The painting shows that power weighs a person down. The power will become too much for the person to bear and it will make the person in power rethink all their decisions. The painting is painted in a way where the viewer will be able to clearly see how the responsibility that comes with the power weighs a person down.
The power is shown as burden by lack of any vibrant colors. The only colors are dull, brown, and fade into each other. The colors show that power suck the life out of the president. With the lack of color it tells you that power also lead to his exhaustion.
With the colors all being shades of the same color it says that power leads to the same life. The life after stepping down is bleak. Also the way that the painter has JFK stands speaks to power.
With the colors all being shades of the same color it says that power leads to the same life. The life after stepping down is bleak. Also the way that the painter has JFK stands speaks to power.
JFK is not looking at the viewer, sideways, or up at all. He instead is looking down at the ground. Looking at the ground instead of up or at something tells that power is something that taxes heavily on the person. When people cross their arms it is often taken as a defensive stance. By having JFK stand this way, the painter shows that without this power JFK feels unprotected and the power of the presidency gives a sense of protection.
JFK is painted older than he was at the time. The painter wanted to show how power ages a person. The decisions he had to make were not always the easiest and therefore made him age in ways that were not ways people wanted to age. He become wiser and more experienced through his terms, but the job did literally age him as well.
The lack of a background shows power as something that will take away your future. The future is bleak just like the background, and the background of the painting shows how little hope for the future there is once you no longer have power. The painting is saying that the power is your future and your key for the future in most cases. It is saying without power the opportunities in the future are small and there are a lot of them. In conclusion through all these different parts of a painting there is a clear argument that power is harsh on the person physically, mentally, and emotionally.
For more art by Aaron Shikler visit this link. He did the painting of JFK.
For more art by Aaron Shikler visit this link. He did the painting of JFK.
This was a pretty insightful blog post. I loved your argument, it was really easy to decipher and also a fascinating take on JFK's portrait. You had some solid evidence to back up those claims, and it was a short but cohesive read. However, next time I would like to see more sentence variety. By the end you got a little repetitive (what are some synonyms for power?), and you also had sentences of similar lengths in a row which isn't terribly wrong but doesn't leave your reader with a highly enjoyable reading experience. Aside from the technical aspects of this post, it was great content wise. You made really good points and it was a very interesting read!
ReplyDeleteHey, Sarah. You're the first person I've seen who has attracted a bot account! Feel free to delete its comment. I agree with Natalie's points. I appreciate your focus on power as a concept. In the future, I think that you should perform (and embed) more research to support your analysis.
ReplyDeleteHere's the rubric:
Content and Creativity - Postings provide comprehensive insight, understanding, and reflective thought about the topic by
...building a focused argument around a specific issue or
...asking a new related question or
...making an oppositional statement supported by personal experience or related research. (4)
Postings present a specific viewpoint but lack supporting examples or links to websites or documents, but not all links enhance the information presented. (2)
Postings are generally well written with some attempts made to stimulate dialogue and commentary. (3)
Voice -
Postings are written in a style that is generally appropriate for the intended audience and an attempt is made to use a consistent voice. (3)
Postings reflect a bit of the author’s personality through word choices that attempt to bring the topic to life. (3)
Citations -
All images, media and text created by others display appropriate copyright permissions and accurate citations. (4)
Quality of Writing and Proofreading -
Written responses are largely free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. The style of writing generally facilitates communication. (3)
Total - 22/28