Untitled

, originally uploaded by crescentsi.

Thank you to XstockX for allowing me to use her photo in this image.

Simon

http://xstockx.deviantart.com

Living Solutions

I am now officially living in an advert. Unfortunately, for those of you who can't keep up with the development of technology, I don't have time to explain. Time is a monetary factor and lateness or perceived lateness becomes a "preparation to irony", resulting in system exclusion (or having no fixed abode). If I don't live in the advert for 10 hours a day I am homeless. 2 strikes and you're out!
Fortunately, I live in rather a remarkable advert in the way that it makes no sense to the consumer. Traditionally, adverts had some clarity about what they were trying to sell, so people could recognise the product and buy it. This is the beginning of paying for advertising, not just renting a space to live but a kind of tax to fund Capitalism or "life solutions" as it is rapidly becoming known.
Not requiring a physical space to live in does cut costs and cuts down on prison inmates, but, although fair play, it does sometimes feel less absorbing than 4 walls! The advert I live in, although rather amateurish from a programming point of view, is laced with symbols of independence and freedom. Democracy is often evoked through an owl.
The paradox (not irony, which implies pragmatism) is that many people still live in flats and houses. Although this is becoming indistinguishable from "living solutions", the problems with administration and physical space should be addressed and full compliance reached, or we will face huge litigation, even on a perceived basis.
I have a huge face of a founder-market-leader on the fascia of the advert, constantly in view of the paying public. At least we know that the art of the past is being honoured, through the depiction of gods, goddesses and demi-gods through creative mechanisms.
I often remark, although with some hesitance now, that 10 years ago the whole notion of living within a virtual space would have seemed absurd. However, absurdity is the mother of all invention (rather than necessity, which is absurd) and virtual living spaces or rather, living solutions, have dramatically cut costs to advertising and commerce.
I feel fully functionable and have managed compliancy, despite 2 late payments for my education and 1 to a dating agency. This is also an achievement, considering that my parents are under the "living solutions eligibility compliance threshold", having squandered money on physical holidays abroad and a lack of potential earnings, due to my Mother leaving education before her Masters.
I say "fully functionable" because originally there were concerns that those who lived in virtual spaces would lose basic functioning such as life-skills, social skills, and motor abilities. Some still had notions such as mental illness and anxiety and depression! Of course, psychotic disorders were proved to be a symptom of a public-funded economy. However, none of the above were cost-effective, so, naturally were ruled out.

Poem 23/09/2010 (This Portal)

This portal from one town to
another, from one culture to
another shouldn't be a faceless
car on a neglected road

a worm-hole in a plastic world
a black hole, a stargate, a
manoeuvre shouldn't kiss our cities
like a timeless trance

A Facebook page, a cure for Cancer
we shouldn't be neglected like this;
a shortage of housing, a reflection in a
television screen

We should say bom dia, bon voyage
a handshake here a pat on the back, a
caress, a hug and eyes that
met across heated floors

should wend their way back to television
screens, for this, 25 minutes to Solihull
by a route that seems never invented
is the blink of an eye in a Sat Nav

screen that decries the woodland that
I pass in flurries, the poverty and drugs
and illness that is measured digitally
symbiotically, economically.

This portal is faster still, a land
my home that I do not recognise
buildings empty, half built
like a friend, misanthropically

You'd rather forget

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company 'Faultline'

The brilliance of the choreographer, Shobana Jeyasingh should not go unnoticed. My review will be short as I have dental problems and I get sick and tired of trying to explain the importance of certain art works to an audience who don't really give a toss! However, there are those that appreciate high levels of creativity and attempts to comprehend art works in greater detail, and I write for these people as well as for my own pleasure.

So, briefly, I believe it is important to acknowledge Jeyasingh's insight into multiculturalism. Multiculturalism and globalisation (by this I mean the meshing of global cultures as well as economic, intellectual ((sic)), political and other "cultural" phenomena) are today's avant-garde.

Jeyasingh and her dancers reveal the choreographer's comprehension of the current state of intellectual and cultural disparity, that is gradually cohesing and altering our comprehension of ourselves and the way that we interact with each other. Jeyasingh manages to convey this highly complex and uncertain contemporary experience, through a marvelous fluidity of movement and breath taking subtlety. Jeyasingh's choreography merges (principally) Indian, classical dance forms with Western dance forms. However, when watching her dance performances you realise that her comprehension of dance (as a metaphor for cultural disparity and exchange) is highly erudite, mixing Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet and street styles with Indian dance. The Indian dance is most important in the sense that it acts contrapuntally to Western styles, largely through hand and facial gestures, iconic, bodily gesture and rhythmic disparity to Western musicality.

Jeyasingh's choreography acts as an antidote to Modernity and Western, Postmodern, societal stasis and historical reflection. It points towards the end of Post modernity and the beginning of the next cultural period that we will experience.

Finally, it is important to note that Jeyasingh's work is accessible and includes popular dance styles and mixes them with styles that are traditionally deemed to be of more merit, artistically. She creates beyond the restrictions of many choreographers and other contemporaneous artists, creating dance that is not confined to established views. In other words, Jeyasingh creates art that does not merely toy with ideas of multiculturalism, globalisation and the consequent societal upheaval that this will bring. Jeyasingh creates art that genuinely and completely expresses this condition.

Simon Harris

The Selfridge's Mosaic

The Selfridge's Mosaic, originally uploaded by crescentsi.

Mosaic created by overlaying abstract designs with a photograph of the Selfridges building in the Bull Ring, Birmingham UK.

Simon

Post Industry

Post Industry, originally uploaded by crescentsi.

The photograph of Julie is layered on top of a photograph I took of the Bullring shopping Centre, Birmingham, UK. Other textures were used as well.
Hopefully, this picture evokes ideas regarding capitalism, the "shrine" of the market place (agora), the changing face of the workplace and the potency of advertising. To me, contemporary advertising expresses a repressed need to invent gods and goddesses and to worship "quasi-deities" in a materialistic and capitalist landscape.

Thank you to XstockX (Julie) for alowing me to use her excellent photo in this picture.

Simon

Untitled

, originally uploaded by crescentsi.

Thank you to Xstockx (Julie) for allowing me to use her photograph in this image.

Simon

://xstockx.deviantart.com

No para Innita, the Sayingsomething Interview.

No para Innita, the Sayingsomething Interview.
by Sebastian Villarreal.


1 - From what, and / or how did the word "innita"?

The word “Innita” emerged in 1998 to seek a name, with paper and pencil on a desk, to my wife / partner / girlfriend, my virtual / real love, my infinite "half" feminine who she is with me this or absent: a type of perception a-la “My Heart Will Go On” -but in lesbian and spatial version. "Innita" was a word invented in an era that began to pay more attention to Russian models in magazines, precisely because a female friend from there. The word "Innita" born inspired in part by "Nikita", a film that ironically I have not watched.


2 - On the Flickr’s set called "No Para Innita” I found many photographs entitled “Casualties of Rawwar”, where you are in a bath with the mask, are taken from various angles and positions. Could you explain that it is, or what purpose they have?

In 2008, in the midst of World War IV, my face was disfigured by a group of zombies attack, leaving open scars that never coagulate. The pads mask protects what remains of my face. While it was an attack on that radial world, it´s a symbol of what the world dominated by omnivorous human species makes invisibly in the life of a vegan person.


3 - What things did not you draw, not because it is difficult if not because you do not like, me for example I find it hard to draw cars is not “my strength” and I do not draw attention.

I agree. Apathy is the barrier to almost everything, and therefore the same happens in the drawing. I do not believe in talent, I think constancy as a way to refine the development of the drawing. In my case, I have apathy of drawing almost everything but The Woman. I do not usually get out of what in art called "comfort zone" and do not feel bad. So I am too lazy to draw almost everything else, from architectural or natural settings to objects and similar. And so everything that is not the woman is not inspiringly “my strength”." However, when it is inevitable, everything else has to be drawn.


4 - Can you mention some Colombian artists you admire and / or appeal to you?

I confess that I look more photos than illustrations. Sure there are many Colombian artists that I'm missing, but I like the illustration of Ródez and painting and drawings of Rossina Bossio Bossa. I know them personally; Ródez has been like a "tutor" and Rossinna as a discovery. Maybe that makes me feel close to the work of both of them.

5 - Can you tell me something that bothers you when someone discuss your artwork?

When are comments boringly in morbid tone, I delete it. If they are vexations of anonymity, I delete it and block the sender. Fortunately there are not many. In general, my work on flickr gallery is more observed than commented. I very rarely comment on other galleries or answer one at a mine, which may also discourage my public to comment. Several times they prefer to tell via mail or a chat, than leave it as public comment.

6 - What events of your childhood make you think did influence your art training?

Comics.


7 - Favorite color, or one with whom you identify.

I dress in black, technically this is not a color, and it goes with my name. I also like the rainbow, ie, I don´t have a favorite: it changes from time to time. But if I had to give a list of other colors that I liked, in no order: the emerald green, scarlet red, aqua blue, and white.


8 - How do you get such perfect planning of the supra-reality, the subreality and apparent reality ?

Again, the credit is for the comics I read in my childhood. In the past decade, I knew Geoff Johnns, ’ work, writer of comics that "repaired" with a successful story, the return of Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern. Achievements like these are my inspiration to do everything in the radial worlds' sync of my work. It must be said that the “Apparent Reality”", it is, this dreamed by Omnivores’ world in which we are, is almost zero work that needs to be invented there, it is the world as we see it. In this case, synchronization is more a job as a journalist.


9 - Mention a TV cartoon you like.

I see none now, nor repeat chapters of already watched. I think my little consumption of animation is the same thing I see photographs instead of illustrations, as explained above. What I do every day is drawing, then in my "breaks" so I guess I must be turned to other things. For example, about three months I´m seeing again TV series: Lost, Dexter and Breaking Bad have been my favorite.


10 - Can you advise something good to serve as inspiration for artwork?

Unless you accept draw exactly what you are asked, as it’s the case, for example, of an advertising agency or similar-atmospheres that I avoid, we must draw from within. The venting and gratitude are my best source of inspiration.



*

1- A partir de qué, y/o cómo surgió la palabra “Innita”?

La palabra “Innita” surge en 1998 al buscar un nombre, con papel y lápiz en un escritorio, a mi esposa/compañera/novia, mi amor virtual/real, mi infinita “media naranja” femenina que me acompaña esté ella presente o ausente: un tipo de percepción del tono “My Heart Will Go On” - pero en versión lésbica y espacial. “Innita” fue una palabra inventada en una época que empecé a prestar más atención a modelos rusas en revistas, precisamente por una amiga de allá. La palabra “Innita” nace inspirada en parte en “Nikita”, la película que irónicamente no he visto.


2- En el álbum “no para innita” de Flickr me topé con muchas fotografías tituladas “Casualties of Rawwar ” en las que estás en un baño con la máscara puesta, están tomadas desde varios ángulos y posiciones. ¿Podrías explicarme de que se tratan, o que fin tienen?

En el 2008, en plena Cuarta Guerra Mundial, mi rostro fue desfigurado por un ataque colectivo de zombies, dejándome cicatrices abiertas que nunca coagulan. La máscara de toallas femeninas protege lo que queda de mi rostro. A la vez que fue un ataque en ese mundo radial, es un símbolo de lo que el dominante mundo omnívoro de la especie humana hace invisiblemente en la vida de una persona vegan.


3- ¿Qué no dibujas?, no porque sea difícil si no porque eso no te gusta, a mí por ejemplo me cuesta dibujar autos, no es mi fuerte y no me llaman la atención.

Concuerdo. La apatía es la barrera para casi todo, y por lo tanto sucede igual en el dibujo. No creo en el talento, creo en la constancia como forma de pulir el desarrollo del dibujo. En mi caso, tengo apatía de dibujar por casi todo lo que no es La Mujer. No suelo salirme de lo que en arte llaman “zona de confort” y no me siento mal. Por eso me da pereza dibujar casi todo lo demás: desde escenarios arquitectónicos o naturales hasta objetos y similar. Y por eso todo lo que no es la mujer no es inspiradoramente “mi fuerte”. Sin embargo, cuando es irremediable, pues todo lo otro se dibuja.

4- ¿Podrías mencionar algunos artistas Colombianos que admires y/o te llamen la atención?

Confieso que miro más fotos que ilustraciones y seguro hay muchos artistas colombianos que me estoy perdiendo, pero me gusta la ilustración de Ródez y la pintura y dibujo de Rossina Bossio Bossa. Los conozco personalmente, a Ródez que ha sido como un “tutor” y a Rossinna como un descubrimiento. Tal vez eso me haga sentir cercano el trabajo de ambos.


5- ¿Me dirías alguna cosa que te moleste cuando comentan tus ilustraciones?

Cuando son comentarios de tono aburridamente morboso, los borro. Si son enfados de anónimo, los borro y bloqueo al remitente. Afortunadamente no son muchos. En general, mi galería de trabajos en flickr es más observada que comentada. Yo mismo casi no comento en otras galerías ni respondo uno a uno en la mía, lo que puede desanimarlos también a comentar. Varias veces prefieren comentarme por correo o en un chat, que dejarlo como comentario público.

6- ¿Qué hechos de tu infancia crees que influyeron en tu formación artística?

Los cómics.

7- Color favorito, o uno con el que te identifiques.

Me visto con el color negro, que técnicamente dicho, no es un color, y pues va con mi nombre. Además me gustan los del arco iris, es decir, no tengo un favorito: cambia con el tiempo. Pero si tuviera que dar una lista de otros colores que me han gustado, en ningún orden: el verde esmeralda, rojo escarlata, azul aguamarina, y el blanco.

8- ¿Cómo logras la planificación tan perfecta de la supra-realidad, la subrealidad y la realidad aparente ?

De nuevo, el mérito es por los comics que leía en mi infancia. En la década pasada, conoci el trabajo de Geoff Johnns, guionista de comics que “reparó” con un acertado relato el regreso de Hal Jordan a ser Green Lantern. Logros como esos son mi inspiración en hacer que todo se sincronice en los mundos radiales de mi obra. Cabe decir que la “Realidad Aparente” , es decir este mundo de sueño omnívoro en que nos desarrollamos, es casi igual a cero el trabajo que se necesita inventar ahí, pues es el mundo tal como lo vemos. En este caso, la sincronización es más un trabajo como de periodismo.


9- Menciona algún programa de televisión en dibujos animados que te guste.

No veo ninguno ahora, ni tampoco repito capítulos de los anteriores. Creo que mi poco consumo de animación se debe a lo mismo que veo fotografías en vez de ilustraciones, como dije antes. Lo que hago diariamente es dibujar, entonces en mis “descansos” por eso supongo me debo volcar a otras cosas. Por ejemplo, hace unos 3 meses estoy viendo de nuevo series de TV: Lost, Dexter y Breaking Bad han sido mis favoritas.


10- ¿Podrías aconsejarnos algo bueno que sirva de inspiración para hacer ilustraciones?

A menos que aceptes dibujar exactamente lo que te piden, como es el caso, por ejemplo, en una agencia de publicidad o similar, -atmósferas que evito-, hay que dibujar desde adentro. El desahogo y el agradecimiento son mi mejor fuente de inspiración.

Cocteau Twins - Evangeline

Poem July 2010

Tutti au fait accompli?
C'est ca, rien fait
a la busca faux
a jaune futures reform arabesque
canto des couleur

No promotion export fallacious
serial stasis
ethereal exogeny

Cantus de la mode
empire de castillo dans la ciel
a natural disposition
and dispossessed

Capoeira ferile, entwining cartography
a sudden sunshine
a la mode de rigueur
et lens per favore

Oceans sparkle
under the dunes du choix
Tondu, a backwards step
4 clear thoughts
are ribboned in pink
Arabia, philosophia

Kunst; the language of dance
and reflection via distance
perimeteric screens 2
dice a fuelled, insistent portraiture

The fluidity of love
cannot be bought, only its
skull the shores are blunt
and u r my understudy

du complicite
With money our sculptor
aesthetics are bones
air travel en masse

we should fuck each other senseless
precognize a renaissance
struggle under little despots
to interfere our journeys



Simon Harris

This poem endeavors to capture the global, multicultural flux that many of us experience today. This is a worldwide phenomenon. Conceptually, I have reflected these concerns and, most notably I have mixed Indo-European languages to reflect these concerns, stylistically. For example; "a jaune futures reform arabesque/ canto des couleur". In the English, yellow futures reform arabesque/ song of colours. The words "jaune" and "des couleur" are French, while canto is Spanish. Grammatically, there may be "mistakes" simply because this is a novel approach to mixing languages (often mid-sentence) in poetry. However, I believe "mistakes" should be tolerated and seen as contributing to a global culture, rather than evidence of grammatical errors. I have also included some "text speech" or "Internet speech" to contribute to the intellectual, cultural, linguistic and actual uncertainty, that is today.

Briefly, I wanted to state that this "poem" is as much a form of Text Art, than a poem (artistic work of literature). All art forms are crossing over today and I don't see why poetry should be limited to the page and to public readings.
SH

Avant-Gardism at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Avant-gardism does not sit well in a captalist landscape, where art (the arts?) are measured (athough, as yet not invariably so) by their potential to make money or literally, at the point of sale.

Originality is not dead, after Modernism, only an idiot would believe that new ideas are completly dependent upon the whim of government or the resultant, mediocracy of capitalism. However, the nature of originality or avant-gardism has changed.

Far from the romantic introspection of Modernity, where the West defined "newness" in relation to Western ideas/thought, we now have to define avant-gardism in terms of an increasingly global arena. We in the West cannot deem art to be of intellectual and cultural value when we are exposed to a global culture, and we have yet to understand cultures that are new to us. Indeed, who is to say that, for example, Amazonian tribes or Brazilian people shouldn't see art through their intellectual/cultural values and prescribe values that art from all over the world should confom to, to be considered worthy of possessing intrinsic value?

Evidently, today's Avant-Garde is the meshing of Global cultures via new and informative ways. This leads towards a state of Global art, where ideally, art (or the arts) can be deemed to be of value because arts practitioners, historians and audiences from around the globe can find value in art works.

As cultures shift toward globalism, the effect upon intellectual thought, politics and economies may be startling. For sure, life will never be the same again!


Simon
2010

Article originally posted on the "New Renaissance group" on Flickr.

Automaton - Experimental Research

This is a photograph, not yet widely circulated, of experimental research into creating a cyborg. Unfortunately I cannot reveal my sources, for reasons that should be obvious.

Here, the process is incomplete. The human skin has not yet covered the metallic, robotic parts. There is evidence to suggest that human organs are used and remain largely intact, however a metallic-like substance has been "grown" using similar methods to growing crystals.

One source states that the metallic substance contains human gene codes and, therefore can be "grown" organically. This is probably done using nanotechnological methods, in a similar fashion to"organic computing".

I apologise for the quality of the photograph, but the photograph was taken very quickly at a location that I cannot reveal.

The ethical issues surrounding this discovery are monumental. However I can assure all viewers that we witnessed no signs of life, whether physical or pertaining to consciousness.

More infomation can be found by contacting me by email (on Blogger profile).

Thank you

Faux Advertising

And when the whole freaky weld of faces stares
back at the life you lead like do re mi fa
do re mi fa the whole punch of the heifer
punts piston and of the strange scary
scape of the performance of a shopping centre

i i i can't re sa fa ti do ri mi expand
myself only by atmospheres ti do re mi fa so do da
music concrete arabesque by Selfridges
and ghosts in the car park shuffle
as if reminding us of Babylon

metal whistles its own devices
and the clerk to the court repossesses
buildings that could have been used
to house us, nevertheless, fiscally astute
carve our spiritual ambitions towards the untouchables

lest we be reminded that money flows
from hand to hand, this less
now, from trace to trace
to ask spirits to rise from trees
would be far too convenient

Untitled

Digital art portrait, featuring a photograph by Miss Boux

Simon Harris aka Crescent