Appalachian Living and Iconic Realism

Recently, I have been viewing a fascinating woman, named Patara, as she and her family live on a homestead outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Her inherited wisdom from her Appalachian roots, which includes the Cherokee tribe and her Tennesseean family, illustrates iconic realism in the following manner. 

During a time of high technology, growing artificial intelligence, and social media, she uses some of this technology to demonstrate to her audience the value of knowing some common sense skills to survive any current or future emergencies. 

Old fashioned recipes, farming techniques, and spiritual guidance are positioned online in the midst of fast food prep, stock shortages, and the lack of spirituality to demonstrate the need for many to transform their 'spoiled' ways into hard work, diligence, and trust in God. Go forth, Sister! 

(Photo from Patara's channel on YouTube)

To view one of Patara's recent videos, click the link below: 

https://youtu.be/uLzGz9VTiWg

Iconic Realism in the Medieval Narrative Poem, Roman de la Rose

“The Dance in the Garden”

by Pavane, illumination from Roman de la Rose, Toulouse, early 16th century, 

in the British Library (Harley MS 4425, fol. 14v)

From my book, The Theory of Iconic Realism..., p. 47:

The medieval poem Roman de la Rose, written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun in the 13th century, takes place in a medieval garden and represents the experience of love and desire through the dream of a twenty-year-old man. The authors use allegorical characters such as Reason, Envy, Genius, Old Age, Fair Welcome, and the god of Love to advise this young lover, as he discovers his inner motivation and develops needed courage to seek the desire of his heart in the form of a beautiful rose. Within the poetics of Roman de la Rose the writers have interwoven ideals that pertain to intuitive thought by associating visual iconography with the lexicon it illustrates. 

The rose represents a young woman in the setting of a realistic medieval castle. Although the authors create an aristocratic presentation of courtly love by the placement of the rose in this garden as a young man’s desirous fantasy, the reality is that a young man would not likely fall in love with a flower. However, the writers situate a sense of game playing with the semantics of the text and image, transporting the telling of this tale as a primary source of entertainment and enlightenment of designated cultural restraints within an aristocratic community, utilizing iconic realism as a source of enlightenment for their audience. This enlightenment involves the medieval male audience recognizing the sensitivities and complex thinking of the women in their lives. 

William Butler Yeats' poem, "Fragments," and Iconic Realism

I took this photo of a stone etching, commemorating Yeats at Coole Park, Ireland.

The following is an excerpt from my book: 

In his poem, “Fragments,” Yeats rejects the icon of Christian philosopher, John Locke, and insinuates that mankind may not be “inherently good,” for “Locke sank into a swoon” (l.1) In lines 2-4, he writes, “The Garden died;/God took the spinning-jenny/Out of his side.” Since the spinning jenny enabled laborers to produce many more skeins of yarn, this allowed for the presence of many ‘yarns.’ His play on words creates the yarn. God (Jesus), the male icon of Christianity, has removed the tales of faith, the sins for which He was crucified. 

The last stanza provides a reality of the truth, which emanates from a non-Christian source, a medium, then, “Out of nothing it came,” from the Book of Genesis, the beginning of time, and the source of God. He follows this with the pagan version of truth, “Out of the forest loam,” the most fertile, lowest part of the forest floor, where nutrients for the forest thrive. Finally, truth comes “Out of dark night where lay/The crowns of Nineveh.” Here, darkness reveals only ignorance, silence, no words of wisdom, and the source of superficiality. 

Yeats juxtaposes the iconic with realistic in this poem to question the dichotomy of human faith, [and to illustrate the strength of human spirit that exists only with God's help.] He moves the reader along his wave of resonating artistic flow, for the next poem in this series is “Leda and the Swan,” his iconic poem that alludes to the rape of Leda in order to illustrate polar opposites in human consciousness.

Structure and Interpretation

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci

from Google Images

From my first book: 

However an audience incorporates and assimilates information gained from perceiving a work of art, each member of the audience will structure the information in order to create interpretation. The wide scope of interpretation evolves with the audience's perception of the art form, which characterizes the multiple associations within a singular work of art. 

For example, the interpretation of Mona Lisa's eyes from each subsequent century since her debut has rested on her ambivalent countenance. Although content remains fixed, the historicity of the audience determines the variety of interpretations of any work of art. (Lakatos 19)

Salvador Dalí and Iconic Realism

      The Rose by Salvador Dalí

       photo from Google Images

    Below contains excerpts from my book, The Theory of Iconic Realism: Understanding the Arts through Cultural Context.

     

      Suspended in an azure sky, a full, red, dew-kissed rose hovers over a muddy, obscure landscape with a visual representation of humanity strategically painted directly beneath the rose, as if this figure receives the flower’s beauty.  A delicate cloud wisps above the rose, giving the impression of an omniscient breath.  In this painting, the artist, Salvador Dalí, presents the colorful visual stimulus to illustrate an iconic representation of a rose, traditional symbol of love. Moreover, the rose has long been associated with the Blessed Mother. Since May and October have also been associated with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, it is fitting to discuss this painting during the month of May or October. 

Dali places this garden flower in a detached yet dominating position within his fair sky. Although the foreground has a realistic tone, the central position of this suspended rose has a surreal quality. Through this configuration, Dalí stimulates the consciousness of his audience with his visual associations to reality of the rose, the two people, and the landscape. Using mainly primary colors, he places the rose above rather than within the landscape, hovering directly above the humans. He creates a form of symbolism representing an overseeing life force that captures a viewer’s imagination. Could he be depicting eternal Love? 

Through this painting, Dalí incorporates iconic realism by rendering an iconic form (the rose) within a realistic setting in which the iconic structure is not traditionally perceived (hovering in mid-air over a desert landscape) in order to bring an audience to a renewed awareness of the significance and transformation that occurs with the primal cultural activity of human interaction with the Divine.