On Jan 30, 2008 8:27 AM, Daniel R. Tobias dan@tobias.name wrote:
I find it interesting how often this random selection comes up with combinations of band names, album titles, and images that give the impression of having some sort of deep symbolic artistic significance... makes one wonder how many of the real-world arts-and- literature stuff, about which people write academic treatises discussing what they represent, were really just born of random thoughts of their artists. I remember struggling in English classes in high school and college (where I was great at more "rational" subjects like math and computer science) where the teachers kept expecting me to understand all the symbolism that was supposedly there in the books and stories we read (the rocking horse isn't just a rocking horse... it represents the lost innocence of childhood!), but how is anybody to know what symbolism was really intended and what is a figment of the observer's imagination?
I feel less lonely now. =) With training I've become marginally better at figuring out where the symbols are, and taking a stab ("bullshitting", I call it) at what they represent, but I'm never confident that I've done it right. Surprisingly I always seem to be right, which only confirms my belief that I am bullshitting and symbolism is bullshit.
Johnleemk