Friday, April 11, 2008

Illustration Friday: Fail -

"Portentous Occurrence at the Business School Graduation"
digital collage by Mick Mather
I couldn't make up my mind regarding the two ideas that I had for fail, the weekly theme at Illustration Friday. So, I'm posting the alternative version at No Matter What Shape - The Archive and you can see it here. While the personal tragedy that's part of this piece is not a laughing matter, I couldn't resist going down that dank alley of dark comedy. Given the broadcast media feeding frenzy over the current recession, to the point of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, the parallels with Black Tuesday in October 1929 seem apropos. As I recall, there were more than a few historians brave enough to say that the hands-off policy of Herbert Hoover was quite likely to have worked, thereby shortening that troublesome recession that, instead, grew out of control to become what we now call The Great Depression that lasted through to the entrance of the United States into World War II. Is history about to repeat itself?

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6 Comments:

Blogger studio lolo said...

This couple seems to be sharing an awkward moment. Hmmmm, wonder what that's about!
I loved your idea on my blog about getting into it and sketching the crowd! Honestly though, I was just having one of those days when everyone was getting on my last nerve...esp the noisy bands! Still, I did manage to accomplish my entry for this week. No more whining from me :D

10:36 AM  
Blogger Mick said...

studio lolo:
LOL, thanks, Laurel. There's a visual joke here, made minimally clear via the title. The poor fellow jumping out the window isn't clear at all, so one has to draw a line from The Great Depression and the many failed businesses that caused some men to throw themselves out a window to this visual pun. All in all, very dark humor here as I admit in the body of the post.

BTW - LMAO at no more whining from me! :D

12:05 PM  
Blogger rebecca christiansen said...

Now I can see your point here and couldn't agree with you more about the "R" word. What's up with that?
Great concept here and on your other blog with the Fail Magazine.

I just really like your art! I wish I knew how you create some of your pieces. The effects are so cool. Do you use Painter, Photoshop, or something else?

http://justgiddy.typepad.com

6:07 PM  
Blogger Mick said...

rebecca woodward:
Becca!!! How nice that you dropped in and thanks so much for the comment and question. First things first. I don't often walk so far out on a political limb but, if you spend much time with me, you'll soon learn that my mind works in a strange way ... but I digress. Once in a while, a brief rant seems to escape in spite of my better judgment. I'm pleased that you agree and that doesn't happen often.

I say a great BIG ol' thanks for the second comment on my work. I don't use any of the expensive tools, preferring an array of FREE photo editing software and a variety of FREE filters. In The Secret Visual Laboratory you'll find that all brand names are filed off and have been replaced with a single word: other. :)

6:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh goodness, let's hope not! Repeating history that is. Except it seems to be what we always do, isn't it? Cool image and funny title (I don't know why, it cracked me up).

8:42 AM  
Blogger Mick said...

shani:
It does seem that we fail to learn from history. Either way, I'm glad you got a chuckle out of the title. :)

4:09 PM  

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