Interface Episode 05

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"What a familiar feeling; the restrictiveness of the human body." ― Mischief

Interface - Episode 05 - The Son of Man

The Son of Man
Henryk shown in a representation of "The Son of Man" by René Magritte
Episode number	05
Episode title	The Son of Man
Date released	March 13th, 2018
Episode type	Main storyline

Description

The fifth episode of the Interface series was published by 'u m a m i' on March 13th, 2018. This episode takes place within the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and continues where Mischief and Henryk last left off from Episode 02. This is the first episode of the series to feature 3D animation, and along with 'u m a m i', ArtKarolina helped with the episode's theme and art direction.

Official Synopsis

"Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present." - René Magritte

Summary

With Mischief still shapeshifted into him, Henryk enters the museum and makes his way up the entrance stairs, through a long hallway buzzing with cerebral electricity and into a small checkered-tile room. Inside the room there is a copy of the painting 'The Son of Man' by René Magritte and the statue 'The Eye' by David Altmejd. Upon reaching the room, Mischief transforms back into his serpentine form and explains how he forgot "what it's like to be human". They are interrupted by a mother and her son making their way to the room, forcing Mischief to hide. Mischief takes the form of a sunflower growing up the sides of the corner statue. The episode ends with the mother gazing thoughtfully at the statue as the young boy turns away from it in fear.

Notes

'The Son of Man'

This episode prominently features Henryk as the man behind the apple in the 1964 painting 'The Son of Man' by René Magritte. There is a great deal of speculation from fans as to the meanings of this. One line of theory goes that the recreation of the painting is meant to be an allegory to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The apple is a common symbol in Christian art, often representing the archetypal fruit of forbidden knowledge which Eve is cajoled into eating by the devil. The fruit is often linked to temptation and desire, which is also touched upon in this episode.

Henryk's desires

When speaking to Henryk about the experience of being a passenger in him, Mischief states that "to see through your eyes, the world around here still looks no different to me. But it's what you desire that brought you here, and these are the things I'm blind to". This parallels and contrasts with the bus scene in Episode 02, when Henryk's lack of desire to go anywhere in particular prompted Mischief to bring them to the museum.

Mischief's transformation

This episode features the only instance where Mischief transforms into an object that is not pink. This confirms other statements from Mischief where he claims that he chooses to be pink when he transforms, as opposed to being unable to change color.

Gallery

Steps at the museum's entrance showcasing the 3D scenes

The long museum hallway partially absorbed by static

Overview of the checkered room

Shot of Henryk inspecting the portrait

'The Son of Man' featuring Henryk

Mischief in his flower form