Visual Journal # 2

Image Assessment
Ruaya, Virginia Grace G.
Section O
Primary Words
grayscale room
man
alone
sad face
plate
eating
glass of water
smiley face of bacon and eggs
plate
dead leaves & plants
Associative Words
adult
gloomy
thinking

loneliness
Significant Words
man
sad face
grayscale room
dead leaves and plants
Pairs
alone/loneliness
plate/eat
sad face/sadness
Symbolism
grayscale
dead leaves and plants

In this picture we can see a man in a grayscale room alone in a dining table. The man is a having this sad face while leaning on
his left fist. We can also see many withered plants and dried leaves everywhere in the room, withered potted plants, dried leaves on the
floor or/and on the table in front of him. In my perspective and also based on my past experiences and personal interpretation, the
grayscale color symbolizes boredom and sadness. It adds to the obvious body language of the man which is sadness and loneliness.
Then, theres also the withered plants. In some cultures, people consider trees or plants as a symbol for life. If theres an image of a
healthy tree or plant, it tells about the success, prosperity, and abundance in a persons life. But if the tree or plant is shown otherwise,
it tells about failures and helplessness. Those withered plants must be telling something about the mans problems, failures or
hopelessness in his life. There are also some dried leaves scattered everywhere, probably came from the withered plants. Again in
some cultures, a leaf represents one small segment or part and/or also can be a sort of connection to another life. And a dead leaf
represents a dead connection. Those dead leaves must be symbolizing about the mans lost connections to other people he once
acquainted with and also must be the reason why he is alone. We can also see a glass of water on the table with a dead leaf submerged
in it. Water symbolizes life and healing so the man must be trying to heal or save his connection with a certain person back to life but
it turns out useless, thus making him sadder. All of those aforementioned tells us about the mans sadness, loneliness, isolation, and
helplessness.
However, we can see the plate with a strip of bacon and two eggs forming a smiley face making the bacon as a smiling mouth
and eggs as eyes. That smiley face is the only thing that is colored among the dull grayscale world. The artist must really wanted to
emphasize this. In my opinion, the man must be trying to entertain or at least cheer himself up, since no one else will. Despite the
sadness that seeps deep inside his humanity then oozes out until it fills all his surroundings, maybe, just maybe, he has still some hope.
Hope that someday all of those predicaments will end and everything will be back to normal, that someday he will be able to smile the
way that smiley face does.