Friday, January 8, 2010

Analizing Stick Figures

Such a simple figure originating so many questions. One would think that I would have better things to do or blog about on this swell Friday morning. And I probably do, but I find myself intrigued and compelled to write this extremely short analysis.

In case you wonder, It all started when I was doodling on a notepad and ended up with a stick figure small imaginary being of human form that has magical powers (aka fairy). And because at the present moment I did not have a scanner I made the effort to duplicate the image digitally. So I began to wonder...

Why is it that when we draw stick figures, they generally have abnormally large, perfectly round heads? And then the wondering continued... and I remember when I was younger and had to pass psychological screenings at school, they would ask us to make a drawing of ourselves. I remember being told that what direction the arms point is important, that if the arms were up that meant happiness. So I wondered why stick figures' arms are generally pointing down. But then I thought... well... I'll be damned! I have never walked around with my arms up. That is plain stupid!

I proceeded to research the origin of stick figures and came to find that they apparently root all the way back to prehistoric art! Other than that, there is not much other information on these so-called stickmen!

Stick figures have not changed much through time. There are two main observations. 1. With time, they become more geometrical. But I think that the main reason is observation number 2. More than the man itself, the medium is what has changed. And to beautifully illustrate this enlightening conclusion I have attached three representative images of this shift.









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