Subconscious Palette Art

Artists who indulge in the painting process have become quite familiar with a palette, or tool in which one mixes paint. However, in this article I was inspired by my wife's observation and now propose a new definition for the art palette. The palette is not only an instrument for the process of constructing paintings, rather a new canvass for artistic expression.

While preparing and mixing paint on the palette, there is something profound created in the process. Most artists will continue to construct their painting and completely disregard the palette as simply, a tool. However, the used palette can be seen as its own piece of abstract/action art resembling the works of Jackson Pollock (famous 20th century expressionist artist). This mistaken art should now be referred to as Subconscious Palette Art because it follows the same criteria of "the subconscious artist paradox" (a generation of art unbeknownst to the person who is creating it).

In a previous blog I had mentioned the “subconscious artist paradox” with reference to graffiti art removal (suggested by Portland Filmmaker Matt McCormick). This notion of subconscious art happens more frequently than one would imagine; graffiti removal, used stencils, scribbled or crossed out doodles, etc. Palette art should now be included in the subconscious art discourse.

It is questionable whether or not the art community will embrace palette art as a true form of artistic expression. Nevertheless, palette art just might be more aesthetically pleasing than what was consciously constructed. So the next time you decide to wash your palette after a long session of painting, take a closer look at what has been created in the process--you just might want to relish it!
Subconscious Palette Art…you heard it here first.

The New Cultural Expression: FUSIONAL

The Classical, Baroque, Romantic, Modern, and Post Modern movements have all defined an era in which they reacted and developed from the previous ones. Could we now be in a transition into another era, a new paradigm of influence? Are we on the threshold of a new knowledge that embraces the technologies that have fused society together? The new term that would identify this is still up for grabs. But what does this mean for society and culture?

First one must examine the era at which we have come out of, The Post Modern Era. Post Modern philosophy is skeptical towards the "Modern" objective truth, rejects the global cultural construction, and has influenced architecture, literature, music, visual arts, sociology, interpretations of law, business and linguistics. Some critical theorist authors such as Thomas S. Kuhn, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault have exemplified representations of ironic self-awareness through their writings, however, what (if any) relevance does this philosophy have today in 2010? Most undergraduate students who are studying postmodern fiction (films like Bladerunner and novels like White Noise) were born after they were first published. The consensus is that postmodernism is old, out-dated, irrelevant and simply cannot be applied to today's culture. Let's face it, music and visual arts have changed, literature has also changed, technology and communications media has advanced tremendously in recent years, even more so than Jean Baudrillard (post modernist) could have imagined. The advent of mobile smart phones, email, and internet have fused everyone into a gigantic web of convenience and allowed for users to speed down the information highway.

Whereas Post Modernism had once relied more on the author, today we have become our own authors and it is evident everywhere you look. There is an explosion of music that is being created at home, the bedroom pop artist, with his/her own music software (such as pro tools) and synthesizers. Writers are emerging from all angles typing away on internet blogs and other social forums. Devices such as the Ipad are revolutionizing the way we read magazines, journals, even comic books. Cinema has now become 75% digital special effects and most young film makers have discarded the notion of attending film school by merely buying a digital camera and an editing program such as Final Cut Pro to create films for YouTube. Social Networking sites have allowed us to reconnect with the past, engage in electronic friendships, and promote anything the user desires. Television has become minimalist with the advent of Reality T.V. that looks eerily similar to home movies. Some game shows even involve the viewers at home to text in votes which ultimately controls the direction of the show. Even sitcoms have changed to a more edgy, camera jerky, home video feel (i.e. The Office). People are becoming their own employer (Ebay, Etsy) their own broker (Etrade). Even politicians, such as the newly elected President of the United States Barack Obama, have benefited from some of the largest campaign contributions from individuals via the internet. Computers and the internet are so incorporated into the fabric of our daily lives, it would be impossible now to imagine life without them. Our lives have become a melting pot of technology, fused into our own reality.

Is this the death of Post Modernism (as suggested by author Alan Kirby)? Has digital technology really embedded itself into our existence like codes in a computer program? Are we well on our way to transcending our own bodies and becoming lost in a computer generated world? One could argue that Kirby’s notion of technology creating laziness and ignorance is flawed; in fact, technology has made the culture of today stronger, smarter, quicker and less dependent on others. Has the internet age brought us closer together even though we may be miles apart? Make no mistake that technology is now so finely integrated and fused into our culture, like never before, that it would be misleading to assert any other hypothesis. Fusionalism...you heard it here first.

Bathroom Graffiti Art

Bathroom Graffiti Art is one of the most intriguing genres of artistic design in the post modern era. Most people have experienced such vulgar and obscene art work, doodles, and scribbled messages on stalls in public restrooms for years. The general consensus of Bathroom Graffiti has been, up to this point, discredited as plain "rubbish." However, Bathroom Graffiti Art deserves much more recognition as an art form than it has been previously given. Most would contend that graffiti is a work of Urban Artists using walls or trains as their canvasses. Many have demonized this practice, however, within recent years the art community has embraced graffiti as a true form of artistic expression. There is also the recently explored notion of the "subconscious artist" paradox where, for example, those tasked by city officials to clean and cover up graffiti, in return create their own works of art (previously suggested on the Portland based film maker Matt McCormick's documentary short "The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal").


With reference to Bathroom Graffiti Art, all the staples of true art are present; a strong political or social view, abstraction, layers of color, an emotional investment, a symbol or metaphor, poetical messages, shocking and/or controversial material, etc. Whether or not one would consider the notion that Bathroom Graffiti Art should be included in serious discussions about art remains to be seen. However, as Marcel Duchamp once exemplified within his own works, the question still lingers of "what constitutes as true art anyways?" Is Bathroom Graffiti a true art form or a defacing of public property and an inappropriate annoyance that is intrusive to one's public restroom experience? You tell me.

The Self Portrait Phenomenon

Since the dawn of photographic technology, portraiture has been a widely used technique that remains popular. Even more so today, self portraits are being created at an alarming rate amongst social website users and digital photographers. There has been an increase in the amount of self portraits posted on websites such as Myspace and Facebook that are seemingly becoming less aesthetically pleasing. The digital camera has stripped away the process of photographic portraiture and has simplified the art which previously would have required back, key, and fill lighting to achieve a desirable effect. Today, anyone with a camera phone can take a ghastly image of themselves and post it as their default picture on Facebook.

One argument surrounding the self portrait phenomenon is the notion that photography is becoming increasingly popular with those who would not normally have been interested in the art form. Another argument with reference to self portraiture is that photographers are now becoming less interested in their artistic representations of other people and more interested in their own vanity. In other words, the photographer has now become the center of his/her frame. The Self Portrait Phenomenon…you heard it here first.