Katabasis in Myth and Film

This is Kevin! To view the piece go to my blog at:http://owloctopus.blogspot.com

             In my project I wanted to visually represent Katabasis through the use of allegory. The theme of katabasis would be expressed visually through the use of symbols and elements that are often associated with the journey. I like to think of it as a visual worldcloud for katabasis.
              Inspiration for the drawing came from many sources. Religious art, symbols, and icons from different cultures were fused together to create a fabricated deity that embodied katabasis. For example, the goddess figure in the drawing is a nod towards Hinduism, the woman’s multiple arms allude to Shiva, the destroyer and his wife Devi; the feather is an Egyptian symbol for judgment, and the burqas that make the water are icons of middle eastern cultures as well as a symbol of oppression, freedom, and the Islamic religion, I’d also like to point out that the room that we studied in was very much an inspiration for this drawing.
         Yet another source that I drew from is one of my favorite artists, Gustav Klimt. His work was inspired by the beauty and sensuality of women as evidenced both in his stunning portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer and Emilie Floge, and in his enigmatic depictions of mythological femme fatales in works such as Judith and Danae. Gustav Klimt was a highly controversial figure in his time. His paintings provoked violent reactions and were often branded as ‘obscene’ by the conservative majority in Vienna. The richness of form, the vivid juxtaposition of colors and the rich symbolism and eroticism made his art some of the most significant paintings of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. 
I find Klimt’s art to be highly katabatic. His paintings show a cycle of life, death, growth, love, sexuality and rebirth for the female figure. I wanted my project to reflect the female subject and the use of symbolic representation used by Gustav Klimt.  While this drawing nothing compared to the paintings of Gustav Klimt, I believe that encompasses many of the themes and issues our class covered this semester.

      While the symbols in this drawing can be interpreted by the viewer in any way, these are my interpretations of them:

- Four arms – alludes to Hinduism; signifies the power of women
- Braided Hair – not being completely free; oppression
- Blind – spiritual blindness; not being illuminated
- Feather – judgement; justice; weighing the soul
- Fire – destruction and thus rebirth/renewal
- Serpent – many interpretations of death, deception, divinty etc.
- Ravens – loss, death and war; a guide
- Birds – the human soul; joy, wisdom
- Butterlies- linked to death and the soul
- Clouds – fertility, bliss; gloom, obscurity, depression.
- Ocean/water – mind, depth, a dive into the soul; exploring the self
- Burqa – oppression, liberation, love of god; no identity
- Octopus – goal of the journey; change, fluidity
- Trees – creation, the earthly world

Although I really enjoyed all of the discussions today that were not my own, I thought I would focus on the first one for this post. I thought it was really interesting that the first group compared the use of art in the myth of Odysseus to the use of art in The City of God. Orpheus was able to use his skills on the lyre to charm the Gods to let his love come out of the underworld, while Rocket was able to charm little Ze and his gang by getting their picture in the paper. I remember that scene where little Ze is having all of his gang buddies search through the paper for mention of his name or a picture of him. When they can’t find one Little Ze gets upset about the fact that he is not being talked about. Rocket is able to use his ability to infiltrate the city slum and get pictures that no one else could get. These pictures later become his saving grace as they start a career for him at the newspaper. Orpheus is also able to get something he wants using his own type of art form, music. The Gods give up Eurydice after Orpheus moves them with his music. I thought that this comparison fit really well into our discussions about the movie and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.