tapping into the same vanity

The extortionistic mentality of modern human's sources of influence tap into the same vein. The consumerist and the religious play to the same tune. In tandem they play to our eternal desire to make us feel better about ourselves. The former lies in the superficial realm and the latter in a supposed spiritual realm. Both selling the same product. For the need to quench our fears of living in a social structure and the inherent desire for acceptance coupled with the fear of death.

We can only see the trees, not the forest. What good does the anxiety that was bestowed upon us with the acquisition of a conscious mind than anything else than exploitation for the gain of an Other? Realizations of the fragility of the effects of our collective fears has resulted in environments which we struggle to deal with. The gift of existence is permanently overshadowed by the compromises that come with that existence. Fear is inescapable to the sentient being. Knowing this, we as a society have based the framework of success on abilities directed at profiting from this fear. If it were a universal fear of something else, we would have been riding that bandwagon for the same amount of time. But there will never be anything as profitable as the sense of our own mortality and the image that we project while approaching such a fate in a social structure.

institutional let down

So the North Carolina Museum of Art had is unveiling of their new wing today. For someone who has been going there for ten years or so and being involved with contemporary art, my experience may have been perceived by a more critical eye than some. The new wing itself, as a building, has almost hidden admirable traits. There is a subtlety that mostly contributes to how impressive the structure is. Good use of natural light and existing in accordance with the formulaic approach to state art museums.

This new, contemporary, shelter now simply stores the museums permanent collection. The contrast between the architecture and Roman works from antiquity, African ritual items, etc. may have been intentional but acts most as a distraction. To those who have seen the collection before, or any other standard art museums' collection, there is little motive to relish the experience. Accepting that the collection is not terribly impressive inherently (at least what was exhibited at the wing opening) the space gives off a, "trying too hard", vibe. The change in surroundings does little to help the short-handedness of the work. The work appears to miss its old surroundings of dimly lemon lit, brick walled comfort and is not forced to deal with surroundings not fit for such a relationship.

To the museums' credit there was at least one interesting performative sound work going on in the old wing and the new wing had a somewhat predictable contemporary figurative work which lost its luster quickly. One could hope that the old wing will be a more open space where challenging contemporary artforms may be allowed to play themselves out from this moment on. And, there are a hand full of works in the permanent collection that exceed the typified art object created in the last 60 years. None the less, it seems like a botched decision to relocate the tired, repetitive, underwhelming, standardized collection to a space that is begging to be used in a more innovative way. But within the context of the kind of "unveiling" that the NCMA decided to hold, this is not at all surprising. The event, as the majority of the work, pandered to the safe idea of what an event such as this would have to offer to the public. Sure, their must and should be children focused areas and I applaud that. The music seemed to be a fine fit as well. It was nice to see some of the outdoor sculpture being so prominently displayed and engaged with by the public. Wrapping around the building, following the sculpture path, the predictable Rodin Garden awaits to be briskly strolled through, paying more attention to the beautiful pool that steals the show from even Rodin. Even the large scale sculptures selected were nothing short of safe, contemporary sculptures.

When does the role of the institution gain the gusto to challenge the public? Is this only truly possible when one is run privately? Fortunate enough to hold a board of trustees that is willing to use the prominence of an institution to introduce new ideas into the public sphere instead of spoon feeding them their own expectations. Politics and money, infinitely impossible to escape anymore, the tenderness of institutions is eroding their influence. Fear of a funding shortage stemming from provocative exhibits, maintains the lukewarm at best institutional experience.

reality has been purchased

So entire reality ha been bought.
Our surroundings, bought.
At a lasting cost, thorough and deep.
Privileged few worshiping the Golden Calf.
Dancing on the bones of those they stole it from.
Higher elite sift bare minimum or less.
Omnipresent construction, wealth and illusion.
Hidden context of comfort and of suffering.
The pot is bound to boil over.
Pressure goes somewhere internally or externally.
But it most certainly travels.

Puppeteering the collection plate.
Purchasing sustained control.
Fully knowing their own tactics.
Blatant hypocracy, so thick it conceals itself.
Sourcing receptivity fabricating interests and apathy.
The veil will be lifted.
Its occupant surprised.
"Why" is not asked enough.

one honkey's perspective

(me being that honkey)

I would like to put forth my personal perspective on how this nation's deplorable history effects how I navigate through contemporary society. A visceral reminder of this history is hard to deny and escape. Not that an escape from it is even desirable, let alone possible. It is easy, plain as day to see our specific course of history which has led up to this very moment. Some obvious examples would be poverty and the disproportionate among those in poverty being black. It is also noticeable with, in certain locations, with the lack of a minority presence. This was the case in Alfred, N.Y., where I attended Graduate school. If I had to guess I would place the percentage of minorities in Alfred as less than ten percent. This absence was a reminder to me that in a small community where most of its inhabitants where there to participate in a "higher" educational experience, minorities could not finance such a privileged experience. The absence of poverty or of a struggling minority does not eradicate its existence in the minds of those who care and are compassionate. Out of sight is not out of mind in this case.

I live my life based on respect. Respect for other and myself. I'll be the first to admit that I fall short of these respect based goals more often than I would like to admit. None the less, we are all in the same privileged-to-be-alive/privileged-to-simply-exist boat and that indisputable fact demands an even playing field in terms of respect and opportunity.

I do not like the historical precedent that brought about the scenario where an elderly black man would call me a younger white boy, "Sir". He is "Sir", he earned "Sir"!! I do however appreciate and admire his level of respect for his fellow man but can not help but wonder if the respect is at face value or if a fear based courtesy has been installed into him and possibly his family.

I acknowledge that I find myself in this lifetime as in the (temporary) majority. I know that this will change, there is evidence of such change already. I welcome change of most sorts, this being one. I welcome this change because I hope that with it will come the change of a proportionate delegation of political representation and legislative policy making and fund allocation to the actual proportions of the populations, prioritizing those communities that need it the most.

We are one.

cubically minded

Very few right angles occur in nature. The only one that comes to mind is mineral formation in geology, pyrite for example, the angle of some tree emerging from the ground?

Modern man's environment, very much changed from of those passed, is inundated with sharp geometric angles. Even the cliche, "Think outside the Box" has a visceral resonance of the struggle to deal with this abstract system that we no longer have a choice but to navigate through. Spending a majority of our waking, and sleeping time for that matter, in a small cube, in a larger cube, in an even larger cube, found in/on a grid system based on right angles. The obvious but notable inseparability of the industrial revolution and the response to that in art with Cubism, is an applicable side note. The industrial revolution, bringing hoards of people in from the country side, leaving a more organic existence, towards a more abstracted, geometric (if you will) lifestyle. This is an interesting idea: going from an existence, where a closer existence to nature abounds where work hours happen as they must and leisure hours happen when they are able, moves to a more regimented lifestyle where productivity and energy are scheduled, being just a part of the distancing of industrial humans from an intimate notion of the natural environment.

This is the metaphorical cage, not to sound too alarmist.

Certainly, there are plenty of notable advantages and necessary used in construction to default for the right angle. I am simply trying to point out a correlation with the physical environment that we are constructing with the cognitive, psychological, philosophical and spiritual environment that we are more struggling to come to terms with.

right/left: a side, not being correct

Talking heads.
Someone must have fed them after midnight and then they got exposed to water resulting in the gremlin transformation and multiplication. Substance is not their strong suit. Children throwing a temper tantrum in the toy aisle. These distinct sides, perpetuating each other's exposure. Feeding the other's argument. Recognition is more than either side of the network hollow figure heads deserve. Hateful versus sarcastic. Neither proposing real suggestions, merely darkening the light shade, making room for actual policy makers to continue down the road of self gratification, breaking their oath with every step taken.
Like the childish temper tantrum, ignoring it would be the most effective remedy. Let their feet stamp and voices wail. Give them a pillow to scream into, not a microphone. Give them a squirt gun and a poster of their rival, not a platform to blindly fire verbal artillery. Give them a mirror to masterbate to, not a close up on the idiot box (although the term is even more appropriate when their physical appearance is plastered upon it). Give them a sand box and plastic shovel, not an avenue to build a fragile structure of illusions in the minds of the feeble.

Everything is Okay, Right Now....

Everything is okay, right now.
That is the mentality that is the consequential motive for most things vile.
What we think is not what is.
Ok is the individualistic illusionistic palpable mist that fills nostrils without contention. Masks are fleeting signs of obligatory statutes harboring a misconstrued notions of presentality (yeah, that ain't no word but it somehow fits in this context).
If is smells like a pitbull it might as well be a pitbull. Shape and form of are from the cloth. Woven within the confines of a mass produced hysteria not too mention the ramifications of a misperceived reconciliation of what might even be remotely real. To the weakest consent of that term. What about the homographic notion of a solidarital existence? Could it be seen as a downfall of what ever is worth preserving that which should be elevated as a marketing priority? The consequences of putting profit over a sense or well being has yet to be experienced only because of time. If we find ourselves in the privildged existence of thinking that hard work is the ultimate end to a happy end, then we should know to pick up the nearest firearm and take to our own trachea. Preferably the one in which the least amount of recognition of pergatorial suffering should be endured. This is to be prepared for the moment when all other options are not on the floor. But the denial of the worth of the continuation of, at least the attempt to contribute to any perceived perpetuation of a sustained human existence is reaching a cynical space which is warranted as being one to which the clock should pause to reach a constructed point when such matters could be better dealt with.

synthesis

For any critical thinker, the extraction of ideas to put towards the formulation of personal ideals is the work of one's lifetime. This on-going pursuit is to continue efforts of synchronizing of one's actions with ideals.

Ideology, as I will try to define it in my own way here is, a collection of societal attitudes, beliefs and proclivities that are constructed out of both a genuine attempt at a sustained harmonious existence as well as an illusion-based propagandistic mechanism to rule over people. The "rulers" offer up pre-packaged ideology in where those who would rather continue to take the convenient route take it at face value and as yet another absolute in their mind's eye.

One's actions or behavior, as I see it, are more based on the nature side of nature vs. nurture. Self preservation reigns supreme. Greed, lust, vanity, etc, etc, are mechanisms that stem from self preservation, some manifest from society itself and a general reaction there within. So, the action side of humanity is at odds with the ideological side of humanity. We know that war is bad but we engage in it. We know that money is the most corruptive force on this small planet but we all buy into that idea, have a budget and strive to make more money even if it is for better reasons than exhibiting newer and newer purchases to a shallow society, playing into their game of tit for tat in the class heirarchy. We know that monogamy is a noble gesture towards someone we care about but lust is an erasable element of our make-up, it is the driving force behind the species self-preservation.

Within the context of a constructed and plastic coated society such as the one that Westerners find ourselves in, it is a constant grueling task of trying to navigate through the present world of consumerism, social scrutiny, false positives, all of this while only being equipped with the reasoning that our own experimental rise out from the trees has given us.

The balance between ideals and actions is what shapes the way we look at ourselves, on all levels.