Electoralism 2008

[cross-posted from moink.net]

There is little purpose in writing extensively about how the United Stations electoral system, while providing the illusion of popular influence, is little more than a tool to manufacture an air of legitimacy where none exists. It is used to continue our domination, and that of the other oppressed classes. Instead I'll just point to Ray Cunningham's very brief If voting changed anything... it would be illegal.

No matter which candidate is elected, we are in for more of the same. More capitalism. More oppression. More war. More police. More violence. The presidential and vice-presidential candidates are not necessarily inherently bad people, but they do believe in capitalism, and electing the ones from either party will result in just about the same outcome. It is time to stop imagining that our votes make a difference, and begin organizing for real democracy.





Hint: for the most wheat-pasting fun (best quality), print on 11 by 17 inch paper with a printer that supports margins of no more than 0.3 inches... 0.18 is preferred; this may mean turning on "Edge-to-Edge Printing" for HP printers, or something else for printers made by others

To Pick Up a Thing

Here's a guy picking up a thing.
I'm really into the pen work on this--I might watercolor it instead of this digital action, but here's its current state. I often lose interest in things over time, so it's kind of a now or never type of thing. I hope life's treating everyone well lately. Fall break is a battle with myself over what to put my time into--I'm rolling to the library right after this, but we'll see how well I apply myself there.

Ride til You Die: the Last Chapter (maybe)

hey team,
Sorry that it has been a while, but school has been running my life a bit, as I guess is to be expected. I made another 'ride til you die' thing, probably the last one, but I kind of went off of Andrew's remix and incorporated some environmentalism into the concept. I have been thesis-writing a lot lately, so I'm getting my learn on a lot, and have spent more time in the library this semester than ever before. Now I am going to make some music and go to a party to see some friends play in a band.
Ethanol is a dumb idea. My economist friend is writing his thesis on it, and how stupid and inefficient it is. Oh well. Here's the new image.
Megacat

An Adorned Shell is a Symptom of Bourgeois Turtle Decadence that Must be Struggled Against

[cross-posted from moink.net]

Megacat was recently approached by Kusikia to create a poster to advertise the release concert for their new album, "TURTLE WARS". Megacat got on that, and produced awesome turtles of doom. The project was then referred (sub-contracted?) to me, and I produced the text and layout, vectorized the graphics, did the colors, etc.

I have to admit that working with color is absolutely terrifying. I've only touched color in an art medium (other than as a single tone on white or black) once before, and it was a disaster. It still does not seem "just right" to me, and that's mostly because of the colors. If I was limited to black, white, and even two tones, it would be easier to comprehend. The high-contrast and simplicity of monotone work makes it extremely high-impact without the need to struggle with a color palette.

All this to say: color freaks me out, black and white are hella awesome. Hope you like the poster.

Also! Come to the show! Starting at Shakabra's (6th Ave & Oakes, in Tacoma) at 7:30pm, starring Teeath, Palo Verde, The Nextdoor Neighbors and, of course, Kusikia! Free! All ages! !!! !!!!!!!!! !

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The City, A Pile of Rubble

[cross-posted from moink.net]

During my brief time in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was slightly overwhelmed by the city I could once call my home. It isn’t quite that I haven’t been there in a long time. I do know how to move around the town… even got the bus system down. Sometime still felt foreign. It was the people. I returned home to find so few people that I still knew and still cared about. It was tragic, and isolating.

The only exception was when I shared a wireless access point with a new neighbor and we had a long, impromptu chat. “Annie”, sorry I didn’t call you back. I fled California for Tacoma, WA. Anyway, I did a linocut in response to what I was feeling about my life, and the city in general. I don’t have the energy to explain further, today.

Fatalistic Plant Types

I messed around with these for a while and I am thinking maybe I should have watercolored them. I guess I have grown attached to the infinite malleability of digital things. I can try things, making aesthetic decisions all I want, and not feel like I lose anything from it. Of course there are the countless hours that I've spent digitally manipulating things that could have been spent doing maybe more legitimate artistic endeavors, but what's done is done.
Most of these plants came from a sort of feeling like maybe I have been committing myself to pursuing all the wrong goals, like maybe I am a tomato plant aspiring to be an onion. Talking about myself as a plant is not meant literally, it is this college thing called metaphor. Really wild stuff. Sorry, I forget that keyboards can't express subtlety like sarcastic overtones can. But anyway, that is where "give up," and "I will never be an onion," and "no you aint awesome" came from. I think these type of shapes might make for good woodcuts later. The last one on the bottom is an attempt to counteract all the negativity in the others. Looking at them, I am actually pretty furious about how the colors turned out. It will be all gorgeous and saturated, and then saving it in a profile that is fit for the web mutes everything, so now the purple looks all whack and pastel, but it's not my fault completely, I swear.

Keep living,
megacat

Faster Pussycat! Pedal! Pedal!

I loved Megacat's letters, so I got to work applying them in a context that made them make more sense to me. "Ride" is obviously referring to a bicycle, right? Or since I love my motorcycle, it must have been meant for motorcyclists. Or is Tupac just a serious roller coaster 'ridah', in addition to being a self-admitted rapist? In the end I decided it would make the most sense to use a bicycle, plus bicycles have the least to do with Tupac. And because bicycles are awesome.

The idea of being "hardcore" about some activity or another—so serious that you would die doing it—is hilarious to me. It implies the sort of extreme attitude that tends to produce outrageous absolutist statements. If we take a different approach to interpretation, however, and rather than "I will ride my bicycle and I will stop for nothing until I expire, panting down the road", we assume the meaning is "I will always be a bicyclist because it is wonderful. When I die, I hope that I will be able to look back at a life filled with bicycling", everything sounds much more rational. The people who, in my mind, most closely embody the (latter) implied relationship with their bicycle, however, are those in the radical community, anarchists and radical leftists in general love their bikes. They see it as a symbol of independence from consumerist commodities like gasoline, as well as a symbol of self-reliance. After all, in the absence of an engine, it is the rider that provides the locomotion.

Incidentally, I couldn't get this movie title out of my head today. It looks totally bizarre. And sorry if this post seemed mildly schizophrenic.