[Ahcri]

"Battle of Fishes" by Andre Masson, 1927, Pencil, charcoal, sands, and paint on canvas.

Please tell me what you think is going on in this painting. See beyond the obvious (it's a battle among the fishes), and look for symbolism and the expression of emotion. And how does it make you feel?

[Bg]

Horrible flashbacks of Stneil666's work..

[egerie]

angst. frustration. doubt. squabble (and not scribble!). nostalgia.

[Ahcri]

Oh, I forgot to add one thing. That is please don't comment on the quality of this painting. I know this painting looks pretty bad, that's because it was drawn spontaneously with minimum control. Just comment on the imagery and how it makes you feel.

Bg: Thanks for such a quick reply, but I've never seen Stneil666's work..

egerie: I didn't see squabble in it before, thanks.

[ November 18, 2001: Message edited by: Ahcri ]

[Ahcri]

[ November 18, 2001: Message edited by: Ahcri ]

[dr . bang]

the first thing i notice is that the theme of this pic is not having anything to do with happyness.

[egerie]

How I can despise all that pseudo freudian related theories crap. UGH ! Put a roll of duck tape on a blank canvas and they'll probably draw some more PHALOCRAT far fetched conclusions. (yes lovely phylosophy and psychology courses in college..)

But. Besides the fact I haven't slept since more than 72 hours or so, let's try to find some of those symbols..
*looks intently at work*
Um. I thought the fish was more related to identify christians but anyway.. Trying to make wild connections here. I can see a few dark triangles there.. Bah I can't make anymore connections since an inkblot on a sheet of paper could also be linked to a sexual meaning and so on.

Sorry for being spectularly useless Achri. Probably some wiser ppl will be able to help..

Edit: I guess the BBC comment is void now ? Shall I remove the content of this post ?..

[ November 23, 2001: Message edited by: egerie ]

[Ahcri]

Sorry I had to remove that post about BBC's interpretation of this piece, because I've just had a revelation..

Notice the use of sands on the canvas, the fishes are not fighting underwater, they're fighting on land. Each fish has big teeth, and the larger fish on the right looks kind of like an armour. So could it be that he is illustrating human warfare in fishes? Because fishes will die on land sooner or later anyway, could it mean however we fight for our territory, we'll soon die anyway?

[egerie]

Ahh right.. well while I was raving up there I suddently thought about the crusades... Fish Fighting -> Religion -> Sand -> desert -> Those spikey things resembling chain of mountains -> The Alps the Crusaders had to cross (and subsequently killed most of the Kids from the Children's crusade)..
I also thought about the topology of between the Tigre and Euphrate rivers.
And I "saw" somewhat of a citadel on the left. Like a Templar Krak citadel..
Maybe it's just the current political conjuncture that led me there.

Man.. if I don't watch out I'll end up butsing 4000 posts here..... settle down ege.. *gets away from pc*

[ November 18, 2001: Message edited by: egerie ]

[Ahcri]

That makes sense, it could be about the warfare in Middle-East.. But the painting was done in 1927, and I don't know if there is any war around that area at that time.
Or of course, this could be about The Crusades..

Thanks for your input.

[Krycek]

Picture frustrates me. It almost makes sense, but it's a little too random. The guy was angry huh? I've never seen that when going fishing. Maybe he didn’t catch anything. Sand looks good though. The whole blood thing appeals to me, do they look like bullet holes to you? Maybe he shot the fish and other fish came along to eat them before he could collect the booty. Personally I don’t trust anyone who goes fishing with firearms and/or explosives.

For a cool blood effect to paint draw or photo, get a glass of cold water and pour a little bit of very hot water in. Quickly squeeze in some blood or food colouring if you’re not a masochist and watch what happens. I did this and people said I had a lot of repressed violent feelings.

Fishing frustrates me, but not to the point of violence.

Opinion: I like the sand and the blood. Replace the fish with seashells and it wouldn’t bother me.

[Krycek]

Oops. Forgot that I was giving an interpretation and not an opinion. Seriously now.

The picture looks personal. Like it's from an experience and not reflective of a political scene. If the guy is making a cultural statement or giving a political representation why shroud it in doubt? You want to say it, you do it clearly.

The fish have realistic qualities (scales etc) and there is a beachy feel with the sand and canvass colour, so he seems to be familiar with the ocean. However the fish are not actual breeds so this may be from a childhood memory or something forgotton. The blood is detailed more realistically and it severely contracts all else, so this may show a familiarity with it (Remember its 1927, World War 1?).

The title, "Battle of Fishes" interests me. We all assume it’s the fish that are fighting, but they do look like they are out of the water and they do look like bullet holes. Could this be a true battle depiction, but not actually showing the people fighting?

Remember those dead fish on the beach in ‘Saving Private Ryan’? Something like that would stick in your head if you were there.

[Ahcri]

I do believe it's about World War I experiences. After all, this guy have fought in the Battle of Sommes and got severely injured. He became an anarchist when he had to live in an institution. That might explain why this painting has a violent feel to it.

[Krycek]

Conlusion:

Makes me sad. I wish I could question the author, if it was war - shows there is no limit to the waste. Small things can effect us in big ways. Reguardless of the setting, it shows loss of life and even violence. Makes me feel that life can be wasted.

Krycek

[Krycek]

He was put into an institution?

Interestingly the whole realistic / non-realistic appearance runs as a common theme with psychiatric patients. Again the peice makes me feel that life has been wasted. Knowing the background clarifies this feeling for me.

Thanks

Krycek