P.V. (Personal Values from my Point of View)

This artwork is by Rene Magritte, titled Personal Values or Les Valuers Personelles. The artwork is done in 1952, depicting the interior of a bedroom. There are seven main items depicted: The comb, the bed, the shaving brush, the armoire, the soap, the glass and the matchstick. The bed is neatly made in one corner of the bedroom, a large patterned comb resting on it, an armoire in the other corner with a shaving brush resting on top of it, a piece of soap in front of the armoire, a turquoise wine glass in the foreground and a matchstick lying on the ground beside it. The wooden bedroom floor is carpeted, the walls are painted to look like the sky, and a window can be seen reflected in the mirror of the armoire. Though the objects seen in the room seem ordinary, they are painted into strange sizes and warped proportions, with the comb, matchstick, wine glass, shaving brush and soap appearing larger than the bed and the armoire. 

In this work, the subject matter is about the value of such everyday objects than about the objects themselves. The exaggerated size of the objects could reflect on the value it holds to the artist. The comb, shaving brush and soap are all items used for personal care. The soap is used for personal hygiene, while the comb and shaving brush are used to groom oneself for one's appearance in society. This is why these three items are depicted larger in size as compared to the rest of the room, because they are considered to be 'more important'. However, the careless placement of the shaving brush atop the armoire suggests that the artist still feels the need to be more free within his own personal room, while away from the eyes of the society. 

The walls of the room are painted to depict the sky outside. The sky is light blue with fluffy white clouds, and it represents the boundless imagination of a person that cannot be trapped within an enclosed space. The painted sky contributes to the slightly dream-like and surreal feel of the painting, along with the distorted proportions of the objects in the room. As the room is painted very realistically, with invisible well-blended brushstrokes and shadows that give the painting depth, the strange unreal sizes of the objects in the room is further emphasized. The room somewhat reminds one of a dollhouse with doll-sized bed and armoire, but with the inclusion of real, normal sized everyday items (the comb, matchstick, shaving brush, wine glass and soap), which, in this context, seems invasive as they grace the room with their intimidating size and seemingly unwelcomed presence. The room also somewhat reminds one of a scene from Alice in Wonderland, with weird, almost-nonsensical, random, surrealistic and disproportionate composition.

Below is my version of Personal Values:

This is a photoshop-ed (I know, my photoshop is quite fail) picture of my (very messy) desk. Most of the items depicted in the photo are of normal size, except for seven chosen items which I value more than the other stuff on the desk. Their arrangement is of no particular order as they are all more or less of the equal importance to me. The first is the white clock. It is a time-keeper of sorts and keeping time is important in the life of a student. In fact, time is important for many, student or not. Meeting deadlines and punctuality are important aspects of a person living in today's society. The second item is the calendar, which serves a similar purpose with the clock. It helps me keep track of deadlines, test dates, competition dates, appointments, birthdays etc. These keepers of time helps one keep up with the fast pace of life in this century. The third item is the piece of yellow post-it note. The post-it note serves as a reminder, a memo for me. I write many notes of various content on similar post-its, from lists of song titles I should check up on to ideas I have for art to keeping track of my pocket money and my expenditure. As such, it is quite important to me, because I tend to be rather forgetful at times.

The fourth item is the red pencil. This piece of stationery is one of the most useful items I could have as it has many uses. The pencil can be used for writing, arts and maths. As a student who likes art, the pencil is very useful and of great value. The pencil records down ideas, inspirations and many more. Plus, pencil lead can be erased while pen ink cannot. The fifth item is the eraser which is as equally useful as the pencil. It allows one to erase one's mistake. That in itself, is enough of an explanation for why it is so valued by me. Without the eraser, my work (art or otherwise) would be a mess and full of flaws. The sixth item(s) are my notebooks. They are slightly different from post-its as post-its are more temporary. My notebooks store my notes which I will require for exam revision. The notebook with the orchid print is my pineapple notebook, also my AEP notebook. It stores my AEP notes as well as all of my pineapple drawings, which are some of my prized possessions (and artwork/"masterpiece"). The last and seventh item is the set of color pencils. They too, are part of my collection of valued stationery. They lend color and life to my plain black and white drawings, helping me turn my rough sketches into proper artworks. It is surprising how much a plain old set of color pencils can do. They may not be oil paint (a medium which the great artists seem to always use), but they serve me well enough.