PROGRAMED working out the dark side in art (page 4)

onacruse

Dave:

I have never been emotionally attached to my art like most artist seem to be.

I hear that, though in a different way.

Dave! You old SOB, how the hell are you? You and Lady Lee (well okay and Barabara) are about the only people who can ferret me out nowadays. Seeing you post again honestly brings a smile to me. How are you my friend?

Since you are married to one of the nicest guys I have ever known, your perception of dark might be a little off. Chris is like Mr. Rogers in cowboy boots. Give the old boy a hug for me.

Well thanks Dave, for the nice guy bit. But you don't know me as well as you think. I'm darker, and have known, more darkness than most people. Some people think I'm an easy mark, wimpy, with pie-in-the-sky ideals and easy to kick around, but not so. I am what I am, but very few really know.

Actually when I look at the artwork Nina commented on, it really bothered me. I don't know if it's the busy-ness, or the dark colour (although I always noticed eyes and hands), but I think this picture is somewhat disturbing to me. The fingers jump out at me, probably intentional, but I need to sit down and figure out what it is that catches me. This is artisically well done, but there is something else there.

How's that for Sunday column art critique?

Be well,

Chris

kazar

Your art is chilling and haunting. If those emotions were your inspiration you definitely succeeded in translating to canvas. I actually feel a foreboding when view it. You are extremely gifted in expressing your ideas. Be nice if you will post more art in the future.

MsMcDucket

I'm not an art critic, so all I can do is give you my uneducated opinion. When I first saw the picture, it looked like a person who was being manipulated. I thought that there were pins/tacks/nails what have ya in the head, not typewriter keys. It looks like the person can't stop the guy(hands) from pushing his buttons (pins), pushing buttons=frustration. The background is like being in medieval times. Just my take on it.

seven006

Avishai,

I’m not sure having women from your old Kingdom Hall in Albany will work as models. But you can try. Give them a jingle.

Effing thanks.

Glad I could wow you.

Spending a short time of my life as a cop didn’t do much for me but give me a few shooting trophies and show me how incredibly stupid and deadly it was to drink and drive. Spending 26 years as a JW showed me how stupid it was to let others do my thinking for me. Even my mommy. Having a dark side was just accumulated from the many life experiences I had but I refused to let them turn me into a complete ass. I am just a half ass now but continue to work on it. I figured it out a while back, now I just need to put it all into a few images and stare at them from time to time and realize I made it through it all with most of my hair.

Quit being a tease. I would be happy to manipulate your breasts. Just ask your husband if it would be alright for you to fly halfway across the country to pose naked for a guy you have never met. I’m sure it will say “will he make your boobs look great”? You use to be such a sweetheart. You’ve been hanging out with your sister too much haven’t you?

Quit being so hard on yourself. I bet you still look good naked. Just shoot some photos of yourself and send them to me and let me be the judge. I promise not to post them here on JWD. Trust me!

Maybe you could change your diet to take care of your dark crap problem. Either that or just stop looking at your crap all the time. I know you hate to see the best part of yourself get flushed down the toilet but some times you just got to let things go. Is your piss color OK?

The same thing I said to Sherry goes for you. I think most women are secretly

exhibitionist.

I have no idea what the hell you are saying. As usual. Nice to see you out of your cave.

I’m doing OK fine good buddy. Just because I said you were nice doesn’t mean I don’t know you are a bad ass. You’re from Texas for Christ sakes, you guys are born bad asses. I think someone who has gone through what you have gone through and can still be a nice guy are the epitome of the strong silent type. It’s just good that you are now saying that about yourself then the crap you use to say on this board. Nina must be smacking you around like she promised to do.

Thanks for the complement. Chilling and somewhat haunting is what I was going for. I have a few more like this to do and I will post them here when I do them.

This piece depicts how I felt after realizing I had grown up being programmed to act and think according to the specific agenda of a cult and passed on to me through the hands of my parents. I was going to put blinders on the sides of they eyes like they do race horses but decided not to. Growing up a JW you can observe the world around you but your programming forces you to put it into an alternative reality designed by the watchtower. Once you are out and begin to learn to be honest with yourself, you see what you have always observed, but in a totally different perspective. That is why the eyes are looking directly up and only seeing the hands that are programming you without the full knowledge that you are being programmed. The blur on the right side of the face depicts the world around you being a blur and you can not see things fully in focus. The triangles above and below the eyes are like a mask where you hide who you really are as you are being programmed to be who they want you to be. The background is a confused mess of internal chaos that is made up of muted colors and non specific shapes. It is how I saw the world growing up. It was how I was programmed to see the world.

Ms. Whip

Dave,

I haven't read all the replies on this thread yet. I will give you my initial reaction to "programmed."

It had a deep, immediate effect on me. On a purely instinctive level, it pulled emotion out of me like a magnet. In a flash of a few seconds, I felt pain, hurt, betrayal, manipulation and anger. Forgive my grossities, but I felt an infectious pus burst forth from within. This imagined puss welled up in my eyes as tears. You have created a spectacular image depicting the prison of my mind. It is powerful. The darkness of your art is not necesarily the image you have created, but the effect that image has on the viewer's mind. The greater the manipulation has been the darker your image appears. The female & male manipulators illustrated caught me off guard. The betrayal of trust is beyond gender, beyond family ties. The jagged background, the permenant head wounds and the finalized nails were dramatic.

Art is a flat lifeless nothing until it produces an emotion. "programmed" not only produced an emotional response from me but, manifested into a real physical reaction. Well done!

~whip

seven006

Ms.Whip,

Puss? Ummmm.. thanks I guess. I wish I could get that passionate about my art. The nudes I do don’t even affect me that strongly anymore. I’m thinking I definitely need Jesus…or Buddha…or Sandra Bullock…or something.

Glad you liked/hated it. It’s good to know it affects people in different ways.

Dave

Big Tex

Nina must be smacking you around like she promised to do.

Yep but only when we play. Greeks are very hot blooded.

As for me being a nice guy, well I hope to have you representing me in the next life. You and Nina think far more of me than is deserved, so maybe you can offer a defense to the Big Guy for me.

You've got a big cheering section with her you know. She's knocked me upside the head for 22 years and now she's got an ally when I wander over to my dark side. All my life I've been the little guy in the corner, watching others and being ignored. Not complaining at all, it's actually not so bad and somewhat enjoyable as you can learn a lot by paying attention. I can't tell you how strange it feels to be noticed.

It's good to see you again. You're one of the few whose art has always made me think. Which means you've actually got something to say as an artist. We were lucky enough to visit the Louvre a couple of weeks ago, and frankly most of the art ran together. I'm not saying it was bad at all, but it didn't catch my attention. A few did though, and they stuck out like a bright penny in a fountain. Those were the ones I lingered on (and I wish I could have spent more time looking). Your art is the same. There is something there that catches my attention and holds it.

Anyway, I hope you're doing well. I swear one of these days I'm going to get you down here to Texas.

Be well,

Chris

myself

You use to be such a sweetheart. You’ve been hanging out with your sister too much haven’t you?

*feigns shock. Dave I was talking about art. What were you thinking?

myself

You use to be such a sweetheart. You’ve been hanging out with your sister too much haven’t you?

*feigns shock. Dave I was talking about art. What were you thinking?

PROGRAMED  working out the dark side in art

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PROGRAMED working out the dark side in art