March of Progress

= Reference to the March of Progress =

Facts
The four statues in the Concrete Factory are actually referencing the famous "March of Progress" painting:


 * White silhouettes are painted in the alcoves at second floor, corresponding to this painting (but from right to left, which is uncommon)


 * The statues' shapes exactly match these silhouettes thanks to the strange hair styles.


 * Two of the statues are in an alcove and hide the silhouettes behind them (but you can see the silhouettes anyway if you look carefully).


 * The two statues at first floor are ready to be placed in the two other alcoves.

Interpretations
The most obvious interpretation is that this reference to the March of Progress is both an Easter Egg (as a reference to something that exists outside of the game's world) and a perspective trick (as something non-obvious that requires to be interpreted with a specific mindset to be discovered).

In addition, this reference can be interpreted in the light of themes present in the surroundings: Because the statues seem to be made in the concrete factory, they are probably posterior to the repurposing of the church as a concrete factory. By combining both previous point, we can interpret the statues as an evolution of the beliefs of civilizations that used the building, in addition to an evolution of the purpose of the building.
 * Production line principle of the Quarry: primate figures in the March of Progress form a sequence where the figures are arranged along a line, each figure representing a different period in time and a different step in evolution. Therefore, as one advance on the line in time, species are transformed, as are materials on a production line.
 * Religious aspects of the concrete factory: being a symbol of Darwinian evolution, the March of progress is opposed to the religious view on human beings being created by a god.

= Beyond the reference =

Facts
The statues depart from the original March of Progress painting in a few aspects:


 * The direction of the “March” is right to left, which is backward compared to the original painting (and also compared to the general flow of elements in the Quarry).


 * The statues do not depict forebears primates, but a modern human (homo sapiens sapiens), which seems to be the same person depicted in all four statues. The man seems however to follow some evolution:
 * He wears less and less clothes.
 * His hair get shorter and he has less and less facial hair.
 * He is getting up.
 * He is expressing more confidence and seems happier.


 * The man holds a dove, which gets more freedom and less attention from the man as the later “evolves”:
 * At first, the man holds the dove firmly in his hand, against his chest, and he looks down to the dove from very close.
 * Then the man just holds the dove in his hand before him, and he holds the dove less firmly (the back of the dove is not covered). He still looks attentively at the dove but from a greater distance.
 * In the third statue, the dove stands freely on the man's wrist, with the wings opened (but in a position that suggests it uses its wings to maintain balance and bear on the man's forearm). The man do not look at it directly but the position of the dove on the wrist suggests he can easily have a look at it (as for time with a watch).
 * Finally, the dove stands on the man's shoulder with both wings opening, as if it was starting to take off. The man and the bird both look in the same direction.
 * Note that the dove does not appear on the white silhouettes, which shows that these silhouettes have been painted and are not the result of a natural process (like accumulation of dust) involving the statues.

Interpretation
The relation between the dove and the man might be interpreted as a man protecting an injured bird that cannot fly, making a friend of it, and getting more self-confidence as a benefice of taking care of somebody and having a friend? But then, how should we interpret that?

Also, the use of statues of a single man could be posterior to the drawing of the white silhouettes. In that case, the silhouettes could have been drawn by the people of the third civilization, and the statues made by the current inhabitant(s) as a return to a religious feeling. The use of the dove, in particular, goes in that direction, because it is often considered as a representation of the holy spirit (see the previous interpretation of the relationship between the dove and the man).

= Extension of the March of Progress =

Facts
The sequence of primate figures might actually be continued. Indeed, two alcoves remain behind the "control room" structure at second floor, and a pedestal awaits for a statue in each of these alcoves (as can be seen from the first floor, below the catwalk). So we could expect two more statues, which would correspond in the March of Progress to the future of mankind.

The angel figure logically continues the sequence of statues in a few ways:


 * The man in the statues express more and more confidence, and the angel seems to dominate the world that he is looking at, from above.


 * In the statues, the position of the dove rises from the hand to the shoulder of the man, and the dove's wings start to open. In the angel figure, it's as if two doves were standing on a man's shoulders, with their wings fully opened.


 * The man of the statues wears less and less clothes, but we cannot see clothes in the shadow for the angel.


 * Only the last two statues have clear shadows and these shadow are in their back or in front of them, but not on their sides. Similarly the avatar shadow shows an angel seen from front of from behind, but not from the side.

Interpretations
Since the catwalk is approximately at the same level than the top of the pedestal, your avatar could be considered as the last statues. (This interpretation may be linked to the interpretation of the Statues as a consequence of a stoning process, although this hypothesis seems to be invalidated by the statues of the March of Progress that represent the same man.) So, in a way, we are told that the future of the man depicted in the statues (or the future of the character whose role you are playing?) will correspond to an angel, then to a king.

A further interpretation links these two futures to the two known endings of the game:
 * The angel corresponds to the ending with the flying elevator
 * The elevator flies as an angel, in a sequence that evokes death.
 * Some people have also seen wings in the patterns inside the elevator.
 * The king would then correspond to the secret ending in the Hotel:
 * The shadow of the pieces of cloth that are not used to create the shape of the crown may give a hint... they seem to create a background for this scene: either a mountain if you consider the shadows as being the sky, or stalactites in a cave if you consider the shadows as being opaque material. The later links to the secret ending, the path to which starts by discovering the caves.
 * The crown could represent the reward of completing the Challenge, which is the next step to the discovery of the secret ending.
 * The last piece of music in the Challenge is In the Hall of the Mountain King.
 * The shape of the crown could remind the sun's corona (both words have the same origin), which is the only part of the sun visible in a solar eclipse (the solar eclipse is a major theme of the Psalm46 video unlocked after completing the Challenge, and the environment puzzle that opens the entrance to the Hotel evokes a solar eclipse).
 * The shape of the crown could remind the logo of the Hotel, and particularly the big structure at the center of the hotel's hall.