Laughing Bones

I perused RedBubble, an online marketplace where people can buy artwork submitted by the original artists. Upon looking at the work of the user Laughing Bones, I felt as if his art related to the aims of my art because of its intentions.  Many of his works seem to be social commentaries about how our lives are affected by very influential factors such as the government or drugs, while my art is meant to be a social commentary about the evolution of technology within our food system.  His art is also relatively simple and seems to be based in re-appropriation of images and becomes very surreal. The images are disturbing because of their meaning and because of their odd mixtures of images.

My favorite example is "Religolution" which combines two ideas that are supposed to be contradictory- Evolution and Creation- and meshes them together in a way that shocks the eye.  It seems blasphemous and displeasing to look at because the social importance placed on the image of Christ has been marred by the replacement of his figure by a monkey.  The idea that both Evolution and Creation can coexist is an accepted idea, but seeing them in this form calls into question whether they really can coexist in our beliefs.  There are contradictions within the stories of Genesis in contrast with the theories of how humans developed that must be thought out before being widely or blindly accepted.

Just so, I wish to achieve the same affect in my artwork.  In images such as the one in which a tomato is being injected with a fish (representing flouder DNA), the true nature of the tomato is called into question.  That this tomato is a genetically-modified organism and has become a normal thing in our society displays the widespread acceptance of how technology and food coexist.  Food is a natural thing, yet we can also create artificial foods. Can we be healthy or consume natural foods if we are altering our food? Is the existence of technology within our food system dangerous or beneficial? Is organic food a better system?  Can technology and healthy, natural food truly coexist?

"The People Are Broke Because the System is Fixed"

"Religolution"

"Fukt"

Color Correction

the colors stand out much more now

bit of an edit. looks a bit weird still with the amount of shadow, but at least our features are defined. kinda looks like an instagram filter

September 16-- 24 hours of sticking my face near a screen

7:14 a.m. dismissed alarm
7:23 a.m. dismissed second alarm
8:03 a.m. checked the time on my phone and flipped out
8:30-10:30 a.m. used laptop during class for reference
10:50 a.m. attempt to use internet which is not working
11:01 a.m. text Tom
11:02 a.m. text Mike
11:14 a.m. text Tom
11:17 a.m. text Tom
11:18 a.m. text Mike
11:24 a.m. text Mike
11:26 a.m. text Danie
11:51 a.m. text Mike
11:59 a.m.- 12:21 p.m. play Mario Kart on Wii
12:50 p.m. text Tom
12:54 p.m. text Pooja
1:02 p.m.- 2:08 p.m. use laptop
1:27 p.m. text Pooja
3:09 p.m. text Danie
3:51 p.m. call Peter
4:02 p.m. use car to pick up coffee grinds for compost
5:31 p.m. text Pooja
5:33 p.m. text Tai
5:34 p.m. text Zara
5:56 p.m. use stovetop to make dinner
7:35 p.m.-8:55 p.m. used Mac Lab
8:54 p.m. text Peter's Daddy
8:54 p.m. call voicemail, then home
8:57 p.m. call Clay
9:34 p.m. text Clay
10:30 p.m.-12:07 a.m. used Mac Lab
12:14 a.m. use Maria's laptop
12:22 a.m. text
6:36 a.m. wake up via phone alarm
6:59 a.m. use laptop

Pieces.

JPEGs and a lame short story

Balls that look like sea urchins...

...belt about...

...resembling flapper dresses...

...and wishing to have bird feathers instead of spikes.

Lollipops, however,...

...hold newspapers in contempt...

...for having the expanse of malleability as Playdoh...

...and the somewhat messy nature of silly string.

Let this tiara...

...and this yarn represent the inter-connectivity between all of these random objects.
The End.

Sharkship vs. Octoalien

P.S. I love Galaga.

Just 'KIDing'!

Team KIDing, comprised of Angolan-born artist João António Fernándes and Portuguese graphic designer Edgar Coelho Silva, comments on the consumerist culture in relation to advertising with their series I Love Culpa (1999).  Advertising seeks to use hidden representational images or logos in order to discretely convince consumers to buy or use specific products.  Branding helps to make consumers automatically familiar with products while the context on which those brand logos are placed in advertisements help to create positive associations with those brands.

In their work, team KIDing takes an advertisement that suggests a relaxing vacation environment or the luxury of the beach life with a beach/resort photo and manipulates it to reveal the true intent of the advertisement: to sell the services and products of hotels and other corporations at the beach.  They do this by bringing into the forefront of the advertisement the various logos and brands that would normally be hidden within the advertisement while also blurring the background beach photos.

I particularly enjoy this work because it seems to be a simple manipulation to make a significant commentary about the deviousness of advertising and branding in addition to the conditioning of societal symbols or behaviors that are reinforced by mass media and marketing.  Other people are using these ideas in various forms of art in order to fight the reinforcement of performative behaviors reinforced by such marketing: http://www.buzzfeed.com/ailbhemalone/brilliant-viral-video-satirizes-female-specific-advertising.

I do not yet understand the difficulties or technological aspects of this piece, but it does not seem to be very advanced.  Some Photoshop skills seem to be required, and that is all, but this piece was also created in 1999 when not everyone had such skills.  To go on a short rant, the beauty of its simplicity is that everyone has access to logos and branding. Logos are meant to be accessible and quickly understood.  They are meant to automatically and subconsciously become rooted in one's brain- some of them are even clever in adding clever hidden messages, such as the FedEx symbol in which an arrow is hidden between the 'E' and 'x' to imply forward-thinking, a positive and attractive quality in a company. (http://twistedsifter.com/2011/08/20-clever-logos-with-hidden-symbolism/) In finishing my thought, I enjoy that the simplicity of the piece reflects the basic idea that critically thinking is an easy thing to do: the intention of these symbols and consumer culture can be easily uncovered if the viewer is willing to heighten their awareness about what they are watching instead of thoughtlessly giving into the shamelessly cliche symbols continuously fixed into advertisements.