives09/netart.html

My Blog Collection

Some fun blogs I follow... enjoy!



LOLA DUPRÉ







Kimberly Sikye



BLACK DIAMOND SKY






Also as a bonus... guys talking about their moustaches...

Double Your Youtube Pleasure

Evidently this has been around for a while, but I just recently came across the Youtube Doubler, created by the artist Brian Kane. He's also behind HDADD. The doubler lets you display two youtube videos simultaneously, side-by-side. So you can go in for a bit of tandem juxtaposition. Here are the first three mashups I came up with (I could've embedded them, but they'd all play simultaneously, so instead I took some screenshots to give a taste for what's on the other side of the links):

I'm Captain Chipmunk!


Abbey Lincoln Doesn't Fit in a Rolodex


Solid Potato Facial Exercises

Pictures at a Junior Portfolio Review: Fall 09

A partial list of topics broached:

The environmental impact of an artist's paper trail
The power of shoes as a stereotyping tool
The reluctance to go full shaman
The pathos of sleeping on a couch
Artful trespassing
The will to be alive vs. "the desert"
The communal essence of bowls
Daydreaming about riding a mountain bike while in class
Sarcasm as a defense against the vicissitudes of life

Here are some links to more photos/video of the Review. I'll add to the list if more becomes available:

SNC/FA Facebook Photos
Marco Ciafarone's photos
Lani Pollack's video of her piece (while Hale does his spiel in the background)