2 Extinct Species meet each Supposing the other to be more Successful
I have always had a fascination for dinosaurs. In kindergarten, there was this giant book on dinosaurs. There were all kinds of pictures and facts about these giant lizards. I formed a dinosaur club around the book. I had a lot of my classmates who would gather around the table and we would scour the book for images of our favorite creature. Years later when I was in graduate school I was looking for images that I could incorporate as my personal style. The topic of dinosaurs reappeared. One day I was browsing an art history book and came across a small image by Paul Klee. The image was of 2 naked men bowing to each other in submission. It was titled. “2 men meet each supposing the other to be of higher rank” I thought it was really funny. I took the concept modified it a bit and applied it to dinosaurs. 2 extinct species worried about who was more successful was really funny since they were both failures in the fossil record. The print posed questions like what is success, how do you measure it and a comparison to anyone else is pointless.
Some years later after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I added several other prints of dinosaurs dealing with death and extinction that like Parkinson’s was unasked for and unwanted and unfair. The prints deal with death and extinction but also emotions and feelings dealing with Parkinson’s.
2 extinct Species Meet and Do the Dance for Life to No Avail
The second print is about the tragic circumstances of the condition. You often are willing to try anything that might correct the problem. It is obvious that simply doing a dance won’t bring back life but you are willing to try anything. This print is a little bit awkward in the drawing because of my Parkinson’s.
2 extinct Species meet and form a small support group
This Print is the third in the series. After you’ve exhausted all your efforts to make your challenge go away you deal with the aftermath as best you can. It seemed natural then for the extinct species to form a small support group of extinction victims.
2 Extinct Species Meet and Regret Their Investment in Oil
The fourth and final image in the series deals with perceived injustice for the extinction, a conspiracy inflicted on innocent creatures. Dinosaurs are responsible for the oil reserves so it would be natural to blame oil for your circumstances.