Creating a Visual Narrative

Discussion through works of art encourage how to approach ambiguous and complex ideas, thoughts, and feelings. The MFAH offers a democratic space where students and teachers can develop, practice and articulate these habits of mind. Remember that the quality of the conversation is what is important, not finding the artist’s “answer.” Slow down and take the time to make careful observations. Talk about what you notice, and try to avoid jumping to conclusions and interpretations. Be sure to give enough time for silent looking and thinking.

Work of Art

Trenton Doyle Hancock’s Bye and Bye features crowded imagery representing figures from the artist’s personal mythology and requires long looking to unpack fully. A black and white, monochromatic forest with leaf-barren trees is tightly populated with a menagerie of animals which surround a stark-white tree topped with a skull. Centered on the canvas, the tree’s smooth, white exterior and twisting limbs sit in contrast with the dark, rough bark of the surrounding forest. The words “bye and bye” are collaged around the canvas in various sizes. The animals are rendered in a variety of styles with some appearing more naturalistic while others appear more cartoonish; however, they all have red eyes. Upon close inspection, even the insects have been given either red eyes or jagged red auras. These are the only instances of color beyond black and white in the work. Hancock features both land and sea creatures. An octopus wraps one tentacle around the base of the central tree while the other tentacles reach throughout the bottom left quadrant, leading to other creatures in this strange grouping. The various predators and prey gathered all direct their focus toward the central tree that seems to support a human skull from its topmost branch.

Hancock’s rich imagery and draftsmanship create a visually compelling work. Every inch of the canvas has been worked and reworked. The animal and treelike figures depicted in the scene are mythological creatures that Hancock names the “mounds.” Hancock described the “mounds” and their origins:

 “Mounds are these half-human, half-plant mutants that came to life about fifty thousand years ago, when an ape-man masturbated in a field of flowers, and up sprang these creatures, and they’re called Mounds. Since then, many of them have died off for various reasons, but the main cause of death of Mounds is the premature death caused by creatures called Vegans who are evil creatures who can’t stand Mounds at all.”

As Hancock’s story about the mounds continues, the artist describes the narrative depicted in Bye and Bye. Here, we see these fantastical animal-plant figures grieving the death of Mound #1 seen in the center of the image depicted as an ashen white tree topped with a human skull. Speaking about the significance of Mound Number 1, Hancock recounted: 

And over the past few years, I have worked through the first major chapter about Mounds, and it’s called The Life and Death of Number 1. And Number 1, The Legend, is named that because he was the very first Mound to exist. And he’s the oldest Mound. And the Vegans hate him with all of their being, and so it was their mission to take him out. And so, the Vegans plotted, and they achieved their goal.”[1]

Hancock has used the mythologies he created to express universal feelings such as grief, love, and fear through the use of visual elements. Hancock frequently uses word-play in his images. Playing off the term “by and by,” meaning “before long or eventually,” the artist changes it to “bye and bye.” Paired with the artist’s description that this scene represents a funeral, the words echo the sentiment of hoping to see a lost loved one eventually. The overall monochromatic style of the work enhances this feeling of grief. The black and white is only interrupted by small moments of red. The red marking the Mounds’ eyes represents another important aspect in Hancock’s work, color. Describing the significance of color in his work, the artist specified:   

“I’ve always been drawn to color, but it always has to be necessary. Color has to have some sort of a meaning if I’m going to use it. It’s hard for me to just choose random color and use that as information because I start to feel disconnected from it. So, especially lately in the work, every color—every time it appears, it’s there for a specific reason. And if there’s no reason for color to be there, then the piece will probably just end up being black and white, which I’m perfectly okay with.”

With this in mind, the red in the Mounds’ eyes can be interpreted as grief through Hancock’s deft use of color. In the same year that Hancock completed Bye and Bye, he also created a series of prints entitled, Bye and Bye: Nine Sad Etchings that include depictions of individual Mounds with some accompanied by text commemorating their eulogies for the death of Mound Number 1. These images are also primarily black and white with the exception of the Mounds’s red eyes. The lion, seen on the right edge of the canvas in Bye and Bye, is also included in the suite of prints. The print includes text from the lions stating, “The presence of the great mound was felt by us all and shall be missed… Oh, by the way, I suggest you guys scatter, eulogizing makes me hungry.”[2] Seemingly conflicting emotions, such as humor, joy, and grief, often intermingle in Hancock’s work.  In 2012, Hancock revisited this idea with a “cheerful update” when he created Hi and Hi as a colorful mural at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston at the entrance of the pediatric imaging wing, filling a monumental wall approximately eight feet tall by thirty-nine feet wide.[3]  In contrast to the somber tone of the black and white scene of mourning in Bye and Bye, the mural for the children’s hospital embraces color. In Hi and Hi, horizontal bands red purple, blue, green, yellow, and orange create a rainbow backdrop for the scene with the words “hi and hi” repeatedly inscribed. Color and style transform Hancock’s mythological story and characters from Bye and Bye to create a scene of joy, humor, and discovery in Hi and Hi that welcomes families and visitors to the Houston hospital.

Conversation

• Consider this mixed media work in its entirety. What do you notice first?
• Notice the overall lack of color of this work. How would the painting change if the artist used naturalistic colors? What about vivid colors?
• How has the artist used layering to create the composition? What about his use of lines of varying weights?

• Consider the variety of animal species represented. Would they naturally convene together? Why or why not?
• Why might the artist have depicted the Mounds in a variety of styles? Could it have something to do with their individual identity? How so?

The act of creating stories to be shared and voted on encourages students to engage in positive risk-taking.

Learn more about this artist at Art21: https://art21.org/artist/trenton-doyle-hancock/

Subject Matter

• Cooperative Learning groups observe Bye and Bye.  Create a list of descriptors, including elements of art and principles of design, that could be used to describe the work of art to someone who has never seen it before.
• Share artist interview of artist at https://art21.org/artist/trenton-doyle-hancock/.
• This work of art builds a narrative through the use of symbols, humor, word play, allegory, and satire. In cooperative learning groups, students extend the narrative by writing and sketching what could have occurred before and after Bye and Bye.
• Present sketches and narratives to class as a whole.
• Explore other plates included in Hancock’s Bye and Bye portfolio series. How does the artist extend the narrative?

Assessment

This involves observing details with the intention for students to begin to use language to describe what they see and create a story. Observing this artwork closely requires students to consider small parts of the scene, as well as the ways in which those small parts make up the whole of the structure- much like studying the many moving parts of a machine. The act of observing in order to build a narrative around those small and large relationships within the structure fosters the habit of mind analyze and synthesize.” Bye and Bye presents an additional layer of content to explore, because Hancock's art is based off of his own created narrative of the mounds and vegans. I believe this offers a unique opportunity for students to collaborate. As the teacher, I would present Bye and Bye with a simplified version of Hancock’s narrative as the middle of the story, and ask different pairs to write what occurred before and after. Stories could be written in pairs, voted on, and implemented with several artworks to represent the narrative. With Hancock's theme of good v. evil, imagine the twists to plot students could create.

Resources

Resources Available to Order

Check our online collection module for further information.