tanks and surrealism
Oct. 12th, 2024 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rinueEarlier this week, I read a message board discussion of ways you can tell you're attractive. (Presumably this is more difficult to guess for people who aren't same-sex attracted.) A lot of it boiled down to: people pay attention to you, and it's positive attention. Doors are held for you. You notice people watching you and they don't look angry. You get good customer service.
Today I went to a WWII re-enactment outside a military history museum (The American Heritage Museum) and there were a lot of people there, and the museum staff was probably stretched pretty thin. But continuously different uniformed volunteers would appear out of nowhere to draw my attention to unusual vehicle facts, even though I am not an obvious member of the key demographic for vehicle facts. I got to hear about a motorized sidecar (so unusual!), and about a tank with wheels that could each rotate in ways that let it do things like strafe and spin around in place (apparently this was handy for not getting bogged down in sand), and about a Korean war policy to paint tanks to look like tiger monsters (an absurd cultural misunderstanding about what is scary but I love a crazy paint job).
For my inktober sketch today (topic: remote) I used a more Surrealist style as a change of pace. Since it's inktober, I've been posting these sketches as I make them, taking quick photos with my phone. With this drawing, it's much more charming in person. It feels more lively and humorous. I don't know why it would be so different on a screen - it's a very "flat" drawing, felt tip pen on paper - and other drawings don't have this same drop off.
I've noticed that effect with Surrealist works more generally, not just mine. Dali paintings are much more impressive and much funnier in person. Miró, same. I think maybe something about a photograph signals that an image is realistic and serious and historic, and distanced from you. Surrealism is playful and wants to intrude into the room.
For this reason, I think probably a scan of the drawing will similarly be less insouciant (and therefore more pointless and ungainly) than the real thing, but maybe less so.
Today I went to a WWII re-enactment outside a military history museum (The American Heritage Museum) and there were a lot of people there, and the museum staff was probably stretched pretty thin. But continuously different uniformed volunteers would appear out of nowhere to draw my attention to unusual vehicle facts, even though I am not an obvious member of the key demographic for vehicle facts. I got to hear about a motorized sidecar (so unusual!), and about a tank with wheels that could each rotate in ways that let it do things like strafe and spin around in place (apparently this was handy for not getting bogged down in sand), and about a Korean war policy to paint tanks to look like tiger monsters (an absurd cultural misunderstanding about what is scary but I love a crazy paint job).
For my inktober sketch today (topic: remote) I used a more Surrealist style as a change of pace. Since it's inktober, I've been posting these sketches as I make them, taking quick photos with my phone. With this drawing, it's much more charming in person. It feels more lively and humorous. I don't know why it would be so different on a screen - it's a very "flat" drawing, felt tip pen on paper - and other drawings don't have this same drop off.
I've noticed that effect with Surrealist works more generally, not just mine. Dali paintings are much more impressive and much funnier in person. Miró, same. I think maybe something about a photograph signals that an image is realistic and serious and historic, and distanced from you. Surrealism is playful and wants to intrude into the room.
For this reason, I think probably a scan of the drawing will similarly be less insouciant (and therefore more pointless and ungainly) than the real thing, but maybe less so.
