Here is a screen print I editioned yesterday. I’ve a problem with the title. Please take a look as it is i.e. without a title, and decide what you think.
I could simply call it “Coexist”. Then it would be judged as it is.
However the wall is a photograph I took in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik which I visited recently. It shows shrapnel damage sustained during the Homeland War when the town was shelled by the Serbs. I saw the “Coexist” made up of an Islamic crescent, a Jewish Star of David and a Christian crucifix on a T-shirt in Mostar, another city which suffered major destruction. It wasn’t originally sprayed graffiti, as it appears in the print.
“Coexist” is a bit too vague as there is no suggestion as to what is being shown. A title such as “Shrapnel Damage” or even “Walls of Dubrovnik” I feel, though, is a too precise, telling the viewer what to think.
Any suggestions, please? I want to enter it in a competition this weekend, and I refuse to call it “Untitled”!
what about “Dubrovnik demands”
or “the people’s plea” although that doesn’t locate it geographically.
I like the idea of “The Plea”. I don’t think it necessarily needs to be geographically specific. That title may be enough for them to look closer at the damage to the wall.
Or simply: Dubrovnik + the date you saw it?
Thank you for your comment. I think people might try to read something significant into the date. The title should make people think but shouldn’t add confusion.
I would simply call it ‘Coexist’. Simples
people can see the shrapnel damage and draw their own conclusions as to whether this is an aspiration or a statement of fact.
Did you recognise it as shrapnel damage before I said what it was? I don’t think most people will do so. It will just be dark shapes on the wall.
shrapnel damage as such… no. But it’s a picture of writing, on a plain (and not pristine) brick wall, incorporating symbols of three major religions, so there is an implication of trouble.
Tolerance?
Thank you but I think too vague and probably doesn’t get people to look at the wall only the “coexist”.
I think the ‘co-exist’ is what grabs the attention and gives the photo meaning.
But does that meaning depend on the shrapnel damage or would it be the same if it was on a plain wall?
I know I’m late – sorry – but I like the title COEXIST.
Thank you for all your comments. The print was entered for the neo:artists competition under the title “The Plea”.