Added more to the face.

Drawing in pencil crayon , and two digital jokes.

 

Lately i have been working on digital  jokes which at first glance are just silly one liners  but contain an element of satire. They are fun to do .

The drawing is in pencil crayon on paper- sadly the camera bleached the colours and left it looking flat.

Great article on the relationship between Bulgaria and Korea with an interview with Eva Floreva a cultural ambassador.

 http://www.formalno.com/no48/%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0/%D0%B8%D0%B7%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%8A%D1%82-%D1%81%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%89%D0%B0-%D0%B8%D0%B7%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B0.html

(the link works, just do 'open link in new tab).

If you wish to translate to English the translation is on the bottom of the website, easily found.

I found this interview very interesting, not only because it opens up the world and how people live in it, but, it addresses how people from different cultures can find inspiration in others , in other countries. The subject of the interview  is very talented and i was interested in how culture moves around the world, particularly with the internet.

+post in edit.

Hidden themes in The Wolverine, racism appropriation, orientalism ,war guilt, sexism, lotus flower.-very rough.

Having recently watched the new Wolverine film, set mainly in Japan a number of issues with the the film bothered me. One was the depiction of women , another was the way Japanese men and japanese sexuality was depicted. With the film linking violence and rape and misogyny to Japanese culture and fears of asian corporation influence over American values. Wolverine even fights a giant robot samurai in the heart of a Japanese mutli national, throwing it to one side, as he does any male asian in the film.  The posters offer some clue, also the Atomic bomb destruction of Hiroshima at the start.

Being curious about this, i decided to investigate further.

What could be going on? 

Is it just a  traditional  action with little to search deeper, is it genuinely racist and sexist...or is the director exploring something else here?

There certainly seems to be repeated themes and imagery which bears looking at closer.

In this post:

•  i will look at the posters and publicity stills for the film . These often give a clue as to the films intent, since directors and producers advertise to audiences the key points of the movie.
•  I will look at the film itself
• the music
• the script

and the directors back catalogue of films

 

 

Big Boy destroys Hiroshima as dropped by the Enola Gay.

 

Wolverine suffers the fate Japanese civillians suffer, being burned alive by an atomic bomb.

Wolverine as a drifter a 'ronin' a masterless samurai.

Wolverine and a bear: Kindred. Wolverine even slashes a tree over old territorial markings he has made, making fresh ones. The bear follows suit by urinating on the ground near a tree.

 

 

The bear is murdered by thoughtless American hunters who trash the forest and shoot the bear with poisoned arrows. Wolverine deals the bear a 'mercy kill'.

 

Later in the film Wolverine himself is shot with poisoned arrows.

At the end Wolverine deals a 'mercy kill' to his old friend who is wearing a samurai suit with bear like claws . What is he poisoned with?

This is an extremley rough draft thanks for looking. If you have opinions please leave them i always reply.

Response to my question on exhibitionism on tumblr.

Her tumblr was the only one, yet, to respond to my set question. Which was:
'Do you think the intent of the art changes if the mass of the audience use the work as a masturbation tool, rather than spending time considering the intent'. And does the work change, if the audience choose their interpretation over the artist'.

Well i was using artist as a loose term for the originator of the exhibitionism. Tumblr is full of nude blogs, mainly female who take their clothes off for a multitude of reasons. Some because their husband asks them to (caudalism) some because they find it empowering and sexual (exhibitionism) others still have an artistic or cultural exploration to mind.

So, as ever this is the beginnings of an idea i will keep returning to, chipping away till something happens, and i make art on it.

Hers is one of the more intelligent blogs, since she posts a lot about symbolism and psychomagic, so i was surprised she sees all her nude photos and masturbation photos as just an online journal. There has to be an element of exhibitionism in this, otherwise why  post online at all?
 And there is a large artistic element to her choices, it is far from random posting, but it is self exploration, i think. Certainly her blog aims for a higher purpose than just nude selfies. In my view anyway.

Anyway at the moment it is just general interest and somewhat formless.

Noticeable trend in the highest subscribed You Tube channels.

You Tube informs me of channels i might like to subscribe to when i log in, and it led me to do a very brief investigation on who these subscribers were. They fit a physical pattern, all white, all photogenic and all American. All American is in fact a euphemism for  white and heterosexual
A lot of  the highest subbed channels are run by production companies now with the 'star' a de facto actor. With the most popular videos attracting millions of views , its not surprising that television companies would try and create their own personalities to sell the advertisements.

Work in progress....

Transcript2. 'Talking shit on Facebook'.

''Ok, so I need to get a point across, because, ok- whew, im sorry my anxiety is through the roof right now''. ' 'Bitch, you need to shut the fuck up, first of all,i don't know who the fuck you think you are to be going around running your mouth talking all this shit, because you are a fake ass hoe, and, your asking us to eat dirt''. ''And you know what?, when I see you, this time I am not gonna' let you get away , this time i'm not gonna' let you just walk away and have you talk shit on Facebook''.

You think your all hard and shit bitch, because of your side kick Selina?

You guys are, I know why you guys are best friends, because your both fat ugly whores.

Selina, likes to flip things around about me and use all her stories on me, and say 'Oh Evlina got a train busted on, Evilina got busted on this and that'. The thing is bitch, you got a train busted on at a party and I know this because my brother was one of the guys, and it was outside and in the middle of the night and uh...everyone knows it too.

Sellina, your the biggest fat, no, I take that back, your the second biggest fat hoe I ever met. Mariza, your the first biggest fat hoe.

Just so you know, you should probably just jump off a bridge right now because nobody likes you, and the people who pretend to like you, who say that they are your friends, talk shit behind your back, or have talk shit about you already before you guys were friends. So get your fake ass away from your fake friends thinking that your the shit, because you can talk shit. It's not about if you can talk shit, its about if you can throw hands.

You think your all bad ass, because you beat some drunk girls ass?, Sweetheart reality check, she was drunk.

Um..what else?

Oh , and about the cancer.

You think your so funny going on and on saying 'oh she's lying about cancer, hope she dies of cancer'. Well thank you, I hope I die of cancer a natural cause not choking on a dick like you.

I hope I die of cancer ok bitch, I hope I don't die of aids, like you, like you gave my brother aids you nasty whore.

Oh yeah..calling me ugly.

Ok, bitch, I know im beautiful inside and out, I am a really nice person, so me making this video is a really big deal like since Jesus gave birth or like God gave birth to jesus or whatever.

But you pissed me off to the point where I just can't handle it anymore.

So here's how it really started.

At the movies, I went to the movies with Glenn Castro, right?

It was my first time meeting with him, he wasn't my man or my date or anything like that. I told him straight up at the beginning that we were just going as friends.

And let me tell you, as soon as I saw him, I wanted to run away, that motherfucker was ugly as shit, it was like beauty and the beast right there. And so , wego to the movies and he goes ' hey i'm going to get popcorn'. I was like 'ok'.He was gone like thirty minutes , and I go and I see him seeing him holding some girls hand. Um..i walked up to him and I was like 'what the fuck dude , you came here with me'.And I told Mariza straight up 'I, looked her right in the eye , look im not trying to have drama, im just trying to help you out because he came here with me'. Noooo, this bitch wants to roll her eyes at me and say 'what the fuck ever' and walk way. And I told her 'bitch come here, bitch come here' and did that bitch come here?, no she wants to chase after young Castro.

And then she decided to message me on Facebook after the fact,talking all this shit, telling me 'grow some meat on your bones', telling me 'that i'm flat'. Bitch!, you see this?, that's not flat, you see that?, Is that flat? I don't fucking think so you dumb whore . And you know what?, im not fat in the stomach to have ot have it either, im naturally curvy. So, for you to keep saying 'you need meat on your bones', thats just jealousy right there and jealousy is a ugly ass trait.

What else?

You think your gonna beat my ass?, really?

I mean I know im small and I know your like a sumo wrestler and I know you can fucking squish and break my ribs in two. But I will beat your ass to the ground.

Your talking about me having brain cancer?, I am so glad you think that's funny, really I do that warms my heart that your such a cold hearted, fat oompa loompa bitch get your ass back to the factory.

Um..im tired of all this shit talking over Facebook.You think your so hard, you think your so cute, you think your so skinny,you think you got big ol' boobs and shit.You think you got a big ass?

Well come here, come down to Tucson, I will hook up with you any place you want. You give me the place, you give me the time, you give me the place. When, where..what time?

And I will be there, and then everybody will see how badly I beat your ass.I'll make sure its all over Facebook, I 'll make sure its all over Twitter, i'll make sure its all over YouTube. And you can fucking save this video bitch, because this is a promise, I will tag you, I will beat your ass to the ground. Don't doubt me just cos' im small.

Do I have anything else to say? Yeah!, stop using your mouth for dick bitch, use it for food.What else?, what else?, Anywayz your a ugly dirty cunt, and I hope you choke on a dick and die.And for telling me to die of cancer your gonna' get really hated for that.,Just so you know.

You have like a whole army of beautiful girls that wanna' beat your ass and they will. Because your an ugly skank and you pass around aids.

Ohhh lets not forget her twenty pounds of make up, I know your four hundred pounds but when you dress make up like this.

'Oh look I’m Mariza, lets hold our boobies out on Face book, its so classy of you, your right, your so very very right Mariza, I am such a hoe'

Because I can walk around with class and I can walk around with pants, and I don’t need a bunch of make up for guys to call me pretty. I don't need to show cleavage like you, and I don;t need to turn around and show my ass to get a bunch of likes on a picture or to get it a lot of attention from guys.

So you know what you need to do?, you need to shut the fuck up and you need to choke on a dick and you need to die.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been transcribing random  youtube  videos  for a while now , as well as porno films and news items. Still not sure where it is taking me, but it will lead to a fully developed series of works.

You can read my first transcript here at this link.

 http://sundersartwork.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/czech-casting-porn-transcript.html

Rough movie calender design, part1.

Just an idea i am working on- very rough draft.

edit2/9/13
  Man...this is so interesting when i look back at the pictures i chose, that were initially intended to just be funny. Look at the images of women i chose, versus the images of men. This was all a subconscious choice. This culture is so subtle, it sneaks up.

Art by Laizze Hiroshashi.

Wonderful drawing by a talented artist who will go far. Great attention to character detail in the outfit, which tells a story about her environment. Skilled tone on the arms and hair really give this drawing a dynamic sense of  movement, ready to leap in to battle.
This would make a great video game character.

The curious case of the bigot for hire and the landed comedians.- work in progress.

In England we have an unusual history with comedy.
In the 1960's and 70's comedy was definitely a working class occupation and entertainment.
Stand up acts like Bernard Manning and Roy Chubby Brown and Frank Carson dominated the working mans clubs and television. The jokes were dealing with a changing society , women were campaigning for equal pay, an end to sexual harassment in the work place, the second wave of mass immigration in to England was taking place from Pakistan and India (formerly one country,


Frankie Boyle is known for his extreme form of comedy in which he attacks the disabled, overweight people, basically his act is  that 1970’s white male on top humour.
His stand up is very similar to other comedians like Jimmy Carr, Frank Skinner  and Al Murray who have these working mens club style routines, albeit without the open racism, though that is a sliding scale.
It is in direct opposition to the alternative comedy that has dominated television stand up for the last thirty years.Comedy that had a large amount of female performers, was anti sexism and racism and relied on surrealist exposure of societies prejudices and foibles or interpersonal relationships.
Al Murray or The Pub Landlord  to use his stage name. is a  boorish, bigoted, sexist homophobic white male who struts across the stage with a pint jug in hand. He lectures and hectors the audience on foreigners and feminism.
Al Murray himself is privately educated, the great grandson of the writer William Makepeace Thackery ,  and originally claimed his act was intended to ridicule bigots of all stripes. However, the longer his act goes the less effective the satire, particularly as he has mentioned himself, a large part of his audience now are B.N.P.   E.D.L members who hold him as one of their own. Is it satire, if the target of your material, praises you, even adapting your work in to their own social interactions, shouting your catchphrases at women in pubs ‘Fruit based cocktail or white wine for the lady’..
And the financial incentive of keeping this audience means the work becomes less about exposing the bigots and more about keeping them buying the tickets. Does it make any difference if you tell a rape joke ironically, if everyone is laughing when you call the victim a silly bitch?
With only a few  of your audience understanding it on the level in which it is written. In case Al Murray has a team of writers, is a millionaire and is now a company producing product to order.

http://www.chortle.co.uk/shows/tour/a/16132/al_murray%3A_the_pub_landlord%92s_beautiful_british_tour
(Relevant article from chortle magazine on Al Murray's act).

Jimmy Carr is another wealthy comedian, from a privileged background. In England a lot of our most successful comedians and comedy writers are from Oxbridge or other privately educated Universities.Many of them writing working class characters, up for ridicule ( Made in Britain),  which are then  celebrated by the same group the comedians loathe, who adopt this patronising sneer as approval. The politics of marginalization and lack of critical thinking come in to play here.
Carr claims any subject is up for a comedian to use, including rape jokes, sexism, homophobia and racism and comedy causes a positive effect since it pushes public discussion. Carr also writes for the Murdoch press empire as a regular columnist.
Frank Skinner rode the herald for the ‘New lad’ generation. A twenty to thirty year old man child who claims to celebrate the differences between men and women. Skinners act and personal life were often criticized for mysoginy.
Boyle is somewhat different in that he is openly left wing, but his comedy is often indistinguishable from Carr, Murray and Skinner.
If the comedy is  hateful bigotry, anti women, homophobic but the comedian is left wing or adopts a stance that their comedy is serving a  useful social function while banking huge cheques from an audience who never get the joke but watch for confirmation of their own cruelty , and so a get a legitimization from a public figure of their views.
Work in progress/edit

Is Benson The Fresh Prince?

Is Benson the Fresh Prince. Upon reading an interesting essay on the subtext within sitcoms (Hidden themes and narratives within popular culture) i found a series of similarities between 80's sitcom Benson and mid nineties sitcom TFPOBA. But a reversal has occurred. In Benson a black American fleeing the effects of crime gets a job as a butler in a mansion through artifice. In Fresh Prince a young man flees the effects of crime and uses street smarts to get ahead. The difference is the black family now owns the mansion. Work in progress . Most of the main characters in Benson are the same, now replaced by economically successful black characters. I think the very specific character, location and environment replication is deliberate.

This blog, separate from my art, is the beggining of a book, to explore my interest in symbolism in art.

Lately i have been slowly forming an idea around the depiction of taboo subjects in art through the use of subtext and symbolism with a focus on painting and drawing and sculpture, otherwise known as the visual arts.

• Depiction of racism in the visual arts
• Depiction of  sexism and homophobia in the visual arts
• Propaganda in the visual arts with a focus on art that lead to social change through manipulation such as the woodcut 'The Boston Massacre'.
• Depiction and covert promotion of sexual abuse and rape in the visual arts including literature and poetry.
• How violence is depicted, promoted, moralised and justified through the ages in the visual arts.
• How hidden religious groups, hidden social movements used art to promote their influence and spread their ideas in the visual arts.
• Depiction of these themes in films and music and how to identify signifiers in advertising

Work in progress since this is just a slow move toward production and will probably take a few years research.

SASSY CASS fashion facebook page- PLEASE VISIT.

 https://www.facebook.com/SASSYCASSYSASSCASS

Please visit and like the page of my friend and fellow artist Cassandra Grey. Her work mixes new and old sensibility. Vintage designs with a modern approach.

Thanks if you visit her page and give it a 'like'.

Tit Meat- Pencil on paper 6/13

Rough pencil crayon drawing based on a photoshop design. This is my continuing work inspired by the book 'The Sexual Politics Of Meat'.

NEGONYM.

“

I am working on the premise i have invented a new word or term. Negonym. That is, a hononym that has a modern precedent of having racial , sexist or homophobic connotations, and as such is no longer in wide use, or is in the process of vanishing. Negonym is a combination of negation and hononym.

Subtext in the film 'Leon The Proffessional'. Pedophile themes?-rought draft.

 I read a film article on the Luc Besson directed action film 'The Professional' known as 'Leon' in America.
The article linked to a jpeg of a section of the script that dealt with the relationship between Mathilda and Leon in which the two become lovers.

This scene was never filmed. But Luc Besson the director wrote the screenplay .
However if memory serves the film does have an uncomfortable relationship between the young girl and the Asperger like Leon.
With the man taking her to restaurants, giving her alcohol,

 sharing a bed. And having her sing 'Happy Birthday Mr President' to him in a Marilyn outfit with lipstick and make up. Marilyn famously sang this on stage to President Kennedy when they were in the midst of an affair.

 Or wearing adult underwear  with make up for Leon.

Mathilda even confides to a hotel clerk he is taking her upstairs to have sex in one scene.

The Americans cut all this out for fear it would effect ticket sales, this was only in the European version.

It's worth noting a few of the posters enlarge Portman, or shoot her at angles that make her look older. Look at the height difference between her and Jean Reno in this film still, versus the poster.

Portmans character has her ever present teddy bear throughout the posters and in many of the publicity shots.

What can be going on?
Her choker and silent movie star hair cut might provide some visual evidence. Leon supposedly loves old films, who can Mathilda look like?

Well, she could pass for Louise Brooks a famous silent movie star.

And what is with the plant symbol Leon carries around , it seems to mirror Mathildas Teddy Bear. They both dress alike, carry a visual security blanket. Many times Mathilda and Leon seem to be reflected in mirrored surfaces.

Reflective surfaces are often used in  more complex films to indicate repetition , internal thoughts visually reflected or duality. Is Mathilda a reflection of Leon?

I read director Besson had a relationship with a young girl (i will post more details) so that line of inquiry may prove enlightening.
I found out all Bessons girlfriends and juxtoposed their ages when Besson met them, his age at the time and when he dumped them. Like a lot of Hollywood rich men Besson likes his girlfriends to be no more than early two mid twenties, while he ages.

 Mila Jojovich (21-24 years)- Besson 38
Mai-wenn (16-21)- Besson  33
Anne Parrillaud (26-32) 27.

Lots of fans seem to identify with Mathilda. Fan art depicts her almost always post pubertal.

In any case, this is an extremely rough draft of an idea, and over the coming days i shall investigate further to see if there is anything in all this. I shall have to watch the film , since i only saw it once on the telly.