Several people have commented on or asked me questions about my hands avatar and I thought it would be a good idea to tell the story here. It all started 2 plus years ago when I started publishing my work on Scribd.com under the pseudonym “Phantomimic.” I was looking for a suitable picture to go along with my pen name and I came across the picture on the left.
I did not know who had made this but I was very impressed with this artistic concept. It also had a metaphorical meaning for me: how the whole can be more than its parts. So I started using it as my avatar on Scribd.com and later also on my website and Twitter.
It was on Twitter that the origin of this picture was revealed to me by someone. The picture was a training shot for the 1986 movie “Labyrinth.” In this movie the hands appear in a scene where one of the lead characters, Sarah, played by young actress Jennifer Connelly (who would win an Oscar for her role in the 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind”) falls down a well lined with hands that form faces that talk. They call themselves “helping hands.”
I did not know who had made this but I was very impressed with this artistic concept. It also had a metaphorical meaning for me: how the whole can be more than its parts. So I started using it as my avatar on Scribd.com and later also on my website and Twitter.
It was on Twitter that the origin of this picture was revealed to me by someone. The picture was a training shot for the 1986 movie “Labyrinth.” In this movie the hands appear in a scene where one of the lead characters, Sarah, played by young actress Jennifer Connelly (who would win an Oscar for her role in the 2001 movie “A Beautiful Mind”) falls down a well lined with hands that form faces that talk. They call themselves “helping hands.”
However, as my writing became more serious I realized that I could not keep using this picture because I had no authorization to do so. Therefore I decided to create a hands portrait of my own. I enlisted the help of my family and after a few days and some photoshoping we came up with the picture that I ended up using; shown here on the right.
Of course, this is the final product, which doesn’t tell the actual story behind the making of the picture. It was really difficult to get the hands to display the cheerful expression that I wanted. The following collage of failed attempts at making the hands picture can give you an idea.
Of course, this is the final product, which doesn’t tell the actual story behind the making of the picture. It was really difficult to get the hands to display the cheerful expression that I wanted. The following collage of failed attempts at making the hands picture can give you an idea.
After the publication on my book The Sun Zebra expossed some shortcomings in retaining my anonymity, I decided to come out of the pseudonym closet and drop both the Phantomimic pen name and the hands avatar. But the smiling hands picture will always have a special place in my heart!
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