Is this not contrast?

Member : Matt_Giwer

Image description
Political cartoons have always been a venue of provoking thought in controversial matters. Many years ago this was banned from competition because of its political content. The flag on the table is that of Palestine. Today the US is beginning to permit the lively and provocative political debate about Israel which exists in Israel. This debate by us peons has always existed. I could not find a way to work the flag of pre-invasion Poland into the image. I could have chosen Stalin and the CCCP flag but the real history of WWII is still a secret from us peasants so there was no way to contrast Stalin with Israel. For those who have religious sensibilities, only the 9 candle holder has religious significance today. The 7 candle one was used in the temple but its religious significance is unknown.

Description of how this image was created
The reason for the old computer is this is the entry that caused a delay in voting years ago and was eventually banned from the competition. As it has never competed I consider this a legitimate entry in this competition. The current IRTC owner may overrule my contention. No blame.

General statistics
No of ratings	:	14
Min. overall rating	:	7 (1 / 5 / 1)
Max. overall rating	:	35 (11 / 12 / 12)
Sum of rating	:	343 / 840
Date uploaded	:	2008-07-04 02:27:17

Specific details Note: The maximum value below is misleading as the voting system has changed. If the member votes for all the entries and has created one him/herself, there is an automatic 20/20/20 score added to the value (This encourages all members who enter to vote).
Rating type	:	Min : Max : Sum : Out of
Artistic	:	1 : 11 : 106 : 280
Concept	:	5 : 15 : 125 : 280
Technical	:	1 : 12 : 112 : 280
Overall	:	7 : 35 : 343 : 840

Comments by members when rating this image

1.   27-08-2008 Yes, I suppose it is contrast. While I do not personally find it offensive, I do find it somehow disturbing, though I suppose that's the point. Technically, I can't find much fault with it, though. It's an interesting composition. And I do like the wallpaper. Other than that it's simple textures and simple objects, although i think I see some waves in the cloth of the flags. 2.   27-08-2008 Too many ideas going on that the concept seems to gets lost for me. Curious frame for the picture. Maybe the flipped form of the swastica should have been used for the candles. From what I know of it the swastica has historical meaning for hope or wisdom or something like that. But again, probably very few actually know about that or all that history. History in skule (at least here in Canada) is pretty pathetic. 3.   19-08-2008 I had plenty of time to submit 4 entries for this round, so you should have taken the time to rebuild your scene from scratch. If you do so one day, use yellowish candle fire (we can't see white on white), and modify the central picture to make it more artistic, by using transparency for example. Subtle suggestion is way more effective. The wallpaper is a bit corny, but the candelabrum is nice. 4.   18-08-2008 Good artistic marks as in a sense the political message is in itself is very artistic. 5.   18-08-2008 Contrast? yes. Interesting provocation, but what does it mean really? I am a bit at a loss to read from this anything else than just... contrast, but no basic political meaning for the daily world. 6.   15-08-2008 I'm sorry - even though I consider myself open-minded, too many negative feelings are brought up by swasticas and certain moustaches. 7.   08-08-2008 I remember the first time this was entered. I support freedom of speech, but I do not support using a public and volunteer-driven art contest to air political views. We are here to better our artistic skills. It might be different if some effort had been put into the image, but this is about as basic as you can get technical-wise -- CSG with image mapping and a light source. It's obviously just an inflammatory image intended to support a political agenda, and not a display of raytracing skills. The only reason I did not give it ones across the board is that is does show contrast, if in poor taste. 8.   07-08-2008 "Technically, it suffers from being made years ago. Conceptually, it is old hat but and offensive to a lot of people but maybe more relevant today. "