For example, in the opening of BCS's 'Cobbler' (S2E2), Chuck sets a metronome and twice plays Gabriel Fauré's 'Sicilienne' from his love Rebecca's sheet music, up to the point where he ruins the music with false notes. Chuck bangs his forehead in frustration. What's that all about?
In 1923, Surrealist artist Man Ray (an American in Paris) placed a photo of an eye on the pendulum of a metronome in his studio. In 1932, his love Lee Miller left him and returned to New York. Bitter, Man Ray published a picture of the metronome with the instruction: "Cut out the eye from a photograph of one who has been loved but is seen no more. Attach the eye to the pendulum of a metronome and regulate the weight to suit the tempo desired. Keep going to the limit of endurance. With a hammer well-aimed, try to destroy the whole at a single blow."
Man Ray intended to destroy his art work in a public performance someday, but reactionary students stole the art work in 1957 and destroyed it themselves. Annoyed, Man Ray then made a number of editions of the art work and renamed it 'Indestructible Object.' One version featured an eye that blinked as the pendulum swung from one side to the other.
Chuck doesn't attach a picture of an eye to the pendulum of his metronome. Nevertheless, he does destroy the musical piece with false notes - a piece that was no doubt important to Rebecca.
The motivations are different. Chuck was frustrated with his mental illness and Man Ray was bitter about the end of his romance. Still, the creative team seems to have used this little bit of Surrealist history for their own purposes in BCS.
No comments:
Post a Comment