Push Toward A New Century

Photogravure: "Win Lose" by Ralph Slatton

We are poised on the precipice of new discoveries in creativity.  Today's explorations allow of a diversity of innovations along with traditional ones, such as the print shown to the left by Ralph Slatton.  Traditional ideas have very straightforward narratives.  They tell a great deal to the viewer, very likely the whole story.  In "Win Lose," we are instantly given a very old story of the tortise and hare.  The new twist is that the hare is disembowed and its hide worn byt the turtle.  The question arises, what is the consequence of winning this race.  Undoubtedly, the stakes are high, as well as the possible losses.  I don't make the mistake of assuming that such a traditional approach to creativity is not without its originality.  I do assume that with the implications of tradition, we must expect our artist to re-tell an old story.  However, a good story is always told on its own terms.  Despite the fact of the story's familarity, novel spin is still possible.  It can be debated that this is a much more difficult task, because of the very old visuals.