Life, Frittered Away By Details

Mistaken Identity by Ken Wong

When I first saw this picture it immediately caught my attention. I was using Youtube to provide background music to my life when all of a sudden this image popped up in a video. For some unknown reason the picture is heavily associated with the song “Take Me Somewhere Nice” by Mogwai. It took lots of research to find out that it is a painting by Ken Wong named Mistaken Identity.

This picture is one of my favorite pieces of art because it makes me think about life. Originally I only thought about its meaning in “Take Me Somewhere Nice”. In the song, the singer sings about the UFO sightings in Glasgow, Scotland and how it would be nice if the UFOs would take him away. The picture represents the same amount of confusion that goes along with knowing you’ve seen something and everybody thinks you’re crazy. But to me the picture has a different meaning. Personally, it reminds me about the confusion of life. Everyone has a million little tasks they know they have to get around to floating around in their head. Sometimes people will have so much to do they forget to look at the bigger picture. Happiness is what really matters in the long run. But with so many things that people think they “have to get done,” it’s hard to be happy. Clearly the girl in the picture needs a life adjustment to turn her frown upside down.

My interpretation is that the girl in the picture has so much going on in her life that she is unhappy. She, like many others, is drowning in the trivial details of her life. She is stuck in her situation, represented by the fish bowl over her head. The picture reminds me that I can’t and shouldn’t focus too hard on things that will be meaningless in the long run. It is more possible to succeed when you let go of insignificant activities. Perfection is unachievable and happiness is more important.

See Mistaken Identity and other art by Ken Wong here.