Jean-Michel Basquiat birthed "The Field Next to the Other Road" in 1981 when he was only 20 years old. Measuring 13 feet across, it was one of the largest paintings he produced that year, but scale was unimportant to Basquiat having come from the graffiti traditions of New York City. It depicts a meeting between a man and a beast, presumably a cow. He depicts the cow's utters, which could be to signify gender or could be to suggest where the duo was headed. Could they be on their way to a morning milking, a routine they probably engage in daily, or could they be headed to something more grim, possibly slaughter. The figure in the painting is male creating a dichotomy between the two mammals. Covered in some sort of grey haze, there is an ominous feeling cast around this human character. This haze paired closely with a sun void of any color could lead the viewer to create a darker tale of the two companions. Is this cow walking to its death, or is it on its way to its daily routine? Basquiat leaves us having to answer this question alone.
Nolan, can you try this again? If it helps, look at what your classmates did. The purpose is to tell the story of hte picture, not to literally describe the painting, but to imagine what's happening in it.
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