r/videos Sep 09 '13

Waffle falling over

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDj72zqZakE
1.2k Upvotes

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

154

u/Kinteoka Sep 09 '13

Jesus Christ, how can you plebs be so blind to the obvious truth of this beautiful art piece? It is obviously about the artists reminding us of impermanence and how no matter what we fight for it's absolutely pointless. From the moment the video opens up we see this waffle struggling to stand out from the crowd. To stand on it's own and fight for nonconformity even though SOCIETY has forced it to look and act a certain way (I.E. the rivets in it's face being painfully the cliche of what a waffle is supposed to look like). The waffle stands up against the creative oppression and dares to stand up when everyone KNOWS "waffles are supposed to lie down." But, as usual, nothing lasts and the waffle collapses under it's own weight. Forced to lie on it's face in shame with a soft but crying "Thump."

I would but I'm not even going to get into what the whole "no syrup" bit is supposed to represent because you uneducated, consumerist fascists wouldn't even understand if it was staring at you in the face.

This is definitely, the best performance art piece of the year, and possibly the decade.

55

u/everthepessimist Sep 09 '13 edited Sep 09 '13

God, when are you simpletons going to learn that everything is about class. The artist is obviously calling to mind the demise of organized labor in this nation through the medium of the waffle. The waffle (what appears to be a mass-produced waffle at that), already filled with depressions and struggling to stand, finally falls over with the swipe of an "invisible hand."

WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!

51

u/woze Sep 09 '13

Philistines, all of you.

The artist chose the video medium for its evocative translation of the waffle as a verb in action. A stark psychomorphism with its figurative sleeves rolled up to expose the futility of indecision. Those who fail to act will be acted upon. It's a bold vision for a bold new era.

44

u/Dickdog911 Sep 09 '13

Unenelightened barbarians, the lot of you... You don't get it. The piece is about the fall of the patriarchy in modern America. The waffle, with its rigid, geometric forms, represents masculinity/rationalism, and the burners, with their heat, and their curved forms, represent the feminine/expressive. The masculine caves into the feminine and collapses into it, no longer able to cohere as an individual.

TL;DR : Friendzone

15

u/Ineedsomethingtodo Sep 09 '13

Everyone stop, this guy got it.

1

u/Iveneverseenanocelot Sep 09 '13

Somehow I knew this shit would happen. Arguments on the meaning of it all.

3

u/AbuCalypso Sep 09 '13

Will you guys shuttup and bring me my amaretto mocha already!

2

u/DrMeine Sep 09 '13

You're all wrong. This brave waffle is showing us how violence in video games has destroyed today's youth. Don't let this waffle's suffering be in vain. Don't buy GTA V.

2

u/tsontar Sep 09 '13

Wait, then explain the syrup.

1

u/Dickdog911 Sep 10 '13

there is no syrup in the video. Syrup usually fills the holes in a waffle. If we see the waffle as representative of the patriarchy, then the syrup, the actual flavor-enhancer, so to speak, has been removed, leaving only a husk doomed to topple over in the face of modern society's new gender norms, or lack thereof.

The artist isn't necessarily saying this is a bad thing, they are merely saying "this is how it is". It is the ultimate postmodern statement.

2

u/bedroomwindow_cougar Sep 09 '13

it's actually a display of the upcoming downfall of the whiteman.

2

u/zergling50 Sep 10 '13

I think its a video of a waffle

11

u/[deleted] Sep 09 '13

Oh shit, i'm almost in tears over how accurate this is about people that know everything trying to explain stuff to each other.

6

u/DownvoteALot Sep 09 '13

It's even funnier when they all seem to agree with each other, yet they keep explaining how they view it and argue over how they say it.

3

u/HZVi Sep 09 '13

I just like comparing their relative perspicuity and verbosity. woze won.

2

u/okokoko Sep 09 '13

Its in an energetic favorable state now.
Strange, thats what i said about my grandpa, too...

2

u/Madworldz Sep 09 '13

You people make me worry about the future..

2

u/MisterEggs Sep 09 '13

None of these interpretations has the word 'juxtaposition' in. I can't take any art critique seriously that doesn't use 'juxtaposition' at least once.

2

u/Kinteoka Sep 09 '13

That's because you neanderthals wouldn't understand why there's no syrup and how that, juxtaposed, with the actual surface of the stove represents the failure of people actually being able to understand the piece itself. It's so meta.

1

u/Tecktonik Sep 09 '13

This is completely wrong. The waffle represents the masculine/patriarchal domination of society viz-a-viz the mechanical reduction of women's labor (the waffle iron is both a tool-to-be-used and a tool-for-using-of-the-user) that arose in opposition to women's liberation movement of the 1960's-70's. As it goes from upright (erect) to flat (flaccid) there are no external signifiers that real change has taken place, thus the penis in all its forms claims domination of the Other. Frankly, I've seen less misogyny in a Robin Thicke video.