Nation of Rebels: How Counterculture became Consumer Culture or Nation of Rebels: How to fuck with my head and turn my brains to mush

So I've recently started reading the book titled above and I must say I'm actually enjoying it.  It has been conferming for me a lot of the theories I've invented, adapted or adopted in the past 18 months.  It is also giving me great doubts in my ability to make any real change unless I assume the viewpoint of the cultural sculptor and realize it will take a large team of specialists all chipping at the same boulder for a lifetime before the work can be fully concieved.  That may be a stretch for me. 
This book has eerily parrelled my journey into my current ideas of culture.  From the appropriation of aesthetic with the neglect to concept that I thought I stole from the early postmodernists and applied to the ideas of consumer and political culture to the parrelles in the American past and present (WWII/Vietnam, the great depression, reliance on technologies) and even as far as my views as consumerism as brainwashing.  I know that none of these ideas are original but I've reached a lot of these conclusions on my own through personal research and now this gives me the backing I've needed to have some confidence outside of my bubble.
As far as my ideas of political reform, I have been questioning them even since before I cracked this book.  I've been questioning a lot of my thoughts, ethics and even practices.  I realized a selfishness I had to assume to be able to keep a certain quality of life while trying to do some good (I've been shying away from the struggle but justifying it with the idea that our first purpose of life is survival but have just been using a loose definition of survival based on the cultural standards for living and my compramise with that.)  Compramise, exactly what I've been doing.  The authors of Nation of Rebels talks about the leftist/reformist and the incompleteness of their intention.  I believe the use the idea of reform is just redecorating the cage.  I've been thinking a lot lately about the idea that we shouldn't work for our government when it is designed to work for us and that is pretty much they point they make.  If the culture would change the governement and corporations would have to as well.  This had me considering the purpose of my work and with it being deemed political.  I thought until tonight actually that it was political but now I realize that is more cultural.  I've used different techniques to talk about different areas and sure many of my critiques have been strictly political but it is critiquing it in the areas of cultural mediation or control.  The larger scope seems to be more of an investigation into my beliefs on culture.  Now that I'm dealing with culture the idea of hippocritical/contradictory ideals is even more prevalent.  Anna Vining asked me over the summer if I could things up for my utopia how would I do it and I couldn't even begin to answer her.  I had no idea of any logical way to create a functional culture that would be self sustaining and still allow for the technological advances that our lives have come to depend on.  I also couldn't figure out how to keep things general enough to not restrict freedom but structured enough to prevent pure chaos.  This is what lead me to the idea of hippocritical/contradictory ideals.  PETA allows animals to eat animals, and animals to probably eat people, but if a person even looks at a furry buck-toothed foamy mouthed rabids bucket the wrong way we are to be beaten with a leather whip they bought from the local sweatshop distibution center.  We all want to live forever and cherish every life and death, but we aren't willing to consider the natural order of death and the role it has played in sustainablity of the planet/resources or the correlation of land for living and land for growing (food that is) and the neccesity for genetically altered food for higher yeilds to even begin to have enough food to feed everyone; plus they are planning on then even using up even more of that land to properly burry a body (that should rightly be allowed to decompose to restore the minerals back to the cycle) to take up even more of the land for growing.  But the number one contradiction is a need for security with a lust for freedom.  If we allow ourselves to try to balance out all of these ideals we will surely have either pure chaos which could still leave many in just has much fear and self-loathing as our current structures do or split into tribes that will have to work their own small power structures that may still function similarly as now.  If we try to stay unified while giving everyone each of their freedoms that will eventually contradict other freedoms will leave us pretty much where we are now but with a lot more agression.  Who am I to tell everyone what freedoms are correct or the proper way to live their lives.  I could just consider my ideals and art as suggestions to ways of opening your mind but that seems like a timid pansy way about it.  I need to find a way to justify my beliefs and a way that we can all be happy or it will just create a new form of classism. 
I now understand why Sue Coe dedicates herself completely to this work of social commentary but I also understand why she says its a constant struggle and it often times is extremely difficult and unenjoyable.  I'm beginning to feel some of that.  I feel that until I'm justified in my work that it will be a constant struggle and become task rather than goal.  Today I realized that I'm making pretentious text art for the common person.  It's not visual, its not flashy, its plain and simple and confusing.  I mean I like that idea, but I wonder if it will really get my point across of if I'm so submerged into my own thought if I can really connect to people outside of conversation.

I'm going to bed now but I do have to say that so far the suggestions for solutions given in Nation of Rebels has to heavy of a relience for machine to work/provide and I think that the essential nature of successfully providing for ones self gives self worth and happiness.

Thoughts on Modifying the Text

HOW SHOULD THE TEXT BE MODIFIED?

• I believe the text should be modified based on the ideas behind context of the location
• Locations that I’m currently considering
• Schools
• Text should be misspelled?
• PUHLITTICKALY CORECKT
• Media (KC Star, Fox News, Review)
• Perhaps presented traditionally
• POLITICALLY CORRECT
• Censored
• P*L!T!C@LLY C*RR?CT
• Foreclosed businesses
• Presented large and encompassing the entire area
• Car Lots (Foreign may have to be separated from domestic.)
• Banks
•  Text should mimic the uncomprehendable imaginary numbers that have occurred in the bailouts
  
• P,OLI,TIC,ALL,YCO,RRE.CT
• Federal Buildings
• Maybe nonsensical
• Poiltcially Corerct
• Maybe just projected backwards/reversed
• Maybe strictly lowercase
• politically correct
• Jail
• Rehab Facilities
• On People
• Censored
• P*L!T!C@LLY C*RR?CT
• •    I’m still up for suggestions

Piece 1: This is where I currently am

WHY USE A LIGHT?  WHY USE A STENCIL?

•    Light links this to video

•    Light with stencil gives a graffiti aesthetic on a much larger scale without having to “damage”          property

•    Light removes the idea of precious object in art and forces us to create documentation.  This documentation can be considered precious object but it does not allow the same quality experience as the actual work.  To reserve the lesser quality for the gallery setting interests me

•    The temporary nature of light lends itself to the immediacy of my work and the hopefully short life of my subjects.  I like that the work disappears after I project it to also not allow more clutter of physical object

•    Stencils allow for a quick and cheap way to due multiple forms of the text

•    Using a light rather than projector allows for a quicker set up and less equipment


WHY TEXT ON LOCATION(, PERSON, OR THING)?

•    The text informs the viewer about a different way to view the location the text is on

•    the meaning of the text is then shifted according to the context of the location

•    Text can perform as a universal when talking about content that can be interrupted by the masses as long as it is taken from commonly used language









WHY “POLITICALLY CORRECT”?

•    This is a term that is frequently used in our culture

•    It has a specific meaning to everyone (whether or not they match is not important) which then creates a universal

•    Its general meaning is used to create a language that is not offensive to anyone but becomes offensive in the usage of it
     o    By this I mean that things are easily dismissable by deaming them “politically incorrect” which allows people to look past things that they themselves don’t want to deal with or simply are not comfortable with. 
     o    The idea of political correctness also impedes us as we try to make political advancements.  This is because anything outside of our current political structure would also be deemed politically incorrect and stops the conversation before it even starts.  This is another thing that can pose new thought as radical thought which then gives it a negative spin in culture





WHY FUCK WITH THE TEXT?

•    The term politically correct is so over used and misused that with only the text it can be read and the viewer doesn’t have to get passed their initial reaction to the text and can assume that their initial reaction to their application of the phrase to the space is my meaning for them.

•    I’m not worried about the viewer getting my exact meaning from this piece (or any really) so all I need is to do is confuse the viewer to allow them to wonder why I did what I did.  This forces the viewer to have a more open mind so that they can create different scenarios in their head.  While creating the scenarios the person must then consider their own reaction to it.  With this I can hopefully open people minds and eyes to all the problems that are in our everyday lives that get ignored. 



HOW SHOULD THE TEXT BE MODIFIED?

•    I believe the text should be modified based on the ideas behind context of the location
     o    Locations that I’m currently considering
          •    Schools
          •    Media (KC Star, Fox News, Review)
          •    Foreclosed businesses
          •    Car Lots (Foreign may have to be separated from domestic.)
          •    Banks
          •    Federal Buildings
          •    Jail
          •    I’m still up for suggestions

•    Beyond that fact I’m kind of stumped.  I have a couple ideas but any suggestions would be good

This is the kind of thoughts I've also been dealing with as far as my ethics and my work.

First Night

I'm just sitting here reflecting on our first night of testing actual projects in actual space.  I think tonight was a great success.  With Megan being sick and all of my prep work going down the toilet I would say that we still did well.  I have found ways to make smaller lights work for what I need but I need a more powerful light and I know that will be what I have to fight through this entire project. 

Forms for Video Production

http://www.dependentfilms.net/files.html

http://www.yandellwalton.com/

http://artprojection.com.au/html/Idebib.htm

http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/tech/projection/cinemin/swivel
http://www.wowwee.com/en/news/world-s-first-outdoor-projection-art-festival-goes-pico-with-cinemin-swivel

http://www.thegertrudeassociation.com/about

http://www.psfk.com/2009/03/dynamic-projections-by-klip-collective.html

http://www.edpaschke.com/gallery/

http://graffitiresearchlab.com/

http://www.petercoffin.com/

Current Work

I am working on making portable, handheld bat signals.  Tomorrow we are making opaque screens.  Tuesday we are performing the first set of projects