So, at the request of my friend
Kibby, I will now bore everyone with a long-winded explanation of my slacker artwork. (To see the questions, check the comments on the post entitled "Yet more.") Here you go, Kibb. You asked for it.
A) I don't really have a technique. I use spray paint and, as evidenced in (7), I now use poster paint. To splatter, I use the rounded end of a broken drumstick (because that's how Kerry King of Slayer splatters his guitar!) and throw it or press it against the paper. Sometimes I like to make the paint drip if it looks cool, sometimes I don't.
B) I'm trying to say that it doesn't take a lot of talent to make something that is aesthetically pleasing (to me, at least). As
Stev pointed out, I'm really into doing easy, slackerific things that look cool (like my
vinyl bowl). I don't think art has to be pretentious or hard - it's an expression for the artist, and if people like it, then that's a very convenient byproduct. I think I stole that from Wilde, so here's the real quote. "A work of art is useless as a flower is useless. A flower blossoms for its own joy. We gain a moment of joy by looking at it. ... Of course man may sell the flower and so make it useful to him, but this has nothing to do with the flower. It is not part of its essence. It is accidental. It is a misuse." I guess the short answer is that I'm trying to get something out of it for myself, though I don't
quite know what that is yet, and if other people can appreciate it and think it looks nice, then that's awesome.
C) Is it successful? I think so. It allows me to feel creative and gives me an outlet, so it's successful in that regard. I think the only one that really made me feel a lot better about what was going through my mind at the time was the
first one I did, where I tackled the big issues of the universe (life, the world, believing, home). Coincidentally, that's the only one with writing on it so far, and I think that gives it a certain vivacity that I want to incorporate into future pieces. After that first one, most of the smaller doods have just been to please my eye, though I'm color deficient (not quite color blind, but close), so please forgive any atrocities you may notice in regards to color scheme.
Ok, I think that's quite enough. Hope that satisfied, Kibby.
Drew is gagging on that already, so I'll shut up and post the new pieces I did. (9) is already gone, though I have another yellow one on the board right now.
7)
8)
9)
In order to set off the ramblings of a deranged and slightly insomniatic mind, here is a picture of Steve in her new favorite spot.
I mean, I don't even think it should be considered a "conspiracy" anymore when we talk about how we don't have universal health care or that we're still dependent on foreign oil or that media outlets are concentrated. The people who are in charge of those things are making lots of money - HMOs, energy companies and utilities, media conglomerates - and they're the ones contributing millions and millions of dollars to the candidates who support maintaining the status quo. They're the ones in the position to affect change, and of course they won't do it because they're raking in the billions with their short-term greed and long-term negligence.
In the last fiscal year, with gas prices skyrocketing and consumers feeling the burden of our oil addiction and the squeeze of inflation, ExxonMobil and many other oil companies reported record
profits. I'm not an economics guy, but shouldn't their profits go
down if, like the good little capitalists that Americans think they are, they're trying to help us by shouldering the burden a little instead of continuing to stick to outdated business models designed to keep wealth (and thereby power) concentrated at the top of the corporate and governmental structures?
And while we're ranting, why can't we just give up the idea of the American dream and instead of chasing after status we'll never have by buying shit we don't need and ruining everything on the planet be satisfied by what we've got in front of us? Why can't we learn from the Europeans and Asians and nearly every other fucking place on the planet and realize that the chances of becoming fabulously wealthy just aren't that great for so many of us? Wouldn't it be nicer to enjoy the present than squander all we have so that, at some later date, we may or may not be able to say "I did it!"?
Eh, it's probably just me. I've had a touch of indigestion lately.
This is so much easier than making regular posts about how I have nothing to do or report. I applied to work at the phonathon here at La Salle (with
Drew as my boss). Woot. Jammed with
Jelone today on a bunch of covers. Kid's pretty good at drums. Made some artwork, though I already gave (5) away.
5)
6)
3)
4)
Here are the first two of the small paintings that I did.
1)
2)
If you're interested in either of these, let me know!
So I finished my second mural-painting-fiasco whatever the other day, and decided that I needed to condense the project. I tried out doing the same kind of thing last night on a regular sheet of paper, and it came out pretty well, so I think I'm gonna make a bunch of those. I will post pics when I finish them, and then I thought it would be really fun to send them out to people who want them. So, if you want one (I'm looking at you, Rick, though I don't know if you really had your heart set on the big ones - they're six feet across), either indicate your interest now or when I put the pics up, and then we can exchange information so I can call you late at night and breathe into the phone. Er, I mean, send you one. Ahhh, that's about all. I have to go to my oil painting class very shortly.
Evan Dando is a mighty fine songwriter. And that's all I've got to say about that.
There's some strange wintry-mixture-freezing-rain-hail-snow-thunderstorm...something going on outside. I have to walk over to the union to finish working on my section for the paper soon.
It's 11:11! What are you supposed to do? Slap the nearest dog on the ass or something? Bah.
There are few things more satisfying in life than a really good pen. They're much harder to come by than you think. Especially if you refuse to buy them like I do.
My brain is feeling a bit toasty already. Too much MVP? Nah. Too much stuff that's getting in the way of the lucidity I feel in front of that TV screen.
I'm entering some political newswriting contest. First prize is five g's. I'm not gonna win, but I just like mailing stuff.
I really hate the Philadelphia Gas Works. Worst utility ever. If they were a space on Monopoly, they would charge you twice as much as what you have and then if you wanted to change your address they would make you haul your ass down to their headquarters, since they apparently can't do that over the phone. Assholes.
I've had enough. I'm out like Uggs. Yes, girls at my school who keep wearing them with jean skirts in forty-degree weather, they're done. Please stop wearing them.
Sundays are so depressing that I even had to use a Morrissey quote as my subject line. Gross. Because there ain't nothing more depressing than Morrissey or me using his lyrics.
I feel dirty.
Anywho, Sundays are often a time for reflection and subsequent blog updates about said reflections. I can't say that I really have done any reflecting yet, unless you count watching Mythbusters and drinking coffee as reflecting. However, I did decide to finally update this, complete with pictures of the project(s) I've been working on.
I just started this one last night, and it's still hanging up, so I don't think it's done yet.
This is a "finished" one. I'm not really planning on doing anything with these, they just feel good to make. Here's some parts of it that I think look kinda cool.
I got a haircut.
The Girl from New York approves. And that's swell, even if she returned to New York today. And that's not swell. I like her sometimes. She's pretty swell.
Tsikitas met a cool girl who goes to school in New York, too, so we may be taking some road trips soon for some sexy double dates. Woo domesticity!
School started yesterday. So much slacking this semester. Lots of reading, but I don't mind that. I'm taking a seminar on Angela Carter and Salman Rushdie in which we have to read eight books, but I've already read two, so that should be pretty manageable. I got back some essays that my professor really liked, so we're going to send them out to publishers soon. Perhaps someday I'll post fragments up here, though I really despise long posts, and they're both long essays. So ho hum.
I'm working on a new project, and picked up some more supplies at Home Depot today, so I'll post pics soon. Home Depot is fucking insane. I would kill everyone if I worked there. I came close even after being there for only ten minutes. I went in with a simple list - spray paint, fluorescent light bulb for the kitchen, duct tape - and came out batting .333 because I was so aggravated with the process of tracking someone down about the spray paint that I stormed out. Okay, maybe "stormed out" is the wrong term; I casually left after forgetting that I had to get the other things.
I bought America: The Calendar. Not nearly as good as The Onion calendar I had last year. Come on, '06! '05 wasn't even that good! You can do it!
New online quiz on
LiveJournal. That place is still kicking. In its death throes, sure, but still kicking. And it's just so nice to post quizzes there for some reason.
So I haven't been keeping tabs on everyone's blogs lately, on account of spending lots of time with The Girl From New York and not giving my other honey, the computer, as much attention as she has received and will continue to receive in the coming months. Hence, I just went through all of the blogs I have listed over -----> there and read all the stuff I missed. Man, some people talk a lot. Others (ahem Doctor ahem) don't. I love reading them, though. It's so nice to see what other people are doing. Though I can't help but shake this feeling that maybe I should just
talk to people once in a while...
Nah.
Here are some more pics from the Vineyard. Woot!
The Girl in: National Geographic Picture Part
Deux
I'm taking the same picture as The Girl!
A rocky beach.
The Girl and the clay cliffs at Gay Head. They're tall and made of clay. You're not supposed to touch it, but we did...
Our clay man. He was trapped in the clay cliffs at Gay Head. He was also fashioned with a pretty sweet pomp.
The Girl and a nice horizon. Life was good.
Me looking frigid.
The Gay Head lighthouse. Arguably the best picture from the trip except that it's clearly not straight.
Ok, so, uh, it's been a while. The Girl From New York is reading this over my shoulder, and we've been hanging out a lot. She's kinda been, you know, living in my room. She smells a bit like roses, but more like rancid Ethiopian food that's been out in the sun for several days. We went to Martha's Vineyard for a few days, very exciting times were had by all. We saw this seagull
which is probably one of the fattest in history. And also we saw these turkeys
which are also quite fat. Wild turkeys are notoriously vicious animals, so I asked The Girl [to] go out and try to fight with them. Luckily for her and unluckily for the rest of us, she declined to do so. It was gray and rainy for most of the three days we were there, but we still got some nice pics. Here's one of a farm on the interior of the island that I thought would look cool because of the mist but instead just looks like it's performing in a smoky jazz club in the Village in 1952:
More pics to come as I upload them from the other camera. Back to The Moon on Sunday with Patso and The Girl. Hoo ah!
