I Think it Might be My Favorite

After my most recent post, I got to thinking--as I do from time to time--about I Heart Huckabees. It is by and far one of my favorite movies. I find it hilarious, deep, kitschy, ironic, and actually somehow comforting. I wouldn't call it my 'favorite,' per se, but in reference to one of my other favorite films, I would definitely put it in my Top Five. I knew early on that I Heart Huckabees was more or less a parody of many schools of philosophy, but since it's a subject I managed to miss out on in college, I didn't have the base knowledge to really 'get' some of the references or themes. Luckily for me, someone else with the knowledge and time figured out a basic explanation. Warning: spoilers, deep thoughts, and not for everyone. Anyways, I hope to one day look into this more and maybe take a philosophy class--I don't think that simply reading things on my own is really going to cut it on this subject. I did dive into a little more research, although most of what I found was just reviews.

Yes, I am well aware that it was not Bernard who said that quote.

One thing I did learn, however, was that the epic chalkboard behind Bernard Jaffe is a throwback to an artist named Cy Twombly. He went through a phase where he layered white on dark greys, reminiscent of a chalkboard. He also apparently had an obsession with Classical Mythology, particularly an unhealthy focus on Leda and the Swan.

Cy Twombly, 1969.

Although most of his art is lost on me, I really liked the art on the chalkboard and decided [although it was nearly midnight--I had some rotten insomnia last night] to try my own hand at it. Of course, I'm a bibliophile at heart, so no real piece of my art would be complete without a quote. In the film, the actual quote is, "So, everything's the same, even if it's different?"--It's Albert and Bernard discussing the 'blanket theory,' if you're familiar with the film. So I took that quote and sort of applied it to the film as a whole, and my current mindset, and the chalkboard.

this is the wash & wax I started with...

...and this is when it was finished.

If you can't read it well, it says, "everything is connected / even when it's not".

 I might take one more crack at it before I consider it 'done'. See I thought that buying glow-in-the-dark acrylic was a good idea. Then today, I thought it would be an even better idea to add it to this piece. Turns out, it dries almost clear--not almost white, like I had figured. I'm not sure if it's worth it to view it in low light to get the effect, so I might just redo it with white, or a dark cyan, or maybe something off-the-wall like red or yellow [or that stubborn neon blue that never wants to spritz right]. If you can't see, it says '20/20' and some squares are also in that [non]color.

Point being, that sometimes it is only by looking at the past that you can see connections you had overlooked. It is a short-term obsession of mine, I will probably lose focus and flit over to another topic in a week or so, but for the time being, this is hitting my brain like a sledgehammer. I can't really go into more depth on the topic; either you get it or you don't.