Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! 

I've posted this poem on both of my sites. This doesn't have anything to do with iconic realism, but realism, yes. It's a verse that, hopefully, illustrates the flowing bond of memory and emotions between Mother and Daughter. 

Sleeping Mother with Child  by Christian Krohg, 1883\

Breath 

Behind her sleeping eyes,

a youthful face remains within

the gentle embrace of her heart,

impish blue eyes, trying her patience,

the quiet soft puffs of sleeping breath.

She smiles, wondering

what this wee one dreamt,

so small, so peaceful.

Sixteen years later... erupting passion

and the sighing relief in its passing,

growing, knowing that surely

there will return a forgiving kiss.

Eyes closed, she remains

in cherished supplication,

while quiet breaths 

waft through the dreams

of the one who calls her Mom.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

"Dixit Dominus" (With gratitude to Mozart) and Iconic Realism

Cochlea from Medical Dictionary- The Free Dictionary

When I was in high school, I was blessed to attend a two week music workshop at the University of Georgia. I began by playing oboe in the orchestra, but switched to sing in the advanced choir. It was much more rewarding to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed singing Alto to Mozart's Dixit Dominus as one of the classical pieces we sang for the cumulative concert. 

 

In the poem below, I demonstrate my semiotic theory of iconic realism by writing a description of the hearing process, but one aspect of that process is unexpected: the cochlea is dormant. This human ear is deaf. Thus, this perfect individual will never hear as the hearing public does...Dixit Dominus. (It is God's Word.) The Word will have to come to that individual through alternative means. I have placed the iconic representation of hearing with an iconic composition, Dixit Dominus, to bring awareness of the beauty in all of humanity, particularly in those individuals who cannot hear with their ears. They must experience the heavenly Word in their unique way. 

Dixit Dominus 

The chorus swells; waves rush in,

their flow controlled 

by the canal's turbid banks. 

Membrane pulsates - 

Malleus, Incus, Stapes

vibrate

through a liquid universe.  

Electrical impulses meander

in and out and around 

minuscule hair cells within.

Majestic cochlea sits on its throne,

dormant. 

Eighth nerve to the brain reaches out.

Mozart sheds a heavenly tear. 

This perfect one will never hear ~

Dixit Dominus.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

To hear Mozart's Vesperae solennes de Confessore, Dixit Dominus, click onto this link: 

https://youtu.be/H7QbViCuGfU

Click onto the link below to see an animation of sound felt along the basilar membrane in the cochlea:

https://youtu.be/dyenMluFaUw

Iconic Realism in Three Different Centuries of Art: 13th, 16th, and 20th

13th century: depiction of Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose (photo from Google Images)

 16th century: Pieter Breughel's painting, The Fall of Icarus (photo from Google Images)

20th century: Salvador Dali's Rose (photo from Google Images)

The above paintings, from top to bottom: an illustration from the medieval poem, Roman de la Rose, Breughel's Fall of Icarus and Dali's Rose, are examples of artistic renderings of this theory. The function of semiotic representation is the reflection of the society in which both the artist and the audience reside. However, the artistic rendering does not necessarily reflect the standard of that community, for the intention of the artist may well be to create a piece that jolts the audience into a need for cultural change. This would be the reason for an artist employing the use of iconic realism, assisting the audience to become adroitly aware of that aspect of the culture with which they are familiar and its need for transformation.

In Jean de Meun's epylion, Roman de la Rose, a young man is attracted to a 'rose' representing a young woman. The iconic image is the rose, living in a guarded tower. This rose becomes the object of the young man's desire and purpose, but not until he first receives much advice from wise allegorical characters on how to win her heart. The realistic environment in which this wild rose lives illustrates that creating a fortress around those natural impulses only causes the impulse within one's heart to become more instinctively determined.  

In Pieter Breughel's painting, The Fall of Icarus, the spirit of rebellion reveals young Icarus, falling into the sea while the local community turns their attention away from his plight. Here, the self-absorbed society's rejection of the obvious need illustrates a necessity for humanity to attend to others' frailties when they are obviously seeking genuine help. 

Rose by Salvador Dali illustrates an iconic image of a rose, suspended in mid-air above an arid landscape. A small, barely visible and iconic young couple, hold hands amid this arid landscape. This positioning demonstrates that the outer revelation of love can occasionally become even greater, more lovely than those experiencing this emotion could imagine. 

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, particularly with regard to love. 

Blade Runner and Iconic Realism

Photo from Google Images

The 1982 film, Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, screenplay written by Hampton Fancher, is based on the novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. In the film set in a futuristic Los Angeles, Harrison Ford’s character, Deckard, has a mission to terminate 4 replicants. 

However, his iconic character of the rugged cop experiences a change of conscience as emotional turmoil enters his stark reality. This film contains several illustrations of iconic realism through the use of iconic images overlaid with obscure, futuristic settings that bring the audience to an awareness of the ambiguous reality faced by humans as we deal with various forms of strength and weakness. Moreover, this film offers questions surrounding the applications of artificial intelligence, which, at the time of this writing, have very little connection with human consciousness.