The Beautiful and the Ugly

The Beautiful

By: Josephine Wall

URL: http://www.deshow.netdfilecartoon2009-05art-gallery-art-painting-566-2.jpg

The Ugly

By: Jennie

URL: http://farm1.static.flickr.com3188180693_635b8ab719.jpg

 Reflection

        In my perspective, these two images illustrates beauty and ugliness. The first image that shows a woman playing a flute with earthly nature around her is the one that illustrates beauty while the second image, which shows a naked, very thin, long-haired man who obviously suffers from malnutrition and other kinds of illnesses and is on the verge of death, is the one that illustrates ugliness. This is how I see the two images.

       For in the first image, one can see that it's beautiful because the natural elements of the earth were illustrated with vibrant colors and detailed design. Yet, there is more to it than that. As I see it, it shows how beautiful human can interact with nature. The woman playing the flute, the horse and it's rider running on the waters, the boys rowing a boat, the women dancing, the cities inside the flowers, the butterflies, and the birds on the trees shows how humans and nature complement each other throughout the flow of time. Furthermore, this image also shows how nature can be seen as useful and beautiful by itself or used by humans. For example, the woman playing the flute, she looks more beautiful because of the flowers she wears on her head and the clothes that she wear, which also has flower designs. The flute that she uses clearly is made of metal, a natural resource. Another one are the boys that are rowing a boat, the boat and the paddle are made of wood. Thus, seeing the elements that were portrayed in this image, one can say that nature truly is beautiful and beneficial for humans.

          In the second image, one might say that it's obviously ugly because the image only shows a naked man that is on the verge of death and the theme of the artwork is dark, creepy, or dull. Then again, there is more to it than that. In my perspective, the artwork shows how unstable and unfair the economic system of the world is, especially in the poor countries. Furthermore, the person in the artwork is already a product of the unstable and unfair economic system. As can be seen, the person in the image suffers from malnutrition, thus, becoming thin and ill. Now how did it come to that? Obviously it is not his choice to have an outcome like that. There are different situations that may lead to his current state, some of them are; growing up in a poor community with poor parents that didn't have any education and can't even afford one for their offspring, or having financial stability at first but suddenly everything turns to nothing because of certain problems that kept him down permanently. Therefore, the artwork shows how ugly the economic world had become that it influenced those in power to become corrupt and leaving those who are lowest of the low to just starve and die. Just like the person in the artwork.