Laurent Lee’s Art Presentation Using Norvz Austria’s Picture Search to Fade

Character: In the photo, the dress the girl wears allows us to see what type of person she is. The dress, white and clean, is similar to the purity of the human soul. The girl’s face is not visible which makes her identity unknown. This shows that this girl could be anyone, making her a representation of all of humanity. Austria takes this photo while the girl walks up the stairs. This shows how she must traverse through her path in order to reach the top. In whole, the girl is meant to symbolize humanity’s purity. Color: The dark colors surrounding the bottom portion of the dull-colored picture createe an ominous mood. By making such a large contrast between the ocean and the girl, it puts emphasis on the purity that resides inside of the girl. Austria’s intentions of creating this contrast show that he wants to compare the ocean’s impurity to the girl. With this in mind, one can infer that the ocean symbolizes the world of sin, or rather hell itself. However, if the ocean is sin, why are there still white waves on the top of the ocean? Austria included this detail to show that even in the world of sin, there may still be some purity. This shows how there are different levels of the ocean. The top would still has some white purity while the bottom of the ocean is dark and black. The stairs are connected to the ocean which shows how if someone in the sin filled world becomes pure, they could one day follow the girl up the stairs in her sin-free journey. Light: The light in this picture is blocked by the clock that is slowly falling apart. In this case, the light is given the meaning of heaven, while the clock is the individual’s time left in the world. Although the light is blocked by the clock, it is still visible due to the deterioration of the clock. The clock is falling apart, similar to how time disappears over the course of life. However, in this case, time is only disappearing whenever the girl takes a step. The clock falling apart is a result of the girl advancing in life. Once the girl fulfills her life, or walks up the stairs, the clock will fully fall apart, allowing her to enter heaven. However, the light behind the clock is not the only lighting in the picture. On the stairs, which symbolizes life, there is a contrast between light and dark. The stairs show the path that is taken in order to get to heaven. The bright light in the middle of the stairs show the ideal path, full of purity, while the sides of the stairs show the boundaries between purity and sin. The closer someone is to the sides, the more likely they will fall into the world of sins. As the stairs progress, the contrast between the light and dark slowly fade away, until there is only darkness ahead. This darkness seems to be the cause by the shadow of time. In this case, instead of the darkness meaning sins, it represents the unknown. Since the clock is causing the shadow, it shows how the far future is unknown. However, the darkness will be replaced with life as the clock breaks and time passes. Angle: The angle of this photo causes the viewer to be on the same level as the middle of the clock with no tilt up or down. This shows that, at the moment, the viewer is not the one looking up at the journey nor is he the one looking down upon others. The viewer is simply placed at and angle where he is only a spectator without any power. The viewer is not God who looks down upon the situation nor is he one of the characters, who look up at the clock. Also, this angle makes the length of the stairs unknown. If the angle was on the side, the viewer would be able to see the exact length of the stairs. However, with Austria’s chosen angle, the viewer can only estimate how long the stairs are. Due to the angle, the stairs length are able to be approximately measured, but not exactly. This relates to how one can only estimate how long they will live. Proportion: In this photo, the clock takes up a big portion of space. Austria chose to make it this size to show how people mainly focus on how much time they have left in the world instead of what comes after. People become entranced with their time and are scared of it going away which is ironic because one can only reach heaven after death. The pieces falling off of the clock also have varying sizes. The bigger pieces symbolize accomplishments while the smaller pieces are daily routines. These pieces relate to real life because like time in real life, when its passed, or broken off, one can never get it back. However the time will stay visible, as seen in the ocean in the picture and memories in real life. On the other hand, the girl in the photo is small compared to everything. This shows how being important or famous in the world is irrelevant in the journey to heaven. All one must do is continue on with his life without sinning. Also the stairway is much smaller than the ocean, which shows the great difference between the chance of success and the chance of failure. Placement: The girl is placed on the bottom of the stairs showing that there will still be a long path ahead. Since the path gets thinner, making it more difficult, one can conclude that the journey to heaven will be hard. The clock is placed in the middle of the photo. Since the most important things often lie in the middle, it shows that people believe that time is the most important thing in life. Setting: The place in which the photo is taken is no where notable. Since the girl is a representation of humanity, the setting must be in a generic place so many people can relate. This generic location is chosen because every person has their own individual circumstances showing that no matter how different one is from others, the path to heaven is the same. In this location there is only ocean and no land. This shows that one must continue up the stairs or fall into the ocean. Austria is showing there is no resting in life which would be represented with land. The majority of the clouds are gray. If white is good and black is even, then these clouds would be neutral. In addition to being neutral, the clouds are blocking the light from fully reaching the girl. Due to this, the clouds symbolize ignorance on whether heaven exists or not.