Via Flickr:
Abstract Digital Art influenced by art created during the Dark Ages. :-)
Simon
28 Dec 2012
Dark Ages 1
21 Dec 2012
12 Dec 2012
A very apt word
starved of culture(s) perhaps?
Alien, distance du loin
a la mecredi (rouge et jaune)
money (Tuesday)
an entity, entirety
a misanthropic recluse par
an advertisement
hanging from a ceiling
as money changed hands 4
Excalibur (Friday)
(symmetry, arabesque attitude)
para (envision) re: leverage
in the great church to
high capitalism (Sunday)
A paean for (several meanings here)
a pastiche of simulacra
(referring to pathos)
you, an aloof creature.... (Dark Ages 4 lundi)
(Friday 28th December 2012)
Networking is symptomatic
of a lack of opportunity and
distance metaphorical and
/or actual entre nous (recherche encore)
faux faux-political correctness
compassion (fear of libel) ((money))
elicit illicit elicit illicit elicit illicit
The reason(s) le pourquoi et le
comment is everything must
be this way that is,
the rhyme the reason, the spirit,
the practicality and the materiality
of it
that is here to stay
but in
terminal flux.
Dogma one suspects
a filigree, Oriental influence a
bricolage of Eastern cultures
and with this, by
displacement
an avant-garde for the West
Trade for the East. The Cutty Sark
perched historical
at Greenwich (Samedi)
in a media frenzy we
are fucked by our lack
of proximity to
the real (i)
ty disposition
impermeable (instigate)
(ii) conscious of solipsism
(January 1st 2013)
9 Dec 2012
18 Nov 2012
Post (your) Memoir
Via Flickr:
September 2012, UK
This isn't just a landscape, it's an impression of a landscape. However, the line between subjective representation and "realism" is very fine. Essentially, an expression of topography as subjective experience, here I hope to reveal the potential of the land as a metaphor for mental comprehension. I use the word mental, rather than "psyche" or "psychological" as these words clutter perception with multifarious ideas.
I don't want to spew art-bollocks as this can be pretentious, derogatory to the audience/viewer and can inhibit the potency of an art work. Nevertheless, I wanted to point out the conceptual aspects of the work as they may not be immediately apprehendable, particularly when one considers the "random" nature of viewing art work on the Internet.
The title "Post (your) Memoir" is a nod to literary and philosophical conceptions of Postmodern culture(s). I spent approx. 3 years on Trace Online Writing Centre based at Leceister University, where I moved from literature to dance and photography/digital art. "Post Memoir" reflects both Baudrillard's theory of "the end of history" and the notion of the "death of the author", where the author (or other creative) becomes less important or redundant in the creation of literature/art. The land is also a vital component of cultural identity. Even in today's artificial times we experience the potency of the land in virtually every task that we undertake. The cultural (and mental) significance of the land is no accident! One can also "post their memoir" or other interpretation of this art-work, in a seemingly abitrary manner, that reveals the process of creating art at the helm of my motivations for photographing and editing a photogragh of a not unusual field, lying ploughed and fallow in central England.
Simon
27 Oct 2012
Phoenix Rising
Via Flickr:
This really was a labour of love! Julie's pose is great and can lend its self to many variations of photo editing. I used an old texture I had created 3 or 4 years ago and used depth maps and distortion to create flame-like effects. Press "L" to view on black - looks better! :-)
Thank you to Julie for letting me use her photo in this image :-)
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com
8 Oct 2012
15 Sept 2012
Portent
Thank you to Julie Brocklehurst for letting me use her photo in this picture.
:-)
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com
18 Aug 2012
Illicit Editing
Via Flickr:
Thanx to Julie for letting me use her photo in this picture!
:-)
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com
12 Aug 2012
Disintegration Point
Via Flickr:
HDR editing and 3D effects on a photo by XstockX (Julie Brocklehurst).
:-)
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com
28 Jul 2012
Anatomical Reflections
Via Flickr:
HDR processing, using a photo by Julie (XstockX) and an abstract background I created.
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com
16 Jun 2012
Wind Swept Landscape
Via Flickr:
This shouldn't be! I mean, Winter in Summer, Summer in Winter..... Should it? Winter is back in June, or should that be Autumn? Summer curtailed, perhaps or interupted by Northerlies and Easterlies, I mean Winter coats and winter caps, umbrellas and boots in June!
The landscape hasn't suffered though; more dramatic for Autumnal winds, lightning and Continental rainfall; darkness at 4PM and cars surging into pools of water and crashing into one another; the splay of car lights and a swollen Moon like fairground rides twisting in high winds.
The recession bites as Europe riles under artificial, fiscal mechanisms and the distraction of Euro 2012, tennis tournaments, the Queen's Jubilee and, to come the pinnacle of all events, the Olympics! The weather has no remorse nor empathy! Queen Elizabeth was sodden on the Thames but not relinquished! Even in the Ukraine footballers were hurried from the turf, evacuated from rude, electrical storms.... Is all of Europe being blasted by Winter in June? Perhaps us Brits can take some cold and sodden comfort from a continent in meterological turmoil. Perhaps another welcome distraction for politicians, Europe-wide, from another turmoil, yet more chaotic and blunt! Still, we shouldn't knock these "distractions", the arts and sport are noble where politics and business are weak and lacking pragmatism and courage. The Ancient Greeks knew this way before us and fortunately, we retain their intellectual and rich culture that may even protect us from that, that we have no control over whatsoever at all? The savage weather, or could these be thunderbolts from Zeus?
A colourful interpretation of a Windy Summer in UK!
:-)
Simon (Words and Art)
14 Jun 2012
6 Apr 2012
22 Mar 2012
Notes on Gay Marriage
Whereas all human activity contains elements of politics, there are fundamental realities within societies that are commonsensical. For example, it makes sense to have health care for those who are ill as people get ill. It makes sense to have work for people to do because people require products and services. Reasonable? I thought so. It makes sense to have marriage for heterosexual couples as this acts as a way providing a stable and lasting base to bring up children successfully. Whether people agree with the religious aspects of marriage and the political elements is another matter, but the fundamental argument is reasonable.
Gay marriage is different. Let's clear away the prejudice. Let's say we want equal rights for gay people as fellow human beings. Let's say that we don't want to prevent gay people from getting married because we want power over them and wish to keep them oppressed. OK, so what are we left with? It seems we are left with a situation that is hyperreal; a simulacrum. We are left with an actuality that no longer bears any relation to the original occurrence. This, essentially is a flawed concept that reflects Western, cultural trends and, in doing so adds to the gradual dismantling of Western power. Is gay marriage, therefore, a good idea?
Of course there are arguments that the notion of the heterosexual sex act is somehow flawed in the sense that we are regarding something that is authentic (as a means to have children naturally) as intrinsic to marriage. Authenticity is authenticity. It would not be commonsensical nor realistic to say that a tree is not a tree and doesn't grow leaves! Indeed, if there is a good reason for something to occur, then why change it?
Should surrogate motherhood, artificial insemination and adoption become more commonplace? Surely, commonsensically, these practices should not be considered primary but a way of having children where the usual, natural means has not been successful. If this not the case then we are creating an increasingly artificial society, that leaves the door open for greater use of legislation and governmental control, that increases the hyperreal aspects of contemporary, Western societies, dismantles family life and the Western power base and creates a theatre-absurd, where it is impossible to comprehend any point or justification for the legalisation of gay marriage. The latter is particularly relevant as gay couples can already enter into a civil partnership. Increases in artificial insemination may also pave the way to more genetic experiments on human embryos that could have devastating consequences.
It seems that we should think very carefully before we legalise gay marriage as it may have profound consequences that affect us all.
10 Mar 2012
CCTV [Rotarius/Gyro]
Via Flickr:
Original photo by XstockX, layered, distorted and abstracted. Themes of compromised identity, suspicion, fear and unreality, caused by living our lives via media/the media and continuous observation.
Some of the textures look like watercolours or thick layers of oil paint. However, the picture uses only digital effects and digital paint, layered over a photograph.
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com
8 Jan 2012
"Evidence"
Via Flickr:
Taken in England December 2011 on a cold, Winter's day with compromised light. Too early for twi-light, a dull light reflected off leaves and other fauna, creating a cold-looking and misty effect. The naturally occuring "art" of nature often suprises us; here there is a suggestion of some woodland drama that unfolded recently. I can only capture the "evidence" but not the actual event that occured. The tree, keeled over by lightning or the wind, creates an evocative, surreal image that can suggest much more to the human mind than the reality of a fallen tree!
Simon
Reflections on Virtualness
Via Flickr:
Subtle editing on Miss Boux's original portrait, that creates a painterly effect.
:-)
Simon
missboux.deviantart.com
"Ma Corps"
Via Flickr:
Colour version of "Ma Bouche".
"Playing with the strong, natural architecture of Julie's form. Julie's pronounced bone-structure and muscle forms suggested the textures and light/shade that I used to create a quaisi-abstract effect."
www.flickr.com/photos/thecrescent/6655592815/in/photostream
"Ma Corps" also utilised colour which I used in an arbitrary way, at least initially,
then editing layers of textures to create a painterly effect with disparite hues that, nevertheless compare and contrast well together.
Simon
xstockx.deviantart.com