THE MALAI CHRONICLES.

I am pulling out of South Florida in two days, after six months here helping a friend gain two state licenses in the beauty business. We were successful in this regard, so she is now on her way to a better financial lifestyle. We have not raised her celebrity status on this trip, but I will be back at the end of the year to achieve that mission and we will...

Although I did not achieve a personal mission of connecting with the Miami arts scene, I did write a book titled: BEHIND GOD'S MASK and sent it out to three publishers, who claim to be self-publishers, with an objective of getting new authors published. In fact though, their interest is not that, rather, their first mission is to make money on largely the illusion of bringing (starry eyed) writers to the world. It is a lottery in reality, where you buy a ticket and pray to win. These "publishers" have no interest in whether your manuscript has any social value or is simply rhetorical garbage.. They first want your money and they rely on the numbers... sell as many tickets as possible. They rely on building up the ego of the starry-eyed authors.

I asked them to take a look at my manuscript to see if there was any chance for success. They bluntly told me to first sign the financial contract, otherwise, "nothing will happen". I told them they were full of salesman bullshit. That was the end of that deal. I will publish it myself. I will be the publisher. The exercise of putting the book together was well worth the energy output. BEHIND GOD'S MASK is now ready for publishing and I know the printing industry very well, having graduated from art school with a Diploma, Specializing in Graphic Design. So, I am heading back to my Jasper Bog to publish the book and also get ready for my road tour of art galleries across Canada.

It has been a tough undertaking trying to generate gallery interest. But my product has substantially improved since my last stage show, September 2013. I will be on the road with a new book and a new performance concept under the title: THE MALAI CHRONICLES.

 



THE MALAI CHRONICLES

 

This is my latest art project. It has been five years in development, with 35 years of art creations to call upon, as backup and support material.

Briefly stated: The Malai Chronicles is a theatrical, performance, art show that chronicles the life of the artist, as he investigates the ideological forces that have controlled his life and drove him into a life of fantasy, in and out of romance and other poignant tragedies. He sees his world as reality in his determination to exorcise the demonic, reptilian propaganda behind “God’s” mask, with which he has been indoctrinated since birth. He has documented his decades of investigation in a broad cross section of art disciplines, his creations in: visual art, writing, poetry, songs, sculpture, theatre, blogs, small hand-made books and has just completed a major book on the journey… the title of which is: BEHIND GOD’S MASK.

“God” is not the only subject of his chronicles. State and corporate capitalism are not spared his, oft-times crass and brutal, investigation, as he sees those ideologies intricately linked with religion, which itself has similar brutal and vested interests, all of which have been cleverly constructed into machine-like systemic instruments of oppression. No subject is off the table.

Specifically, the oppression of women, a new wave of community militarization, environmental destruction and button pushing media- generated hysteria are his primary focus of concerns, all of which is illustrated in his art, the tools for his show. Is it art or simply two and three dimension stationary and moving media. Or is it theatre. I cannot package it. Here is an example…

Monad’s Lover is a small book I had written sometime ago. This is a theatrical segment. The stage is set as described below. The artist reads from his book confirming his paranoia, his long standing fear of authority. It is all metaphoric, but inspired from real life situations and actions.

The Gallery become the stage… somewhat in the manner or suggestion of an artist studio. At one end, black fabric cloth is dropped down from the ceiling or from clothes line like wires if the ceiling is very high. There are three layers of these curtains about

four feet apart with openings, enough to allow random passage ways through and around. Throughout the gallery there are sculptures, paintings and other objects (creations of the artist).

There are chairs for the patrons.

In the opening of the first layer of curtains, directly in front of the audience is the iconic burning bush podium. There is a guitar, African drum, some musical equipment, a microphone.

The artist is out-of-sight between the third and last layer of multi coloured curtains and the wall. The lights go from dim down to dark. The performance is about to start. All is quiet. Suddenly, a crash and bang of falling objects, noisy items falling to the floor. A dozen or so cue balls roll through the curtains out to the audience lit by black light.

The artist tries to muffle his (apparent) frustration under his breath… “fuck…” another object drops to the floor… “Jesus Fuck…” but, the audience can hear his oaths as his digital head mic is on. All goes quiet.

The artist then begins to read from his book: MONAD’S LOVER. This is about Monad in discussion with Omm about the sexual exploits with his lover Arri Kanina and about the spy, Skopek, in their midst.

The artist wanders through and around the layers of curtains. He is dressed in black, with a headlamp as he reads from his book… disappearing and reappearing, with painted images flashing on a screen or walls that coincide with the paranoia expressed in his words. He speaks from authority. As he reads the parts about Arri, images of their art (the painting they have done together), are projected unto the walls. He reads about his sexual exploits with her, his fantasy, in poetic form.

In another scene, Skopek appears in a party event expressing his obvious pretence and his ignorance of the arts. His obvious disgust for his own failure as an artist comes across as arrogance, criticism of the system that rejected him. So he spies disdainfully for the other side and he is not very kind or cultured in his mannerisms. He is a cheap drunk.

At the end of the reading, the artist finished off, standing at the burning bush podium, obviously a metaphor regarding the ten

commandments. On the podium is a large bible-like looking book, titled: The Book Of Monad. At the bottom of the bush is a small flower pot containing a green shrub, implying hope… secular hope for the world though, loaded with ambiguity.

The artist disappears behind the curtain, straps on his guitar and Jester hat and begins singing his circus-like song: The Not So Merry Go Round and walks out through the audience singing the song, with a modified slide on the index finger to give a tinny chaotic-ness as might be found in a circus. But, the lyrics are anything but playful or the shooting ducks in a row for a teddy bear. Yet, the irony of the message could easily be paralleled metaphorically to a circus atmosphere, as representing life…. with the artist jester foretelling the future.

The artist moves on to read from his new book on the subjects of the ’secular cell” and the “castrated” man, that misunderstood creature, now mired in media hysteria, snuffing out the evolutionary imperative of this “predator” man and his instinctual relationship to the natural woman endowed with feminine curves. As go the curves so go the predator. The Malai Chronicles argue for an intellectual global debate on this instinctual predator man, that has generated such gratuitous intrigue… of modernity.

All the material for this performance art work has been completed, with the only task remaining to place them together with smooth transitions, for a performance piece lasting; one hour or; one and one half hours or; two hours… depending on allowable time frames or the audience endurance.

 

Although the piece addresses some current, serious human and societal issues, there are some very touching, romantic components filled with humour in a song titled: European Women coupled with sparkling glass images from “The Boob House” (officially the Nile House, the artist’s original architectural pièce de résistance. And, another bit of humour with: No Bad Habits.

 

 

Lastly… to round out the night, a Q&A period.

 

 

The Set

 

Spatially, I envision an art gallery space, where at one end the curtains are hung from the ceiling or lines. There are easels throughout the gallery upon which various art works are displayed. Two sculptures are strategically located in relation to the “stage” (curtain area) to be easily integrated into the readings and performance.

All the props (artworks, electrical and musical equipment, costuming, etc) travel with me in/on my van). I would arrive around mid-day, setup the props, do the show in the evening and break down the set next morning and be out of there by noon or earlier. If time is not so tight, I could do two nights or more, depending on demand.

The tour will start in Halifax and move across the country… from July through to November. So scheduling needs to match that time frame.

The Malay Chronicles is meant to stimulate the mind and wrench the gut with humour.

Rod Malay

 

　

 

From: Dawson Wambolt, Halifax Psychologist

Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2012 6:23 PM

To: rod_malay@hotmail.com

Subject: Thoughts on ANA

Rod,

After I saw your sculpture 'ANA' last night it had been burning in my mind. I was talking to you still trying to unpack the thoughts and feelings that your piece elicited, and they were related to concepts such as 'femininity' and 'primal'. You had mentioned also during the course of our conversation about determinism and that ANA came from memory, but you were uncertain to what exactly the memory was related to. As I left your studio space with a pamphlet in hand about ANA, something began to dawn on me, and I thought to share it with you in this email.

I believe I had encountered an experience last night of what Jung would term as synchronicity. As I was leaving I began to think about the name you had given ANA, and my thoughts wandered to a former instructor of mine, Dr. Ana Mozol, who is a Jungian analyst. Her work focused on womens' depth psychology, particularly the concept of the demonic lover and the archetype of womanhood, which is a concept that has been lost and eroded away by culture. This archetype is something that is primal and unrecognizable, let alone comparable to any point of reference available today about femininity. I feel as though your work ANA embodies much of this hazy archetype, typified by an unmistakeable female form that is

decidedly fertile and birthing, yet is lacking in facial features. or even a head for that matter. The lines that hold the form where a head may be seem to simultaneously convey a loss of identity, and that ANA embodies the everywoman.



In my less finished thoughts about your piece I also get the sense that ANA personifies the Shadow as well as ego, based on both her colouration and materials used to construct her that is juxtaposed with her clearly displayed femininity. The concept of the Shadow represents an opposite of the ego image, which typically contains qualities that the ego does not identify with, yet still possesses. I feel as though the woman you were talking to before me who found ANA to be cold, and something she could not resonate with, was reacting to this representation of Shadow. Separate all you may, the Shadow is still a part of self, whether it makes a person uncomfortable or not (as you may figure, the Shadow is typically something that makes those who refuse to embrace it extremely uneasy).

Had you not named this piece ANA, I would have never probably drawn the connection to all of these concepts introduced to me by Dr. Ana Mozol. It would seem the memory that you drew ANA from was perhaps something more collectively unconscious than previously thought. None the less, this is what was brought up for me when I was viewing the piece.

I can't wait for Thursday's event at noon. I think it will be quite the time.

Dawson

 



 

 

 

MacD

I LOVE ANA!!! and I could spend a good deal of time chatting with Dawson about his perceptions. His Jungian references intrigue. I'm taken with her sheer size and strength (steel), fluid lines, firmly planted, and her abundantly reproductive womb-belly, spilling forth the building blocks of society by generation. I love her.

A SAD MAN

This sculpture evolved out of media hysteria in Canada on a high profile radio personality charged with female abuse. The idea slipped visually out of my consciousness, I executed it and put it out there without substantive explanation, as I will leave that for now. Viewer feed back is what I hope to get before I reveal what I see about it.

I hope it is seen as a “work of art” and not as a reaction against the wave of social media that fundamentally castrates “the man” in society for his predatory instincts.

Are we not a society of predators, metaphorically, physically feeding on others and animals for survival. A man preys upon a woman for the purpose of procreation and not instinctually for pleasure. He has no control over his drive for pleasure, the DNA trick of nature to con him into the act of species continuity. Her luscious curves draw him to her.

This explains the bourqa in Sharia law… to moderate those predatory instincts… an interesting intellectual/philosophical invention for the times. Head scarves, hats with veils, skirts down to the ankles are not far back even in our own Western culture.

We have to stop being hysterical about this and stop categorizing women as victims, that consequently lead to castrating the male. We need to let the predator live least we end up with an abnormal society and maybe even the death of civilization.

I am certainly not into implementing Sharia law, but how do we allow the predator to live. How do we socialize that behaviour without destroying the instinct and the vitality of the male and indeed the sexual beauty of the vital woman.

 





Rod Malay

A graduate of NSCAD University 1969

I would perhaps describe myself as somewhat of a bohemian artist, though I find it difficult to package myself, having experimented in all artistic disciplines, including architecture, graphic and industrial design. I once identified myself as an activist, but that is incorrect ,

stimulating discussion, not confrontation, while generating humour, is my objective.

Over the last five years I have travelled the roadways of North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf coast, writing stories and creating art. I have been covered in virtually all the major newspapers, TV news and art magazines across Canada, including McLeans Magazine, from the

early 80’s to the present.

Art is not my mission. The state of the world is. But art is my most cherished vehicle to express views, on every social issue dealing with the ideologies of religion, state and corporate capitalism that destroy civilization and this magnificent habitat of the universe while constantly in conflict with the natural secular/cellular constructs of human nature.

Rehearsals for The Malai Chronicles, will start in early June. I am seeking venues for one, up to multiple performances in each location, whatever is available, for July through to November 2015.
You can find me on Facebook, Rod Malay, Halifax Nova Scotia and on my blog: www.shakethedevilofftour.blogspot.com

 

 

 



The two oil-on-canvas paintings are from two different series of works, about 20 years apart and obviously from two different mind sets and two radically different styles….

The latest painting, 2012, titled EJOP (European Journal of Psychology) and the earlier painting, 1993 titled: The Laughing Stock both demonstrate a radically changed intellectual development, synonymous with greater mental and artistic liberation from the early ideological indoctrination. These differences will be obvious as the performance art piece moves along.  



Rod Malay  

rod_malay@hotmail.com                                    www.shakethedevilofftour.blogspot.com