One thing in this painting...painter's insanity. Updated with "answer"

Agoraphobia- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place.
This gets my guess.
What happened before? He was inside a warm safe house, then he left and is now out in the cold.
If you take everything away? You are in a wide open area, note its even a clear sky.
What would you hear if you were there? You'd hear noises and voices all around you. Since it is clear and calm all sounds would travel and be amplified.
No doors? Well there is one door but as you can see it is being blocked by someone preventing him from getting back inside.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']It's already Saturday night in Moscow. I need to know.

In Russia, painting analyzes you.[/QUOTE]


well done :lol:


I wouldn't be surprised if this is an experiment to teach you about perception by having the class/CAG dissect this painting which is entirely normal by reading all sorts of sinister things into it. I also wouldn't be surprised if the painting is normal and psychologists have read things into it simply because they know an insane person painted it. If I had to find something strange it would be the following.
Click to expand...


I'm 90% positive this is the case. that or the answer is so weird that we don't stand a chance to figure it out (it was originally presented to psychiatry students..) He does say that it's a rare disorder that made this guy paint this, implying something so specific that the untrained eye couldn't pick it out. The clues don't make a whole lot of sense. there is evidence for and against just about any disorder you can pick out. and overall, the painting isn't that weird. You can make the same observations about any painting or picture.

I'm gonna email it to one of my professors and see what he thinks.
 
He is afraid of Giant Enemy crabs? All he had to do was flip it on its back for massive damage.

Anyway I think it looks like the children were taken from that house (w/ all lights out) and are being kidnapped since they dont look too happy about shit atm)
 
[quote name='fart_bubble']Both halves are of the same scene but from different angles[/quote]

I think he's on to something. Look at the three sets of horses. It does look like a sequence of progression.
 
Update:

The professor himself may appear online tomorrow (December 1). He said the closest guess was “fear of open spaces”, and gave another clue: “what would you hear if you were inside the painting”?

--

It's either claustrophobia or acrophobia, I think.
 
[quote name='Brak']Update:

The professor himself may appear online tomorrow (December 1). He said the closest guess was “fear of open spaces”, and gave another clue: “what would you hear if you were inside the painting”?

--

It's either claustrophobia or acrophobia, I think.[/quote]But I don't think those classify as a rare or severe. This is all bullshit.

And it's 930pm December 2, Moscow time as of this post.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']think about it with all the stuff and houses gone and it will be clearer[/QUOTE]

If you've figured it out then post it, use a spoiler if you think you'll ruin it for others. Otherwise you just come off as a pretentious a-hole.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']But I don't think those classify as a rare or severe. This is all bullshit.

And it's 930pm December 2, Moscow time as of this post.[/QUOTE]
Uh, they didn't say the phobia was rare or severe. They said his mental illness was.

This was painted by a person with a rare and severe mental disorder. He was constantly seeing his own fantasies all around him. He also had a certain phobia (undisclosed).
 
It's gotta be fucking bat shit preposterous if only one student in fifteen years has figured it out, so I'm gonna throw one more out there: he's a homophobe.
 
[quote name='Brak']Uh, they didn't say the phobia was rare or severe. They said his mental illness was.

This was painted by a person with a rare and severe mental disorder. He was constantly seeing his own fantasies all around him. He also had a certain phobia (undisclosed).[/quote]Misread that...thanks for pointing it out.

I've got a guess: what's the fear of singing? Or hearing Christmas Carols to be exact? I think the painter is scared of that. The 3 sets of 3 people are carolers. Notice how scared the horses are as they run away as fast as possible from each group. The guy on the left of the right-most group has what appears to be an accordion, playing what seems to be an evil mix of polka Christmas music. The houses have no doors except one as they don't want these singers to enter, save for one house in which the couple is blocking the entrance.

They probably made up this disorder just for this guy. I bet we never find out.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']I've got a guess: what's the fear of singing? Or hearing Christmas Carols to be exact? I think the painter is scared of that. The 3 sets of 3 people are carolers. Notice how scared the horses are as they run away as fast as possible from each group. The guy on the left of the right-most group has what appears to be an accordion, playing what seems to be an evil mix of polka Christmas music. The houses have no doors except one as they don't want these singers to enter, save for one house in which the couple is blocking the entrance.[/QUOTE]
You're digging way too deep.

- The professor didn’t say what that sign was, leaving the students to do the guesswork. The only clues he gave was, “don’t look for small details, look at the whole; if you figure out what the phobia was, you’ve got the answer; ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed“.
 
The painting is fairly symmetrical, with exclusively brown houses in the foreground and yellow houses in the background. There is also a strong line that divides the foreground that is not as noticeable in the original. The shape of the trees in the foreground is noticeably different between the two paintings, and the shrubbery is fuller in the latter. The power lines are also missing in the second painting, but I don't know if that is particularly important.

Originally, I would have guessed that this guy had OCD, but the OP said that the artist had a rare condition. Ignoring the people in the painting and without any psycology training, my guess would be fear of intimacy or some other sexually related fear.
 
[quote name='Brak']You're digging way too deep.

- The professor didn’t say what that sign was, leaving the students to do the guesswork. The only clues he gave was, “don’t look for small details, look at the whole; if you figure out what the phobia was, you’ve got the answer; ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed“.[/quote]I'm just throwing shit against the wall.

fuck the answer, if this is the new DaVinci Code. Just wait for the damn movie to explain it.

But for those that have yet to figure it out:
The answer is "APPLE".;)
 
Afraid of being left alone. If there were no houses at all, you would be completely alone. If you were inside the house "hearing" the painting, you would hear the horses leaving you, everyone having fun (kinda) leaving you completely alone inside the house.
 
Well, I guess I will toss out some apeshit batty observations. The Professor said to imagine the scene with all objects removed, which to me means to observe solely the snow bank. I see a bulge in the bank on the lefthand side, and a deep crevice on the right. When reaching down to the most obscure shit I could think of, I thought of a pregnant woman laying down upon which the snowbank was formed.

I really have no idea where I am going with this... so, yeah... I just wanted to sound as crazy as the rest of you :lol:
 
Oh, fuck. I got it.

"... ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed"

The fear of grass. (Or ground?)

He's blanketing his fear in a sheet of snow.
 
[quote name='Brak']You're digging way too deep.

- The professor didn’t say what that sign was, leaving the students to do the guesswork. The only clues he gave was, “don’t look for small details, look at the whole; if you figure out what the phobia was, you’ve got the answer; ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed“.[/QUOTE]


it's little things like this that make the task impossible. phobias are usually described as personal things. I've never heard of a disorder causing a phobia.
 
[quote name='Brak']Oh, fuck. I got it.

"... ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed"

The fear of grass. (Or ground?)

He's blanketing his fear in a sheet of snow.[/QUOTE]

This is a pretty legitimate guess. I did a bunch of searches, but nothing turned up for a fear of grass or ground.
 
[quote name='Brak']Oh, fuck. I got it.

"... ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed"

The fear of grass. (Or ground?)

He's blanketing his fear in a sheet of snow.[/quote]If that's it, then the hints sucked. I wouldn't categorize snow as an object. It's not just one thing. It's a collection of many incongrous ice crystals that precipitate from cloud formations and eventually form on a cold surface.

He's scared of a blank canvas. Why? Cause he likes color? Who likes color in everything? Homosexuals. He's a homosexual. Which proves that the professor is a homophobe as he terms the patient's problem as a "disorder".
 
I have been reading all these posts to prove to myself that, when I actually look at this picture, some zombie-faced hooker won't pop into view, screaming.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']If that's it, then the hints sucked. I wouldn't categorize snow as an object. It's not just one thing. It's a collection of many incongrous ice crystals that precipitate from cloud formations and eventually form on a cold surface.[/QUOTE]
You don't have to view the snow as an object.

If you remove all of the objects, you'd have a hill covered in snow.

"... ask yourself what could have preceded this scene; think of what the place would look like with all the objects removed."

What would precede the scene would be a change of season, the snow melting, exposing the ground (or grass).

--

There isn't one person in the painting who is standing still, far out onto the landscape -- they're all in groups and near the homes, or on the motherfuckin' go!, in the case of the people in the horse and carriages.
 
I'm taking bets on "this is all a social experiment" at this point.

That is what normally happens when whoever has the answer keeps changing then when they are supposed to show up.
 
Ok, according to the latest updates, The Professor said;

To which the professor allegedly replied, “not a strawman — but close”.
Also, he said the keywords are water and air. (Now that I think of it — could it be painted from the perspective of a falling, and possibly melting, snowflake? Was the phobia a fear of falling?)

So, If not a strawman, than maybe a Snowman? I don't really see any indication that this is the case, however.... as for the WATER and AIR comment, I think it was someone either in this thread or the one at http://www.veryrussian.net/ that mentioned what if the scene was inside a snowglobe.

No AIR in a snowglobe, only WATER and the flakes/objects you shake around.

Anyone else see any evidence that this theory could be possible?

WTF phobia could that even be?
 
[quote name='Strell']I'm taking bets on "this is all a social experiment" at this point.

That is what normally happens when whoever has the answer keeps changing then when they are supposed to show up.[/quote]

I second that. The goofy thing about this (and I think someone mentioned this before) is that they already know the person has a rare mental illness and then looks at something he/she drew and says "ah see that really proves it"

I would like that professor view 20 pieces of artwork and say whether or not the person who drew it has a mental illness or not, and if they do to say exactly which one.
 
My final off the wall guess is this painter has a fear of insects (and therefore the noises they create)

... also I think we can all rest assured that Quackzilla doesnt know it
 
oh, the professor's appearance moved up to sunday.

"it's not a strawman" lol

yeah, we're not getting an answer.
 
Considering it was based off that other well known painting, it would have to be something not included or altered in the original. Unless the original painter has the same phobia/disease etc.
That narrows it down.

I agree with the other posters above though. We can basically justify anything by reading something into the painting that maybe wasn't suppose to mean anything to begin with. That is why art is so great (or not great). It means something different to everyone.

Although the obvious answer in that painting is the fear of Stalin. ;P
 
[quote name='Maklershed']also I think we can all rest assured that Quackzilla doesnt know it[/QUOTE]

No way dude. Quak totally knows.

I mean he took

saw that girl

heard about that girl taking LSD, and that's probably the secret to this puzzle.
 
It's just a prank, a psychological experiement by the professor.

And I swear to god I never took LSD, I don't even know why you would imply it. The only drug I ever used was marijuana.
 
Since this crazy painting is a loose replica of an original, I say the painter has a fear of hands! The guy cleaved off his own and attempted to create this. That's my explanation for the amount of variety in the two paintings.

Imagine how the asylum apllication must have went: "Hey Doc, these things won't stop touching me."
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']It's just a prank, a psychological experiement by the professor.

And I swear to god I never took LSD, I don't even know why you would imply it. The only drug I ever used was marijuana.[/QUOTE]



lightweight

er, oops.
 
I'm starting to think that someone showed the russian painter a painting and was told to identify that person's phobia and he too went crazy. I gotta stop looking at this thing .. it's probably all bullshit anyway.
 
Hmmm...personally, I have to agree with the "social experiment" idea; the two paintings are too similar to really dig into things, and the "clues" are too vague and odd. He OBVIOUSLY does not suffer from OCD, because the variations differ too much (I live with someone who has OCD and if they were a painter, they would become "locked" on correcting things before the painting was finished so that they would be more like the original.)

We also have to factor in that this condition may or may not be easily recognizible to some one not trained in psychology; which leads me back to the social experiment idea.

But, it is fun to guess, so I'll throw an idea out there. I'm going with a fear of either touching, or not being touched enough. I noticed, especially after comparing it to the original, that the perspective seems off. The houses in the insane one are closer to the viewer, but don't seem to match the horses...kinda as if they are on different planes. In fact, there is just a white empty space separating the horses from the houses. The horses also seem like they should bigger, as they seem like they are "closer" to the viewer; instead, there is an odd parallax that makes the horses seem like they are just "pasted on." Plus, notice that everyone is touching someone.

Also, to note for my theory, is that the horizon has been lifted so that the trees and houses touch the top and leave very little sky. Also, the horses don't seem to be kicking up much snow or making much of an impact...in fact, they don't seem to be touching the snow at all.

Eh, this has been fun, but I have a feeling this is just going to turn out to be something odd or something that only a psychologist would notice...
 
[quote name='pop311']was the secret revealed?[/quote]Sure was...
just a little closer...
almost there...
the suspense...
it's eating you up inside...
you've almost uncovered the mystery...
don't stop now...
persistence will pay...
hey, while we're waiting, have you played Rainbow Six Vegas--awesome game...
so yeah, the answer you've been waiting for...
...The "real world" in which we live is not the real world, but rather a program intended to keep us from the real truth, which is that we are nothing but energy sources for sentient machines. The air you breath, the chair in which you sit in--all a virtual reality which is "The Matrix".
And oh yeah, you're adopted...your mom told me so. Sorry to break it to you this way.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Sure was...
just a little closer...
almost there...
the suspense...
it's eating you up inside...
you've almost uncovered the mystery...
don't stop now...
persistence will pay...
hey, while we're waiting, have you played Rainbow Six Vegas--awesome game...
so yeah, the answer you've been waiting for...
...The "real world" in which we live is not the real world, but rather a program intended to keep us from the real truth, which is that we are nothing but energy sources for sentient machines. The air you breath, the chair in which you sit in--all a virtual reality which is "The Matrix".
And oh yeah, you're adopted...your mom told me so. Sorry to break it to you this way.
[/quote]

In the words of Darth Vader ..... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Sure was...
just a little closer...
almost there...
the suspense...
it's eating you up inside...
you've almost uncovered the mystery...
don't stop now...
persistence will pay...
hey, while we're waiting, have you played Rainbow Six Vegas--awesome game...
so yeah, the answer you've been waiting for...
...The "real world" in which we live is not the real world, but rather a program intended to keep us from the real truth, which is that we are nothing but energy sources for sentient machines. The air you breath, the chair in which you sit in--all a virtual reality which is "The Matrix".
And oh yeah, you're adopted...your mom told me so. Sorry to break it to you this way.
[/QUOTE]

:rofl:
 
The only thing I think is really weird is that there isn't one patch of level ground anywhere. It must suck to sled on the top of a mountain in all that snow yelling and having fun only to die by a building sliding on your head in an avalanche.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Sure was...
just a little closer...
almost there...
the suspense...
it's eating you up inside...
you've almost uncovered the mystery...
don't stop now...
persistence will pay...
hey, while we're waiting, have you played Rainbow Six Vegas--awesome game...
so yeah, the answer you've been waiting for...
...The "real world" in which we live is not the real world, but rather a program intended to keep us from the real truth, which is that we are nothing but energy sources for sentient machines. The air you breath, the chair in which you sit in--all a virtual reality which is "The Matrix".
And oh yeah, you're adopted...your mom told me so. Sorry to break it to you this way.
[/QUOTE]


:applause:
SteveMcQ- 1
Internet- 0
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Sure was...
just a little closer...
almost there...
the suspense...
it's eating you up inside...
you've almost uncovered the mystery...
don't stop now...
persistence will pay...
hey, while we're waiting, have you played Rainbow Six Vegas--awesome game...
so yeah, the answer you've been waiting for...
...The "real world" in which we live is not the real world, but rather a program intended to keep us from the real truth, which is that we are nothing but energy sources for sentient machines. The air you breath, the chair in which you sit in--all a virtual reality which is "The Matrix".
And oh yeah, you're adopted...your mom told me so. Sorry to break it to you this way.
[/QUOTE]

:rofl:! KUDOS! :applause:
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Sure was...
just a little closer...
almost there...
the suspense...
it's eating you up inside...
you've almost uncovered the mystery...
don't stop now...
persistence will pay...
hey, while we're waiting, have you played Rainbow Six Vegas--awesome game...
so yeah, the answer you've been waiting for...
...The "real world" in which we live is not the real world, but rather a program intended to keep us from the real truth, which is that we are nothing but energy sources for sentient machines. The air you breath, the chair in which you sit in--all a virtual reality which is "The Matrix".
And oh yeah, you're adopted...your mom told me so. Sorry to break it to you this way.
[/QUOTE]


Good fucking job. That was great!!:applause:
 
You know I am right, ths close to the end of the semester and all, it was probably a students project to make a psychological experiement and the prof is acting it out.
 
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