Picturing Texts on the Web

To find a compelling design, I went to the website of one of my favorite artists, Gary Baseman (http://www.garybaseman.com/). In the paintings menu I looked at the first in Baseman's series "I Am Your Pinata." This painting shows elements of balance, emphasis, metaphor, and narration.

This painting is balanced because of Baseman's placement of the figures. The central "pinata" figure is up just a little from the center, while the three smaller figures are below and to the left and right of the "pinata." These figures form a sort of pyramid shape making the composition seem balanced and stable.

The emphasis of this painting is clear. The "pinata" is not actually a pinata at all, but a cartoon character who has been disemboweled. Baseman emphasizes the guts by placing them at the center of the painting. The guts are given further emphasis by their gory appearance. Finally, the placement of such a gruesome element in such a cartoony environment grabs the viewer's attention and gives the work further emphasis.

"I Am Your Pinata" has an element of narration. The disemboweled cartoon character is obviously the end result of some action. Below him are three cartoon children, one of which holds a large bloody stick. Most of us know what a pinata is and what to do with it, and Baseman shows the culprit and the weapon. The story behind this painting is easy to re-construct.

If we have a culprit and a weapon, we must have a motive, and this is where the element of metaphor becomes important. What is the normal motive for beating a pinata? To break it and get the sweet candy inside it. The problem here is that there isn't any candy in this guy--only gore. However, we often say that a person is "sweet" or that we "love what's inside." Baseman has made a sort of metaphor for love, but taken it to a problematic extreme. These cartoon children apparently loved what was inside the "pinata" character, but, disregarding social conventions, took the direct route and beat him open. This can be seen as a metaphor for the damage that a naive, inexperienced, and overly-zealous love can do.

But this painting also works on another metaphorical level. The title is "I Am Your Pinata" not "We Broke the Pinata" or "Hey, Where's the Candy?" And the "pinata" character doesn't have his tongue lolling out or little cartoon Xs over his eyes. He actually is smiling and seems to be still alive somehow. This is because Baseman is also giving the viewer a metaphor for sacrifice. When we love another person deeply, we are willing to go through incredible hardships for that person. For a truly deep love, we would willingly be hurt, beaten, or even killed. Some lovers are willing to go through tremendous suffering, even at the hands of their beloved. This is the case for this character because he says, "I am your pinata." He has willingly and happily become a sacrifice (but a tragic one because his sacrifice was useless). Baseman's painting is a metaphor for this kind of sacrificial love.