Qualification of Interpreter
Looking
at the subjects of this narrative, I am willing to say that I have some
qualifications—namely, a passing familiarity with yoga and previous ownership
of a cat. With yoga, though I have never actually owned a yoga mat, I do know
several poses and some of the general goals that people have when doing yoga.
With cat ownership, I know that they tend to like to put themselves in the
middle of your activities, and they are very good at stretching.
Facts
The
first photo shows in the Cat Pose narrative shows a pillow and what appears to
be a sheet or duvet. We can presume that the image is of a bed. In the lower
left corner is an object, but I can’t identify just what it is. The image seems
to be centered on the meeting of the pillow and duvet, and this is what comes
to visually define the bed.
The
second image includes a bit of the fabric from the duvet, which orients the
viewer; what we are seeing is near the bed, but in a different direction. In
this image, we can see legs and feet coming off the bed, situating our
faceless, human character. Beyond the bed, we can see a white, plastic basket
filled with something, presumably clothes. Behind the basket is a large,
semi-translucent white ball—most likely an exercise ball. Behind the exercise
ball is a blue cylindrical shape. The entire scene is lit by the large window
on the far wall.
The
third image shows the blue item again, this time laid on the ground. It becomes
apparent that it is something that has been rolled up. In the context of the
exercise ball, it appears to be a yoga mat. It is laid on the floor, still
mostly rolled up, near the basket and the exercise ball.
The
fourth image shows the yoga mat fully unrolled on the floor, situated near the
basket, exercise ball, and window. The window is now somewhat less covered than
it was in the second photo.
In the
fifth photo, the perspective changes, and from a perspective near to the floor,
we see the feet and legs of the aforementioned faceless human character. The
feet are lined up facing the window, as evidenced by the direction of shadows.
The feet appear roughly centered on the mat, pointing perpendicularly to the
long edge of the mat. Behind the person and the yoga mat, we can see what
appears to be a brown leather ottoman and some various boxes, likely for
storage.
The
sixth photo shows a change in the positioning of the feet. Now they point the
other direction. The leg closest to the camera is straight, but the leg further
from the camera is leaning or bent, with the foot pointing to the far end of
the yoga mat. A hand reaches down and touches the top of the further foot.
The
seventh photo changes the perspective again. Now we view the yoga mat and feet
from above, the camera likely held by the human character. The yoga mat is
viewed as coming diagonally from the bottom left of frame to the top right. The
photo seems to focus on the empty space at the far end of the yoga mat.
In the
eighth photo, the previous empty space is suddenly filled with an orange cat.
The cat is stretching, facing away from the camera, with its front paws
extended and lowered and its tail high in the air. The human character is still
made present by the appearance of feet in the lower half of the image.
The
ninth photo shows the cat laying on its side from the same perspective as the
last few photos. It is still on the far end of the yoga mat, lying in the sun.
The
final photo shows the cat from a much lower perspective. We can see its face as
it looks up and slightly left of camera. The human character’s arms are present
here, and it is petting the cat.
Cultural
The
narrative begins with the picture of a bed, signifying morning—or at least that
the main character is just getting up. We can then see that the main character
(I’m going to make the wild guess that this is Tiffany, the author of this
narrative) is sitting on the bed, oriented toward some exercise equipment. She
is going to begin her day with some exercise. Her intentions are made clear
when we see the yoga mat on the floor. It is spread out, and she begins her
exercise. We s
ee her doing a pose (maybe Triangle?), and then straighten back
up. The cat then appears on the mat next to Tiffany, doing a pretty formidable
Downward Dog. After showing Tiffany up, the cat flops to its side. Tiffany
leans down to pet the cat, amused by its abilities.
Implications
In this
narrative, we can see how similar doing yoga poses can be to a cat stretching.
The equating of these two things can have implications about the nature of yoga
or exercise in general. After all, the yoga mat and routine are essentially
artificial movement, but we see them happening naturally in the cat’s
stretching. Perhaps we can suggest that the movement of yoga or other exercises
are attempts at reconnecting with more naturalistic movement. It may not be too
far to say that perhaps Tiffany is doing yoga to (in a way) be more like her
cat.
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