Trapper’s Camp
by Clarence Gagnon
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
ART OF ULLMAN’S OFFICE
CRAM’S SUPERIOR MAP ⎔ FLOCK OF LOONS ⎔ GREAT EARTH MOTHER ⎔ MYSTERIES ⎔ THEATRUM ORBIS TERRARUM ⎔ TRAPPER’S CAMP
APPEARANCE
Seen sitting on a chair behind some debris in Ullman’s office at the beginning (next to the radio and Colorado wall map). Later in the bloodfall hall visions (right wall), and the blowjob stairwell.
IDENTITY
Gagnon served in the Royal Canadian Airforce, in WWI, presumably (pilots being a subtext of the film). He oscillated between Canada and Europe throughout life, though he maintained the French-Canadian experience as a dominant focus of his work. Also, he died in 1942, a year The Shining attaches to pilots rather pointedly.
SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE
The most interesting thing this painting does in the movie is signal the hotel’s true intentions: the destruction of Hallorann. I’ve written on that subject extensively in that link, so I won’t go more into it here.
I recently discovered that there seems to be a significance about Alex Colville’s Moon and Cow appearing over the 23rd step up the stairwell. This drew my attention to how Trapper’s Camp appears over the 11th and 12th stairs. So, if 11–as in Apollo 11, the shirt Danny’s wearing when he enters room 237–or, as in the number of photo that Jack appears in at the end of the film–represents Jack’s doom to become an eternal thrall of the hotel, this painting (itself representing the hotel’s urge to slaughter Hallorann) seems to be gloating over its victory.
MIRRORFORM SIGNIFICANCE
The first appearance mirrors over Wendy and Danny escaping in the snowcat Hallorann died to bring them.
It’s also one of only two artworks, the other being Tom Thomson’s Northern River (47:23-47:30), to appear on both sides of the film at the same time, and only for a split second here (12:05 – or 725 seconds). This, despite the fact that there are hundreds of art objects that appear in the film. In fact, if we take out the 14-second Warner Bros. logo, it would be 711 seconds into the film. And 7-11 is a number with major significance to both the novel and film.
Next art reference: Cram’s Superior Map of Colorado
MAIN PAGE ⎔ SECTION PAGE ⎔ SITE MAP ⎔ GLOSSARY
OTHER MAIN PAGES FOR SHINING ANALYSIS
THE MIRRORFORM ⎔ THE BEATLES ⎔ THE RUM AND THE RED
BACKGROUND ART ⎔ OVERLOOK PHOTOGRAPHS ⎔ GOLDEN SPIRALS
PHI GRIDS ⎔ PATTERNS ⎔ VIOLENCE AND INDIGENA ⎔ ABSURDITIES
THE STORY ROOM ⎔ ANIMAL SYMBOLS ⎔ THE ANNOTATED SHINING
EYE SCREAM 