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Interesting video essay on the nature of art today and what is/ isn't subversive - while I don't necessarily agree with every point made, its certainly something to think about and a great way to spend 45 minutes
Jan 18, 2025
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May 8, 2024
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There's a thing that I notice at art museums sometimes. Someone wearing a slightly annoyed expression will be speeding through the exhibit like they are going down a long to do list. Or I'll be playing a board game with a group and there will be some guy with a strained face looking like they'd rather be anywhere else. Maybe another time we're leaving a movie and they start to complain about how it 'wasn't realistic', you get the picture.
I swear to God it makes me want to pulpify their face.
I'm not saying that you need to like every piece of art or that you should feel bad for not liking a movie, but, goddamn, at least give it a fucking second. Closing yourself off to The New, being automatically opposed to earnestness when it appears, is one of the most damaging defense mechanisms I can think of. It is, in turn, also one of the best ways to maximize your misery.
The defense mechanism that is cynicism, turns its users into parasites of the Social; they are sold the idea (a lie) that damaging and denigrating <<something>> allows one to become independent of its power structure. On the contrary, just as a leech is the most dependent on its host, cynics are those that are most dependent on the power structures in our culture.Â
I really want to emphasize the difference between criticism and cynicism, because I am in no way saying that we should not criticize bad or damaging art, but to successfully criticize something means to first buy in, to really allow yourself to be taken by a piece, to examine it as it comes. Buying in as a term (even one so bathed in capitalist sebum) is the right one in this case because to buy in requires one to make a sacrifice. You cannot experience art without opening yourself to the possibility that it will do damage to you. To fully allow yourself to be moved by a piece of art is to allow yourself to be cut.Â
But inside that cut is what it means to be human.
I think the single best way to combat cynicism is an unceasing curiosity of the world and the people in it. The normal and common of this world is absolutely fantasmatic if you take a moment to examine it; we see the world through have fluid filled orbs made of meat for fucks sake. The fact that there is anything at all, the fact that you and I exist for even a second is an absolutely unbelievable mind fuck, and to be unimpressed by any and everything doesn’t make you special or better than anyone, it just leaves you on a road to the pit of despair and leaves me really bummed out for the rest of the night.
Sep 20, 2024
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i'm trying to make myself smarter and my paintings better, so i've been staying up late–until i can feel myself falling asleep on the couch–and watching videos of other, way more successful artists talking to public access tv people about their work. growing up my dad always did the same thing, except instead of consuming media about culture or philosophy, he would watch like, ghost adventures, or shows about building cars.
linked is my favorite clip that i've watched recently; an artist with no pretentions and who uses their work to invest in and be a creative catalyst for their local community is something that i strive to be. also, did anybody else here get a BFA and just absolutely love getting assigned to watch one of these videos???
Mar 27, 2024
Top Recs from @haydenaugust
A website with a collection of screengrabs from nearly every movie you could think of, and you can sort by film title, director, cinematographer, year, genre, country, etc. Great for visual references for lookbooks, or just to discover a new film you might be interested in seeing!
I've attached one of my favorite stills, a great moment from Chungking Express (Dir. Wong Kar-Wai, 1994).
Dec 30, 2024
Just going out and picking up any kind of used physical media (books, CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes) makes the archivist in me happy, like I’m preserving somebody else’s story/ enjoyment of something
My personal favorite thing is VHS tapes, I’ve got a decent collection (all thrifted) and they’re usually the cheapest things offered
Jan 3, 2025
At my local indie cinema for a projection of the new Nosferatu, infinitely grateful I have a place like this I can go to see new stuff and incredible programming!
Dec 25, 2024