While Rome Burns

Spring Cleaning

2007-05-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

Here is the text of some writings I found on a scrap of paper while cleaning my studio yesterday:

Role of Politics in Art

Its power is subtle –opportunity to be expressive rather than dogmatic.

Once artwork is created, even a sketch or drawing, it can potentially last hundreds of years.

So much of history and culture gets re-written, re-thought (that) I feel it’s really important to freeze ideas into icons.

My Work

My work is definitely slanted, but I try to combine odd, absurd, contradictory or funny elements so it’s not totally predictable. Contradiction humbles us.

I often appropriate stuff I hear on WERU. Stunning facts, inspiring music.

Text is important. Art can be hard to access. I like the accessibility to meaning that text provides. From there I can get obscure and confused.

Love Bombing -Chris Hedges

2007-04-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Read Chris' article at Truthdig.com and prepare to get scared of the Christian right:
“Love bombing is a coordinated effort, usually under the direction of leadership, that involves long-term members flooding recruits and newer members with flattery, verbal seduction, affectionate but usually nonsexual touching, and lots of attention to their every remark,” the psychiatrist Margaret Thaler Singer wrote. “Love bombing—or the offer of instant companionship—is a deceptive ploy accounting for many successful recruitment drives.”

The convert is gradually drawn into a host of church activities by his or her new friends, leaving little time for outside socializing. But the warmth soon brings with it new rules. When you violate the rules, you sin, you flirt with rebellion, with becoming a “backslider,” someone who was converted but has fallen and is once again on the wrong side of God. And as the new converts are increasingly invested in the church community, as they cut ties with their old community, it is harder to dismiss the mounting demands of the “discipler” and church leaders. The only proper relationship is submission to those above you, the abandonment of critical thought and the mouthing of thought-terminating clichés that are morally charged. “Jesus is my personal Lord and Savior” or “the wages of sin are death” is used to end all discussion.

Move over Predator..

2007-04-23T03:56:00.000-07:00

I was glad to receive an email regarding commentary on the NPR story about the new "Reaper" weapon. What has happened to our world? This is different from World War II when our nation rallied to work together to defeat the Nazis (I know what you're thinking, but that's another rant!)...now we just want to create weapons we can use from the comfort of our easy chair and when we're done with an 8 hour day of button pushing and launching Hellfire missiles upon would be terrorists (let God sort 'em out?) head on home to wifey and dinner (pork roast tonight?).

Great Documentary

2007-04-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

I just saw the "Beauty Academy of Kabul" the other night and really, really reccomend it. I was moved by how the simple pleasure of making one's self look beautiful, has been kept alive as an underground enterprise for the many years that the Taliban has ruled Afghanistan. There are some very simple interactions between all of the participants in the film that really, to me, were incredibly moving. Click on the link in my "film" list to find it on Netflix.

His Veto

2007-04-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

President Bush,
I have no confidence in your objective, mission and reasons for having American troops in Iraq and for that matter Afghanistan either. My hope in the days following the 911 attacks, in which I lost a friend who was a NYC fireman, was that we would not react in a way that would cause even more death and destruction. Also my worst fear with regards to Iraq in particular, beyond your understandable, but foolhardy response of bombing and sending troops abroad, is that in fact you were motivated to seize that moment in history to take control of Iraq's oil. I now think that there is much naiveté involved in our foriegn policy, that the situation has grown greatly against us and in the favor of severe religious and political extremism. Moderation, dialogue and stability has a huge uphill road ahead of it and our present course is only making things worse.

More thoughts on "Collapse"

2007-03-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking about trying to develop an installation as a collaborative enterprise with other artists. I envision an abandoned house filled with abandoned art...piles and heaps of it. I'm not sure where this is going, but here are some notes I wrote a couple of weeks ago, where I was trying to reverse engineer the events which brought me to this point....I'd like to call this project "Collapse"

These tilted paintings have come about as a direct result of trying to deal with the problem of trying to make my two-sided “Prison Papers” framed drawings remain straight and level after they got turned over. This problem surfaced the day I was installing them, and I tried to see how bad it would be if we just allowed them to hang crooked by tilting all of them and stepping back to see how it looked. The effect was as if a bomb had gone off, or that whoever owned the exhibition space was insane. I liked the power of this experience, it was a simple device that countered the well-established gallery/ exhibit convention and it seemed to have potential to become a vehicle for communication of a political theme.

I had created tilted drawings in 1999 that could be viewed four ways, kind of like a playing card, so this device was not new to me. Since meeting political artist Luis Camnitzer through the Drawing Center’s viewing program in 2002, however I’ve been trying to realize more consciously my inclinations to create political content in my work and work toward directing it in a more politically responsive path. I began to then see this device as a way to create a sensation of disorder and disarray. A phrase, which I had used in recent drawings, justifying the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan soon came to mind: “We are fighting them there so that we do not have to fight them here.” It seemed to me that this phrase needed analysis, deconstruction and questioning and that through this device of tilting a painting I could begin to explore the immense implications that this phrase carried.

For starters, I thought, I would create an installation “here” of the kind of havoc and chaos that we have contributed to “there” as a way of beginning to deconstruct that phrase in terms of soliciting an empathetic view of “there”. The here/there thing seems also to bring up ideas of nations versus a nation –free world. If there were no nation or group to hate there would be no “there”, just all “here”. Three other elements that are part of the imagery within the paintings had come about previous to the original “Prison Papers” dilemma and now started evolving and coming into play with more meaning. The first element was this idea of “The Hand of God” reaching out from clouds to earth, giving earthlings whatever they wanted/needed to fight their wars or implement their agendas…a complicit and conveniently accommodating God. The other element evolved from the idea of the pageantry of war, that is; ribbons, medals, flags and uniforms as devices to make us feel really good about fighting wars. Their bright primary colors give us an emotional lift. (My sister sent me a link to a music video called something like a “Pittance of Time” on Veterans Day 2006, which helped to inspire this direction in my art) In my first paintings in this series these two elements merge; hands of God, hands of nations, flags, uniforms and costumes. I very soon began to think of clothing as really actual political statements, from Uncle Sam’s flag-like apparel, the flag like patterns and color of national costumes and the distinctive familiarity of historic dress, etc.

The third element is smoke or clouds...

Fighting Here

2007-03-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here is part of the text for my recent "Creative Capital" letter of intent:

The specific focus of my project is the concept that we as a nation are “fighting an enemy there, so that we do not have to fight them here”. For some this is perfect logic, but for me it reveals a ghoulish cold heartedness that I want people to feel, first hand, through my art. I want to create a participatory installation “here” of tilted paintings suggesting that a bomb has gone off or that the earth has trembled. My hope is that through visual impact and physical engagement with this work, participants can begin to explore a view that is more empathetic towards the “there”. This work will take its inspiration from the memory theater of Guillio Camillo and manifest itself as an installation of layered and interactive easel painting constructions with handles and knobs for participants to lift and turn over. Building upon recent work, this work will differ in that I will paint rather than draw, incorporate the wall under the artwork and try to locate the installation in a non-art venue. It is similar to recent work in that it takes an almost encyclopedic, archival and journalistic approach in developing my imagery. Part of my mission is to put forth the kind of information one might find in an expose, or the work of Mark Lombardi, with the intention that a work of art can function as an elaborate “post-it” within its owner’s lifetime as a visual reminder to stay informed.

Collapse

2007-02-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

I'm reading the book "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, he also wrote "Guns, Germs and Steel", and I am truly enjoying it. Why? People like me want to understand why the world is so crazy...and books like these speak to us and are appealing because they lay out a complex answer. I love complex answers! Complexity must open the door to creativity and creativity is so satisfying. There is out there in our society/culture the idea that our nation, like the Roman empire, either has or will get too big for its britches and will collapse. Diamond's book is definately designed to appeal to that slant and in a immensely round about way tries to, through historical case studies, suggest that we can avoid collapse...if we take a hard look at our actions. My body of work that this blog references is really doing the same thing. I certainly can't predict the future, but I can see and hear the many voices that wonder if we are headed toward collapse. As art should, I'm joining in the chorus and trying to play my part in the eternal process of self-fulfilling prophesizing that is, essentially, the way that society and culture are formed.

Hillary is in...

2007-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

I've heard Hillary speak in the past and she gives me hope. I believe that she is sincere and dedicated toward fighting for prosperity through fairness. I am ready to work with her in trying to figure out the right end to the war in Iraq. That concept, "the right end" is exactly where we need to place ourselves today. The first question we have to ask ourselves is what should our relationship be to dependence on foreign oil? Do we need to control those resources at any cost? Can we exist independent of those resources?

The next question we need to ask ourselves is what role should our military play in the world? Should it only defend our country in times of imminent attack? Should it go to the rescue of societies that have broken down into chaos and genocide? Our military has within it an incredible reservoir of motivated, brilliant, talented leaders. It is a crime in my mind to see these individuals die in a conflict whose reasons for existence has become more and more morally questionable. Yes there is evil in the world, but is it really an "us vs. them" scenario? We can't shy away from conflict but we need to take a hard look at their causes and create international peace coalitions that can reccomend military action only when it is unavoidable. We need to take an active role in helping to control weapons proliferation and distribution throughout the world. I believe that this weapons economy can feed and foster conflict on its own.

This brings me back full circle; jobs at home. How can we build economies that are fair and prosperous, that do not depend on or require pre-emptive military enterprises? That "basic bargain" that Hillary speaks of; jobs, healthcare and environmental responsibility is something that I believe is surely attainable. I'm encouraged that she has begun her exploratory committee for the presidency with this idea of beginning a conversation. Her detractors will voraciously try to ridicule and put us on the defensive. We need to keep focused on what we need to do from this point forward. George Bush's strongest point was that he took action, rather than taking no action at all. It was the wrong action, and the time is ripe for our better plans to be heard, loud, clear and succinctly.

A Set of Expectations

2007-01-17T02:34:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here listening to the morning news and just clipped that phrase from the talking heads. It of course is in reference to Iraq. Here is some more: "We all share a vision of a free market in Iraq...the commitment to a free market is something we're all passionate about." Read "Collapse" by Jared Diamond...see what happens when a society expands beyond its limits. We need to find solutions that do not involve military take over...at least until we've figured out how to create our own perfect society in our own country.

Where do we go from here?

2007-01-08T03:57:00.000-08:00

My letter to Senator Susan Collins:

Ms. Collins,
I just read your report after your return from Iraq and Afghanistan, which I eagerly anticipated. I was glad to hear that you do not support sending more troops. I've always felt from day one (September 12, 2001) that we would need to work with the government that was in place in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. My wife Vicky worked in the World Trade Center in 1993 when it was bombed and we moved to Maine in 1994. I lost a friend who was a NYC fireman in that same building in 2001. I remember the Taliban saying that they would bring Osama Bin Laden forth if we would agree to have him tried in their country. George Bush was not willing to compromise or bargain. I feel that much in terms of world sympathy and opportunity was foolishly thrown away very early on.

You have now seen first hand that opium production has increased in Afghanistan. I understood that the Taliban had at least kept that in control. I was never a fan of the Taliban or Saddam Hussein. Who could be in contemporary society? The question remains now what to do? We have undermined our own ability to work with governments by choosing a policy destroying them first. How can we be taken seriously when we say we want to work with a government after this?

In 2003 George Bush challenged those tempted to attack U.S. forces by saying "Bring them on". My question to you is what was your reaction back then and how do you feel about that challenge now?

New Years resolution

2006-12-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm one of those people who make a resolution every year! I tend to get inspired by inane Readers Digest stories about some movie star who came up from nothing and built an empire through sheer determination and will power. Or the section in the front of a daily planner that has spaces for "Your Goals". I take these things way too seriously and begin scheming some elaborate and complicated plan that will allow me to quit my day job! Well, this year is no different...the plan is: draw every day, blog, paint, sell! Wish me luck!

Nero's Guests

2006-12-26T04:46:00.000-08:00

Was listening to a very interesting talk by Indian journalist P. Sainath yesterday. He ended his talk with a reference to two historic events:
Queen Victoria's party and
Nero's party. In short he makes a call for all artists and intellectuals to refuse to take part in the destructive policies of governments and corporations which are presently destroying the last largest population of small farmers in the world in India. Farmer suicides are happening at a rate of one every 8 minutes, which essentially amounts to a form of genocide. He goes on to say that it would be cheaper and more efficient just to bomb the Indian countryside. At Nero's party attended by the smartest and most brilliant artists and thinkers of the day, they used the fat from criminals who were burned at the stake to illuminate the festivities. Let's not allow ourselves to be like Nero's guests.

Where is DaDa when we most need it?

2006-12-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

I recently chanced upon a comprehensive volume about Da Da while waiting for Vicky to get off work at the library. I guess I never really realized how that movement was a direct result of the insanity of World War I. Shows how little I know. This book is the companion to the exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art that I apparently missed! The book is exhaustive and in-depth as only a major museum production should be. By the time I finish it I'll be an authority on the subject. So far it's got me thinking, wondering and inspired...the DaDaists found a common ground that was the horror and insanity of war and created art that was so self critical and creative that it could easily produce film, sculpture and painting while at the same time negating its own existence with a flippant yet clear honesty. It was political art and high brow art all in one. In our role as arm chair warmongers we fear controvesy as if it could destroy our precious cocoon. Why aren't we creating a movement today within contemporary art that lashes out at the horror of our vast military industrial complexes, that supplies and feeds conflicts across the globe? Where are the DaDaists?

Devil's quote

2006-11-24T03:15:00.000-08:00

God is Good

2006-11-17T03:17:00.000-08:00

I've been using this motif of a "hand of God" reaching out of a border of clouds or smoke for a couple of days now. I'm finding it an intriguing motif in that as I juxtapose it with other images, it's meaning or message becomes open ended and highly suggestive. I think my recent interest in God or religion was initiated by what I've perceived as a foray of religious groups into politics. I've noticed this locally and it hasn't been very overt, but as an example, it has been as simple as, in one case, a kind of self made Christian "Church" here in Belfast planted a whole bunch of american flags around their building. What was the message there? My worst interpretation, personnally is that God loves America and that he supports our troops. I guess that's fine as long as he does not condone the use of military force, for if he does then that means that God could accept the concept of collateral damage, which in my book makes God an unlikeable entity.
Anyway, my interest in using this motif will be to stretch the possible interpretations in directions that are not so predictable while at the same time challenging what I feel are deadly myth based actions.

Show me your money!

2006-11-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

This morning I chanced upon creating this motif of a figure being offered cash, within a frame of smoke or clouds. The frame of smoke/clouds part I've been working on for a month or so, and the "corporate arm" with cash has been around for quite some time (2003? there is a drawing somewhere in my stash that is the official "first corporate arm"!), but this particular combo happened today. My original idea for this series, of which these drawings are being created as a way of building ideas, is to use music lyrics within clouds of smoke. But I haven't really gotten to that yet! I want to have the lyrics surrounded or infiltrated with other imagery such as the "corporate arm", etc., thus these portfolios of "idea builder" drawings.
In my day job as a carpenter I've often spent all day listening to classic rock stations, generally due to the consensus of my co-workers. After years of this I've come to sympathize with my captors and even go so far as listening to "lite" rock when working alone. There is a certain horror I've come to feel in succumbing to this. (I do listen to cool music at home!) It's almost as if the world is crumbling around us while muzak eternally plays on the radio. And that, folks is the genesis behind the "While Rome Burns" series!