Monday, October 16, 2006

Civilized hieroglyphics

I eagerly visited the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art last weekend to take a new look at the treasury with hopes that this time it might awaken some new interpretations. I typically find that practical and functional art pieces are my favorites. I didn't make my way all the way through the museum, but I spent a good amount of time in front of the Egyptian hieroglyphics; I determined that the hieroglyphics are more civilized than the written or spoken word. The written or spoken word, no matter how descriptive, has a way of being taken out of context so easily that it is alarming. A phrase, comment or word can be easily slanted to mean something in which it wasn't originally intended. And this is the same with photos and video. Sometimes, despite the truth being directly in your face and in plain English can be misinterpretted based on previous notions that were slanted in the beginning. This is how things can become something out of nothing. Hieroglyphics and other pictures can be interpretted regardless of language and are therefore more universal than mathematics, which in itself is a language to be learned. It has long been my determination that that which seems to be more civilized is in fact less civilized than previous generations before us. With the exception of slavery.

4 comments:

Tony said...

That's an interesting thought and rightfully looks at this aspect of human communication as a way to convey meaning rather than just persuade.

Anonymous said...

Where'd ya go? I even lost your profile on myspace! Hope you have a great Christmas gal.

Jason

Superficial Plaza Chick said...

On 1-18-07, I have determined that whether or not something is black or white depends on the background. I may go further into this thought soon.

Superficial Plaza Chick said...

The thought about black and white listed directly above is in reference to the post I wrote on black and white. I misplaced it onto this post called "civilized hieroglyphics."