• Brainsploosh@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I also have a hard time believing this to be intentionally meaning bearing, mostly due to this being a pop art meme overused in both social media and marketing.

    Compare it to the ad poster, it can be art, but most of the time it isn’t meant to. (and to my mind the ubiquity of ad posters raises the noise that the intentional art needs to cut through)

    I believe OP is trying to troll the comm, or at least confused about the ambition of the comm.

    But for shits and giggles I gave it a good 5 minutes of viewing and quite some generosity, two themes pop out: Contrast between old and new play, and a generational shift in Escapism

    On the left side the legos are beige, interrupted by a line of chargers before the right side with candies, and the console controller.

    This could try to convey a motif of a generational shift from constructive, wholesome play to an instant gratification paradigm. Maybe with the advent of the informational age

    There’s a difference in compositional choices I don’t understand, and with the background of this art style am prone to dismiss as for visual effect rather than intentional meaning.

    The shapes on the left side seem mostly to draw the eye rightward. The curve in the top left which could have signified a softening of regimentality is in contrast to the straight and formal positioning of non-rectangular pieces in the lower left. This could be trying to convey the variations or turmoil within the old paradigm, but this level of skill isn’t expected neither from art form nor artist, and as it’s a staple of the pop art style I’m leaning towards it being only for visual effect.

    I find no way of differentiating the choice from just starting it as a social media post and half way thinking of a cool contrast.

    Looking closer at the pills on the right side, none of them can be identified as pharmaceuticals, but several of them are famous candy shapes. I conclude that they most probably represent only candy and no pills/drugs.

    Also on the right side, the controller breaks the motif and catches the eye, both for a visual payoff. But I see no reflection or contrast of controller against candy, nor divider, nor against lego.

    If I stop looking for deeper meaning in the relations of elements and just look at emotional impact, it could simply be a nostalgic representation of early millennial childhood . Where the dividing line isn’t a divider, but it’s own part of a tableau, and the choice of items being significant as a collection rather than as elements.

    I find no layers of meaning hidden in the contrast or relationships of elements, no artful nods that usually give away mastery enough to wield subtle meaning.

    (and the more I look at it, the less I admire the craftsmanship)

    • Mossy Feathers (She/They)@pawb.social
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      2 months ago

      Also on the right side, the controller breaks the motif and catches the eye, both for a visual payoff. But I see no reflection or contrast of controller against candy, nor divider, nor against lego.

      Perhaps they are trying to draw a parallel between the shape of the candy and the shape of the buttons, saying that the controller is like candy. On the one side they have toys commonly considered to be educational and therefore healthy, on the other side they have things considered to be unhealthy. By putting the controller on the side with the candy, they are stating that it is also unhealthy.

      However, aside from being a partition, I don’t see how the chargers relate. Perhaps they’re supposed to symbolize the rise in personal electronics, and in doing so, effectively compare personal electronics to candy as well? I mean, if the rise of personal electronics created a box, and candy and Wii remotes are in there, then that means it is also stating that personal electronics are unhealthy.