Controversial Illustrations By Polish Artist Reveal The Darker Side Of Modern Society
Polish illustrator, artist, and co-owner of Morski Studio Graficzne Igor Morski creates surreal images imbued with hidden meaning. He graduated with honors from the Interior Architecture and Industrial Design Faculty at the State Higher School of Fine Art in Poznań, and worked for public broadcasting in the 80s and 90s, before finally pursuing a career in press illustration. Morski opened his own studio in 1995.
"Sometimes I used to use popular symbols, such as Pinocchio’s long nose," Morski told Bored Panda. "However, most frequently I have tried to think up my own symbols. For example, [my piece] “creative archaeology” is about the commercialisation of archaeology. There, I depict a halved human head filled with the sand with a stylised figure of Indiana Jones, the archaeologist, at the top. The symbolism becomes clear. On the one hand, you have the head filled with the sand, on the other, the figure digging in it."
More info: igor.morski.pl | Facebook (h/t: demilked, sunriseartists)
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I was a single parent myself for a while. This illustrates the situation perfectly! I had to row against my ex while having the added weight of the children.
If you follow the physics, they are actually rowing with each other, not against.
Load More Replies...Actually, they're rowing in opposite directions...
Load More Replies...The physics is ambiguous which maybe is part of the point. If the father is under water then he is helping. If he is also above water, then they are struggling against each other. Perhaps they are both trying to move and getting nowhere. Like a lot of good art there is a lot of room in the interpretation here.
So no need to argue with each other in the comments here :-)
Load More Replies...Single mother having to be both mother and father. Be as strong as a mom and dad, be two people to the children, even though it's tough and she's just one woman.
I think it's about how a woman plays her role as a mother and also as a father for her child.
Couples nowadays separate so easily so that they don't even think much about the kid.. no one is looking after the kid here.. :(
I think it's a Widow not a divorce. There's sadness in the portrait, not anger (typically associated with divorces). He still lives within her but she can't feel it and looks back at where she came from. She's alone in her sadness because we can feel connected with technology but when you strip that away and sit in Nature you realize you're alone. Even tho right behind her is the child whom she could connect with. But her Aline's and sadness is preventing that.
Am I the only one who noticed that neither of them cares about the kid?
Damnit! I thought the exact same thing but you beat me to it!
Load More Replies...all these men have suits on, I believe its corporate office or bankers burning the earth down....
People think it's just global warming, but actually there are a handful of people who are doing all this without getting noticed..!!
The words on there are the days of the week in case you were wondering.
For me I see this as the days that have gone by have added to the middle aged spread - the younger slimmer me is somewhere inside.
This has many interpretations yet the basic idea in each is reasonably accurate. This could as easily be a man.
To me this depicts the layers of responsibility that a woman takes on throughout her life and this woman has decided it's time to peel off those layers and become one with nature again.
I like how it looks like a measuring tape, like the woman's worth is completely wrapped up in how fat or thin she is.
With each passing day, you are getting older and no matter how hard you try, you can't escape. the same time will never come back..!!
Or a boy growing into society's definition of what a man is supposed to be. What our definition of masculinity has evolved into.
Feeling trapped in a cage of being an adult but feeling like a child. Me to a tee.
As he grows he HAS a choice, society has chosen his mould, but he can choose what to do with it!
An astrologer told me once to remember that "All men are little boys".
There is a boy hidden in every man. Sometimes this boy gets very sad
He does. They're behind his back. Not very noticeable, but there's a slight outline.
Load More Replies...Boys are told to "be a man", so they aren't allowed to cry or play with the "wrong" toys, etc. It's not to fair to instill your gender expectations into a child who doesn't know who he wants to be yet.
Agreed. The masculine-shaped cage and toy gun aren't very subtle. This one's easy.
Load More Replies...Ensnared by technology and becoming increasingly attached and dependent to it
You start using a smartphone for your convenience and don't realize when you get addicted to it and now it won't leave you, no matter how hard you try to leave it..!!
The phone has become an extension of ourselves... We have made it a small god. To a point we ignore the things in life that really matter. It's painful and sad and it will cost you.
the symbolic obesity of our superficial consumption of commercial c**p in our lives
That's called stereotyping. Not racism. I'm American and I'm very fit and I hate eating fast food and junk food. Not all Americans eat McDonald's
This picture should be put up in every public space the world over where large quantities of junk food is consumed.
Not much traffic for all those pathways. Are we not using enough of our brains? Alternatively, how necessary is modern life's complexity?
...especially if you're on this junction as a few of the roads lead to 'nowhere' lol xx
Load More Replies...Indeed a brain, showing how easy it was to think about anything before and how complicated it is nowadays..!!
It is the shape of a brain and has characteristics of a brain.
Load More Replies...The man is trying to turn back time by rolling the clock counter-clockwise.
We are made of Earth. When we die we will return to the earth. But, in the meantime, life is a beautiful dance.
Maybe not a dance, possibly an assault JuliaCandalisa
Load More Replies...Like the greenery of the earth, we too will one day crumble back into it. Enjoy the dance while the breath of life still blooms in us.
All we are is dust in the wind. The land is us, we are the land. We behave as if we are separate. I make it a point to write my first take, then read what artists truly meant to communicate, some are more obvious then others
We put so many thoughts and feelings into little compartments, putting off dealing with them.....
I see this woman has become stuck being someone else's resource. She is a storage box of information and tasks that the other treats the privilege of acquiring, like yanking open a drawer and grabbing it from them as from a piece of furniture. She is disregarded as a person.
To me it makes me think that the man is desperately trying to find out what is going on inside of his wife, and the wife has all these thoughts and feelings that she is storing away and not sharing with him. So the man feels small and overwhelmed trying to search out what is going on inside of her. She looks disinterested in the home/attic, storing away another thought as he is desperately trying to salvage his relationship.
And time is running out (it's nearly midnight).
Load More Replies...Its 5 minutes to 12. Hes dressed in a formal suit. Shes disinterested and in a flowing gown. Men are literal creatures women are emotional creatures. He keeps shoving literal dogma into her and shes had enough. The time is over for patriarchy.
A man trying to find the directions to whatever complex issue is going on with the woman.
Instead of exploring the vast universe, which is depicted by the beautiful moon, we are busy spying on each other.
The intelligent Society, we want to know everything about you, to serve you.
We say in Poland that "someone is making water out of your brain", when you are manipulated.
Also if you have water in your brain (woda w mózgu) it simply means that you aren't the smartest person or your ideas lack common sense.
Load More Replies...Business corporations filling your brain with the understanding that bottled plastic water is more convenient and healthy for you than water out of the tap.
Fun fact: most headaches are due to dehydration. Drinking a lot of water is the easiest and fastest way to relieve them.
Does anyone else think of an iceberg, with the majority of it hidden under water?
#trippy :) first take; man/woman...second I see a woman and child. Mother. Mother Earth. All entertwined in connection, and in mystery
Plants, trees or forests are the reason that life still exists or they generate the life.
There are so many different pieces of people and they all combine in a relationship
I like that, but I would say that humanity is eroding ...
Load More Replies...Building success and treasure for ourselves, but we are left empty and unsatisfied.
The kingdom of God is within man but man is building an external fascade leaving himself empty
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?
Caged wisdom. We do not listen to the wisdom of people who have lived life
Actually, most owls actually fall into the lower range of bird intelligence
we choose to cage our spirits inside our heads, when there's so much more to explore!
Wisdom just been kept in old folks memories. Not free to be told to youngs.
Or - thinking's what makes you fly. You're gonna crush if you ever stop.
Load More Replies...Are bodies; minds, and all senses are part of a machine pilotted by a construct of preference which we name our 'self'.
Man is a part of nature and the natural world, whether he/she realizes it or not.
She seems self contained. Beautiful but indifferent. Like a true tree.
I believe that the circle with the man "traped" inside is the routine we have each day. But only the human. The birds appear to be free at all times...and the difference between them is just...sad
Or maybe it is the history that it is repeating all the time
Load More Replies...the guy only thinks he is trapped. he doesn't look up beyond his umbrella because he is busy protecting himself from his perceived fears, the only thing he knows is the rain and the uphill walk, it's bleak in his world. If he would take down his umbrella and look up he would see that he could fly free too like the birds...
I think the meaning of it is a Circle of destructive (negative)thoughts lead the way the man goes same old, go around and around and the man havent aware of it yet
I see a child controlling his elder self. The moon is a terrific allegory for the lens of fantasy through which we viewed adulthood.
I see a puppet pulling the strings of a human....which is interesting
Load More Replies...I see a pupet controlling a men! To my interpretation we used to be the ones controlling the show now is the show controlling our lives. Could easily connect it the influence media has in the way we act and go through our lives, to the images we build we think we hae to live up to.
Our bodies and minds are controlled by the phases of the moon. It goes back 1000's of years. I almost think the puppet is the ocean tide. our bodies are made up of a large portion of water, look what the moon does to the tides all over the world……..it is 100% proven fact that the full moon brings chaos with it. my mother was a 911 dispatcher at the busiest detachment in Surrey. She had crazy stories every full moon. My Aunt and good friend are ER nurses. Again, it can't be denied. We are controlled by the moon……parts of us are anyway ;) I do realize the painting is of a waning crescent moon. Just had to throw in my facts to back up my interpretation ;)
I saw that too. We are controlled by the phases of the moon.
Load More Replies...I think it represents sleeping. Dreaming. The moon is essential here. During daytime the puppeteer might control the puppetb but who knows who controls you (or your mind) during your sleep
The moon controls the tides and all natural rhythms ... the man has forgotten this in his busy-ness ... but the child tries to remind him of the natural flow ...
I agree with you, our kids know we will give them the moon if it was in our reach and the work and play on that manipulating us and pulling our strings as they so wish!!
Load More Replies...I took one meaning to be that we are controlled by what we try to manipulate. We're controlled by the games we try to play, and in trying to act as puppet master, we loose control of ourselves.
Inside: i am still a young girl, wishing to fly away. To escape. Why were birds born with wings, and not I?
Children today have so much of their lives based inside with new technology and gadgets, it seems a false reality (hence the painted duller clouds on the inside walls, the illusion of reality), yet when they actually take a step outside they become less interested in their toys and see the real beauty of nature and life outdoors.
I'm definitely seeing strong overtones of feminism. A woman before broke through the walls of the painted sky so that a girl after her could see the real sky. The balcony is an interesting touch as well, showing either limitations/obstacles or protection based off your interpretation.
Everyone's inner child can see the beauty from within their own walls..
I see a woman, reduced to small and childlike in comparison to the universe upon which she looks
Little girl dreaming to become a princess. Very optimistic. (The cutout is a princess dress)
I think this is about the promise of growing up: the freedom and beauty that as a young child you imagine being an adult will be like, but when you look back on those un-chained dreams you see that all along, you were restricted by society to be a certain way (hence from the child's perspective she can't see that the doorframe is shaped in a woman's outline)
I also see the doorway she is standing in as the outline of an older woman in a large dress?
As an African, I have to LOL at your comment. Thanks...
Load More Replies...If we could focus our attention back to nature, the earth could become a beautiful place once again.
Business and capitalism are just means in which society can unload aggressiveness and the desire of dominance. Deep inside we are still all animals.
What we would truly be like, if there were nothing to restrain us- a wild pig once muzzled
I see a corporate dog adorning a muzzle with pointed interest at how this affects his public image.
We might think we're the most advanced animals of all, but we all share something with animals: emotions, love, and instincts.
Looking for original thought. The eyes seem to be looking for the brain. Everyone wants to tell us how to percieve the world.
The man doesnt see the real world outside... the world in his mind is all he see
how banks unstably inflate markets through inflation , here this concept is illustrated in unstable stacked coins
No, it's the "owner" the higher they are the less they have to invest (Hence less coin at the high ends) and the worker has to take more steps to reach the top because the towers will grow more and more with all the money that is on the ground and can only make them more money by letting the workers try to get to the top by adding more to their current and every level they reach...
Also forgot to ad that is never safe for them to make it to the top cuz the tower might brk (wood sticks) not supportive enough... Sick society we live in!
Load More Replies...Pretending that the euro is working better than it is. Presenting debt as profit
Climbing the ladder of wealth. Stacking our pennies to get to higher ground.
Making it look as if there's more money than there is, so people keep investing in those businessmen who make a big show of their hard work for your money. But its all a sham. Bernie Madoff.
If the sign says co-operative, no one is really cooperating. Everyone is isolated. Mislabeling.
Living inside boxes - we've created for ourselves. Everyone has the same space, each one uses it differently.
We live our lives in boxes not communing with each other to make our society better. No social interaction in this picture at all.
Communism. Sticking as many people in tiny flats, Apts as possible. Same square. Getting higher and higher.
And it seems to me that the nature and the works of human can cooperate and complement each other.
All are supposed to be equal, not only in feasting but in burdens too. Alas, one contributes a lot more than others.
Were finally learning to work with the natural world. A hole has been punched through the archaic thinking of the human subjugation of the natural world.
Big fish in a little pond; america isn't as great as it thinks it is without the cooperation/water of the rest of the world.
Its a US shaped fish bowl. America is living in a fishbowl of climate change denial.
His imagination lifts him up out of his impoverished surroundings. But he is also his own worst enemy: if he swings his sword the wrong way, he'll cut the strings and come crashing painfully back to reality.
"The Physical Impossibility of Vulnerability in the Mind of a Child"..? Youth always believes itself to be immortal, yet danger is constantly only a playful strike away.
There may be many fake beauties or happiness that can attract you to be like them but once you believe them, you are trapped..!!
Or maybe he should wath out cutting himself down while striking at these paper birds...not sure what they stand for though
Freedom? The surroundings are poor....so maybe the price of freedom is the risk of falling into poverty?
Load More Replies...I think its a great blending of the colors, not covering one with the other. Mixing.
Everything has it's pros and cons, however, together they can do wonders.
Despite how important a thing is, there is always a limit of having it, too much of anything is a bad idea.
Climate change. It is causing some to have none and others to have too much of the elements.
Some have nothing some have too much. We always want what others have.
We live in an ideal balance of nature. Any number of minor shifts in that balance and we would indeed be covered in ocean water, would in turn pollute most of our fresh water sources. Dubai shows us that, with enough resources, we can filter ocean water into fresh water. It is a shame that we continue to flaunder this precious time by allowing the very human instincts that would lift us out of this mess to become data points for use in training methods of keeping us distracted and docile.
The lest image illustrutes extreme heat. There's a green sign "No H2o (water). On the right side is the opposite, too much water caused by a tsunami. Both images deal with natural calamities.
Holding on to things that are no longer alive. Being slaved by memories and becoming miserable
Struggling for things that do not provide you any happiness, food, or shelter.
We R all living in A material world, captured by our posessions. It looks to me, the boy/man has broken free from that particular kind of captivity and stands there on the roof , wondering pindering what it would B like to go back to basics; FREEDOM, nature, feelings
Overpopulation. Weve pushed to the outer limits of our resources and theres no where else to go.
Sometimes you think you protecting yourself when the very thing you thought was protecting you ends up causing the most damage...
Being free from the disgusting filter we have been forced to see through.
Money is only paper, fit for flights of fancy physically. It only has the meaning that society assigns it
earn money, spend money, earn money, spend money... and so on, and so on.
the people in charge waste the money and the hard work of the others, maybe?
We as people are larger than those giving the orders. We literally support those in power, and yet we follow their direction
To me it looks like the donkey and carrot situation, with the person barking orders at the walking man. Like a boss having control etc.
It is the fine line between being controlled and break free from it.
I don`t think so. It may mean that someone else leads him, just a "small" people, who he shouldn`t listen to.
Men are slaves to sexuality? (since a man is in the cage but the female part is free)
Slave to sexuality. Hummingbird face. "Just trying to get a taste" but it's unattainable. Some of its not even real. An illusion
That's not a hummingbird. That's a waldrapp/toki (Geronticus eremita/Nipponia nippon). More likely a waldrapp since toki have black bills.
Load More Replies...I'd agree with Laura, it's got to be those life debates you have late at night
"O dwóch takich co ukradli księżyc" i zastanawiali sie gdzie go ukryć przed ludzmi...
God has givien us life, but most of us prefere to live our life with or in the dark.... das but true
No matter how big your nest egg is, it still won't be big enough to build a stairway to heaven....
I see many businesses joined as one large cancerous entity, fantically pursuing "growth" each quarter, and even once this bubble has burst because they have no more substance within to grow any further, they stand atop their spectacle, blinding themselves with the beacon of false hope that they would have the world follow.
Demons inside us are killing us or that dark side inside each of us
Maybe killing relationships... as you said the demons inside us... or evil
Load More Replies...Maybe is that true self that we always try to hide. The thorns as all the harm we make to ourselfs.
The "bIrdman" figures remind me Hieronymus Bosch's paintings of Hell
I would say, that our life is dependend on present and future medicines and drugs which is not true. The drug industry is manipulating us, offering temporary solutions which in the end cause more damage and we need more, so we pay them more... It is like a never-ending rotation - prison.
Addiction to drugs, it's pretty much impossible to escape from it!
I love how all comments on these pictures are each individuals take on the meaning of the photo and yours just says 'ew'
Load More Replies...The distorted reality and transformation of matter to symbolize reality in dreams
This reminds me of experiments that were done using cockroaches tied together. One was headless and was the legs. Another roach was strapped to its back, brain intact and their circulatory systems were joined. This awkward pairing demonstrated that some cognitive functions could be shared.
The elitism of america. We think being American is superior, that it is one step further in profession.
We can evolve and change, but our future is literally either going to be flooded or filled with pollution
Absolutely marvellous illustration. I am hoping the author is going to come up with more artwork of these series - everything I saw, makes me craving for more. Polak wykazał się myślą i talentem, narysował ciekawe ilustracje, a ludzie zza granicy jako zaangażowani odbiorcy ciekawie je interpretują i podpisują. To co się dzieje na tej stronie jest dobrym wzorem dla wszystkich Polaków za granicą - bądź jak Morski. Reprezentuj, inspiruj i wyznaczaj standardy dla każdego.
It needs to be a bit more understandable but the phone parasite was really realistic and true!
The people analyzing these images are brilliant!! I couldn't come up with explanations for most, but the comments are really spectacular in the process of interpretation.!
These remind me so much of a modern day salivdor Dali!! Marvellous in every way!!
Absolutely marvellous illustration. I am hoping the author is going to come up with more artwork of these series - everything I saw, makes me craving for more. Polak wykazał się myślą i talentem, narysował ciekawe ilustracje, a ludzie zza granicy jako zaangażowani odbiorcy ciekawie je interpretują i podpisują. To co się dzieje na tej stronie jest dobrym wzorem dla wszystkich Polaków za granicą - bądź jak Morski. Reprezentuj, inspiruj i wyznaczaj standardy dla każdego.
It needs to be a bit more understandable but the phone parasite was really realistic and true!
The people analyzing these images are brilliant!! I couldn't come up with explanations for most, but the comments are really spectacular in the process of interpretation.!
These remind me so much of a modern day salivdor Dali!! Marvellous in every way!!
