Writing 05: Reptiles by Escher

Reptiles, Marius Cornelius Escher, 1943 (Lithograph)

Imagine your very drawings your very own work of sweat, tears, and lead coming to life in a span of a second, fulfilling your childhood dreams of seeing things you knew would never come to life do exactly what you never expected it to be - breathe, move and live. Unfortunately this one may be your nightmare more than a fairytale you hoped for; the scaly forms wriggling and writhing out of the paper as if like some sort of possessed animal, clawing it's way around the table. Should it be inciting feelings of disgust, repulse or just plain intrigue?

In Reptiles, the reptiles being the mains subject matter seemingly fuse into and diffuse out of the abstract drawing of the reptiles and travel in a circle around the painting, giving a sense of dynamism and movement, as the viewer's eyes will naturally move along with the direction in which the lizards are traveling in a circular motion. 

This work is one that is almost typical of Escher's style of tessellation and repetitive design. This is obvious through the hexagons being tiled aside one another in the drawing in the lithograph in a routine manner. However, one particular interesting aspect of this artwork is the contrasting of the realistic, 3-dimensional figures of the reptiles against the flat, 2-dimensional drawing of the same reptiles as well as the surrounding . 

Another fascinating juxtaposition is the one of the curvature of certain objects against the rigidity and angularity of the other objects. One such example would be:

(Screenshot of top left hand corner of Reptiles)

As one can see, on the left is a rounded bucket-like object which is obviously one that is curved and rounded on the outside, further highlighted by the circular rings on the bucket itself. Adjacent to it, however, is the angular block which is formed by the pointed shape of the pentagon and that in itself is also a slight visual oxymoron as the shape of the block overall slightly resembles one of a sphere, an obviously rounded object. This is obviously a very strategic and playful composition as crafted so carefully by Escher.

Furthermore, another facetious aspect of Reptiles' composition is the scale of the objects in the picture. Although very subtle and almost un-noticeable to one who does not observe the lithograph carefully. However, upon meticulous observation, one would note that the scale of the objects do not necessarily add up. One of the more obvious examples would be:

(Screen shot of right hand side of Reptiles)

As one can see, the size of the opened book on the top right hand corner does not really coincide with the rest of the objects as displayed in the work. It seems almost minute in comparison to the book which is supposedly not far off from it, which challenges the rules of proportion in relation to the distance of an object from the viewer. This also injects an indistinct yet present sense of surrealism. This is also detected through the scale of the reptile as it looks like a crocodile which we often associate with man-eating and humongous; and yet it is smaller than even a book, and this also has a slight Surrealist tint to it.

Certainly, another surrealist element would be that it is impossible for a drawing to come to life and move around. The closest it can ever to come to being alive would be through our imagination and dreams.

The mood of the work is in general rather neutral at the first impression. It seems almost mundane and boring, also brought about by the monotonous lack of color. This same almost unexciting mood carries on as Reptiles is an artwork which is practically "in-your-face"and cannot be more literal. Artworks that  carry a more obvious tinge of symbolism to it are often more interesting, as they draw the viewer in more to find out about the meaning behind the artwork and thus is more audience-friendly in being interactive not just to the eyes but also to their minds. 

However, at the second look, if one cares to observe again, it is the very subject matter which is the essence in bringing out the subtle playfulness in the work instead. The pure idea that this scene is imaginative already gives a hint of light-heartedness. Also, some humor is brought into the work due to the sudden idea that something that looks so threatening like a crocodile-looking reptile would suddenly appear so small and harmless makes one tickled. It seemingly undermines the danger of the reptile and then causes one to simply brush off and dismiss the potential danger as we often detect when coming in close range to such reptiles in the natural environment. The tension is then eased in the work and allows the work to be, as mentioned before, light hearted.

I will be comparing Reptiles to Sky and Water I.

Sky and Water I, Marius Cornelius Escher, 1938 (Woodcut)

Similarities:

Both works make an obvious use of tessellation and repetition of pattern in the works. Both works are also predominantly and as Escher's signature style shows, are all in black and white. 

Differences:

There is a more apparent use of positive and negative space in Sky and Water I and a greater clear distinction between the black and white as there is little shadowing and the lines are more crisply clear-cut. Contributing to this aspect of difference is also the way Sky and Water I is more 2-dimensional and flat, being illustrated in a simplified, abstract manner as compared to Reptiles while Escher still made use of some shadowing as well as played with 3-dimensionality, in a way chasing realism as well. 

They are also differentiated by the way the composition has been structured. In Reptiles, the balanced composition is achieved in a more complex manner where the weight of the objects depicted faintly give an implied sense of balance where areas in Sky and Water I, the balance achieved in the composition is done through obvious means where both horizontally and vertically they are in some ways directly symmetrical. Even the colors are used obviously in optimal balance. 

Although both are Escher's works, they show different sides of Escher in terms of style and also even their media. 

To end off, here's a video which I found particularly interesting as it is short and sweet yet illustrating Escher's possible train of thought. The beauty of the artwork really lay in its simplicity of concept after all  :)