Harland Miller • Narcissist Seeks Similar, by quinn on Dec 16, 2021 22:28:48 GMT 1,

Dec 16, 2021 21:42:17 GMT 1 met said:

Dec 10, 2021 20:40:50 GMT 1 quinn said:

I was aware of the typeface on the books but I still think it feels added last minute on the painting. On the examples you posted it’s smaller and with more illustrations below I feel it sits better. It’s still a very nice piece but to my eye the typeface above looks off.

Cheers for the follow-up with clarification.

Disagreements over art, even when minor, are far more interesting than shared likings. They push me to reconsider and reassess. And sometimes that can happily lead to my opinions becoming more nuanced. Or even to a complete change of heart.



Our views happen to differ regarding the text for A Penguin Special, since it doesn't feel like a last-minute add-on to me.

I do however take your point regarding size. Indeed, if art directing this piece, I would probably have made the letters slightly smaller myself. But at the same time, I don't really mind the exaggerated scale. Likewise, I'm comfortable with the penguin also having been enhanced and made bigger for artistic effect. And, for me, the muted cream colour of the text serves to offset its size.



Harland Miller's intent of course is just to refer to Penguin books (or to our loose memories thereof), rather than faithfully replicate them and create facsimiles. Thankfully, he allows himself plenty of room for twists, distortion and reimagining — whether this be with the choice of titles, the unrestricted palette of colours, his use of varying textures, or other aesthetic flourishes like occasional drips and splatters. The series can be seen as both homages to, and subversions of, Penguin books.

One of my favourites:



__________



I would suggest that the sickly-Valentine, garish pink of Narcissist Seeks Similar perfectly complements the artwork's title — itself drafted to parody the heading of an advertisement in a lonely hearts column.

And this title appeals to me greatly. It is such a depressingly topical subject matter. The rise of narcissism — and of narcissism as a social currency, especially in the West — is as strangely fascinating as it is obscene. Greatly enabled by social media. Symptomised in large part by contemporary phenomena, including online-persona curation, victimhood / grievance culture, and virtue signalling.


[Consider our Afghan brothers and sisters we recently betrayed and abandoned to the Taliban. Consider as well the circumstances of and exceptional sacrifices made by the likes of Alexei Navalny in Russia, Sergei Tikhanovsky in Belarus, Ruhollah Zam (executed one year ago) in Iran, or Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong.

Now look at the individuals who tend to get the most followers and likes on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. From what I can gather, it quite often seems to be those who've adopted the Kim Kardashian approach of me, me, me — where taking too many selfies is conceptually impossible. Or shriekers who equate being mis-pronouned (even if it's unintentional) as an act of violence against them and an existential threat.]

i didn’t actually notice the penguin being bigger until you mentioned it. Maybe that was the thought behind the larger typeface. And I agree on the garish pink it sits well with the “narcissist seeks similar”

Dec 16, 2021 21:42:17 GMT 1 met said:

Dec 10, 2021 20:40:50 GMT 1 quinn said:

I was aware of the typeface on the books but I still think it feels added last minute on the painting. On the examples you posted it’s smaller and with more illustrations below I feel it sits better. It’s still a very nice piece but to my eye the typeface above looks off.

Cheers for the follow-up with clarification.

Disagreements over art, even when minor, are far more interesting than shared likings. They push me to reconsider and reassess. And sometimes that can happily lead to my opinions becoming more nuanced. Or even to a complete change of heart.



Our views happen to differ regarding the text for A Penguin Special, since it doesn't feel like a last-minute add-on to me.

I do however take your point regarding size. Indeed, if art directing this piece, I would probably have made the letters slightly smaller myself. But at the same time, I don't really mind the exaggerated scale. Likewise, I'm comfortable with the penguin also having been enhanced and made bigger for artistic effect. And, for me, the muted cream colour of the text serves to offset its size.



Harland Miller's intent of course is just to refer to Penguin books (or to our loose memories thereof), rather than faithfully replicate them and create facsimiles. Thankfully, he allows himself plenty of room for twists, distortion and reimagining — whether this be with the choice of titles, the unrestricted palette of colours, his use of varying textures, or other aesthetic flourishes like occasional drips and splatters. The series can be seen as both homages to, and subversions of, Penguin books.

One of my favourites:



__________



I would suggest that the sickly-Valentine, garish pink of Narcissist Seeks Similar perfectly complements the artwork's title — itself drafted to parody the heading of an advertisement in a lonely hearts column.

And this title appeals to me greatly. It is such a depressingly topical subject matter. The rise of narcissism — and of narcissism as a social currency, especially in the West — is as strangely fascinating as it is obscene. Greatly enabled by social media. Symptomised in large part by contemporary phenomena, including online-persona curation, victimhood / grievance culture, and virtue signalling.


[Consider our Afghan brothers and sisters we recently betrayed and abandoned to the Taliban. Consider as well the circumstances of and exceptional sacrifices made by the likes of Alexei Navalny in Russia, Sergei Tikhanovsky in Belarus, Ruhollah Zam (executed one year ago) in Iran, or Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong.

Now look at the individuals who tend to get the most followers and likes on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. From what I can gather, it quite often seems to be those who've adopted the Kim Kardashian approach of me, me, me — where taking too many selfies is conceptually impossible. Or shriekers who equate being mis-pronouned (even if it's unintentional) as an act of violence against them and an existential threat.]

i didn’t actually notice the penguin being bigger until you mentioned it. Maybe that was the thought behind the larger typeface. And I agree on the garish pink it sits well with the “narcissist seeks similar”