During our first Context of Practice lecture last week, we had a short introduction to all the relevant other courses in terms of history, politics, propaganda and so forth. In a way, they all seemed to link very closely in terms of purpose and audience, I particularly enjoyed the topics on Animation, Graphic Design and Creative Advertising.
Aiming towards the animation side, we looked at a rather interesting little animation by the title of "Hand" or "Ruka" (in Czechoslovakian). This was made in 1965 by a man named Jiri Trnka. Ruka in particular was incredibly amazing in the sense that something so controversial could come out to look like a child's animation! I admit, although I found it sweet and innocent at first - a cute little doll who made his way as a sculptor - as the story progressed, it became more and more sinister as the Hand, the antagonist entered.
The hand seemed to be a metaphor for the Czech government in the sense that it controlled everything that the sculptor did. The sculptor was trying to make a decent living for himself but after being wrongfully seduced by the "government" if you will, all further actions in his life were affected by the hand. When the puppet sculpted the hand, the hand rewarded him with medals and a crown of leaves, ironically like a Roman leader, like a war hero or a God!
To me, the moral of this animation was very deep. Once you have done what the government wants of you, they will gift you and praise you and lure you in to yet again run more errands at their will. As soon as you put one foot wrong and try to escape their power, they will hunt you down until the death and even then control your funeral. It's like they have a hold over your will to live...
