“Thus abandoning the baseline right and wrong in all things and stepping into the realm of infinity.”
-Comic Book Shaman
As a boy I listened to Joni Mitchell play after Led Zepplin on FM radio. fuck labels.
Matrix of Reconciliation
I grew up believing that justice can be had if I can only
sufficiently articulate the point of contention in my own favor. This family
dynamic is the main underlying factor in my cognitive development, and so is
now the focus of my life and artwork. As a child of the 1960s I was blessed
with every advantage our culture offered, save only wealth. Still as a white
man in that era I enjoyed every other advantage the times offered, I was hired
for nearly every job I applied for; my youth, intelligence and regular
appearance brought me acceptance at every social strata that I encountered. In the 1970s I experienced discrimination
vicariously, as women and so called minority persons were rejected out of hand
in applying for open positions at my workplaces. I think this, more than any reason I can name
caused me to quit a number of good jobs, suffering anguish and disgust at the
bigoted attitudes of employers and co-workers. I came to perceive my entire
culture as fake and hypocritical.
My unconventional attitudes grew from these perceptions, and
I drifted through the following decades seeking some way to elude the suffering
I felt; without then really understanding what it was that caused it. I felt
there must be some justification for this horrible injustice that I was
missing, but as I investigated many interconnected subjects and whole fields of
knowledge; I came to understand that the very institutions that purport to
oppose discrimination and poverty in our society are in fact the greatest
offenders; government, religions, educational institutions and the media are
all dedicated to maintain themselves unchanged. As such they are all agents of
great injustice, and in opposition to individual self-determination.
This realization led me to a simple cognitive analytic tool: to look carefully at perceived negative
aspects of all things apparently positive, and also for positive aspects of
seemingly negative ones. Thus abandoning the baseline right and wrong in all
things and stepping into the realm of infinity. Ingrained in dominant culture
are infinite financial ambitions that when viewed are on their face unjust in
terms of limits and contradictions. For every good reason to do something there
is always a counterpoint that at least discourages it. With the assumption that
everyone decides what they will choose to do in any particular situation; also
each person’s choices will vary widely according to circumstances. It is clear
that the seeming intractable nature of injustice is rooted in the disconnected
decisions of individuals. At this juncture the apparent complexity implied
seems daunting, but in the perspective of infinity that complexity shrinks down
to a clear sort of order.
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| Here captured just a few seconds of a performance by DeZorah, of McAllen TX. |
All of the varied decisions made by individuals in the
context of a family, a class at school, or a work shift seem knowable or
predictable, but drawing back the lens to consider the same of a whole city, an
entire state, or nation: impossible. Remarkably all of this falls into
predictable channels as a matrix of humanity becomes apparent, so that
seemingly impossible complexities are found to contain countless similarities
of intentions. We are only prevented from seeing these by our fear and distractions caused by diverse aspects of each life, personal
concerns and responsibilities. These fears
and distractions result in all poverty, injustice and violence in
our culture.
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The key aspect of all of my work is that it is done on ashoestring budget. These pix were shot to test my ‘new’ camera, a pawn shop find
for $32.50 including tax and a 6 month warrantee. Most of the above shots are
with the continuous feature. The results are a little too dark in the available
light at Hitones, but I still like the capture of the performers acts on that
night. The flash pix turned out better, and all in all this little Elph 340 hs
is a step up in my gear and I hope will improve the look of my work.
If I may be said to own a heart; I reckon it is contained here. -Comic Book Shaman
