Initially this logo was designed with the intention of bringing a younger, hipper edge to the Olympics.It was assumed that placing the traditional Olympic rings inside a bunch of blobby shapes would be manic enough to attract the interest of teenagers and twenty-somethings, the audience which the Olympics organisers seem consider to be the life-blood of the event. The problem with this is that neither this audience nor older Olympic viewing audiences are able to work out what the the logo is meant to represent. There is some geographical significance to the blobby shapes but it requires a hell of a lot of abstract thinking from the average man to work out what this significance is. So instead of interpreting this logo in an Olympian context, we, as frustrated outsiders to the mind of Olympic logo creators, have bestowed upon it some very un-Olympic like interpretations. Some of these interpretations, as detailed by a March 2011 article on The Week website, range from unusual to hilarious. Everyone by now is aware of The Simpsons interpretation where the usually straight-laced Lisa Simpson does her Anastasia Steele interpretation as she gives her rebellious brother Bart a blow-job. Then there are the political associations which provide an interesting parallel. On one hand, Iranian citizens threatened to boycott the Olympics because they have interpreted the logo's shapes as forming a 'Z' for Zion. On the other, Jewish citizens have interpreted as a disjointed Swatstika. Perhaps the least harmful interpretation suggests that the logo could stand for "Izzo", the nickname of hip-hop star Jay-Z.
Indeed, all these differing interpretations suggest that the Olympics logo is highly problematic. Yet, in a strange way, they also, in a sense, make the logo the voice of a generation. I look at the Olympics logo in the same way as I look at Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfield. It's a screwed up product of its society, trying desperately to find its true meaning. Of course, the logo's search for meaning is also our own because when we look at it, our own religious and/or socio-political anxieties stare right back at us and it's our job to grapple with these anxieties. This means that, in actual fact, the Olympics logo showcases every facet of contemporary society. For instance, our modern fascination with erotica, as is evident by the success of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, is emphasised by The Simpsons interpretation (though it is quite sickening that yellow-skinned children are used to do it). Then the Zion interpretation captures the world's preoccupation with Middle East issues which, in truth, make the world go round almost as much as American politics does. Perhaps the deformed Swatstika, from a philosophical perspective, is a metaphor for the modern variations on evil which we find in various political and/or religious sects. The Jay-Z interpretation captures the savvy and street-smart attitudes of the modern youth which, at least, goes half-way to fulfilling the Olympics organisers initial intentions.
Yes, interpreting the Olympics logo (or blobs) from these perspectives might not relate much to sports in any way (unless you factor in the minuscule appearance of the Olympic rings). However, it really does have much potential as a piece of contextual "artwork" that changes meaning and significance with each generation it encounters. It will be interesting to see, decades from now, what the logo will come to symbolise for future generations. Will people still remember it as the symbol for the 2012 Olympic games? Or will they simply just look at it as a bunch of abstract blobs which can be shaped to represent whatever pop culture, political or religious metaphor they desire? If so, which cartoon character will be getting pleasured this time around? I guess only time will tell...
Source for pic: http://studyabroad.universiablogs.net/2012/04/17/2012-olympics-and-loughborough/
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