The following poem is a statement about fear. It uses a simple, childish rhyming scheme to show that fear can be found in any situation, no matter how innocent it may appear on the surface.
In this poem the cat and rat are used to represent upper and lower class society. The stronger, rich man (cat) is lording it up on the comfortable mat, whereas the weaker, working class man (rat) is scurrying to hide from a confrontation he knows he will lose.
The poem shows that both the cat and the rat are equally to blame for the situation they find themselves in. The cat is to blame for having such a superior attitude towards the rat and being completely unwilling to share it's possessions (the mat). The rat is to blame for running away from his problems without even giving the cat an opportunity to act. However, while both parties are to blame, it is ultimately only the rat who suffers.
The Poem:
The cat was on the mat,
So the rat hid in a hat.
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So now for the serious part. Just how much of art and writing is situational and/or up to interpretation? I am obviously being flippant with the above, but I don't doubt that there are certain situation where such a thing could be considered a genuine artistic statement (à la blurred photographs, modern art and Homer Simpson's BBQ). But when does a joke become a statement? And why?
I suppose I could also say that this is one of the reasons I personally dislike analysing the meaning of poetry. In the end it's too easy to just start talking a load of old nonsense.
well everything is in the eye of the beholders. I know some people who overthink tv shows, some people criticize my manga as an insult to literature, some think of today's paintings to be meaningless some think the Mona Lisa is a piece of shit.
It doesn't matter really. To anyone, anything can be art and can be interpretted in any way.
In a sense that is the beauty of art, despite what the artist tries to get across, there are infinite ways of viewing and interpretting it.
The cat
Sat
On the mat
And that
Was that.
@3: Deep dude. It's changed my whole perspective on life wipes tear from eye
What happened to my asterisks? Grammar fail.
I wouldn't say it's the purest form of art. Most graffiti serves one of three purposes I find:
1)To mark territory or a person/gang/or other type of group.
2)To publicly display some kind of social message or warning related to (1)
3)To publicly display a person's (who usually remains anonymous) skill in quickly creating an image that does either (1) or (2) or in the case of (2) rather than beign related to a group, being just a random social message like a political cartoon.
But wasn't art's first purpose to convey territory, or to warn others?
I think art's first purpose was storytelling. You know, paintings on walls to convey a hunt. shadows around a campire to tell legends, etc. etc.
I think fanfiction might actually be a more pure form when you think about it. We take something we like and convey it in a different way for our own pleasure and for others who may share the same tastes.
But why would you waste valuable coloured earth etc on mere tales? The main usage of prehistoric art was to warn tribes, of course they've told stories but if you were a different tribe and saw the massive display of might and power, would you dare cross into their territory?
I disagree about your fanfiction observation, of course we convey it for our own pleasure and for others to enjoy, but we want reviews, and expect them; personal gain and gratification.
To begin with, the tribes barely understood the concept of 'tribe' or even 'group'. To them, the people that were with them, were just more mouths to feed. Stories were used to convey everything, from lessons on hunting, to entertainment and yes, even as a warning.
Also that personal gain and gratification is worthless to some extent except for your own self confidence. You make no money off it. Your reviewers are also usually other writers hoping to get their own stuff reviewed.
PErsonal gain without materialistic value is meaningless because that same personal gain comes from any art. MAterialistic value stems from art as a career.
Hence the argument that graffiti on bathroom walls done without an intent of personal gain is the purest form of art.
Why is personal gain without materialistic value worthless? If you do an charitable deed with expectation of receiving help of your own, which you then receive, why is that worthless?
So in theory, all 'art' is corrupt.
Even graffiti is meant to be taken notice of and give the artists that same personal gain.
Also I used the wrong word there. Not materialistic but monetary.
The kind of personal gain you're talking about is intangible and only goes as far as making you feel good about yourself.
Feeling good about yourself though, doesn't pay your electric bills, put food on the table, pay for the internet you're using etc. etc.
In this day and age, art has few purposes and even then, most of it serves to gain some kind of monetary reward.
Graffiti and fanfiction though...I'm certain that neither gets it's artists any money.
Also, graffiti still serves to convey messages, warnings, etc.
Fanfictions are just stories told by people about a fandom in a different way because they wanted to change something in canon. There is no warning, no message, just another story for someone to tell.