My gif represents my accumulated frustrations when I read “The Nose”. The cartoon breaking the pencil and the frustration sign are references to the annoyance I felt. The background filled with random letter characters is the confusion I experienced when I attempted to analyze the piece. The letters are meaningless combinations. Since I didn’t understand the message “The Nose” is trying to convey, I saw the story as a meaningless combination. This was the source of my frustration because I was positive there is a message. Billy is suppose to be Kovaloff, he chases his own nose and fails to catch it because a pretty woman stopped him. After Billy fails to capture his nose, he becomes angry. The finished collage represents my irritation and the plot of the story.
The destruction phrase represents my understanding of “The Nose”, after we went over it in class. I highlight the background and white out everything but Billy to represent that the confusion and frustration are gone. I left Billy or Kovaloff untouched because he and his actions are central to the story. The green pyramid I drew represents social status. I wrote the words “I understand now”. The words might be difficult to see when they first appear near the top left, but toward the end, I place them in the spotlight. I destroyed everything around the words to emphasize that it has become clear to me now. I ended the gif with a conversion from a black to a white background. The conversion allows the focus of the viewer to be entirely on the words. The pauses throughout the gif are for emphasis and to allow the viewers to see the collage.
Citation for images:
FreeVector. “Free Vector Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy 027.” VectorJunky. n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. JPEG file.
Itsmyjob. “Classy Lady.” Zazzle. n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. JPEG file.
Joachimopelka. “Confused Data.” Depositphotos. 8 Aug. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2013. JPEG file.
Mofosu. “the grim adventures of billy and mandy.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 3 Feb. 2008. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
Morningbru. “Frustration.” Blogger. Morningbru Coffee. 11 July. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
Petty, Arts. “Arts Rants: The Insane and Confusing Battle for the Pipe into your Home.” Art Petty Group. Management Excellence. 25 July 2009. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
Seth and Ray. “How to be Successful While Dealing with Frustration.” WordPress. Seth and Ray Blog. 14 May. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
While I was watching your animation, I was able to feel the frustration that you had. When I first came across Gogol’s short story, I also did not know what to make of the plot; the story was that bizarre and strange. The background of your collage reflects upon my confusion – it was as if the words were floating around in space, because I just could not grasp the meaning behind it. However, as you indicated in your GIF, I came to comprehend the implications of The Nose as we spent more class time digging deeper into it. I like how you derived some of the elements in your collage from the story, such as Major Kovalev’s endless chasing after beautiful women and his nose. Yet, your collage stands on its own.
I was really impressed with your collage because the seemingly random images came together to make a cohesive and well-presented idea. I’m glad you made a collage about the emotions you felt while you read “The Nose” as opposed to a greater theme of the short story because, overall, I was able to relate to that better than suppression or religion. The individual elements you added each had their own purpose that was built upon by adding the other characters. I found the act of erasing everything to say, “I understand now,” was a great connection to how people can sometimes over-complicate situations. In group discussion one of the last themes we mentioned was absurdity, even though it’s clearly impossible for anyone to lose their nose with no explanation. We over-complicated our initial thinking of the story and ignored a critical piece of the puzzle. I think your collage brings a highly relevant perspective of reading “The Nose” to the forefront of discussion, while also exploring how the thinking about literary texts can be made convoluted.
I think your animation clearly portrays your feelings of frustration and confusion towards the story. When I read “The Nose” before the class discussion, I was also confused about the plot and had a hard time figuring out the underlying message behind the story. I like how you utilized signs and text to emphasize your feelings. I find it humorous how Billy is chasing his own nose but a lady stops him on his path. That was a really good representation of how Kovaloff wanted to search for his nose but was distracted by a lady.
I think your animation was very easy to understand unlike the story itself. The animation was very relatable because I’m sure most of us felt the same way when we first read the story. I also think your destruction was effective because all of the sudden, we understood the message about social status that Gogol was making after a class discussion.