JoyfulClouds

This is a blog whose aim is to seek the idea of the eyes as a metaphor and how they are conceiled in the art world and not only, by showing paintings, images of videos and movies, sculptures and drawings.

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Orwellian and Trumanian’s eyes

The eye is not only meant to create a metaphor, a way to perceive it into our personal life, but it can also be related to what it can produce such as an observation.

This is the cover of the book written by George Orwell in 1948, 1984, which depicts in its centre the eye of the Leader of the universe described.

The eye and its observation of reality are a tool through which you can eventually spy the life of people.

The poster representing Big Brother in 1984.

Within the paradoxical Orwellian world described in 1984, the Supreme Leader, called as Big Brother, is always looking boldly at its citizens. His eyes are the lenses hidden at every corner of every room, building, street and block. He never stops staring at you. His almighty lenses are never full of you.

The poster of the movie The Truman Show, released in 1998.

The eyes are the lens which are recording every single instant of the life of Truman Burbank inside of The Truman Show as well. 

Some screenshots from The Truman Show, observation of an omnipotent creator through the lenses.

It might be seen, subsequently, on the same wave of Big Brother. Through the movie, released in 1998, there is the depiction the life of Truman, played by Jim Carrey, who is caught unconsciously by a myriad of lenses all hidden as shown also within the Orwellian world. The difference between the two is related to the observer. In fact, Truman’s life has been ‘on air’ from its first day of life. All of it has been carefully planned by a ‘supreme’ mind and keenly observed by society.

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The Egyptian Eye

This gold-and-glass pectoral amulet was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun near Luxor, Egypt. It depicts the familiar eye of Horus, a symbol of protection from evil, flanked by the cobra goddess representing Lower Egypt and the vulture goddess representing Upper Egypt.

Photograph by Robert Harding.

The eyes are one of the most complicated symbols conceiled by the Egyptian tradition.

There are two different Eyes:

The first one is a cosmogonic goddess which represents reunification and divine kingship, which was the Single Eye of the Supreme before creation. It is called The Eye of Re – Eye of Horus, associated to the right hand side, summer and Sun.

The second Eye is an anthropological symbol of restoration and popular wellness called as Restored Eyes of Horus, related to the left hand side, winter and the Moon.

The existance of the Eye is related to a mythological narration of the gods and goddesses within the Egyptian religious tradition. The creation of the Eye as a snake is to be addresses at the moment when the Eye tried to pacificate a collision between several gods. At its return, it discovered it had been replaced by another eye. In order to be pacified it was transformed therefore into a rearing cobra with swollen neck. This would appear on Re’s crown. It is rising at the brow of the lord of the light Re, which indicates protection and legitimacy to the ruler, guarantying the endurance of his monarchy.

Take the two eyes of Horus.

Take them to your forehead,

(so) that they may illuminate

your face.

This is the visible demonstration of Eye transformed into a defensive cobra, which is called also Wadjet, at the top of Tutankahmen’s crown.

Therefore, in the Egyptian traditions the eyes are represented by Horus, which is the result of two different representations into one.

It is not only a symbol of protection as we might correlate to the Evil Eye, rather, Horus is representing also a protection linked to prosperity and duration to the pharaon’s monarchy.

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Over the eyes for a new reality.

Surrealism was an artistic and literature European movement, whose foundation goes back to 1924 in France, where a French poet, André Breton, published The Surrealist Manifesto, underlining the main points Surrealist artists would have shown within their works.

One of these elements was the prevail of the dreams over reality, considered as banal, from Sigmund Freud’s theories on the matter. What enables these artists to reach this more meaningful reality is the eyes. These are considered as a problem, an obstacle they have to overcome, as these are showing automatically, once opened, the world in front.

Therefore, within their works, surrealist treat eyes badly, cutting them and erasing them in order to reach the surreal, the second reality, exploring their imagination.

This is a painting of René Magritte which explains the idea of the eyes, once closed, enable the artist to reach this second reality, where they have the possibility of representing a woman, who, in their own belief, does not exist in the first dimension.

Surrealism experimented this relation between surreal and dreams with eyes teared off even inside of the cinema, such as in Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Luis Bunuel, where the eyeball cut is referred to the moon with some clouds passing by hiding it. 

These are some screenshots from the movie Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Luis Bunuel. They represent the famous moment when the woman’s eye is cut with a blade.

In another other movie, Speelbound (1949), by Alfred Hitchcock, there’s the representation of a dream, first with a vision of several eyes inside a gamble hall then to a gambling table whose perspective is totally unnatural, signing the unnaturality of dreams.

Some screenshots of the movie Spellbound(1929), by Alfred Hitchcock.

https://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/the-apparitions-of-a-surrealist-eye-dal-iacute---amp--film

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畫龍點睛 - Long dian jing

畫龍點睛- Long dian jing is the name of the important Chinese legend about eyes, which will bring to the idiom to paint a dragon and dot in the eyes.

The legend refers to a skilled young painter, who had the talent to create majestic drawings of dragons. He was creating everything but the eyes and their pupils. Whether he would add the eyes and the dots of the pupils on the dragon’s creation, the representation of the dragon would have become alive and fly away.

Eventually, the artist was invited in a village where he could paint his dragons. Once done, he was asked the reason why the eyes weren’t painted. Explaining to the people of the village what would have happened if painted so, he was being mocked by them. As a result, the artist painted the pupils to the dragons. This became alive and flew away, leaving the people of the village astonished.

Nobody believed at what he was saying as true.

A representation of what the legend refers to.

Through this legend it’s understandable the way Chinese can relate to the eyes, seen as the crucial point that brings the subject to life. So, the eyes might be referred as what bring life to anything. Adding the idea of eyes as a window to your soul, because these are what gives life to your soul.

https://victoriaponomareva.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/畫龍點睛/

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I Origins (2014)

The movie I Origins is highly centred on the famous metaphor of the eyes as related to the soul. The movie is indeed related to the spirituality of the eyes, by bringing new life to the human body.

The movie, released in 2014 in the US, is based on the life of Ian, a young researcher, whose interest is within the infinite possibilities of variety of human’s iris in the world. He finds a girl, Sofi, whose eyes are catching his attention. 

Sofi’s eyes when seen by Ian. Screenshots from the movie I Origins.

Although, she dies subsequently after an accident with a lift, which cuts her lower part of the body. He decides to do an experiment with Sofi’s eyes, after a test made on his son’s eyes, which were identical to a dead man’s. 

The result of this examination shows the existence of a person, in India, whose irises are matching with Sofi’s. After some time, while looking for this person, he finds a little girl with whom he does the test done to his son which was based on some images to pick from, but it doesn’t reveal much.

The eyes of the little Indian girl. Screenshots from the movie I Origins.

In the final scene, though, while leaving the hotel they were in, the doors of a lift open and the little girl, scared, starts crying hysterically.

Therefore, we can conclude by saying that at the end we have a revelation. We start thinking that the eyes might be really related to the soul and the immortality of it, so the soul might be passing through one body to another one after the death of the ‘structure’ it is in.

The moment when, in I Origins, the protagonist compares the two pair of eyes.

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Margaret Keane - the woman of Big Eyes.

https://www.keane-eyes.com - Margaret Keane’s gallery, where her last works are shown.

Margaret Keane, at 91, still creating artworks.

The expression the eyes are the mirror of your soul is extremely related to the works of the American painter Margaret Keane, whose story was told through the movie Big Eyes (2014), by Tim Burton, who is a real collector of her works.

Through the book first and the movie after, the story of her life is depicted. A life of lies her second husband Walter Keane was telling her, while taking credit of her works. After the divorce from him, she will, in 1970, reveal herself as the creative mind under the Keane paintings and win a court case where she sued Walter for defamation.

This above is one of the posters made for the movie Big Eyes in 2014, starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.

The name of the movie itself talks about her works, which are full of these big, if not said, disproportionate eyes she creates for her favourite subjects, women, kids and animals. These are her signature, big eyes. 

Margaret Keane in the 1950s sitting next to her paintings.

When she started painting, in the 1950s, she refers to the kids’ eyes she was portraying as big – but then they got bigger and bigger. These surreal, in a way, eyes bring also strong emotions and impact. All of these are looking at the viewer. The impact of these sad looks is so magnetic that it seems like they want to speak about their sufferings with you. Through these eyes Margaret is expressing her own life, her own difficulties.

 Therefore, the eyes in these paintings, which are the gateway to the soul, are totally the reflection to Margaret Keane’s personal life.

One of her works with children.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132332050@N04/16864718438

http://www.artspecialday.com/9art/2017/09/15/margaret-keane-grandi-occhi/

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The evil eyes in the Queen video

Some screenshots from the video It’s a Hard Life, 1984 from The Queen.

We might be wondering what the eyes on Freddie Mercury’s It’s a hard life stand for. The song played in it was composed by the singer of the British group the Queen, in 1984. The video, a total Freddie’s idea, is set at a masquerade ball, with the idea of recreating the set of the Pagliacci opera.

However, our minds try to understand the reason why the singer is covered by several eyes and feathers.

There might be an association with the idea of the eyes as Evil Eye. This belief goes back to the ancient Greece and Rome where, for superstition reasons, wearing amulets with eyes is believed to provide protection against evil forces.

The eyes are seen and imagined as strongly powerful tools which have the ability to bring disasters to the people, the receivers, of a glare, which could occur for omnifarious reasons. So, he eyes are conceived as effective means of terrible consequences.

Therefore, Mercury’s costumes within this video might have been chosen as a  reference to this ancient belief rather than for its esthetical dimension.

http://www.queenpedia.com/index.php?title=It%27s_A_Hard_Life_-_Promotional_Video

https://www.jewishgiftplace.com/What-is-the-Evil-Eye.html

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Marcel Duchamp against the eyes

Talking about eyes it’s not possible not to refer to Marcel Duchamp’s vision of the eyes in relation to the art world.

Marcel Duchamp (1887 – 1968), important French artist, challenged the way artists were using their eyes and retina (seen as the means through which artist got a retinal art) to create artworks. He expresses his ideas during some interviews in the 1950s where he makes a comparison between the art he was looking at during his times, which he disapproved and called as retinal art, and the art produced before, which had religious, philosophical and moral motives, which he wanted to bring back, as it wasn’t related to the retina, rather to the mind.

"Since Courbet, it's been believed that painting is addressed to the retina. That was everyone's error. The retinal shudder! Before, painting had other functions: it could be religious, philosophical, moral. If I had the chance to take an antiretinal attitude, it unfortunately hasn't changed much; our whole century is completely retinal, except for the Surrealists, who tried to go outside it somewhat. And still, they didn't go so far!"

Young ladies on the Banks of the Seine. Gustave Courbet, 1856-1857.     Example of retinal art.

He was looking at art in a different way, he wanted to erase the eyes (which could bring just to a nice view, in his opinion) and this retinal art, in order to reach an art made with the mind and ideas, or concepts (as artists will do in conceptual art in the 1960s).

In fact, his works and ideas will modify the artistic perception of the artworks and the art world. Especially with his readymades, which were objects taken from a store and put on a pedestal, he will express his own perception of the artworks.

Fountain. Marcel Duchamp, 1917.

Photograph taken by Alfred Stieglitz.

http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Retinal_art 

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The mystery within Mona Lisa’s eyes

Not only the smile in Mona Lisa is intriguing, full of hidden elements which need several analyses to be interpreted, but even the eyes of this feminine figure conceal an engaging sense of mystery, whose identity is still unknown.

This was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci between 1503 and 1504, held the Louvre Museum in Paris. 

What is behind these eyes? What is the idea that Leonardo Da Vinci had when painting this masterpiece?

When looking at it, the eyes appear to be following your figure, as it is almost staring at you everywhere you go. The eyes might be expressing seduction also. It is the mysterious aura around them, which make them more intriguing, and make them interesting to look at.

Scientists have been studying how da Vinci would have been able to achieve this result five centuries ago. He owned masterful abilities to create and play with shadows and lightning, which helped him to reach the phenomena.

So, these eyes are essentially a result of the extraordinary skills achieved by one of the greater artists of all times.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-eyes-and-the-smile-of-mona-lisa/

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Ovidio and the Ars Amatoria - how eyes can be powerful tools of seduction

Ovidio, a well-known poet  from the Ancient Rome, described in his famous Ars Amatoria the art of seduction. 

The image above is a mosaic showing two lovers, found in a villa built during the Ancient Rome.

In the description of elements that both women and men have to do in order to seduce the loving opposite, within Ovidio’s book, there are also the eyes. Therefore, these are conceived as powerful tools of seduction.

One glance is enough to show your emotions, either sad or joyful, and express your intentions with a person.