The 'Garbage Man' and Iconic Realism

 The 'Garbage Man' cometh.

The 'Garbage Man' taketh away!

Congratulations President Donald J. Trump,

45th and 47th President of the United States of America!

Photo from Google Images and Fox News

How is this photo an example of iconic realism? A duly elected President of the United States of America and those who supported him were labeled 'garbage' by the current President Joe Biden. The garbage man is an iconic figure in that we see garbage men working diligently and collecting trash every week. However, to see the former President (and now President-elect) sitting in the garbage truck with his name on it is an image not expected. This image sets forth a message to those who attempt to insult President Donald Trump and his supporters: It won't work! Common sense will prevail. 

Again, Congratulations President Donald J. Trump. 

May God's Blessings be with you and our country. 

Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' and Iconic Realism

http://z.hubpages.com/u/234410_f260.jpg

From my book: 

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, characterization takes place within the parameters of a seventeenth century New England village. Yet, the message that Miller is sending to his audience parallels the political ramifications of the anti-communist hearings in the United States, when fear of communism heavily influenced the psychological landscape. He creates a series of events that illustrate iconic realism through his use of lighting, characterization and dialogue. As each member of the town accused of witchcraft is called to trial, the lighting and stage presence illuminates the audience to the author’s intention. Written in 1953, shortly after the anti-communist hearings, known as the House Committee on Un-American Activities,[1] each character could depict some facet of the House Committee’s representation, for actions by the House committee resembled those of the drama’s magistrates. 

 

The setting of the play is a seventeenth century New England village, during a time when actual witch hunts did take place. Miller admits to changing a few names and facts regarding the characters, “This play is not history in the sense in which the word is used by the academic historian… However... the reader will discover here the essential nature of one of the strangest...chapters in human history.”[2] Thus, Miller chooses a tale of human interaction to demonstrate his sincere concern for the cultural future of the United States and humanity in general.

I wonder... Have some current politicians and media anchors read this play?  Somehow, I think not. 

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[1] Carr, Robert K. “The Un-American Committee.” The University of Chicago Law Review. 18.3 (Spring, 1951) 598-633.

[2] Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. (New York: Penguin Books, 1976) 2.

Sydney Owenson's Writing and Iconic Realism: Spiritual Connection Between Humanity and Natural Law

An excerpt from my book: 

Owenson acknowledges the spiritual connection between humanity and natural law, a common theme occurring in Goethe’s works. In one of his conversations with Johann Peter Eckermann, he explains:

Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for, by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it. [1]

Owenson, then, incorporates the Romantic concept of nature’s influence on humanity’s intellectual actions while she introduces the reality of political and societal constraints through many of her characters’ struggles with self-awareness. Through this conflict, Owenson personifies the dichotomous nature of glory in which her birth nation struggles with true autonomy and its native glór (voice) to be heard. Owenson’s romantic, graceful style of writing demonstrates iconic realism through the interactions of her characters as she awakens her society to effective conflict resolution that begins with the self.

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[1] Johann Goethe, quoted in Conversations of Goethe with Johann Peter Eckermann, translated by John Oxennford, edited by J.K. Moorhead (New York: Da Capo Press, 1998), p. 157.

Mad Men and Iconic Realism (Click this title to view a portion of the episode.)

Photo from Google Images

A friend suggested to me that perhaps the dramatic television series, created by Matthew Weiner, entitled, Mad Men, may have iconic realism embedded within some of the episodes. I had never viewed the series, so she sent me the episode posted above.

After pondering this a while, I saw iconic realism in the writers' use of the iconic concept of a wheel, 'the original technology.' Here, the character, and forgive me, but I don't remember his name, explains the significance of a carousel, an iconic representation of childhood, as a vehicle to transport an adult to an emotional safe haven. He uses the rhetorical mode of sympathetic speech, drawing from pleasant memories to engage his audience.

What makes this iconic realism is that a group of men in the early sixties when men were trained to hide their emotions, is reacting emotionally to this speaker. The focus of the wheel, or carousel, illustrates that element of human nature found in every culture: the continuous need to feel loved. Even though the setting of this drama is in the mid-twentieth century, this cultural phenomenon is also significant in the twenty-first century. In fact, the need for love and comfort as a safe haven is a human trait that will most likely continue for centuries into the future. Round and round we go, creating those 'Kodak moments' on this carousel called life.

Jeanne d'Arc and Iconic Realism

        

                    

                                                                                     Jeanne d'Arc's Death at the Stake,                                    

                                       by Hermann Stilke (1803–1860)                            

    To commemorate All Hallow's Eve and All Saints Day,  I present to you this post on my patron saint, Jeanne D'Arc. I've chosen this painting to illustrate iconic realism. Images merge within this painting of Jeanne d’Arc to provide an interpretation that represents the presence of hope that humanity, with all its industry, will recognize the value in the temporal nature of innocence. Interpretation of this work of art may include a variety of perspectives to complement the number of viewers of the specific art. At this moment of perception, then, the artist and the viewer become collaborators. 

     Once this cognitive collaboration between artist and viewer occurs, the cultural interpretation begins to transform into a collection of new perspectives, based on the historicity of the viewers. Nicholas Davey states, “Hermeneutic thought articulates the conviction that art does not represent (vorstellen), copy or falsify the given world but allows that which is within the world to present (darstellen) or actualize itself (verwirklichen) more fully.” [1] New perceptions of a creative work shape newly actualized interpretations of the original work of art, which eventually become accepted interpretations of a community. Once the community recognizes these interpretations, the iconic becomes a reality.

     Through the establishment of an iconic figure within the mind-set of the community, an artist can then place this icon in a new reality that the community does not accept as the normal setting for this iconic figure. This placement allows the artist to make a statement that brings awareness to the community’s consciousness of an aspect within its culture that may need some attention. Jeanne d'Arc illustrated iconic realism in that she was a woman dressed in armor as a medieval man would be, leading French armies for God. In this role, she was able to win freedom for France even though it cost her life. Thus, warring for freedom led to her own freedom.  

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[1] Davey, Nicholas. “Hermeneutics and Art Theory.” A Companion to Art Theory. eds. Paul  Smith and Carolyn Wilde. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002) 149.