Go Ahead You Gothic Swines...Cut The Heads Off...

Go Ahead You Gothic Swine’s… Cut the Heads Off for our amusement.
We don’t care anymore. Your black magic trick has lost it appeal. Too much exposure you stupid Neanderthals. The Big Black Poodle is coming after you… going to put you in the loony pen, where you will eaten by your own Whangdoodle




　Big Black Poodle

  
The Big Black Poodle
 
Blasphemy blasphemy lunatic prophecies

The lies and laws of savage men and theocratic thugs

pigeons, sheep and snakes

I cannot stop you but, be warned I will fight you

With my words and my tools of liberation

You are the killers of the creators of life

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

Stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

You hooligans know your apocalypse in now

Your women are casting their veils

With a brand new vow

Back into your belching bloody faces

Blasphemy blasphemy lunatic prophecies

The lies and laws of savage men and theocratic thugs

pigeons, sheep and the snakes

I cannot stop you but, be warned I will fight you

With my words and my tools of liberation

You are the killers of the creators of life

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

Stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

You are the killers of the creators of life

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

And stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

So go find yourselves a deep deep hole

with a concrete slab

We are all fed up and bored with your jibbery jab

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

And stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

And this big black poodle has great big balls

And he gonna fill up that hole to yo eye balls

And he is gonna sleep on yo concrete slab

Until he wakes with the urge to piss again

Until you are eaten by your own whangdoodle

Then the world will celebrate your demise

At the burning of your cleric’s cancerous devise

And the women of life will walk free again

And will proudly show the grace in their grin

Blasphemy blasphemy lunatic prophecies

The lies and laws of savage men and theocratic thugs

pigeons, sheep and the snakes

I cannot stop you but, be warned I will fight you

With my words and my tools of liberation

You are the killers of the creators of life

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

Stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

And stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

And stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

You will be devoured by your own whangdoodle

And stuck to the ass wall like a slimy wet noodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle

In a place for the piss of the big black poodle
 XROD28042011PD
  
Ya Gotta have fun, which I lost over the years. Cartooning seems to be bringing it back. Public figures, where there is loads of hypocrisy, are great, unassailable fodder in my attempts at this new art form, which I had fundamentally rejected. Well, I had always been intrigued with the word satire… never actually understood its profound meaning until now, with Charlie Hebdo.

I apologise to all serious, talented and creative cartoonist for my crude graphic execution. Hopefully I will get better with time. There certainly is an art to this poignant but serious discipline.

I wrote the Big Black Poodle song, which I sing in a rap style with an African drum and a loop pedal as my musical instruments, which seems to enhance the primal meaning in the song. It was a joy to employ the cartoon as the visual image because, the song always gives me a great chuckle in my mental images. The cartoon is the perfect art form for me in this example.

I say “unassailable” because there are very few legal recourses against the cartoonist in Western democracies save, of course, such atrocities as were exacted upon Charlie Hebdo. There needs to be no justification for those savages to slaughter anyone, except living in the Western world and not being a Muslim. So, I will take my chances and stand up, rather than “living on my knees”. And that is not al1.

I do not know if my cartooning career will go anywhere. Sticking with one art form normally looses its magic spell on me after a bit. I get bored easily…ADD??? Chronically world events seems a contradiction to my true passion for art, although I keep abreast of what is reported in the media, even though I know there is so much deception embedded in every word.

If you listen/read all, there is a thread of truth that seeps through the cracks in the lies and hyperboles. I find it very difficult to grasp that thread in the fast paced, contradictory, over-volumed, paparazzi media bits and bites. No mystery why ’apathy’ is polling at such high levels these days. It works for the vested interest of the knuckle pounding, hand wrenching, power broker designers of social , with laws and mandates to smother the masses of somnambulant humanity shuffling along on the streets of the nations.

Keeping one’s humour in these diametrically opposed apocalyptic scenarios floating around media circles these days is not easy. So, for personal relief, I started this new cartoon career…. Gives me a chuckle and there is lots of material out there to work with, Politicians, Corporate Czars, Autocrats, Popes, Despots and other misguided self-made plutocrats and oligarchs lined up for their chance at power’s helm….

and all pointing missiles at each other at the expense of the toiler and the "chattel", born of the mud and the blood.

The Un-Islamic State is simply the alter-ego of the un-secular cell in the human DNA and those in power have no interest in killing it. It’s their Hollywood movie night… their vicarious ego experience in front of the TV with a bottle beer and a bag of popcorn, watching head getting loped off…. for a game of football.


Selamat tinggal                         Rod                  rod_malay@hotmail.com
   

Fukcing Muhammad

It’s a “MAD, MAD” world. Since Wednesday I have been thinking about how to respond to this Charlie Hebdo violence in Paris, while imagining a cartoon which I would call: Fukcing Muhammad, where Muhammad is fastened, head and hands, into one of those public pillory stocks and then fucked by the Imams, clerics, the hooded Jihadists, etc, lined up waiting for their turn... “Next!”. Because that is really what is happening. Muhammad is getting such a bad rap by those cowardly murdering, greedy, power seeking, women raping, savage barbarians, using the name of Islam to disguise their bloody actions, as if those atrocities would go unnoticed.

I understood that Muhammad was not that brutal, did not teach such in the Koran but... is it there? Those Jihadist, terrorists I believe are convinced that the infidels, the unbelievers and blasphemers must die by the sword. The Islamists around the world must fundamentally think, be convinced, even in their peaceful declarations, that it is there in the Koran, least why is the ISIS, Boko Haram, Taliban, al-Qaeda, etc., etc... and their soldiers metastasizing around the world?

Is Charlie Hebdo‘s antidote effective in killing that cancer? I am on their side but have decided Fukcing Muhammad would be counter productive, at least to my own mission, where I am looking at cause and effect in the human theatre. What are the forces that maintain this inverted/backward action for this bloody phenomena when humanity is supposedly advancing toward civilization.?

“Je suis Charlie” is an inspiring collective action but, is it missing a sword? Is the pen “mightier than the sword? The pen/pencil certainly can inflame raging, passions in the hearts and minds of the believers. The ideal of democracy must prevail but, it relies on that foggy ideology called, “civility“. Maybe that illusion is still before it’s time. Maybe more blood has yet to be spilled, more pain, more suffering, more heads loped, more bullets fired.

The pendulum swings.

The wheel turns...

In it’s yoke

“Around and around we go

In the not so merry go round”

Is Fukcing Muhammad not simply a metaphor for the hypocrisy of all the world nations

Who deserves to die... ?

Who deserves to pull the trigger… ?

Are Charlie Hebdo cartoon’s offensive jokes, inflammatory reactions, hate speech, gratuitous violence?

No! The cartoons are satirical social commentary… not gratuitous blasphemy nor mindless illustrations and as such are valid weapon perhaps on many levels in this modern theatre of war.

A quote by Stephane Charbonnier, editor/founder of Charlie Hebdo, "I'd rather die standing than live on my knees," is hitting the digital air waves and is likely to be a world rallying call for freedom of speech. One of Stephane’s hero was Voltaire.

So I did a little research and discovered this man’s provocative creative lifestyle back in the 1700’s and the many times he was arrested and exiled for his blasphemous writings, poetry, theatrical plays against church/state laws and dogmatic ideologies.

Fascinating! How many times has the circle looped and the pendulum swung in the last 300 years to spawns Charlie after Charlie and the like. .. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Noam Chomsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Aung San Suu Kyi, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and many more intelligent brave soldier philosophers who have chosen the mantra, “… rather die standing…” and have done or do while facing the barrel of the gun.

I am searching for a proactive position on this issue, which is basically the bully in the school yard but, this bully has guns and is killing people. I do not want to sit back simply and passively intellectualizing and milling about in the safe street of “those crazy artists!”

Je suis Rod!

I read an article* today that reinforced the public opinion that Islam is fundamentally fundamental… warfare is it’s history and is documented in the Koran (Quran) but, declared by the clerics and followers as a “religion of peace”, which I do not believe. I now believe that “peace” is simply a smokescreen.

It was a joy though and an enlightenment to read the story of Voltaire and the time in which he lived where there was so much censorship and wars and civil wars and state religions. The world survived it then. And, as I understand it, Voltaire proposed the idea of separating state and religion in France (and idea probably picked up from John Locke, who philosophised masterly on the concept). And so we now have achieved that ideal. Yet Islam wants to go back to Theocracies and that is plain stupidity. Things might get a bit rough for a while. And it is unfortunate that at this same time, there are so many political dictatorial despots, with their own different selfish agendas, fighting both the Islamists and the democratics (forces of freedom) and the Islamists fighting the materialism of democracy … so, the unholy trinity!  Voltaire said he actually “distrusted democracy…as propagating the idiocy of the masses” There is still some truth in that, even as we have made many technological and intellectual advances over the past 300 years or so.

The media can trigger instant, mass protest with a word or phrase where the process of intellectual meditation is simply by-passed with idiotic, mindless reactionary passions and we follow like lemmings over the precipice. And, the media is an instrument, as we know, of the forces invested in digressive social constructs…governments, state and church dogma, corporations and corrupted DNA, which offer little hope for the survival of humanity.

Islam is a corrupted religious institution but, not unlike the hypocrisy of others, which I have addressed in previous blogs though, in their case, the sword is the instrument of change and dominance. And the centuries of that divisive, oppressive teaching is deeply embedded into the psyche of their submissive followers, which renders them helpless, perhaps, through the possibility of real DNA corruption.

I know this personally from my struggle over the last five or six decades to exorcise oppressive church and social indoctrination which was down deep in my genetic library.

I am convinced there are thousands and thousands of very decent, compassionate, embraceable and non-violent Muslims under the umbrella of Islam but, they are bare handed and helpless against the fanatical, godless threat of the hypocritical Jihadist’s sword.

　
This illustration I open to any who care to use it, publish it... my contribution to freedom of speech.
 *Is holy war against Christians and Jews—“infidels”—a perversion of Islam? Here’s the evidence, from Islamic texts and history. by Mark Hartwig, Ph.D.
You can Google this paper… it is convincing.


Selamat Tinggal                                Rod                           rod_malay@hotmail.com

　

　

More Civilized

　

　

　

Xrod

I was in the middle of putting a blog together on A SAD Man and replied to your email there in that “context”. I titled it: A SAD MAN has arrived. Thanks for your great questions... I do expect you to be in my Toronto Audience when I get to Toronto. I will need you to inspire people to ask questions. Plus, I will have a lovely surprise for you!!!

　


MacD

　

Well that was fascinating! (I just read your latest blog)

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

　

Jesus is not a fantasy. His actual existence is proven, much in the way we know Julius Caesar existed. Jews accept that Jesus did exist, but they do not believe him to be the Messiah promised by God.

The 'fantasy' is the story men have given to his existence.

　


MacD

oops. Was I sounding authoritative again?


　

Xrod

Yes but, no problem... did not intimidate. I am growing stronger.

There is probably a difference in the “facts “ of Jesus and those of Caesar. As I understand it... the “facts” around Jesus are verbal and those around Caesar are recorded ledgers. Can you point out to me where there are “facts” regarding the existence of Jesus. I would like to read them.


MacD
I am trying to figure out why my writing reads as authoritative….I presume that it does, and it suddenly occurred to me.

For many years I wrote marketing and business plans for a living. One of my early lessons was to remove passive verbs and use action verbs instead. Other lessons were: remove 'I think it is' or 'I believe it is' with simply 'it is'. In later years I would edit the marketing plans of others. At one point Vickers & Benson would send me the draft marketing plans of most of their senior client directors (what???) to be edited. I worked from home here in Niagara doing that for quite a while. It is useful in business to present with confidence, strength and action, as opposed to softness and passivity.

It has remained with me, and now instead of editing out the passive words, I edit them in.

A final thought: can you think of a more useless business than advertising? I am saddened that is where I spent so much time.

　


Xrod
　

Like assumptions... “authoritative” is a dangerous road to travel.

On advertising.. it got Jesus to where he is today. Ya gotta agree... it has been perhaps the most successful advertising (propaganda) campaign in Western history.

I try not to regret where I have been. There is always something positive in it.

　


MacD

Just quickly googled 'evidence that Jesus existed' and was offered a number of sources to explore. It would seem the non-Christian historians of the time recorded a lot of information about him, his following, and his execution. Easy to get to if you are interested.


Xrod
　

Thanks... I know. I do that but, I was more interested in where you got the “Facts” that have so convicted you to believe. With what I have found, I do not believe there are “Facts”.

　

　


MacD

　

I recall a conversation about God and Jesus I had many years ago in a bar. I was disputing various 'facts' offered by this person, and at last, the person asked me when and if I had ever read the Bible.

Good question. I had never really read it. Only knew the stories from Sunday School and church. So I spent a year in the early 70s reading it, and many books for and against Christianity. It was an eye opener.

　


Xrod

Aha...

　


MacD

You are asking me for a specific source? I will offer you several, but I ask you what is the difference between non-Christian historian documentation, and a ledger kept by Romans?

　

PS I am unable to attach files using my new email address, and I'm waiting for the guy to try to fix that. I will write out the web addresses and type them out in an email.

　

　


MacD

google 'Flavius Josephus", a Jewish/Roman historian of the 1st century. I could spend a lot of time doing this my friend!

　


Xrod

My dear friend, please do not let me torture you for my benefit. Cease and desist now. I believe as I believe as I have done some lengthy research on this subject when I was more innocent and stupid and perhaps not always correctly interpreting the words I read, from the lost and found “Gnostic Gospels” and to the many YouTube debates I watched between Anti theists and Christians over the last year and so. “Jesus” may have been picked out of a crowd of wandering medicine men of the day. But all information I came across is so contradictory that it is fallible... highly interpretative and cannot be proven as “fact”. And upon that is based the fable of the Christ Jesus.

　


MacD

In my readings long ago, and other readings since, I am content that modern scholars have generally accepted Jesus as an historical figure who existed. The real argument is not if he existed, but if he is the religious figure claimed by Christians and then the church. As soon as the church enters the picture, I bow out. I am sure one could argue and debate ad nauseum.

In my personal and private thoughts, I believe he did exist. I also believe Buddha and Krishna and others existed. They were no different than you or me. I believe in individual and collective consciousness. It may have been that these historical figures were highly 'conscious' people, more aware of other dimensions of life. I don't know. But I believe strongly that there is more, I know there is more, but for this there is no proof. And I will never push my belief on anyone.

I will admit that I am somewhat offended when people state the unknown as fact (as in fantasy Jesus) because what do any of us really k-n-o-w? I try not to be judgemental of religious, church going individuals, or outright atheists. To each his own, and I can only follow my own head and heart.

To be honest, your 'voice' is very authoritative and damning when you get onto religion. But mine is as well when I get going on my thoughts about the Catholic church, what I was raised with.

　


Xrod

GREAT!!! Thanks... I will try to not stand on a podium. I do try to speak from my conviction and not authority. I try not to lay my beliefs unto other people but, do not hesitate to say what I feel. I also grew up in the “Christian” church and have been fighting that indoctrination in my psyche for more than fifty years and doing so passionately through my art. I attack myself through aggressive analysis and I put it out on my blog for anyone who chooses to see or follow... about 16,000 to date. I take my cues from modern evidence in human behaviour and transfer it to the past... greed, wars, cheating, fabrications, killing, poverty, hunger... love, generosity, compassion, hope, benevolence, humanitarianism ... it is all there, as it seems has always been... the pattern in a constant circle of repetition. If I lie today, I lied yesterday. What is that expression... “If one does the same thing over and over and expects different results then that is a sign of insanity”.

So, with that premise we are a MAD, MAD world. The evidence is clear. And I am pissed off at it because, I see no way out of this mess, except to walk away from it and return to the forest. But, I cannot leave the mess, so I am damned to be a contrarian... right or wrong... to intellectually fumble my way along with the hope that I will at least become a little wise and leave some progressive fragments in the genetic bank of humanity.

　

　

The conversation between Xrod and MacD has ended.

Along the road somewhere a time ago I sketched some little scenes with oil sticks. It seems appropriate at this juncture to send some along to you, with a few relevant insightful quotes from a Canadian journalist on a prominent celebrity, accused of sexual abuse and the inspiration for A SAD MAN sculpture.

 

　

I had a bit of an identity crises throughout the night following my email debates with MacD.

What is it that I am troubled with and “damning” of now that I have my new found conviction on the evolution of life and social structures. I have come a long way. Now that I ‘know’, I cannot keep whining about these things. And beside, I am running out of original images … ha! More precisely, they are all my past images… before I was ‘enlightened‘. A paradigm shift is now necessary. A SAD MAN, coincidently might be the dividing line. But, some old fears hang around. I fear showing him, afraid of social condemnation. And I believe galleries will not want to show it. Whatever, I will pursue it and will at least present him here in my blog, where I can hide away, so to speak. But, always open to invitations.

The first quote, which I have repeated before, from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams: “We ought not die before we have explained ourselves to everyone”

The second quote is from Rick Salutin…in Toronto, is a Canadian novelist, playwright, journalist, and critic


“It’s a question of how much of the mix is unsavoury and how unsavoury it is. It can help to acknowledge the rancid parts, to “own” them, as shrinks say, so you can see they’re a part of you, but not all — there’s admirable stuff too: conscience, empathy, etc. But if those ugly elements stay hidden, sometimes even to yourself, they may grow in the dark like mushrooms. Then if they gradually emerge into the light, it can devastate everyone.

It helps if you have friends to reveal yourself to… And the more you conceal, the less you trust anyone professing friendship because they bought into your imposture. Once the hidden comes to light, everything that came before can get reconfigured”.
I love that simple, universal truth, which humanity has a difficult time accepting. But, there are big big deceptions in the world of politics and their incumbent social structures, which are not so simple or painless to unravel or confess . For me however, it had been a simple confession with little risk, so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selamat tinggal                              Rod                      rod_malay@hotmail.com

A SAD MAN has arrived

Xrod
Well, A SAD MAN is complete and it is frightening... graphically speaking... was not trying for shock value but, that may be there (will have to wait on this aspect when it gets to the street of the world). I tried to stick closely to that original first impression that emerged in my mind. Shock value was not a conscious intention. What is surprising to me is that there are elements I was not expecting that carry the nuances on many levels. It is more than a man being castrated. Transexualism, FGC and I feel more subtle nuances are waiting to be discovered. The technique of applying Plaster of Paris soaked burlap on in a fashion of a medical cast but, with a rough unfinished surface, seemly suggesting other forces at play... the “unfinished” man, perhaps or who cares about this “predator” bastard. I really do not go into such analysis normally... these things are just popping into my head. In any case, A SAD MAN is not a Michael Angelo's “DAVID”.




MacD
In my mind, I see the Sad Man, but what is the context? I'd need to see a woman, facing away perhaps at a distance, so I could understand his castration. Otherwise I'm not sure I would get it, if I do get it at all.


Xrod
He is the commentator, the messenger.


　

Xrod
Does that make any sense to you? The old question...” what is art”? A picture on a wall that photographic-like imitates nature or people or animals is not art to me although, it might be fine craftsmanship. But, it is nothing except wall decoration, which the viewer apathetically notices in passing, from the corner of the eye. Art should say nothing about the skill or creativity of the maker, who needs not necessarily be a craftsman.

 A SAD MAN should be commentary and arrived at from, out of the social forces around it. That justifies it’s existence and that is it’s context. And as the social forces around it are ambiguous and complex it by nature reflects that on certain levels but focuses the viewer on the social issues of humanity. Art is about the human journey, lest it be simply rhetorical, mundane narcissistic carnal gratification.

For me, if it can be called “art”, it is constructed from mysterious forces within my mind, yet mindless, not arrived at by intellectual manipulation, which leads to propaganda (most likely). Those “mysterious forces” may not be linked to that genetic library of the human journey, which, as you know, I believe answers a vast number of questions about traditional and modern social constructs.

So the artist, ideally, is simply an anonymous conduit.


MacD
Yes, it does make sense to me as you have explained it. And your process of having a flash of the finished image/thought, and your attempt to keep that vision pure is quite beautiful in itself. Where I have difficulty is in understanding how the viewer can enter into that process. You had a 'flash' which was the result of following a series of conflicting information/thoughts on a subject to a conclusion. A very interesting conclusion I think. But I'm not sure the viewer can go on any journey without context. And what if the general public's feelings about The Sad Man are way off base? Does The Sad Man still have validity as your pure statement? Yes it does, but to you. I know that art evokes a personal interpretation…I get that, and everyone will view it differently. But a degree of visual context is necessary. Obscuring clarity is not the point, I'm sure.


XroD

The physical art is the visual and it is placed in the public setting, to be seen, touched, assessed. That is it physical context. From there it becomes and intellectual context with the sculpture/commentator, speaking to the observer. And there are visual clues, even in the SAD MAN’S ambiguity. It is somewhat like a puzzle with many pieces… that connect. Except in this case, when all the pieces are layout out, the finished picture may be filled with many messages and that is okay because, that is what society is about. It is like my art school lesson of taking a quick look at the subject then looking away and drawing what you remember. Each student comes up with a different image. But, the subject is only one.

It is my wish that people will come away with a different conclusion after seeing … A SAD MAN.

You are very brave to make commentary from only my verbal description, while in development. I appreciate that. I am now looking for a venue to present A SAD MAN in the Miami Design District and will send you photos. In the meantime, let me show you ANA, a life-size metal sculpture I made waking from a dream-like state. I started working on her immediately upon standing up out of bed with construction materials at hand… rebar wire and re-enforcing steel rods.

ANA (pronounced: AH NA) was constructed in the midst of my art show in Halifax in September 2012.

　

 


　

Photos

　

　

There were some interesting comments from the viewing public. The following was made by Dawson Wambolt (MA, Psychology)

　


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 Wambolt, MA in Psychology)
I will send Dawson a picture of A SAD MAN… “coming soon to a venue near you”

　

    Salamat tinggal                     Rod                              rod_malay@hotmail.com

U.S. Intelligence... shortly before 9/11

U.S. Intelligence... shortly before 9/11

It is 2000... “National Intelligence Council predicted 2015.…a world in which power is diffusing and decaying—

“There's financial volatility; anonymous cyberattacks; widening economic divisions; an increasingly assertive China; a WMD (weapons of mass destruction); growing illegal migration; a mercurial, authoritarian Russia; social unrest, religious and ideological extremism, and terrorism, and shaped by the destabilizing impact of new technology and the allure of political Islam; Iraq acquiring nuclear weapons; Japan losing its position as the world's third-largest economy; the emergence of an "international terrorist coalition with diverse anti-Western objectives and access to WMD; globalization, and attendant technological advances, would also shatter the very nature of power. The world is on the brink of a new era that may resemble the script of a James Bond film, in which international affairs are increasingly determined by large and powerful organisations rather than governments.

" The Cold War, artificially, managed to organize almost every regional conflict in the world into a global system of conflict, which was managed at the top by two states that had an overarching interest in avoiding instability that could drag them into a very dangerous confrontation. After it ended, many of the states of the old Soviet empire began to collapse, accelerating crime, lawlessness, tribal violence and terrorism.

“Moisés Naím wrote in The Atlantic this summer, {disguising soldiers as civilians and recruiting civilian insurgents are old practices. But in the twenty-first century, they've acquired unprecedented potential as tools of war}. Back in 2000, U.S. intelligence officials glimpsed this phenomenon. Heading into 2015, it's right before our eyes….”



I created a painting on this theme. But that was in 1984 and I was feeling the pressures of this future global reality. I called it “STREETS”, as that would be where the war would happen. Yet, while we tramp into time, our ignorance and apathy continues, as depicted in the scenarios within the painting.

The painting was what I might call my Guernica, using a few Picasso graphic techniques, as I searched for my own brand as an artist.

                                          
                                         Streets



             Selamat Tinggal                           Rod                             rod_malay@hotmail.com

I KISSED THE POPE'S... CROSS

 

 

 

 

It is true! I kissed that cross that the pope directed towards my lips. And I did so without thinking. It was a reflex action upon an involuntary action, by the Pope. About 100 people went before me. I was not in line for that. I was last in line following my Celebrity friend, who was embraced by the Pope, her Pope, as this is her Church... I wanted a picture of her against that background. The Pope gave me permission, as well as many pictures I wished to snap.

                           

 

 

I thanked him, as he pressed the crossed

to my lips. Well, I was not struck down,

I received no thunderous revelations but,

strangely there was a quietness in that

event of gentle authority and a kind face.

 

 

You perhaps guessed by now that this was not Pope Francis

but the Pope of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Forth Lauderdale, Florida. The deeply ritualize sermon lasted for  two hours, even as people paraded in and round lighting candles and kissing, with obedient reverence, the many pedestaled and gilded icons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pope walked about frequently and respectfully waving his belled, incensed smoking chalice at all of the icons.

 

I watched silently and wondered why I was not feeling anger or critical. I did though, reaffirm my conviction, as I listened to the prayers and thanks to the fantasy Jesus and Lord in the heavens and wondered why decent adult human beings have submitted to such a fabrication. The choir master and his small choir of three really did do a great presentation, mixing and integrating singing song prayers in perfectly sequence  with the Pope throughout the entire two hour service.

 

The little church was also adorned with colourful stained glass window icons

 

 

As I review the pictures I remember the event with peace in my mind and body. There was a playfulness about the place and the Pope's own words were basically... "Have mercy and be kind to one another"

 

Selamat tinggal      Rod     rod_malay@hotmail.com

 

 

 

 



 

High Mass - Confessions of the Artist

(Correction to the previous blog: A Sad Woman… A Sad Man. The paragraph beginning with “It is all fascinating and absolutely frustrating…” is a reply to MacD from Xrod, about half way down in the blog.)


The following exchanges between me MacD and me has compelled or challenged me to re visit some graphic oil paintings I did in 1993/1995 on the subject of religious dogma. She calls it “nonsense”, referring to dogma. I understand the word “nonsense” to mean a “bit of silliness“, that has rained terror, death and physical destruction upon humanity and the earth for generations, centuries and even millennia. Have we heard any apologies or explanation or seen any remorse for the unimaginable human atrocities at the hands of those who professed to know the word of God. I cannot imagine any graphic image that could replicate the horror of that reality. Yet I feared aghast and deafening silence from an apathetic public, at least in my own mind, if not in reality at the sight of my works, which represent a period of my life where I was in deep search, deep conflict and ignorance of Christianity and “spirituality“. However, those works were a significant part of my struggle to find enlightenment, conviction and truth on the human journey,

I worked in secret, with a technique of figurative abstraction, to disguise the imagery because I was afraid of authority. The irony was that I myself did not know what was emerging on the canvas. I would start applying paint with no preconceived concept, working consciously, purposely as a child. If nothing was connecting with my consciousness, I would wipe it off with turpentine and start again. Each wipe off would leave a ghost of the layers before it. Eventually and always, parts of an image would begin to emerge. Then I was onto something.

Fundamentally, I am a figurative painter but, detest realism, as ultimately boring. Photography does a better job at that. So, I would work at those emerging images until figures appeared in the fog of abstraction around it or them. That’s where I knew I had to leave it... unfinished?… perhaps! Like this one, which I call “HIGH MASS” , loaded arrogance, sperm and blood in a field of chaos or in a “theatre of war“. That placed me in personal conflict with the religious indoctrination embedded in my psyche.

If I was angry, I was suppressing it… even to myself but, I was taking great pleasure in the actions. I felt a mindless need to strike back. And no doubt, the passionate relationship with Arri Kanina during that time was profoundly important. She participated, never criticised and was always there for support, as I thought at that time, which was decisively important to me and a powerful influence in the sexual elements, for which I offer no apology. I was thoroughly enjoying the art of it, even violating, dismissing the divinity of the “Golden Ratio” for the instinctive (genetic) imperative…not concerned if the light was from one or multiple directions.

                                                                   
                                                            High Mass


When the works were finally realized on the canvas I would title it with religious language metaphors, like the painting above… High Mass. Followed in subsequent paintings with: The Creation of Adam; (Creazione di Adamo); Amor Invigor This is My Body; The New Covenent;


MacD
I am revisiting my statement that all "religion is bullshit". It's not quite accurate and quite a lazy opinion. More true is my position that religious dogma is nonsense, although some common core tenets, such as peace and brotherly love, have value to society. Unfortunately, the organizations are corrupt, and they insist on rules of exclusivity, meaning their way is the only way. The "I am right and you are wrong" righteous thinking has disastrous social implications, which we have seen historically and continue to suffer today.

We are all 99.99% identical, genetically. It's that .01% difference, and religious dogmata that has us killing each other, now and throughout history.

I think that in the bigger picture, non of it matters

Xrod
Where did “Peace and Brotherly love come from? Who created that? That is the question. One assumes it came from the origins of religion which I doubt. Did you ever read the book by Joseph Campbell... Hero With A Thousand Faces. It’s been years since I read it and really must do again. All religions continue to promote a fantasy and has concocted language embedded with this fantasy. Hence, it is still a dangerous institution, that usurps the forces of nature and promotes conflict and war, while at the same time pretending to be saintly with their centuries and millennia of flaming appropriation of human ideals. Ideals that do not need the face of “religion” to be proud and honourable.

                                        Creazione di Adamo (creating Adam)


　
 　

MacD
Hebrews 13:1 continue to love each other as brothers and sisters

There are many references to 'brotherly love' listed in the Bible, as I discovered via Google. However, that still doesn't determine where it began. The Golden Rule….to treat each other as we wish to be treated. Same thing….not sure where that began. Early philosophers?

But the point I make is that it is a beneficial tenet in many religions, regardless of its source, and remains central to many religious teachings.

Why is the source so critical?


　
Xrod
That is an interesting question and it disturbs me... can feel that in my stomach... need to think about why my reaction to it. Will get back to you after I give it some thought.

Xrod
Your question came across to me as a voice of authority, in the face of which I lost my confidence years ago. I spent my whole life in profound fear of authority. Your question harkened me immediately back to those stomach sick times in my life. I am sure you did not mean it that way. But it struck me that way… like catching me off guard.


It was an excellent question and I thank you for it… reminding me of my weakness. It is ironic that my art deals with that head on. Virtually every one of my art endeavour scares the shit out of me. Basically, I am a whimpering coward. I should be a nervous wreck by now except, consequently I am protected by some mysterious limitation that prevents me from taking real risks or making real challenges to the debilitating mundane social code.

Nonetheless, I am determined to challenge that which I feel is immoral and ingenuous. I grew up in and around religion. All my siblings are religious believers, on one level or another, as are some of my friends in Halifax past and present. I do not fight with them and get along amiably but, my guts are turned over on a regular basis. That culture questions nothing and complains about all the sin in the world and “Jesus” is the only way to salvation. None of my family talk about my art and virtually avoid appearing art my art shows. Those who do come do so only patronizingly… pretending. That does not bother me except, why do they, with smiling faces simply accept all the corruption in the world. So they go to church to have the theologian absolve them of their apathy, which they label. “… love each other as brothers and sisters!” Fundamentally, it means nothing to them. And some brothers and sisters kill each other, as do mothers and fathers because, their lives are meaningless or so pathetically boring. The “brotherly love” garbage does not work. Yeah, there are some martyrs to the cause, but are they happy.

The cause has to work. But look at the poverty, the greed, the dying children, the devastation in the world. Go and get your theological absolution in the culture of apathy, with the “volunteer” pats on your back, until we blow ourselves up. And keep angrily, impatiently blowing your horn at the slow driver in front of us, on our way home from church or to Tim’s to sit around “solve the world problems” before we have to get home to watch Jeopardy, or Dragon’s Den or some other piece of mindless commercial propaganda.



Yeah… who knows where “Brotherly Love” comes from but, don’t use it on me. It is too loaded with vested interest, insincerity, patronization.

                                          Amor Invigor (raising Lazarus)


Yeah, maybe I was angry and ranting but, no apologies offered.

 Ok... “Why is the source so critical?”... it was probably corrupted from some genuine act of kindness because, it certainly is meaningless these days. It would be an interesting etymological investigation.

Ciao m’love


MacD
I am quite moved by your response, and you're correct….I certainly did not intend to be authoritative or to evoke stomach churning. Unknowingly though, mea culpa. Quite naturally and routinely I pose similar questions to myself. Examining the roots underneath the opinions we form is not something many people do, it is usually painful. But how can we be clear about our intellectual premises if we don't question the emotional undercurrent that takes us there?


Our biases form the basis of how we view the world, and if we are looking for truth, we need to be aware of the filters we see through. Whenever I see anger, in myself or others, I know there is hurt or pain beneath it, sometimes not clearly connected to the angry voice, but there nonetheless.



Your self perception surprises me. Through my eyes you are one of the brave ones….defying the pressures of conformity to live truthfully and express it through art.

Socrates said "an unexamined life is not worth living"………he chose death over exile or forced silence. Most lives remain unexamined, like sheep being corralled by corrupt leadership without question.



In friendship,

PS I love the pink fat lady.


MacD
I can only speak for myself, hence all the "I"s that follow.


There is a constant seeking motion in my life, like a current. I listen to people espouse their views, some I am in complete disagreement with. I either walk away, or consider how they might have come to those conclusions. I'm rarely tempted to argue with them because their eyes are closed and they can't hear. But sometimes the source or bias of their opinion is quite clear. Sometimes I can pose a question that makes them think, but not often. I pose the same questions to myself all the time. "What is my true motive here?" Am I seeking attention, praise, confirmation, manipulation? It's important to me that I am honourable to myself in the real reason for my action. It's kind of a self-checking behaviour.

When I find myself adamantly for or against something, I check my motives. Have I closed a door or opened one in my mind. I don't know any other way to discover whether my bias is leading me to react, or if my curiosity remains open and active. The practice of this has led me to be less judgemental (I hope) and more open to ideas I don't currently espouse. I'm seeking to find my own truth, not by getting caught up in the untruths of others, but by staying open and seeking onward. Their beliefs are their life sentence, not mine. But we learn from others. Sometimes being exposed to a new mind can be a gift that results in clarity, or a new way to consider something.

Where I fail miserably is in contributing to society. How can I do this? What can I contribute of meaning? And so all of my knowledge seeking and examination is self serving, and that makes me a sad woman. Those who have the ability and truthfulness to contribute positively, on whatever scale, are my heroes.

　

　



Xrod

"We ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other"   Thomas Jefferson to John Adams

I have inserted this attachment in one of my blogs... probably you have seen it.

Maybe that is the first step in “brother and sister” love. I do not feel the impulse to question whether I am seeking attention or praise. I act upon the first impulsive thought in my mind. That comes from the source, like “A Sad Man” project. It broke out and demanded action. Then come the other thoughts... public praise, confirmation, manipulation, success... unavoidable fantasies, which I put aside and get busy with the doing. The ‘source’ being that genetic library on the human journey.

　

Recalling the image of the initial inspiration is the most difficult task, lest the nuances become manipulation from my corrupt mind. I must simply be the

messenger not the editor. I saw a picture of it in my mind and I must re-create that, to the best of my ability. This takes me back to my art school days when the instructor would tell us to look very quickly at a subject/model. Then look away and draw what you remember. The picture you would draw will not look at all like what you saw. One had to be true to that lightening flash memory. The nose may be much bigger, the eyes pop, the lips are angry, the ass is fat or skinny, the model would be happy or angry. It is amazing what the mind receives from the real person in an instant and the difference from one student to another... fascinating.
Wow... what a treat you are MacD!!! to drag all of this out of me and to share your feeling and perceptions. Reminds me of that song by Kris Kristofferson that Janis Joplin belted out so eloquently... Me and Bobby McGee... “Bobby shared the secrets of my soul”.


　
My arms are all cut up with the chicken wire... looks like I have been in a fight with an angry feral cat. I am using the wire to create the body shape for A Sad Man. Am actually wrapping my body with it... in sections... will need nine modular parts, legs, pelvis, torso etc, then cutting them off after shaping. Six parts are completed. When all the parts are completed, I will wire them together and it will be my body shape. And I have the power to make myself six foot six... not a mere five foot eight... Ha

MacD
Thanks for that, and good luck capturing that first image of The Sad Man.


After writing to you this morning, I thought further, and decided I could sum it all up by simply saying….

I try desperately not to buy into my own bullshit.

Such is the struggle...

　



End of discourse with MacD
 
　

I speak not from authority but from conviction, which invigorates my quest.

This was not the state of my mind 20 years ago when I was engaged in that ‘93-’95 painting series. I had no answers nor questions… was simply vacuous but inflamed with passion and terrified of authority.

　
                                This is my Body (take and eat in remembrance of me)

 

 

                               The New Covenant (take and drink from this Holy Grail)

　

　

I think it was not possible for me to reach my present level of consciousness without having first exorcised the mind blowing dogmatic indoctrination seated deep in my genetic memory bank. I might rightfully say that I just got here as of yesterday, so to speak loosely… to this level of clairvoyant conviction

　

　

Salamat tinggal                               Rod                                rod_malay@hotmail.com