Art Critic Review Theory

An Ironic Theory of Hypocritical Critics

 

i prefer neutral artistic summary descriptions, as opposed to egotistical and emotionally biased critique reviews that prey upon either positive propaganda or negative flaws; both of which tend to be opinion based and place too much emphasis on hype or complaints. If I am asked my personal opinion, I prefer to be positive.

 

As an artist, i prefer to be compassionate towards other ethical artists. I want to encourage creativity with my words, rather than insult. Art is not simply an industrial product; which is designed by people but for a utilitarian function. Art is personal. Art is also more than entertainment, however that is an opinion based criteria as well.

 

Critics often justify their negativity by saying they are objectively judging a product; however that is hypocrisy even if they could do better themselves (which often they cannot). Perhaps it is we that could do better, that should be considerate to others who at least try to make art. If someone does not like something for some reason that someone else created, they should contemplate their own feelings about it, because that is the real purpose of art, ultimately no matter how much critics bitch.

 

I realize that by stating this theory, I am being hypocritical in this case, in that I am judging harshly the “work” (if we can call it that, its really opinion) of other people; however I believe that they deserve it, especially if they make money putting other people’s work down, or influencing the masses to regard one work above another.

 

I say this as i listen to movie reviews on the radio, thinking, wow these people are talking shit. Heh. Instead of turning the haters off, i think critics like that should get a taste of their own medicine. So ironically i have just written a review of critics. Ok, now I do not want to waste anymore time worrying or whining about whiners that are being uncaring jerks. For all those that control themselves for the most part in order to be neutral or positive, great job and keep up the good work!

 

– Drogo Empedocles

 

ps- artwork meant to offend or depress people deserves its own theory, but regardless we should talk about art as though we are speaking to the artist; and if we are brave enough to challenge them on an emotional level, then we should also be willing to be attacked with emotional bias ourselves; even if we feel that art has already done this to us.

Art as an Avatar for My Life

Reflections on the Film Avatar by a Veteran of the War on Terror

Dances With Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, Last Samurai, Fern Gully, or whatever you want to compare Avatar with, its all good shit. Avatar had some great new special effects. It moved science fiction to the next technological level.

Now for my personal thoughts. I didnt need to see it right away, at least when it came out, since the plot and the fantastic alien imagery is pretty much what goes on inside my head since i can remember. heh when it came out, i was too depressed by my real-life military vs pagan conflict, and was afraid the re-enforcing energy i would have gotten from the film would depress-anger me further into something drastic. As it is, i barely made it out without Hulking out totally. If i had been free at the time, i would have gone to see it with friends, hell i would have organized it. i was too drained… feeling better now though 🙂

‎5 years of tolerating military intolerance was a huge sacrifice for me, my ways were “wrong” and the more i expressed myself the harder it was. The ideas defended in Avatar were in direct opposition to the War on Terror and martial laws that i had to learn and practice. Now that i have my citizen liberties back, i can enjoy my life more through these movies that i like; art and life as one. I may have had more direct influence on the military from within, but i have a wider range of influence with citizen liberties fully restored. For example, James Cameron could not have made that film if he was in the US Military. Enough said.

As one friend put it “It’s really good, as long as you don’t think too much about it. :)” That recommendation works for the complex experience of Avatar. It works in part for me, because I DO THINK about things too much, often. As I found myself inevitably analyzing Avatar (as i knew i would), understanding the story and relating it to my own feelings; I realized just like in real life, I am most at peace and happy when i can just relax and enjoy the experience. As soon as i find myself not coming to satisfactory conclusions about certain points, its time to shift. Sometimes the only satisfactory conclusions on issues are the satisfaction that there is not much I can do about anything except to share my thoughts with anyone that will listen, in their own time. So I can just leave things out there, to share with others.

I think comparisons are ok, but i feel like while we get the messages about multi-cultural acceptance, there are perhaps not enough movies like it to counter the amount of population that loves to hate other cultures and praise military action above all else as though it was just a sports game. That is why i am not usually harsh on fiction that has some lessons, regardless of how ‘cool’ it is. I hate to say it, but for many people no amount of lessons about cultural sharing will be enough to stop Wars. I dont blame films for that. Films like Avatar may change the minds of some, perhaps, and for that they may help to avoid real life suffering, especially if the values get passed on. Entertainment has effects on culture, for better or for worse.

If I take stories too seriously, I blame Joseph Campbell. The fact is I like stories, and love powerful fiction stories very much because we can talk about serious real issues that we can relate to, without the trauma risk that makes non-fiction too personal for debate. So I will go into the issue progressive people have with the “White Male Hero”.

What Avatar has in common with Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans, and Last Samurai; one “White Male Hero” is the catalyst embracing the underdog culture. It may be silly but that is the tool to engage traditional white viewers that would not be able to bridge the cultural gaps any other way. Sad, but true.

We progressives of course would be able to see a film where the aliens win, without having a saviour that is ‘one of ours’. In reality it often happens that negotiators and important figures can relate to both sides… being of mixed blood or simply mixed cultures. I do feel the “White Guy” character was over-used when Last Samurai came out years ago. An important detail to note about the “Last” movies, is that the last of the Mohicans and Samurai had figures from those cultures that actually were the “Lasts”; its just that they were the secondary characters. So it could be argued in those films that the white actors were not really the “lasts” and their importance in the plot was overblown for the sake of engaging a white audience.

There was a line about “this isnt some pagan voodoo” that bothered me, because it seemed to be negating the point of the film in relation to reality; in other words explaining that things we have dismissed as “magic” or “supernatural” can be scientifically or psychologically explained as having functions; so i would have preferred Weaver to say “This isnt pagan voodoo in the WAY YOU THINK OK IT”, so to me it was either bad writing or it was written as though she just responded off the top of her head, in either case it didnt support translation to real world morality or comprehension regarding different cultures as much as i would have liked.

Another problem is about the “leg challenged”, and Avatar seemed to ignore the fact that we can be heroes without legs or virtual reality avatars. Unfortunately Avatar does not take that problem on. So a miss there.

I guess im saying the “White Guy Hero” issue and other problems are like dirty bath water, and the other strong issues about the environment, ecosystem, nature, science, communications, non-violent conflict resolution, etc are the Baby. So we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water, do we?

So yes we should have more films with indigenous heroes. It was just impossible to go from the old school “We the Cowboys good, they the Indians bad” movies to “We the Cowboys bad, They the Indians good”, at least for a population made to say the National Anthem since they were kids, members of the military, or politicians etc. The message we want probably is NOT suicide. Right?

So of course we need to find a middle road in the real world, between Good and Bad, where 2 cultures can coexist without War. Ongoing War across the Globe is one of the great challenges we face, and minds must be opened to peaceful options with peaceful tools like film entertainment, video games, and other modern engaging forms of stories. More direct political or religious approaches often seem to have less effect on War than ART. We should not give up on Peace, and we must use all of these thought-provoking tools, despite the fact that the most important messages may be lost on many.

If you can make a better film than Avatar, do it. Or if you have something already that meets the most important moral messages for our time, name it. So we progress to the next level of evolution through cosmic awareness, let’s get it on!

– Drogo

The Claymont Community

A Review of the Claymont Society for Continuous Education

Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, West of Washington DC, an organic spiritual community resides at Claymont Court. Claymont Court Mansion was built on hundreds of acres of rural land by a relative of George Washington in 1820. In 1974 John Bennet founded the Claymont Society there. The historic estate and grounds remain secluded, yet accessible and maintained thanks to the good people at the Claymont Community.

Claymont Community members attend their regular Society meetings, where they participate in group activities, cook, serve, eat, and clean up together. Also they have various projects, events, and maintenance duties which are usually decided by democratic or social consensus. These responsibilities insure that the community is maintained, and income is received from donations, workshops, seminars, retreats, and events. Their spiritual philosophies are based on the teachings of George Gurdjieff and John Bennett.

Various individual members of the community through-out the years, have brought their own interests, practices, and personalities to Claymont. The Mansion and School (“Barn”) are the largest structures on the property, but there are also collections of smaller dwellings scattered within, and on the outskirts of the land. The foods that they grow, make, use, and serve on site are mostly organic and vegetarian in nature. Although the school for children is no longer in operation, they have a very successful CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that is cooperative with the surrounding area farmers’ markets.

Their mission was: “To promote a way of life that is balanced, harmonious, and uses our full potential while being responsible to nature.”

Their vision was: “A community where people interact using all human faculties to their fullest, in a spirit of cooperation. A harmonious educational environment that utilizes an understanding of nature, conscious awareness, and synergy created by a ‘milieu’ of unconditional love, to improve the quality of life on this planet.”

From my experience attending the Claymont School as a child, living and working with them for a brief time, and from my continued communications; I believe they succeeded, and continue to succeed in their mission and vision statements. I attempted to make a transfer to their communal way of life, and fully believed I was ready when my application essays were accepted; however there were other life responsibilities (working with Dad, and my car loan) I had not considered, which led to me backing out. The factors that stopped me from making the transition to live there full-time were mostly family and Capitalist issues. My Capitalist issues that deterred me were regarding loan payments on a new car, needing a functional car to have to try to pay my college loans, with not enough income; and then there were previous personal obligations, responsibilities, and interests. However despite my limited part-time commitment to Claymont, I continue to believe that they are a model that more of us living in corporate mundane housing should strive for or support in any way possible.

Here is the proposal I wrote for the Claymont Society to consider me for residency, which they accepted:

A Claymont Proposal for Habitation

“Noble Intent”

I have noble intent in as far as having “the will to discover an imperishable Reality beyond the changes and chances of this mortal world”.  Bennett used this description of human ‘will’ for his definition of ‘spiritual’, calling it “man’s noblest quality”. This quest for truth can be seen in relation to the 18^th century view of man as a noble savage on the path of “spiritual psychology”. This ‘Noble Intent’ that I have, cannot be less noble than accepting in the modern world use of human technology as part of Nature.

According to J.G. Bennett in ‘Gurdjieff Today’, Gurdjieff said to serve the Future, or “prepare a better future for mankind”, we must learn to make present sacrifices for the sake of the future. Their intention was to help transform the confused cacophony of human consciousness into a more beneficial synergetic unity. The ‘Doctrine of Reciprocal Maintenance’ to me has been a way to deeply consider Pagan philosophical energy concepts like Karma, the ‘3-Fold Manifest’, and reincarnation. This ‘rule of reciprocity’ was basically said to mean that “everything in the Universe depends on other things for its maintenance, and must in its turn maintain the existence of others.” To me this is the essence of systemic interdependence (synergy), despite our individual brains feeling lonely sometimes in an internal closed loop. Our presence in groups reminds us that our perspectives are relative to relationships, even when viewed from a singular point.

[see J.G. Bennett’s ‘A Spiritual Psychology’, Preface; and ‘Gurdjieff Today’]

The following are my answers to a series of questions regarding habitation and work at Claymont:

1)         A short bio

…. (not included in this public version)

2)    Why do you want to move here?

I was not brought forth from the hills of Harpers Ferry to merely accept the system of the conventional mundanes, that surround and threaten Claymont.  This was first exemplified through my early educational systems: from Montessori, to public-school gifted programs, the Claymont School, the Banner School,  Catholic high-school and beyond through college studies.

3)    What ideas for community contributions / work projects do you have?

Architecture:               Interior and Exterior renovations and restorations at the mansion, private houses, barns, & future property structures

–                    designing and documentation through drawing and photo images

–                      construction work; solo, organizing help, and / or contracting

–                      contributing to the writing of records for systems of the “whole”

Landscape:      Agriculture, gardening, design assistance, roadway maintenance, terrain drainage, etc…

–           CSA

–           Mansion & barns

–           private dwellings and public ways

4) Are you sane? (additional question by John Henry)

An interesting and worthy question of my own sanity, will be answered pertaining to the two forms of psychology as described by Bennett (and as answered by myself).  If you believe in sanity, perhaps there is some insanity about that.  In regards to “clinical psychology” I believe I am stable enough to be sane most of the time, and have never committed any crimes that are deemed by U.S. courts to be insane.

My failings in sanity are best addressed in accordance with Bennet’s “do-it-yourself psychology” which is a practical, yet also spiritual psychology.  Maintenance of my sanity is achieved regularly by commitment to action (or will), by myself both physically and mentally; sometimes with the assistance of others; to work on myself, “in search for the imperishable Real” and experience of the NOW. I cannot explain in words, my full feelings as to why I want to live and work at Claymont, only that I want to based on all of my previous thoughts and experiences. I think that hoping that I can fit into a community similar to myself is sane, and perhaps both can be improved by the experience, if even only slightly more than before the effort was made.

*******

some friends of Claymont during a music festival event in 2003 (?)

visit the Claymont Official Website

or read another account of Claymont

RAMBO IV Burma

RAMBO IV Burma

RAMBO in Burma was better than expected.

Forging the new blade was reminiscent of Conan.

Stallone did everything for that movie,

rewriting and directing it too.

It is supposed to be toned down in some ways

from the horror reality of the Civil War there;

the rape, pillaging, sacking, and slaughters;

while still being a Rambo film (he survives).

I loved the very end, it helped close

his overseas tours after all these years.

Rambo did great bringing himself full circle.

Its what Conan 3 needs to be,

they did it in 4 films though.

Also they left room for Rambo V,

Using the Mexican concept they had, but

that was not used this time.

If they do Rambo V in Mexico,

It will be different, more like a Western,

As Stallone said.

Conan III “King Conan”

According to the ArnoldFans site:

The news is sad but true, King Milius was given his walking papers by WB. TheArnoldFans put a call into the Milius Camp on Friday morning in hopes to lay all of these rumors to rest.

Not only did we receive the confirmation that Robert Rodriguez has been given the opportunity to direct a NEW CONAN in few years – but we also learned Milius and company were clearing out there desks! They are leaving WB once and for all. John Milius had a 5 year contract to be on the WB lot, however, after WB gave Conan away to Rodriguez, they decided they did not need Milius and kicked him off the lot without renewing his contract.

The director of the greatest Arnold film of all times is now heading over to the CBS lot to write for a new Western series called “Dodge City”.

Naturally, Milius is almost as pissed off as the true Conan fans! We all believe WB and Rodriguez will give us comic violence and an over-the-top popcorn film like “The Scorpion King” instead of a dramatic masterpiece epic that Milius had in store for Conan fans.

If Rodriguez can lure Arnold to his film, it will remain King Conan but will have an ALL NEW script. Otherwise we can expect an ALL NEW Conan… full of cartoon violence to make us laugh. Sigh. Dead forever is the Milius “King Conan” script!

The basic plot of King Conan may remain. Cimmerian barbarian Conan has risen through the ranks of the nation of Aquilonia during its wars with the Picts and the Hyrkanians, earning Emperor Fortuna’s trust enough to be named king of the land of Zingara, though Fortuna keeps Conan’s adopted son Kon in his custody as collateral so that Conan will remain faithful to him.

As twenty years pass, and Kon becomes a man educated and trained in the ways of Aquilonia. When Conan invokes the anger of Aquilonia by making peace with the Picts whom he had once helped Aquilonia conquer, an assassination attempt is made against him. Conan, however, escapes, finding the warrior spirit that 20 years on the throne had dulled.

Taken in by the Picts, can Conan exact revenge against the Aquilonians and reunite with his son, who has now taken his father’s place as the king of Zingara, and after twenty years, does Kon want to reunite with a father he hardly remembers ?

If the plot remains as such, and they get Arnold, it may be something. Crom help them if they screw this up. Sorry Milius, we were cheering for you.

Protected: Cross of Iron (1977)

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