Comparative Study
"Physiognomy" refers to to the study of a person's character or personality from his or her outer appearance; mainly using the face. The word comes from the Greek “physis” meaning "nature" and “gnomon” meaning "judge" or "interpreter”.
Studies into the science reveal that human kind have evolved an impulsive ability to make judgements of people based on their appearance. What began as a survival skill, assessing efficiently if the person before us friend or foe, has developed into a complex part of our psychological make up. Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink introduces us to "thin-slicing": our ability to gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience. Our spontaneous physiognomic decisions are often …show more content…
the use of colour is also very interesting as it allows us to distinguish the subject however they mix with each other allowing the subject to connect with its background. There's texture of blood and feathers, and the glassy black eye separates us, the audience, from the "real" eyes of the subject. We feel much more stared at that staring in this case. This fantastical and fearsome creature, with flesh tones on its face, is human but perhaps only a step away from the Sapingo mix.
Lastly we have Charles Le Brun physiognomy study of an owl, called “the Relationship of the Human Figure with that of the Owl”. This engraving looks like an almost anatomical study and that the subject is real. The owl next to the subject offers us a source of reference to see how much the subject looks like an owl. What’s interesting with this piece compared with the others is that the subject looks real. Le Brun has heightened the realistic qualities slightly to allow for the comparison to be more obvious, but he's not pushed it as far as satire.
I talked before how the combination of two entities can create a grotesque beast, and this piece looks at a successful merger. He draws your attention to the similarities already in place and invites you to reconsider the world around you through this
"Physiognomy" refers to to the study of a person's character or personality from his or her outer appearance; mainly using the face. The word comes from the Greek “physis” meaning "nature" and “gnomon” meaning "judge" or "interpreter”.
Studies into the science reveal that human kind have evolved an impulsive ability to make judgements of people based on their appearance. What began as a survival skill, assessing efficiently if the person before us friend or foe, has developed into a complex part of our psychological make up. Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink introduces us to "thin-slicing": our ability to gauge what is really important from a very narrow period of experience. Our spontaneous physiognomic decisions are often …show more content…
the use of colour is also very interesting as it allows us to distinguish the subject however they mix with each other allowing the subject to connect with its background. There's texture of blood and feathers, and the glassy black eye separates us, the audience, from the "real" eyes of the subject. We feel much more stared at that staring in this case. This fantastical and fearsome creature, with flesh tones on its face, is human but perhaps only a step away from the Sapingo mix.
Lastly we have Charles Le Brun physiognomy study of an owl, called “the Relationship of the Human Figure with that of the Owl”. This engraving looks like an almost anatomical study and that the subject is real. The owl next to the subject offers us a source of reference to see how much the subject looks like an owl. What’s interesting with this piece compared with the others is that the subject looks real. Le Brun has heightened the realistic qualities slightly to allow for the comparison to be more obvious, but he's not pushed it as far as satire.
I talked before how the combination of two entities can create a grotesque beast, and this piece looks at a successful merger. He draws your attention to the similarities already in place and invites you to reconsider the world around you through this