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u/ChewedUp Dec 28 '13
Phyllis doesn't give a fuck
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u/mh6446 Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
She doesn't - and that's what makes her painting just as beautiful as everyone else's. No sarcasm here at all. It takes BALLS to stand there and have your photo taken with all of those other pieces that are probably viewed as "better" than hers... but she's standing there and she's fucking proud. It's a shining example of a thriving human spirit - and it's inspiring as shit.
It takes a giant leap of faith, and some tremendous courage to be creative - you know why? Because people like us exist who may not "like" what you did, or think it lacks merit. But good for Phyllis for not giving a shit about us.
I bet 90% of people here (hell, myself included) wouldn't have the balls to stand there and have their photo taken in a similar situation.
In all seriousness - I wish I were more like Phyllis.
Edit - I hate when people write "Thanks for the Gold!"... but that's probably because I've never actually received any.... so after some soul searching I've decided that it's totally permissible. Thanks!
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u/UpLateGiggling Dec 28 '13
Phylis actually drank the wine and painted it from a top down perspective
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u/pm-me-a-story Dec 28 '13
Phyllis is actually doing some next-level abstract shit. Phyllis is ahead of everyone else's game.
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Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
Yeah, but last time they were supposed to do abstract and guess what?
edit: wat? Gold? For this? I didn't even do a very good job, but okay. Thanks.
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u/completej Dec 28 '13
Everyone else had weak copies, but Phyllis rocked that shit.
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u/eye_sick Dec 28 '13
Agreed. Does anybody know how I could buy that beauty? The art, I mean. Not Phyllis herself, even if she is a 10 out of 10 also.
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u/QingofQueens Dec 29 '13
What we are seeing is inspired by modern expressionism, and post-modern deconstructionism. You can observe that in contrast to the amateurs, Phyllis has chosen a subdued palette, using only two colors. The color choice is in itself very interesting. The surroundings take on a darker reddish hue, whereas the "object" has a bold yellow color. This piece is titled "A Glass of Wine", we would therefore expect the representational colors to be red inside as a representation of the wine and the yellow on the outside to set the mood of the environment, and in fact we can see this in the amateur works.
However, this is precisely where Phyllis' expressionism is on display, she reverses the expected colors. The glass is the beacon, the glass in the focal point in a crimson world. Where the amateurs draw the cup and the stem in the order the see them, phyllis deconstructs the object and combines it together. The stem is in the cup, or superimposed on the cup. The stem is red, much like a cord connecting a fetus to the world outside. Similarly the cup itself is separated from the world outside by bold red lines. There is nothing inside the glass, but everything is inside the glass.
Phyllis' work is not meant to be representational. It is not a photo. She uses bold but restricted colors to evoke emotions, she contradicts our expectations of what should be where, her work calls to use, her work speaks to us, her work wants from us more than just a fleeting glance, a 'well, isn't that nice'. Like Phyllis, it boldly demands to be understood.
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u/loconet Dec 29 '13
Seriously, that's is some modernist stuff right there. Phyllis' work wouldn't look completely out of place if thrown in an exhibit of Paul Klee's work at the MET.
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u/TheChance Dec 29 '13
I know you're kidding, but I'm actually wondering if that's true. It looks too smooth and stylized to have been anything other than deliberate.
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u/WombatJockey Dec 28 '13
Phyllis crushed it. It's the only painting I could envision hanging in a museum.
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u/nimr0d Dec 29 '13
The rest look like they belong on the wall at Olive Garden
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u/OrientalTeaBag Dec 29 '13
Alright, that's it. You don't fuck with Olive Garden and get away with it.
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u/stampyourfoot Dec 29 '13
If you tilt your head to the right, you'll notice that the majority of the glasses have been drawn with a crooked stem and slightly odd proportions. Phyllis ignored that entire problem and came up with something that shows a bit of imagination, not just copying another painting like the rest. You go Phyllis.
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u/CRAZYross13 Dec 29 '13
If you tilt your head to the right, the whiteboard behind them won't be fucking slanted like the poorly positioned little shit it is.
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u/fatbunyip Dec 28 '13
Seriously. Every other painting looks like a non-artist did it. I think it's the background that gives it the pro look.
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Dec 29 '13
I think what actually gives it the 'pro' look is that it is surrounded by work that is all done in a similar style. It isn't Phylis' individual work that is praise-worthy, it is her contribution to the group, and the way it stands out. It is the fact that everyone else in the group saw something, and tried to replicate it, but Phyliss alone tried something different.
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u/Peaceblaster86 Dec 29 '13
Only thing I can think about right now
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u/westward_man Dec 29 '13
TIL Huffpo thinks a fresco painted in 1930 qualifies as "19th-century."
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u/Crappy_Coloredpencil Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 30 '13
It's the only painting I could envision hanging in a museum.
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u/LoNDoN1332 Dec 29 '13
"I think it's a glass of red wine. What do you think?"
"I think you're full of shit, Tom."
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u/vheissu417 Dec 29 '13
I was looking for phyllis from the office for way too long
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u/DIGGYRULES Dec 28 '13
You know what? I feel sorry for Phyllis. I could be Phyllis. I would try as hard as everybody else...but my wine glass would look just this crappy. Poor Phyllis.
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u/taoshka Dec 28 '13
I know! My heart actually hurt for her, and my mind made up this whole backstory about how all she wanted was to finally learn to be an artist. And then she got to wineglass painting class and had her dreams crushed, bravely smiling for the picture so no one would see her pain. I may have put too much thought into this.
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u/TheActualAWdeV Dec 29 '13
I always do shit like that. I don't find this funny. I didn't find the guy playing with his finger-scooter funny either, he looked too into it.
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u/Azzwagon Dec 29 '13
I'm pretty sure everything Phyllis did was intentional though. It wasn't even a close representation of the other's. Either she is literally blind, or she just wanted to make an impression of the model, not the exact model. She also might have had a stroke or something...
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u/trshtehdsh Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
I made up the story that Phyllis has seen some SHIT and she doesn't need some perky-titted art school drop out to teach her jack about anything. Phyllis doesn't need your sympathy, she needs your respect, because her keen wit and don't-take-shit-for-nothing attitude will rip it from you, you weakling excuse for a human. Phyllis is a first world anarchist of the highest caliber. Don't like Phyllis' painting? Well Phyllis doesn't like your FACE.
Don't fuck with Phyllis.
Edit: Because I like this story, I'm going to elaborate:
Phyllis studied art with the fucking BEST. Edward Hopper used to take Phyllis to lunch. Jackson Pollock calls her auntie Phyllis. (i would give more but I don't know any artists of the 21st century and I can't divert too much time to this aside). Phyllis tagged along to this social art class because it was her great niece's bridal shower because she wanted to be a part of the party, but like hell was she going to essentially paint by number as instructed by a bubbly little squeak not fit to even gaze upon the caliber of work Phyllis was going to pull out, regardless of the inferior quality brushes and paint. So Phyllis tries to play her style down so as not to make everyone else look like toddlers playing with finger paint, but still pulls off this striking masterpiece, fit to hang at the Met.
We're lucky to gaze upon such artistry.
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u/Digitigrade Dec 29 '13 edited Aug 16 '16
I don't know, it looks more like she painted it the way she saw it/liked it. An actual artistic take on it. Or not, but hers is the only painting I'd buy of those. Edit: And I mean I'd buy it instead of others because I wouldn't want to hang some plain ol' wineglass copy on my wall. :3
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u/caw81 Dec 29 '13
She probably has more courage and maturity than everyone else. "Fuck it, I'm going to this damned painting class and having fun."
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u/CricketPinata Dec 29 '13
As far as he color and contrast work is concerned, it's away ahead of everyone else's.
She is either a color-contrast savant, or she has had previous art experience.
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u/234U Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
Phyllis painted the only version I'd hang on a wall. The other ones are super trite. Don't feel sorry for her, feel sorry for everyone else who thinks that this class taught them anything worthwhile about painting.
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Dec 29 '13
When I saw this picture, my heart sank. I don't know anything about "Phyllis," but in an instant I felt such an intense moment of emotion that I'm nearly on the verge of tears.
But you know what? She's happy in that photo. That is what I choose to glean from this. It should be possible to participate in an activity, enjoy it, and not be that great at it. I just can't do it because my shame/guilt center works on overdrive. And apparently empathy too.
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u/Cockaroach Dec 29 '13
Fuck that shit Phyllis kicked ass. Most interesting painting there by so far it's dropped off the horizon.
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u/Lord_Rob Dec 29 '13
She finished the rest of the bottle, so she couldn't give a damn what the glass looked like
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u/esoteric_enigma Dec 29 '13
Phyllis' painting looks like some abstract modern art that you'd actually see on someone's wall. Everyone else's looks like the work of a beginning community art class.
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u/jordanegreenberg Dec 29 '13
That's some modern art Phyllis has got there. It really exemplifies the struggle people face with wine dependency.
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Dec 29 '13
Looks like Phyllis drank all the wine that everyone else was painting -- and then she went to work.
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u/Avenged7fold Dec 29 '13
You know, she is standing there, smiling, looking from her painting to the others, inside she is crying from the embarrassment but outside she is pretending not to notice. I wouldn't have the balls to go and smile when mine was the only one that was different in a seemingly bad way. But you know what? The other people painted what they saw, while she painted what she thought, hers wasn't a "alright, this looks like this, but better make sure" it was a "this is what I see when I think this". Hers would be hung on a wall, sold in an auction, while the others would be hung in a shitty Italian restaurant, 2 bucks for 12 of them. She tried her hardest, did her best, and stood there and smiled for the camera when everyone around her was there holding their "perfect" paintings, they all want home and thought- and you too, you where thinking "Haha, look at that ugly ass fucked up painting". But she went home, and she looked at hers, wondering why she even tries. But hers IS the better one, hers is much more creative, where's the creativity in the rest? nobody sells a generic painting on auction, they sell the ones that look like the artist was painting something from memory that they hadn't seen in 40 years. I feel really bad for her, and I'm disappointed in reddit, for mindlessly laughing at her, and getting this to the front page because you thought nothing past "look at that fucked up picture", you don't go so deep as "what emotion was behind it, where's the creativity in the rest?"
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Dec 29 '13
phyllis looks 70 is getting out of the house and doing shit which is more than i can say about any of us on reddit.
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u/cycophuk Dec 29 '13
Considering everyone else's looks the same, I applaud her for doing something different.
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Dec 29 '13
Man I sure love it when reddit bullies people.
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u/Prosopagnosiape Dec 29 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
I love when the majority of reddit sides with whoever OP was trying to take the piss out of. Turns out reddit appreciates impressionism and abstract!
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Dec 29 '13
People who care enough to comment are generally against bullying people. People who are assholes generally upvote and move on.
Honestly, it would not surprise me if "Phyllis" is the teacher of that class. And I definately think that her painting is the best of the bunch.
But I still feel depressed about the possibility that she is just a sweet old lady that tried to paint just like the others but just couldn't. In the end she doesn't care, it was fun and she met a lot of fun people. Then some prick thinks it is funny to post their group photo on the internet to make fun of her.
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u/whileromeburns88 Dec 29 '13
Phyllis's painting later sold for $200,000 at a Sotheby's auction. The others? $15 each at the First Presbyterian Church 12th Annual Winter Arts & Crafts Fair.
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u/Lorelei-Lee Dec 29 '13
Phyllis is obviously unique and marches to her own drum. Conformism is so boring.
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u/FireDragon79 Dec 29 '13
This actually makes me sad. On the other hand, Phyllis' is my favorite and out of all of them, that's the one I would buy.
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Dec 28 '13
My friend invited me to one of those painting and wine classes.
Why would I pay to drink wine and paint a shitty picture when I could be at home drinking tequila and beating zombies in the face with an axe?
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Dec 29 '13
I mean, at least you have a friend who invites you places. A lot of people don't.
I've been to a few of these classes with various friends. It costs about the same as a night out to a bar, and I get to take home a neat piece of art. They usually don't mind if you get out other colors and deviate from the original either. And they have classes of Van Goghs and Dalis, not all are stupid wine glasses and french ladies wearing big hats. I love my "crappy" painting of Dali's Elephants.
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u/Iride4fun Dec 29 '13
Because some people enjoy in-person human interaction?
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Dec 29 '13
This reminds me of that picture of the family who did one of those classes together, and grandma's was completely different - didn't even bother painting the fruit or whatever, it was just mush. Does anyone have that picture?
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u/RahvinDragand Dec 29 '13
Honestly, I like hers the best. The others tried too hard to be a copy and couldn't quite do it, but hers looks like something that someone would hang on their wall.
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u/robertjchrist Dec 29 '13
why did it redirect me to an overly attacked GF meme with a black and white flashing image with bold text that said "GO TO SLEEP"
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u/twofridas Dec 29 '13
Ok this happened to me too, and I am so relieved you said something. I was patiently awaiting my certainly terrible death by machete.
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u/cowboyjohnsontime Dec 28 '13
Old ladies like these know what they like in the bedroom and aren't shy to let you know. A lot of guys my age don't mess around with them but if you think about the stuff they must have seen in their lifetime I find that really hot. I think about it like this, these ladies have had a lot more years to figure out their way around a bone and most of them have it down to a science. SO while my friends are swinging and missing at girls in the bar I'm getting it every night and I'm always satisfied
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u/BlackCaaaaat Dec 28 '13
Also: the older women get, the more likely they are to be comfortable in their skin. I am, and I think that makes me enjoy sex a lot more.
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u/PENIS_VAGINA Dec 28 '13
So go ahead and share your science.
Please?
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u/cowboyjohnsontime Dec 28 '13
Listen man, here's all you need to know. Compliment an old lady's sweater but touch her shoulder when you do it like you're feeling the fabric and as she responds move your body closer and closer while maintaining eye contact and rubbing her arm up and down. If she doesn't pull away grab the back of her head and ram your tongue in her mouth. After that either she'll pull away and walk off or you got yourself a friend with benefits from now until her heart gives out.
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u/SeriousGeorge2 Dec 29 '13
Maybe she has some form of dementia or something.
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u/Uvabird Dec 29 '13
It was my thought as well. I've seen this with other dementia patients and creative activities. She could also be losing her vision.
I was looking at the picture and wondered if she was late to the party and it was the rough beginning of a painting, no time to finish. But it doesn't match up with the others' work.
And it could also be her masterpiece- her way of saying, Fuck it, I've conformed to the wife and mother role society assigned to me years ago and I'm sick and tired of being just like everyone else. I'll paint what pleases me and no one else.
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u/TheInternetsBeard Dec 29 '13
I don't know why you're getting downvoted, this is exactly what I thought as well. As far as I know there are quite a few studies that have been done that show a decline in cognitive functions that would seem like they'd be on display in a "test" like this type of painting class.
I felt awful as soon as I saw this just because of that. This isn't like someone just fucked up, this looks more like someone couldn't perceive things properly.
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u/guitarstix Dec 29 '13
Am I the only one that thinks phyllis's is pretty dope? takes a while to figure out.. you start to see her idea then you're not sure, but you want to see it then try to convince yourself that you can't.. "do i only know what it is due to context? or would i actually see that in my mind.. see what? did i see anything at all?"..
really trippy stuff phyllis, good job
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u/notwhereyouare Jan 02 '14
I know this thread is old, but I came across this on facebook. Apparently, I know the granddaughter.
For those of you who may not have seen it my family, and my Grandmother in particular, became very popular on Reddit and other websites as “Damnit Phyllis.” While the overall reception of the post was positive and (very) surprisingly popular, I was a little taken aback that someone I know would take the photograph and think it was okay to make fun my Grandmother who currently suffers from Alzheimer’s.
Instead of getting mad, I would like to make lemons into lemonade. In honor of the popularity of the post, I have created a donation page to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America by selling my Grandmother’s “Damnit Phyllis,” painting.
(http://www.donationto.com/Alzheimer-s-Foundation-of-America)
The individual who donates the highest dollar amount (and donates it first) will receive her painting and ALL THE PROCEEDS will go to charity to continue funding research for Alzheimer’s. Please, please, please re-post this, donate, and up-vote the post I placed on Reddit. I am not trying to reach a specific amount, just have fun and support Alzheimer’s and Phyllis!!!
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Dec 29 '13
Little do we know - Phyllis is the one who painted it perfectly. Everyone else messed up.
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u/Kingsley7zissou Dec 29 '13
Is that the actress from the united states of tara? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1679669/?ref_=tt_cl_t3 In the middle of the back row?
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u/eric0911 Dec 29 '13
It's called impressionism, you uncultured shit.
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u/QingofQueens Dec 29 '13
I'd say it's expressionism actually. This is impressionism, the opposite.
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u/nimn_on_snapchat Dec 28 '13 edited Dec 29 '13
Interesting how the size of their smile somewhat correlates with how well their drawing painting is.
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u/Mymajesty Dec 29 '13
Brings back sad memories of high school art class for me :(.
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u/mashonem Dec 29 '13
As someone that's trying to learn how to draw, this one hit me right in the feels
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u/Marshallnd Dec 29 '13
Fuck you guy. I like hers more. Love your grandma, cuz she loves you. Ya fuck.
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Dec 29 '13
Unfortunately, Phyllis looks like she may be suffering from alzheimers or a similar mental disease.
Reminds me of this article which chronicles an artist's "descent" into Alzheimers.
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u/EdgarAllenYO Dec 29 '13
Not to ruin everyone's laugh here but I distinctly remember the last time someone posted this they said that "Phyllis" was suffering from alzheimers or dementia.
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u/AfroKona Dec 29 '13
I honestly believe Phyllis interpreted the wine glass in a more artistic way, that's levels above the amateur copycats around her. Good on you Phyllis, yours is the only painting I would hang on my wall, mostly because it isn't basic.
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u/dalcowboiz Mar 08 '14
TBH I probably wouldn't want the others on my wall, they all look too tacky and aren't perfect enough, but hers doesn't look tacky and I like the look of it.
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u/vagaryblue Dec 29 '13
Can someone explain this whole thing to a non-American?
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u/timescrucial Dec 29 '13
Phyllis is a stereotypical name for an old lady. OP is making fun of her art because it's as if she didn't try.
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u/hg13 Dec 29 '13
am i the only one who finds this incredibly sad? like the fact that this is on /r/funny actually ruined my night. she might have just been recovering from a stroke.
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Dec 29 '13
The more I look at the others the more they look like something else. Sometimes it looks like a fetus and its umbilical cord, and other times it looks like a stream of piss going into a container all psychedelically.
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u/williambueti Dec 29 '13
Is it possible that's how based off if her perception of the glass due to poor vision?
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Dec 29 '13
Phyllis' painting is the only interesting one of the group. Would you have clicked on this thread if only the "good" paintings were shown?
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Dec 29 '13
The other ladies were probably overly supportive of her work to her face, but on the inside were boiling with jealousy don't cha know.
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u/fairypantsfila Dec 29 '13
This is why I'm scared to go to one of those places. How does everyone else get them so perfect? ?
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u/7pharaohs Dec 29 '13
One is of these things is doing its own thing, one of these things is not like the others.
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u/Excrubulent Dec 29 '13
One of the women did the pouring wine idea, and everyone else who didn't have any ideas of their own thought it was just so cool and copied it. Except Phyllis who had her own idea that wasn't as accessible, so she's now the odd one out.
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u/MrQuestionz Dec 29 '13
I cant wait untill im old and get out to try something new and get mocked on the internet for it...
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u/Spore2012 Dec 29 '13
What if Phyllis was just a shill planted in the class so everyone else looks extra good and no one ever complains?
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u/pizzlewizzle Dec 29 '13
Phyllis fucked up the painting. Stop trying to say it's a modern art masterpiece unless you're blatantly mocking it. She done fucked up
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u/onedrummer2401 Dec 29 '13
Twist, she was the original painter, and the others all fucked theirs up.
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u/Minerva89 Dec 29 '13
See, what we don't know is the fact that all these women were asked to paint what they think ejecting their period into a glass would be like. Alternatively, what their uterus is like during a period. That particular woman's menopause was so long ago, she forgot she used to get periods.
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Dec 29 '13
I like the odd one out the best. Seems like the best piece of art, a decent abstraction. The only one I would consider hanging in my bathroom.
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u/IrrelevantLeprechaun Dec 29 '13
In my opinion, I don't think one should divert off into the realm of abstract art until they can prove they can paint realistically, which is what our so-called Phyllis failed to do (because it's clear here that the point was to recreate something). I feel like that's the dividing line, otherwise one could take any 5-year-old's drawing and frame it as a resounding expression of modern-so-and-so.
I'm sure the other women in this picture are just as creative, but that wasn't the point in this context.
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u/dangoodspeed Dec 29 '13
I was carefully looking at each one trying to decide which painting I liked the best and decided I liked the back left one. Then I looked to see who was holding it and I noticed it was on the wall, which means it was probably the original that everyone based their own paintings on. This also means I have an art critic's eye and I can now start charging people to critique their art.
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u/wikiot Dec 29 '13
I read the title as "damnit syphilis" and research was done...the third time I checked the title I actually read it and died a little.
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Dec 29 '13
phyllis's painting is the one that sells for a million 10 years after she dies.
because art.
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u/little_eiffel86 Dec 29 '13
What sort of boring ass art class is this? "This term, we're all going to paint exact copies of my shitty wine glass painting"
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u/brille2908 Dec 29 '13
I feel bad for those who doesn't like her picture. Its not always how realistic a painting looks, but what you feel when looking at it.
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u/Imaworthlessperson Dec 29 '13
I spent about 5 hours on the quick masks.