Bak explains, "As a child, I had a feeling that if Adam gave up Paradise in order to taste the fruit that would give knowledge and a capacity to distinguish between good and evil, it must have been a pear. I felt that an apple, which in my childhood memories was usually something very sour, had nothing in common with the sensual, wonderful taste of a pear."
The pear thus stands as an alternative symbol of the Fall of Man and all of its ramifications: the expulsion from Paradise into the world of time, the origin of free will, and the capacity to distinguish and choose between good and evil.
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What has the humanrace really gained from knowledge? The pear symbolically represents abundance and fruitfulness, but on it underside it can represent earthly pleasure of gluttony and temptation. This man seems tired worn...'full', but not satisfied. A half eaten pear in his hand with one cut apart in front of him and his face is drawn and empty and he is encased in this pear, part of it. He seemingly blends into its pulp. What surrounds this image is brokenness and devastation. Has his glttony and desire separated him from the abundance that can be had. Perhaps, the Self became the priority over the other and this is the outcome.
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ReplyDeleteThe painting for us symbolizes Christ love for mankind with a gigantic pear in the middle of a small town. The gentleman sitting inside the pear looks worn down. Jesus loves us so much that he went to cross for all of our sins. So from a biblical perspective we have to trust that when we sin by breaking a commandment God can forgive us and give the transgressor restoration and bring us back in line with him.
His paintings and drawings utilize the power of symbols and metaphors to relate the pain caused by war and human destruction, the loss of childhood, traditions, and loved ones. This painting seems that the pears are meant to represent humans. The male subject is then caught between the worlds. Further, its shape to the female body which represents the world as an expulsion from the female womb that is symbolic of the state of morality and immorality.
ReplyDeleteOnce you look "Close up," the peach looks like a woman's private part. The man when you look close up looks like he is caught between the peach and can't get out. He has been sitting in his seat of "adultery" for so long that he is tired and yet know not how to get out as with the woman in the film. The only difference is that the man is still sitting and the woman is set free by the virgin boy.
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This man, sitting inside a giant pear. Which most likely started out as a small pear, which he picked up and took a bite of. Loved it so much and became soo consumed with it that it overtook his life, became a burden and became to control his life, he movements, his thoughts. The man no longer consumed the pear, the pear consumed the man. So it is with adultery and any other sins...we soon begin to feel trapped, controlled and consumed by the sins in our lives. Blocking our eyes to see anyone else, our ears to hear anything or anyone else other than ourselves.
ReplyDeleteThe film, "Thou shall not commit adultery" I believe coincides with Bak's painting. Both worlds appears to be suffering fractured lives. In the film Tomek and his true love for Magda suffer, a suffering that near brought on death. Sex and Love brought about division for both. yet a new discovery for one (Magda). Bak in contrast demonstrates this sense of seperation in his image of the pear. As mentioned in class, the world was split and the one sitting between is lose for words, and even perhaps hope. man because of greed and self centerness has caused a devistating impact on the lives of many, leaving them in a life of slumber.
ReplyDeleteThe overriding image in this painting for me is the "splitting." The world around the man is split and the world he sits within is split. In turn, the man looks like he is beginning to split. The pear as a representation of snesuality depicts how those things that evoke pleasure over rationality can consume. In a world where sex is highly used in numerous of life's aspects, one can become consumed. This picture leaves me asking, how can one remain whole in a world that is fragmented and spilt?
ReplyDeleteLike the young man in the film, the man in the painting had a great desire for the thing he admired. The thing they both admired and thought they wanted more than anything else turned out to seduce them. The man is obviously overwelmed by the pear that he was now caught between and couldn't stop eating. The young man in the film was overwelmed when the woman he desired finally gave in to him and went even farther than he ever aspired to go with her. They were both exposed to a new world that no doubt will greatly affect their future.
ReplyDeleteIn the painting, the man is being consumed by the very thing that he is consuming. One is often consumed by sin. The man is blending or merging with the pear. He is becoming integrated with the pear that is consuming him. Sin often consumes and a person will gradually lose himself or herself in sin.
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