Written by The Price is Right!
I am not here to ask for your money. You should use it. Please do it wisely.
I will keep my sites, radio show, and other content ‘free’, which also means free from commercials and advertisements. Except if I, or another contributor, would like to promote something we feel could be particularly beneficial.
ad·ver·tise·ment
-A notice, such as a poster or a paid announcement in the print, broadcast, or electronic media, designed to attract public attention or patronage.
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language)
In essence, every word and image I use could be seen an advertisement for something – an idea, a lifestyle, an event, a web site, or whatever. Advertising does not need to cost much.
Advertising can also be propaganda.
prop·a·gan·da
-The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language)
I prominently and proudly promote propaganda.
All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?
~Nicholas Johnson
Buying Your Life
Once upon a time, the television programming was ‘free’. All we had to do was buy a set to pick up the invisible waves. And then we just had to sit through some commercial breaks so that the broadcasting companies and content creators could make some money off of their productions. It was really easy to get hooked on all the hours of ‘free’ content.
Now cable companies charge loads of money for monthly subscriptions, TV sets are expensive high-def 3D monstrosities, commercials are ever more annoying and degrading, and the already awful shows have product placement and subliminal advertising throughout the insanity and inanity. There is something very worrisome about this all. People are spending countless hours slaving at a job they hate so that they can afford their enterTraining enslaveMent at home, so as to numb the unpleasantness of daily life.
When a person unplugs from that all that crap, it not only opens up all the hours once spent watching and becoming idiots in a box, but also liberates a good deal of cas per month, which could allow that person to work less hours.
Some might not know what to do with all this ‘free’ time. I will make some suggestions.
Burn Brightly, Create Colorfully
Walk in nature, start a garden, build a house, or begin conversations with strangers. Do whatever inspires you on any given day. You might want to consider creating your own blog. Or maybe you would like to write for us here at Great Minds of Today. This site is intended to bring out the greatness inside of us all.
Although I don’t suggest we should jump out of one idiot box right into another, the Internet has afforded us some amazing avenues for connection and exploration. By starting up my own radio show, I have been able to speak with some incredible people. For example, you might want to check out..
The Gifts of Fire with Tracy Twyman
All of my episodes are archived here, all freely downloadable. Well, it’s free for you, not me. I pay BlogTalkRadio a monthly subscription.
My ‘return on investment’ with this is not really seen in the financial realms, but I gain a lot of insight from my discussions and doing it often helps fire up my own spirits.
I like to harness (and unleash) my creative energies in numerous ways.
Spirit of The Fire, acrylic, 2009
Although I have long been involved in the arts, the image above was my first completed painting. It was given as a gift, like many of my works. Spirit of The Fire was the first of many creations to come from my brushes.
I have painted people, pets, landscapes, seascapes, buildings, flowers, abstracts, and anything else that came to mind. For the most part, I enjoy representing things in semi-realism, however vague that sounds. My artwork can be found on the walls of many people I know, and even some I don’t.
Professional Projects
Yes, I became a ‘professional’ artist, selling some of my art skills for cash. Freedom isn’t free (expect to pay). There is no such thing as a free lunch (except when there is one).
Pie in The Sky, acrylic, 2011
This piece was my highest priced painting, and was hanging in a local gallery where it sold. With the discount, it wasn’t much.
The ‘grabblers’ obviously have to get their hands on a % of every transaction, even though they have nothing to do with the creation or sale of work. Actually, the policies of these ticks and leeches (taxing and spending our energy), have made the environment for artists ever more difficult. When people aren’t making enough to make ends meet (because we have a broken circle system), they have little interest in buying original artwork, even though it could alter their entire environment in so many ways.
Yet most people will still choose to buy the $3,000 TV set, along with a big ‘package’ that can show them endless channels of moving pictures, with lots of noise and action. And they’d be lost without the adverts to tell them what they need to buy to have fun, be cool, get drunk, and get laid.
TV is really exciting. Paintings just like.. sit there.. right?
I have recently been discussing art with my friend Joanne from TheLoosh.com, as she has been sharing her Thoughts on Life Drawing, Among Other Things. I am not an art history expert, have never received any proper instruction in painting, and don’t even consider myself all that talented, but I do lament what has become of artwork.
Perverse and pathetic paintings are praised,
With premiere pricing.
Pushed upon a poorly perceiving public.
An Eruption of Original Art
This world needs more artists. Anyone can and should be expressing themselves through creative endeavors. There is no better time than now. Try something new!
Vulcan and Venus, unfinished, acrylic, ’12
I hooked up my new air compressor a few weeks ago and gave airbrushing a whirl. The painting above is what emerged from inside me on that night. It’s not finished, like many of the other paintings I have around.
I had no real idea what I was going to be putting on canvas when I started, but now looking back it appears to me loaded with symbolism. For example, the airbrush can be seen as a volcano of paint, spurting forth a quickly solidifying fluid. Vulcan is the god of technology and airbrushing requires some industrial equipment, though some ancient ancestors apparently did this sort of thing using their mouths.
Something else erupted from me the next day. I started hammering away at my keyboard, hacking around with some open source code, breathing smoke like a dragon, and ended up with a new site – AlternativeSocial.com. We have some great original contributors there.
It is really a pleasure to create alternatives for people, so as to replace TV, Internet idiocy, and the rest of the crap that seeks to bind us in fear, take our money, and degrade our minds.
PayMent
Did you mind all the ‘ads’?
As for ‘donations’, if you enjoy an artist’s work, let him or her know.
You don’t have to say much.
Every comment is appreciated.
Ahh Kyle :] This is music to my (h)ears!!!
Interesting thoughts on the idiot box in relation to art work. After stumbling across everyone else’s work in this thing, there was a period there, where I had a very hard time looking at any visual imagery without feeling abused by it. One thing I’ve found since then, that’s helped me snap out of it, are plant anatomy plates. For some reason I have found them to be so calming. And I’ve realized, where connections lie between the anatomy of the plant & human forms. After enough comparing, you really do get a sense that there is definite and deciphered reasoning, extreme care and close attention taken with the creation of each and every thing.
Not trying to get kumbaya on anyone here, but goddamn art work on the whole just makes me so effin happy :] And I’m so thrilled to see a growing hunger for creative blooming in others around me.
Something I appreciate about my artistic discussions with you Kyle, is I think you and I have similar feelings on that struggle to preserve artistic integrity. And that has a lot of levels, that even comes down to little every day choices. But you take that very seriously and I appreciate that about you. I don’t know what made you that way about your art work – but I guess for me it was tying myself to a shit job for five years, hardly ever seeing the sun cuz I worked nights. Putting myself in hell was the same time I fell in love with drawing, and used it as an escape route. The End :] It really is that simple, art is escapism, let’s face it. Yet somehow – in that process of escaping – we’re still managing to produce! How is that even POSSIBLE?
So in that case – imagine the difference between indulging in our sketchbooks, versus our televisions. Wow. That’s how much potential there is left for us all.
I love the way you wrote this one Kyle. Thanks so much for sharing your art work too – I rather like the unfinished look of this last one – it’s vague and subtle but still clear, and I really dig those Earthy shades pouring through :]
There is something ‘magical’ about the creation of artwork. It affects the creator in a number of ways, I believe. It can affect the observers. Good artwork can even have a ripple effect that reaches people who never even saw the original piece or knew the artist. This is why integrity should be maintained. For example, an advertisement is a work of art that might reach a few million people. It can instigate them to go buy some crap product, and by their actions, they influence people who never saw the ad to go and buy that product too. Now what could we do if the point of the piece was to inspire people to greatness? Thanks again for your comment and doing what you’re doing
Yep, you have to live your OWN life. Create your OWN creations, and the world of possibilities opens up for you. This fried-chicken-bucket-of-cola-viagra-gmo-existence we’re force fed is obscene, constraining and draining.
Only the habit of tapping into the internal universe leads to self realization and satisfaction, thanks Kyle for being so Free with FREE, i’m here in big part because of your generosity.
Cheers that Man!
Thanks, Fitzy. One of my big rewards is getting to hear from people such as yourself.