Vines+Grow+on+the+Iron+Wall

"Vines Grow on the Iron Wall" - Vishnu Narayanan



Literary Artist Statement
When this piece was first being thought of, I had the idea of showing a dystopia and something coming to liberate the people from the oppressive control of the dystopia. As I started to make it, I attached another meaning to the shoebox. Technology vs. Nature. The dystopia is still there in the shoebox but there is a broader conflict of technology vs. nature present in the piece as well. The dystopia and/or technological part of the shoebox is where the computer chips and gray astronauts are. The computer chips are literally pieces of technology, and their intricacy gives one the impression of looking at a small city. That is supposed to represent the dystopia because most dystopias take place in cities (1984, Brave New World). There are three computer chips propped up in the back of the shoebox that are towers in this “city.” These computer chips have small tags on them. The tags read: Computer Inc., Computerism, Computocracy. Each of these words refers to a type of dystopian control seen in dystopian works. Computer Inc. is referring to the corporate control seen in some dystopias, Computerism refers to the philosophical control seen in some dystopias, and computocracy refers to the bureaucratic control seen in other dystopias. The astronauts on the dystopia/technological side of the shoebox represent the workers of the dystopia. Dystopias always have workers and all of these workers wear the same uniform. For example, in the novel Brave New World, a class of workers referred to as Gammas wear green and Deltas wear khaki. The astronauts in the shoebox are all gray. The astronauts also represent technology because they are astronauts. Astronauts are the people who go into space. A lot of innovation had to happen before people could do that. So they are representative of technology. The astronauts are facing the shell and the warrior, who represent nature. The shell represents nature because it is a thing found in nature. You can take a walk down a beach and should find //at least// one shell. The warrior represents nature through his primitive look. Nature is usually thought of as not being advanced technologically. Compared to the astronauts, this warrior, with his Viking helmet and armor, is not the most advanced being. Under these two things, there is a green color. This represents nature because nature is often associated with the color green. This green color also shows us the spreading of nature and the conflict it has with technology. The Viking and the shell are spreading their natural ways and conflicting with the dystopian technological world. This is where the title, //Vines Grow on an Iron Wall//, comes into play. Vines are a part of the natural world. They slowly spread and cover things. This is just what the natural side of the shoebox is doing. It is gradually spreading and trying to cover the technological side. I chose the words Iron Wall to represent the technological side of the shoebox because Iron is a material common in technology and industry and a wall is a human construction that vines usually cover.