Ran Ortner

oil on canvas

66" x 96"

2016

  • erogenouswarzoneM
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    9 months ago

    I realize that I left this part out of my citation above… Arsenic is found in prawns I guess, which live in the ocean. Beyond that, I’m not sure either, but the work is called element 33, and element 33 is arsenic.

    Perhaps it’s a comment on suicide or perhaps the drudgery of common life, or perhaps the fear invoked by seeing nothing but water. That’s just me though, that’s what I thought about as I looked at this work.

    Edit: re-reading my citation above, I realize I left out the part where prawns are a major source of Arsenic.

    • Salamendacious@lemmy.worldOP
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      9 months ago

      I see Ran Ortner only paints these ocean scenes and element is just one of his ways of titling them. You can see more of them on his website here .

      • erogenouswarzoneM
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        9 months ago

        That is funny tho, thinking about the art vs the artist’s intent.

        In this case, the artist made a great many of these, and decided to call them elements.

        Then, you posted 33 here.

        Then I, acting upon only the context of the painting and title, decided to look up what element 33 was.

        And now when I look at all those beautiful paintings I only think of arsenic. Whereas if I had seen them all together, the element number would’ve been basically meaningless - just an interesting way to name paintings that don’t really have names.

        So, in that case, I thank you for the opportunity to have more attached meaning to this than would’ve otherwise been allowed.

        • Salamendacious@lemmy.worldOP
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          9 months ago

          He’s incredibly skilled. I love his subtle use of light and color. I’ve never seen one of his paintings in person but they are enormous. I bet it’s a sight to see

          • erogenouswarzoneM
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            9 months ago

            Agreed - although I didn’t realize about the size, that’s even more incredible. I’ll have to see if there’s any around me.