Her Hand Awaiting Mine

The selection that I choose for the music mosaic is the song “Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky. The song is a mixture of slow guitar melodies mashed with up beat rhythms that seem to disrupt the calm feeling at times throughout the song. Although these up beat rhythms periodically are weaved throughout the calmer, slower tune, the song ends where it began, with a slow, peaceful feel. The song creates—in a sense—a story within itself. The pictures I created were meant to match that story, as the calm, present theme passes through chaos and commotion, only to end back at the simple, peaceful beginning.

The content of each photo, as presented in order of thematic progression, matches the progression of the song. The photos, like the song, start simple and present a common theme—being that each picture is of the same person. This essential attribute is toyed with, again to follow the nature of the song, presenting in each phase an older version of the main subject, just as the song's calm melody slowly changes. As the song begins to become loud, confusing and complicated, we see similar complications introduced in each individual picture, all of which correspond to life's many distractions, and trials. The distractions grow from needs, such as that of food, to other struggles—issues with money and employment, and, of course, broken hearts. Like the different guitar rhythms, these distracting elements all fight for the audience's attention, clouding the once white scene with each progressing picture.

The form of each picture also mirrors the song. The objects are initially introduced symmetrical and clean, but soon scatter across the blank slate creating confusion and disorder, until the end when the cycle resets. The disruption of the peaceful structure reflects the song's similar structure in beginning and ending clean, and simple.

 Connections to this specific artistic representation of “Your Hand in Mine” can be drawn from both the class reading, and another short film called Into the Labyrinth. Dillard's essay expressed several concepts regarding analyzing each thing we see. She says, “Seeing is very much a matter of verbalization.” She makes note of the importance of analyzing each element within sight to truly understand what we are seeing as a whole. If we lack this quality many aspects will not go simply “unnoticed , but...unseen.” Likewise, as I set up for each image, I had to put into a literal sense the desired impact, and then select each individual component. Literally, and often verbally, conceptualizing each shot, helps us understand the message. This also relates to Into the Labyrinth, because it, like the film, expresses the struggles that we all face during our human trial. Both the film, and the photos present these trials as universal, and of a cyclical nature. Birth, life, struggle, and death are universal, but end with a new life. We pass through the fire, only to start over once again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdiY6kijYHE