Mike Keesey  

Ceci n’est pas un dessin.

April 11th, 2006 by Mike Keesey :: see related comic

Those of you not familiar with masterpieces of Surrealist art may not recognize Carney’s quote in the final panel. La trahison des images (The Treachery of Images) is a painting by René Magritte that shows a pipe with words underneath saying, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (”This is not a pipe”). While it initially seems like a paradox, the statement is actually true—it’s not a pipe, it’s a painting of a pipe. The piece is a comment on the difference between an object and something representing the object.

Tiktaalik reminds us that the popular “Darwin Fish” of bumper stickers may be a symbol, but it represents something real. The symbol is not a fish, but there are real fossilized remains of such creatures, remains that can be seen, touched, and scrutinized.

“Ceci n’est pas un dessin,” means, “This is not a drawing.” You could take it one of two ways:

  1. It’s a digital copy of a drawing.
  2. The symbol is a drawing, but the transitional animal is real.


Leave a Reply


Parry, Carney, Carny, dinosaur, dinosaurs, dino, Dinosauria, Carnotaurus, carnotaurin, carnotaur, Parasaurolophus, paleontology, paleontologist, paleo, palaeo, paleoart, paleo-art, palaeoart, palaeo-art, palaeontology, ancient, early, palaeontologist, prehistoric, prehistory, prehistorical, Mesozoic, Era, Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, Cenozoic, Paleozoic, Palaeozoic, Maastrichtian, Cambrian, Precambrian, K/T, antediluvian, evolution, evolutionary, life, Darwin, Charles, Darwinism, Owen, Richard, reptile, reptiles, reptilian, Reptilia, fossil, fossils, fossilized, fossilised, saurian, extinct, extinction, predator, predation, predate, prey, ecology, ecological, paleoecology, palaeoecology, palebiology, palaeobiology, theropod, Theropoda, ornithopod, Ornithopoda, hadrosaur, Hadrosauria, hadrosaurid, Hadrosauridae, duck, billed, duckbilled, duckbill, carnivorous, carnivore, carnivory, meat, eating, meat-eating, flesh, flesh-eating, scavenger, scavenging, hunting, hunter, plant, eating, plant-eating, herbivore, herbivory, herbivorous, omnivore, omnivory, omnivorous, formation, eat, devour, consume, diet, gaping, maw, jaws, teeth, digestion, digest, digestive, habit, habits, behavior, behaviour, ethology, paleoethology, creationism, creationist, creation, intelligent, design, ID, debate, controversy, theory, hypothesis, science, scientific, scientist, vertebrate, vert, crush, development, evo, devo, evo-devo, bite, chomp, fight, coprolite, ichnite, Saurischia, saurischian, Ornithischia, ornithischian, sauropod, Sauropoda, brontosaur, bird, avian, Aves, nonavian, non-avian, Avialae, Carnosauria, carnosaur, Abelisauria, abelisaur, abelisauroid, Abelisauroidea, abelisaurid, Abelisauridae, Carnotaurinae, carnotaurine, ceratosaur, Ceratosauria, ceratosauroid, neotheropod, Neotheropoda, Lambeosaurinae, lambeosaurine, sastrei, walkeri, cyrtocristatus, sexual, dimorphism, dimorphic, robust, gracile, origin, flight, homology, digit, cranium, femur, tibia, metatarsal, metacarpal, crest, horn, vertebra, vertebrae, rib, dorsal, ventral, anterior, posterior, rostral, caudal, distal, proximal, apomorphy, synapomorphy, plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, character, characters, phylogeny, phylogenetic, taxonomy, taxonomic, taxa, taxon, systematics, biology, zoology, paleozoology, palaeozoology, tetrapod, Tetrapoda, endothermy, ectothermy, homothermy, endotherm, ectotherm, poikilothermy, poikilotherm, warm-blooded, cold-blooded, warm, cold, blood, blooded, bradymetabolic, tachymetabolic, metabolic, metabolism, geology, geological, geologist, strata (Who Links Here?)