I don't ever know just what will end up an actual piece of art, or the inspiration for later art. Lately the subject of lies and the careful purpose behind them have been occupying my attention. Last Sunday, I attended and performed (Columbus Drum Chorus) at a food conference in Granville Ohio. I was captivated by the graphics around the event...the advertising mostly. I had done a google search, and found a Granville Graphic in the same arts and crafts style depicting a quaint little farm with a windmill, silo, farm house, plowed fields that I put in a blog. Of course it was absurd (the graphic) in that Granville Ohio is more like a theme park Disney creation of small town America...which is only a prop, and only appears to be wholesome.
But in all fairness, advertising is full of just such imagery that covers up a less than pretty or tranquil reality. This same imagery is on the carton of eggs, the lid of the chip dip, and I am guessing wherever animal cruelty needs to be "overlooked" for the good of Capitalism. "The show must go on". Obviously people need to be manipulated, or at the very least stay asleep in order for them to part with their money! We couldn't just put a real picture of a real cow on the packaging from the butcher. They don't want to make a graphic of a chicken confined to a cage for the convenience of humans. And of course the reality of the dairy farm isn't near as pretty as this firmly rooted belief in the concept of "wholesome".
This week in addition to preparing for my upcoming trial against a woman who deceived me and lied to the court, I will be examining the lies that are the everyday fabric of our existance. What better place to start than the basic food substances that are part of our everyday "run of the mill" food purchases? Appearances are indeed deceiving, and one must wonder at some point, just what would "the truth" look like? My lie catcher in the photo in no way resembles the contemporary Native American piece I will make of this project...rather it is a beginning. This is just the basic construction process on the way to the final construction, like the pieces of the metal quilt. I will weave it much like a dream catcher...the hoop which is the beginning of a standard dream catcher will be constructed out of barbed wire. Most of us are accustomed to thinking of barbed wire as a device to keep us out of places. We make barbed wire here in Ohio, as well as it's cousin razor wire, and it is mostly a successful method of guarding secrets, or treasure! In the instance I am using it, it is used for the opposite purpose, to keep things in, or contained, like a dream catcher. I invite you dearest readership to begin to notice the everyday lies that are the foundation of consumerism in the packaging of the "things". As I go into court next Thursday morning, I will go with the full knowledge of all that I am trying to expose, and all that the plaintiff is trying to keep hidden from the judge, and the pretenses of the whole justice system as well. There are parallels to all this content. One could be overwhelmed by the carefully woven society of lies we all subscribe to everyday. I feel lucky that there is a process of exposing the lies...court systems, agencies, journalism, literature, art. The very vehicles of the lies themselves are also the vehicles for exposing the lies it seems. I have worked in places that abuse livestock for the profit of society, and I have worked in systems that profess to guard the rights of the disabled. I have seen the truth, and I have seen the coverup. The pretenders wink at us and smile. I will keep you in my thoughts as I try to catch the liers in their lies, and I construct art that will hopefully enlighten those who wish to really see.
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