Thursday, March 13, 2008
Edgar Degas, The Absinthe Drinker Soundtrack
I’ve seen all good people – Yes
In The Absinthe Drinker, the viewer must work their way around the tables in a zigzag direction to reach the green glass of absinthe, which is the focal point of the painting. The layout of the tables is crucial to this painting because they become obstacles that hinder and confuse the viewer from reaching the center of the painting. The layout and color of the tables make them appear like large squares similar to a chessboard. In the song I’ve Seen All Good People by Yes chess is a prominent theme. The line “move on back two squares” is a chess term that means to question and alter your position. As the viewer moves “back two squares” through the painting they will become confused and change the way they reach the center of the painting.
White rabbit – Jefferson airplane
As the viewer moves through The Absinthe Drinker trying to dissect the meaning and reach the focal point, the viewer becomes disoriented and confused. This feeling comes from the chaotic maze you have to go through to reach the theme of the painting, which is the green glass of absinthe. Degas did this because he wanted the viewer to feel the same feelings of bewilderment that the woman was experiencing from the absinthe. White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane compares similarities between the hallucinogenic effects of LSD and the images seen in Alice in Wonderland. In Alice and Wonderland, Alice took drug- like substances that enabled her to transform into other things and experience more than what she previously could. White Rabbit is supposed to encourage people to experience more than what they were able to or what society was letting them experience. This relates to The Absinthe Drinker because by making the viewer feel disoriented and confused the viewer is at the same mental level as the woman in the painting, therefore helping the viewer connect with woman. This connection between the viewer and the woman would not have existed without experiencing confusion beforehand.
Sad Lisa – Cat Stevens
After reaching a connection with the woman, the viewer begins to feel bad for the woman. The blank expression on the woman’s face shows her own obliviousness to her personal and obvious emotional distress. Even though she is sitting close to the man next to her, she seems lonely and friendless because regardless of the close distance between herself and the man they are both staring in opposite directions and are clearly disengaged from one another.
While my guitar gentle weeps – the Beatles
The song While My Guitar Gently Weeps by the Beatles is about trying but failing to find inspiration in the world and because of this, we have forgotten about love. Our lack of imagination and ability to be inspired is because we are being misguided into paths of selfishness and are living in an unnatural state where we have forgotten about love. In The Absinthe Drinker, the woman’s fixation on absinthe and the state it converts her to is the reason she has lost her ability to find and even appreciate love.
Like a rolling stone – Bob Dylan
The zigzag course into the painting and the path leaving the painting produces confusion and questions on where to go next. The woman in The Absinthe Drinker has lost all direction in her life and appears to have very little goals. She is very similar to the woman in Bob Dylan’s song Like A Rolling Stone. The chorus in Like a Rolling Stone is “How does it feel…to be on your own…with no direction home”. The woman is isolated from her surroundings but she is also confined to her surroundings. Also, the woman has no direction on where to go next just like the complicated direction into to the painting.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Camille Pissarro, Boulevard Monmartre at Night Playlist
Arcade Fire, “Black Mirror”: This song gives off a dark and gloomy mood to the listener which I think is similar to the mood in this painting. Overall, this painting has very dark and cool colors, and I think the dark colors go with the deep, spooky, and sorrowful voice.
Band of Horses, “Is There a Ghost”: This song also gives off a very sorrowful voice that goes along with the dark colors and the atmosphere of the painting. The top half of this painting is the dark sky, and the dark sky sets a murky sort of mood on the painting. Later on this song gets more upbeat, but the voice still retains its steady and bold voice.
Belle & Sebastian, “Waiting for the Moon to Rise”: What struck me for this song was how soft and slow the voice is. To me, this painting depicts a glimpse of a rainy night scene, and this song captures the soft mood of the painting. This song doesn’t strike me as a song that is rushed which contrasts with the strong brushstrokes; but I think they balance each other out.
Bob Dylan, “Shelter From the Storm”: Although there has been a lot of discussion on what this song could mean by itself, I think the movement goes well with this painting. The harmonica adds a movement to the song that goes with the movement in the painting because of the strong brushstrokes. There are cars that look like they could be moving and the reflection from the rain makes the painting have a shimmering look to it. To me, Dylan’s voice is steady but firm and I think it adds reassurance to the listener. I think this painting could be a glimpse of the so-called “storm”.
Broken Social Scene, “Finish Your Collapse and Stay for Breakfast”: This song does not have any words, and I think it captures the mood and atmosphere with the different sound affects. It sounds like it could be the background music to this painting because the song doesn’t give off a sense of boldness or aggressiveness. It is soft and calm which is similar to the cool rainy atmosphere of the painting.
Secret Machines, “Blue Jay Way”: This song starts off with a slow and mournful voice that goes with the color and mood of the painting. There seems to be a bit of plead in the chorus and I think it goes with the dark gloomy shadows of the rainy night. Even though there is a lot of contrast with the cool and warm colors, overall I think this painting gives off mystery and spookiness because you can’t make out every detail of the painting.
Extra songs that I thought depicted the mood this painting:
Death Cab for Cutie, “A Lack of Color”
Pinback, “Loro”
Eric Clapton, “River of Tears”
Feist, “My Moon My Man”
Stars, “The Big Fight (Minotaur Shock Mix)"
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1874, Oil on Panel
Playlist:
Regina Spektor: Ghost of Corporate Future – Just as the rocket in the painting seems so sudden and out of place, the song conveys the message that everyone should live as if every day was the last because you never know when an unexpected event, such as the painting shows, could happen and put your planning to an end.
Europe: The Final Countdown – The song chronicles counting down to something that has an unsure ending, just as the figure in the painting is viewing the untimely demise of a rocket and the people inside it and while the song has a humorous tone and the painting could be a simple but beautiful landscape, it has a more serious undertone.
Requiem for a Dream: Marion Barfs – The song is a beautiful arrangement for the violin but the violin is playing something that has a more sinister connotation, just as the painting of a possibly beautiful landscape is shrouded in blackness because of the falling rocket.
At the Drive-In: One Armed Scissor – This song has the feel that something has gone terribly wrong just as the painting has the feel of, almost giving the viewer a sense that Whistler was painting an ordinary landscape when a rocket suddenly fell from the sky and burst into flames.
The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby – Just as Requiem for a Dream’s song is beautiful in a somewhat disturbing way, the Beatles have taken a beautiful melody and set it to unsettling lyrics; Whistler did the same by placing the dark and depressing rocket into an ordinary landscape.
Regina Spektor: Ghost of Corporate Future – Just as the rocket in the painting seems so sudden and out of place, the song conveys the message that everyone should live as if every day was the last because you never know when an unexpected event, such as the painting shows, could happen and put your planning to an end.
Europe: The Final Countdown – The song chronicles counting down to something that has an unsure ending, just as the figure in the painting is viewing the untimely demise of a rocket and the people inside it and while the song has a humorous tone and the painting could be a simple but beautiful landscape, it has a more serious undertone.
Requiem for a Dream: Marion Barfs – The song is a beautiful arrangement for the violin but the violin is playing something that has a more sinister connotation, just as the painting of a possibly beautiful landscape is shrouded in blackness because of the falling rocket.
At the Drive-In: One Armed Scissor – This song has the feel that something has gone terribly wrong just as the painting has the feel of, almost giving the viewer a sense that Whistler was painting an ordinary landscape when a rocket suddenly fell from the sky and burst into flames.
The Beatles: Eleanor Rigby – Just as Requiem for a Dream’s song is beautiful in a somewhat disturbing way, the Beatles have taken a beautiful melody and set it to unsettling lyrics; Whistler did the same by placing the dark and depressing rocket into an ordinary landscape.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
"The Absinthe Drinker" Playlist
The painting gives off a very sad, depressing feeling, therefore I chose a few depressing songs. However, although the woman is still in her own world, it appears as if there is a still a bit of hope for her. She is not completely lost in the alcohol she drinks and still has a chance to improve from the drunken state she is in, which I feel these songs represent.
1. “Sorrow”-Flyleaf
I chose this song because I feel it gives off the feeling of the picture. When I look at it I feel depressed and sad, therefore I chose this song because it can, in a way, describe the sorrow the woman is feeling being maybe the alcoholic she is. It appears as if she feels sad, ashamed, lonely, and depressed.
2. “Misery Loves Its Company”-The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The painting makes me feel as if the woman is stuck and cannot get out of the drinking habit she may has. I feel this song represents how people get stuck in misery that they don’t necessarily want to be in, like the absinthe drinker is in.
3. “Drowning”-Scary Kids Scaring Kids
Absinthe can be a very powerful substance to put into your body. I feel this song represents how the woman in drowning in the absinthe and can’t get out, which has put her in the depressing mood that is portrayed in the painting.
4. “Southern Weather”-The Almost
In the song the lead singer is saying blame all of your problems, etc. on Southern weather, which kind of relates to the painting. It appears as if the woman is dealing with her problems and putting them all on the “shoulders” of the absinthe, like the song is saying to blame and put all of your problems on the soldiers southern weather.
5. “Please Don’t Tell Her”- Jason Mraz
On the outside the Absinthe Drinker may appear like a normal woman but it is seen through her expression that she is actually hiding troubling emotions. The song “Please Don’t Tell Her” is conveying the emotions of someone, who is hiding it from another. In the case of the painting, it appears as if the Absinthe Drinker is hiding her true emotions from others and dealing with them through the absinthe instead of just being straight forward and letting what’s bothering her out.
6. “Everything We Had”-The Academy Is…
“Everything We Had” tells the story of losing everything you’ve had and worked for, which I feel is conveyed in the painting. The woman appears as if she cannot stop drinking and is losing everything to absinthe.
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