Thursday, August 16, 2012

Nice Visuals, Obscure Meaning

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Festival of Lanterns 20

Another spectacular display at the Lantern Festival but I'm puzzled about what it's supposed to mean. Semioticians and deconstructionists, assemble immediately at a smoky cafe in the Left Bank and get to work.

We got a bridge or a rainbow (or both) rising over some trees and a whole bunch of cranes (I think). There's something like a mountain on the right that is either chewing gum and blowing a bubble or has the rising/setting sun/moon superglued to the peak. At the top, a woman stands on a little cloud with outstretched arms. A man and an ox approach her. He carries two baskets, one containing a small boy, the other a girl.

What's it supposed to mean? Fertility symbols? A Chinese version of Papageno and Papagena? Your opinions are welcome.

Festival of Lanterns 21

5 comments:

  1. I like the Papagena and Papageno explanation. Search me for another one...

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  2. I think the message is: "Westerners won't get the symbolism in this any more than if we had spelled it out in Chinese letters."

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  3. Brilliant series! I enjoyed every post. All shots are fantastic. Great job, Bob.

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