Art

**Art** is a central theme to Within the Wires and features heavily in the story of the second season in particular.

## Fictional Art

(~) indicates a date is approximate. (\*) indicates a piece may not be canon.

## Art in the Real World

### Real Art

Real artists and their work is sometimes referenced in the world of Within the Wires. For example, Hester was a fan of Georgia O'Keeffe's, and referenced her work's impact. O'Keeffe would have lived through the Great Reckoning.

> "What is a Georgia O'Keeffe when academically studied on a white wall, but a flower and a series of words which strip-mine eroticism from technique and intent. Analysis forcibly extracts feelings as words. What is a Georgia O'Keeffe when placed in a garden or a bedroom? When it reminds you of someone. What is a Georgia O'Keeffe when the only one who can see it is someone who feels it and knows it?" **--Hester in *Season 1, Cassette #6: for Oleta***
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Van Gogh, Monet, and Cézanne are also referenced in regards to the impact of the Great Reckoning on the art world. Sculptor Gaston Lachaise was also mentioned by Clíodhna, and would have been alive during the Great Reckoning.

### Promotional material

Art is also used in the promotion of the podcast via the Within the Wires Twitter page and on other websites affiliated with the podcast.

#### Season 1

Promotional media during Season 1 generally consisted of long "relaxing music" mixes sourced from YouTube with captions that grew to reflect the tone of the season as it progressed. The captions, in order, were "Soothing." "Relaxing." "Calming." "Focus." "Meditate." "Think." "Rest." "Don't waste a single hour." "Be aware." "Do you feel stuck?" "Back and forth." "Sleep." "Goodnight." "Unwind." "Escape." "Inner peace." "You may be alone." and finally, "On the run."

#### Season 2

   For the duration of Season 2, a photograph of Félix González-Torres' piece "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers), which consists of two syncronised clocks side-by-side, was used as Within the Wires' Twitter and Patreon banner. It continued to be used as the Twitter banner past Season 8.
González-Torres created the piece when his long-time partner, Ross Laycock, was dying from AIDS. Gonzales acknowledged that the clocks, being battery operated, would naturally fall out of sync.

> "Time is something that scares me . . . or used to. This piece I made with the two clocks was the scariest thing I have ever done. I wanted to face it. I wanted those two clocks right in front of me, ticking."
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Specific instructions were left as to how to exhibit this work; the instructions require the commercial clocks to be of exact dimensions and design and that they touch; before the exhibition opens the hands are set to the same time; an essential part of the work is that the clocks can be perpetually reset and, therefore, the work is infinite. A rule around the work is that the clocks can fall out of sync but if one of the clocks stop, they are fixed or replaced, as the case may be.

Additional artwork was posted to Twitter on a roughly weekly basis in the run-up to and during Season 2, and then less often. Each tweet had a caption containing the name of the piece, artist, date, and brief comment, either beginning "Look closely" or "Notice", or a question. Sometimes a combination of these phrases was used.

For Season 3, a combination of photographs, architecture plans, and postcards were posted, centered around Chicago, captioned with questions about everyday life. Several of the photographs were pieces by Vivian Maier, a photographer living in twentieth century Chicago whose thousands of photographs were discovered on undeveloped film after her death.

Only one piece of art was posted in conjunction with Season 4; "Undergrowth with Two Figures" (1890) by Vincent van Gogh, with the question, "Who do you see in the forest?" Art was not used in the promotion of subsequent seasons, other than official and merch art.

## References

1. ↑ Season 1, Cassette #6: for Oleta
2. ↑ Season 2, Cassette #8: Ohara Museum of Art (1980)
3. ↑ Season 6, Episode #2: Tuesday 23 October 1973
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Media Tweets by Within the Wires (@withinthewires)
5. ↑ The Art Story: Modern Art Insight - Gonzales-Torres Artworks
6. ↑ Within the Wires on Twitter: ""Untitled." Joseph Cornell, 1959. Look closely at the nest."
7. ↑ Vivian Maier - Wikipedia
8. ↑ Within the Wires on Twitter: ""Undergrowth with Two Figures." Vincent van Gogh, 1890. *Who do you see in the forest?*"
9. ↑ Within the Wires on Twitter: ""Undergrowth with Two Figures." Vincent van Gogh, 1890. Who do you see in the forest?"