Truth

My friend Tim Lachina invited me to contribute to a show about truth. The show was fairly open ended, the artists explored personal and political truths, there were poets and a backup band at the opening. I was blown away, it was a fun night, there was a good turn out, there will be two more openings, March 27 and April 17, 6pm to 10pm. Here are my pieces and blurbs from the show on the subject of truth. I was so excited Tim was able to align my pieces so the viewer could stand at the back of the room and see themselves in the mirror over the center of the painting.

Baabylon

The United States has always been problematic in its power structure, (see Manifest triptych) however in 2016 we saw the use of new targeted propaganda executed by the data company Cambridge Analytica (CA). CA gathered over 5000 points of data on most of the American population to determine who could be rangled to vote for a narcissistic businessman, against their own best interest, and then launched psychological campaigns tailored to those populations, largely unseen by everyone else due to our vast personal and private access to the internet. Truth is, the ruling class keeps power by distracting the populace, stoking division between working class populations, and propagating fear. If the working class united and understood their power, the ruling class would either be demolished or forced to serve the true interest of the people. To make meaningful strides in this direction everyone must start with themselves, for we have the most effect on our own mind, once the mind is clear and sturdy footing is found, a light can be extended to the next person and so forth. If there is any doubt in the power of personal psychology to change the entire world, one might reflect on how it was leveraged against us by CA. The strength in numbers of the working class and the true quest for justice could overcome the tyranny of the ruling class. In order to get there from here, we must all seek the highest truth as our North Star, the light from which shows we all have a shared interest for living on the same small piece of land that sustains us and we can all feel united through our shared desire to be loved, and so through treating each other how we wish to be treated, with love and understanding, and endeavoring to hold that value above all else, in everything we do, we will make exponential progress in balancing a devastatingly out of balance world order.

Manifest

An altar painting about truth and history. Truth is, learning history is a difficult endeavor, because history can be as subjective as its storyteller. This painting is a story about how the United States came to be. The story most Americans learned in school is of a courageous adventurer discovering new land, brave settlers who struggled against the elements, and noble forefathers who built the foundation of democracy, subsequently offering its people the best existence ever known to mankind. Truth is, there are a number of facts one could use to support those ideas, but a human could hardly judge the best existance man has ever had, how could they without living every position within every society. Another truth is that this country was founded on the consolodation of power and resources to serve and maintain a ruling class through genocide, slavery, and theft. Furthermore, its leaders and advocates have attempted to hide and devalue thousands of years in human progress, natural medicine, and communal living that existed here before it was a desirable place for Western Europeans. The center panel of the altar painting depicts some of the first motions in forming the United States. There is Pope Borgia with Queen Isabella, of interest here for a papal bull dated 1493, giving specific permission for Spain to steal American land and enslave its people. There is also Erasmus, their contemporary, included here for his contrasting philosophies, he was a dissident of the Catholic Church at the time, Veritas, the goddess of truth, is in the smoke above his head. The outer panels of the altar painting are questions about where this country is going, because if you aren't planning it, it's not for you, and because holding onto systems designed to oppress, will never bring true freedom.