What would it have been like to see synthetic cubism for the first time? How would I have responded to newspaper literally glued to the surface of Picasso's work? 100 years later, it is commonplace. Appropriation and layering, two postmodern concepts in Gude's 2004 article, are inherent in collage. This postcard layers textures beneath two images of plastic army men. I don't understand what the elements in the background are, but visually, they resembles the desert. Perhaps it is meant to evoke the landscape of the Middle East and being unable to control the movement (evidenced by the eratic arrows) of a loved one in the army. In my own reading of the image, it is about a loved one, not oneself, because the figures appear to be on the telephone. (I could be completely off-base here, since I know nothing of army paraphenalia). I think of my friend who hears from her brother via internet chat that his group is moving to a less protected area. She is powerless, not in control, unable to help him.

wow---i think i'm fairly tech-saavy, but it took me a while to figure out this sticky note thing...doesn't help that it takes hours (not really) to load the diigo help video because of my vpn. (diigo is blocked in china.) diigo toolbar installed and now it all makes sense!

Chinese! I got all excited to "decode" the secret message. The first two characters are RIGHT (as in the opposite of left) and HEART. I don't know the third. Then I realized the entire drawing was labeled in Chinese. Which begs the question why? Why did the sender appropriate THIS anatomical drawing? Is the sender a Chinese speaker? Is the straight man a Chinese speaker? What is the connection, significance, of affixing cursive English on pink paper to a cropped Chinese medical drawing of a heart?

Steve - I also LOVE this cup. Good news! The cup has the same writing in China. I'd have to talk to a native speaker to find out if you could do the same play on words with the characters, but I have every intention of doing this to one of my best friends here, the elementary music teacher. I think she would notice, which is even funnier! Here's a picture of the cup with the Chinese. My friend took it and has it on her flicker. http://www.flickr.com/photos/homemadeinchina/5099423966/in/set-72157625203620748/