Surreal

Posted on by Reena Saxena

“Where does the glass end?”

“Judge that by the objects on top of it.”

“And also what lies beneath it … Glass lends easily to optical illusions, but photography is art of the possible. One should present imagination in a visual form, and leave it open to further interpretation.”

The conversation never left me, when I started painting in words. And now this note from the person I valued most,

“We’ve lived out our fairy tale, and it’s time to get back to the real world. Stories don’t last forever.”

Did I really learn to separate the real from surreal?

(100 words)

 

Friday Fictioneers

42 thoughts on “Surreal”

  5. Reena, this was a fantastic piece of writing and I really loved its philosophical content and would nreally like to see you develop it further. I think it warrants a considerable amount of time devoted to it and whether it extends or not, or could even evolve into poetry, but there is something profound which I feel needs to developed and shared.
    The timing of your piece is quite serendipitous for me. Last week, I revisited a gallery in Bangalow near Byron Bay which sells glass sculptures. I’ve been there before and there was one out on the balcony which was slowly spinning around and I filmed through it and it was incredible looking at the pedestrian crossing and buildings through it’s coloured glass prisms. I also love photographing reflections in glass and glass buildings. So intriguing, especially when they twist and warp.
    We arrived home last night and the kids are away at the Scout Jamboree for a couple of days yet. Naturally, I was keen to get all our holiday stuff unpacked before they returned but I’ve delved into my daughter’s room and it’s a no go zone when she’s here and she did a massive cleanout before she left but still a long way to go. So, I’ve put my mirrorer fantasy world on hold and dealt woith the reality of her rubbish. However, I’m beginning to see the need for much stronger rules and boundaries when she gets back. I am anything but the authoritarian parent and tend to give my kids a reasonable freedom to manage their own affairs. However, it appears that some guidelines are required. Everybody needs to touch base and ensure you’re on the right track otherwise you can end up like Michael Jackson and become a caricature of yourself.
    I can also see why I didn’t step in sooner. I’ve pulled out the mattress etc and it takes a big sort out like that to unearth it all.
    Wish me luck. If you don’t hear from me again, you’ll know that reality became too much and I was buried alive under the rubble.
    Best wishes,
    Rowena

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    1. What an interesting narration, Rowena 🙂

      Regarding the piece developing into more – bits of our thoughts, beliefs and philosophy are scattered over several micro-pieces. Someday, there coud be a book with these pieces contributing as examples and anecdotes. A long way to go, yet ….

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  11. Well you certainly have learned well, the art of leaving things open to interpretation!

    Heres my stab, at interpreting your deep and puzzling piece:
    The narrator, a photographer-turned-writer, is talking to the wise man-photography teacher, about the nature of glass, and its property of disappearing from view, and in some sense, from our conscious observation. Believing in what appears to be so, but is not, is choosing the surreal over the real. And if we cannot tell the difference, cannot tell that what we prefer is an optical illusion, then perhaps, we deserve what we get.

    How’s that? Very philosophical piece, Reena!

    Oh and I have also heard a similar expression, that politics is the art of the possible. Although one could say, that even politics borders on the surreal, these days!

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    1. I agree with your observation. Read the different responses to the prompt – some have focussed on the shells, some on the candy and some on the glass. We choose the elements which shape our thought process.

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