Joshua Co 11213442 Humaart Final Paper

This picture is the art cover for Gotye featuring kimbras number 1 hit single, Somebody
that I used to know. This song has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide becoming one of
the best selling digital singles of all times. It also reached number 1 in various hit charts.
Although the artist of this cover art is unknown, it has Gotyes name on the bottom right of the
artwork.
In general the artwork looks largely abstract to me. Clearly there is a big heart in the
artwork filled with tiny shapes. All throughout the heart are contrasts of black and white that are
smeared inside the shape. The most distinguishable object would be the center where in we can
make it out to be two figures, possibly a man and a woman who love each other hence the heart.
Also you can notice that there is one vertical and one horizontal line that cross through the heart.
There are red drops on the center box that could represent blood by the way it is distributed. We
can see in general that this heart is a fragmented heart with two clashing shades of black and
white, with only the red blood being a different color.
We can see that the dominant color scheme used here are black, white (beige), and gray
with the exception of the red drops in the center and the almost dark blue on the top right. It
looks like black paint was used and smudged around to create lighter shades black. We can se the
various discreet lines forming the different shapes in the heart, especially to segment it. Value is
an important aspect in this painting as the color of black changes as it is smeared around. There
are clear geometric shapes here that form the parts of the segmented heart, with the heart as the
biggest shape.
We can see that although the shapes are not evenly distributed per side in the heart, its
asymmetry is still balanced forming the heart with the couple in the middle. The artist uses the
basic contrast of dark and light as he mainly only uses black and white/beige. The emphasis can
clearly be on the center box where in its the only interpretable figures, and with the only warm
color from the red drops. Here the repetitive use of shapes eventually balances in the interior of
the heart. There is unity and variety in the different shapes that form one heart.
In terms of the iconography, the heart symbolizes something close to the heart, maybe
pertaining to love. The different fragments that make up the heart could mean that the heart was
shattered into different pieces, a metaphor of the pains of the heart. The different shapes and
sizes of these shattered pieces could mean that a broken heart is a very complicated thing and
must take time to repair and heal since not all the shapes are symmetric. The vertical and

horizontal line could show that the fragmented and shattered heart is now fixed together or in the
process of being healed as it is wrapped together. The black and white colors smeared around the
heart could show darkness and depression probably the feelings felt from heartbreak. The blurred
images all around the fragments of the heart could also mean the confusion and inner chaos one
feels when going through a break up. Now looking in the middle we can indeed infer that this
image solely focuses on the love affair of two couples. The red drops could symbolize blood
dripping on the heart showing that the heart is bleeding from the pain. All of thee symbols
inevitably point to the feeling someone experiences when he/she is going through a bad break up
especially when the relationship was deep.
Looking at the context, which Gotye so clearly describes in his song, Somebody that I
Used to Know, we can see that the song is really about heartbreak. At the start, Gotye sings
about his former lover who he loved dearly although things didnt really work well, so possibly
implying an illusionary kind of love on Gotyes part. Then he continues to sing about where his
deepest pains come from, the lover soon begins to cut of connection with Gotye, also showing
that their love did not mean that much to her. Enter the second verse of a girl who is probably the
new love interest of Gotye. She now complains of how Gotye is still in love with his former
lover, leaving the new lover to suffer. Thus this heartbreak experienced by the singer is painful
not only for him but also to his new lover, showing ultimately the troubles of the heart. The heart
shows the broken heart of Gotye from his past love, and although it was pieced back together, it
is not fully fixed yet and it still very fragile. The fact that there is still a couple in the middle of
the heart means that Gotye is still not over his past lover, although she hurt him so, represented
by the blood.
All in all I believe that the meaning of this cover art is heartbreak. I believe that this
image did fulfill its objective of showing what heartbreak is really like. The shattered heart
shows the feeling of heartbreak. The cross lining shows how people patch themselves up from a
heartbreak. The blood shows the pain the heart experiences. The blurred images shows how hard
it is for someone experiencing heartbreak to truly express himself/herself when under the pains
of heartbreak. And the couple in the center of the heart shows how hard it is to get over an old
lover. It is a good work of art since it captures all of these things.