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SEEING DOUBLE: Words, Objects, Messages September 17 2019, 0 Comments
Our world is filled with double meanings and contradictions: in words, messages, and objects.
Things are not always what they seem. Accepting this can lead to questions, and this can lead to enlightenment.
The WORD
The word green now has a new dimension and power. It defines the environmentalist, ecologist, conservationist, preservationist. Blue(s) is applied to music and melancholy; yellow is a coward; purple once worn only by nobility; orange is a citrus.
The MESSAGE
Many messages have double meanings, hidden meanings. Some messages we understand even in spite of their contradiction. Some some are just baffling.
If we can appreciate the provocation of not understanding, we become open to investigating complexities. 
Rene Magritte invited us to understand that his 1929 painting This is not a pipe is not a pipe, even though we identify it as a pipe. It's a painting of a pipe on a two-dimensional surface. We can't argue with Rene Magritte.
The Surrealist artist Merit Oppenheim might have asked questions such as: What are we drinking? Why do we willingly endure pain? What don't we want to see?
She might have answered these questions by creating three wonderful surreal objects. Our lips would feel the fur without bringing the cup to our lips, and we have to ask what is it that we are consuming. Since shoes connect our feet to the pavement and enable mobility, we have to ask why we would choose walk in pain? We wear glasses to help us see, but what is it that we want to see?
Billboard in Michigan
Political celebrity endorsements are powerful because the people we celebrate are remarkable and we want to believe them. Some politicians have falsely claimed that climate change is a hoax, and many believe them. But without our agreement to believe, messages lose their power. Questions must be asked.
The article SURREALISM : THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM talks about the importance of the surrealistic delivery of messages.
"The surreal moment, then, occurs when objects or ideas that do not ordinarily belong with one another coexist within the same context: "the resolution of those two seemingly contradictory states, dream and reality, in a kind of absolute reality, surreality, so to speak. Such a moment, however, is one of conflict rather than harmony and meant to throw the viewer off kilter."
The OBJECT
The Word: Green
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Hasta luego amigos.
Val