The end of the week - a new painting.

The last post that I wrote mentioned the modern narcissistic attitude of most people, but I have to admit that most artists are a little inclined to be narcissistic. Have a look at some of the things that Salvador Dali said. But thank goodness, the artists that I know are only slightly narcissistic, but I'm inclined to think that being an artist forces one to be narcissistic to some extent. The reason that I say that, is that the artist needs to make some sales, and in order to convince the prospective buyer that he/she is making a worthwhile investment, the artist must "sell himself". Not all artists are good at this, but we try. The act of "selling oneself" relies on, at least pretending to be narcissistic to some extent. I have seen this carried to extreme, and have also seen very good artists not saying enough to promote themselves. Oh my goodness, will somebody please protect us artist from ourselves!

Narcissitic

I love my mobile phone and the internet, BUT I think that the digital world is turning the population into narcissistic self absorbed people. The amount of people that are taking "selfies" is alarming. We used to take photos of our loved ones, family and friends, but not of ourselves. But it might be argued that self-portraiture was the original "selfie". That might be so, but the whole population was not artistic - sitting in front of a mirrors, painting. What is more: the reason most artists painted self portraitures was because they needed the practice and could not afford a model, or one was not available at the appropriate time. As much as I love my electronic items, it pains me to say that it has resulted in a more lonely, depressed society. We are more connected to others thought the interment than actual speaking to them face to face. In some cases people are not even touching others. On a BBC program, (I do not remember which one though) it mentioned that people are even having less sex than before. Why? - because they more connected to others via the internet, than those in the room. Have you ever been lonely in a crowd - well this is the way of things now - a room full of people but they are all connected to some else at the other end of the world. I think that in terms of social health and inter-reaction, the world is very sick. Could this epidemic be one of the unforeseen deterrents of human population explosion that Malthusians could never have imagined?

Mobile phones

What would we do without them now? Who are them ? You know - mobile phones and the internet! Internet is just great, its what we are using right now, and it con be done on your phone (Old news, I know). Anything that you want to know, anything that you want to see (the good and the bad), it's all available, just a few key stokes away. Talk about an utopia. I can not imagine what life would be like if we no longer had internet. But all this depends on digital circuits - and they are beautiful in their own right. It is almost like abstract expressionism. Jackson would have been very impressed with a board if he had seen one.

Wired Ring

This is a new dawn for me, yes - I know it is an awful cliché, but it was the first that came into my mind - sorry. This new way of doing gold leaf has sparked off a creative intensity that I have not had for many a year. Serendipity is such a pleasing experience. The finding out of a thing by accident is truly invigorating. Having dismantled an old phone for pure fascination and anger, because it no longer was useful, I discovered how beautiful the digital board was. And what is more all these boards are hidden away from sight, almost as if they are to be unseen, unheard, the ugly ones. But, it is they that are most fascinating, captivating and enchanting. It seems almost sinfully to cover them up. A lot of old digital equipment has now been dismantled at home, and is being used in my art. Over the next few weeks, images will be uploaded showing the results.