The Story Behind Every Bob Marley Song 1962-1981
Looking at this book, your natural tendency might be to think, "Great, another Bob Marley book," and granted, I might tend to agree with you, but Soul Rebel is a unique work amongst the myriad of Marley biographies. It tells the story of is life by examining the vehicle through which he impacted so many people: his music. Beautifully put together with dazzling full-color photographs, this relatively thin but large-framed work has the look of a coffee table book, but it has much more impact.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Gothic art.
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical styles in Italy. In the late 14th century, the sophisticated court style of International Gothic developed, which continued to evolve until the late 15th century. In many areas, especially Germany, Late Gothic art continued well into the 16th century, before being subsumed into Renaissance art. Primary media in the Gothic period included sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscript.
The earliest Gothic art was monumental sculpture, on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian art was often typological in nature (see Medieval allegory), showing the stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often depicted. Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.
Secular art came in to its own during this period with the rise of cities, foundation of universities, increase in trade, the establishment of a money-based economy and the creation of a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of secular vernacular literature encouraged the representation of secular themes in art. With the growth of cities, trade guilds were formed and artists were often required to be members of a painters' guild—as a result, because of better record keeping, more artists are known to us by name in this period than any previous, some artists were even so bold as to sign their names.
The earliest Gothic art was monumental sculpture, on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian art was often typological in nature (see Medieval allegory), showing the stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often depicted. Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.
Secular art came in to its own during this period with the rise of cities, foundation of universities, increase in trade, the establishment of a money-based economy and the creation of a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of secular vernacular literature encouraged the representation of secular themes in art. With the growth of cities, trade guilds were formed and artists were often required to be members of a painters' guild—as a result, because of better record keeping, more artists are known to us by name in this period than any previous, some artists were even so bold as to sign their names.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Gas Mask Bongs
with adjustable head straps to fit comfortably around most heads (maybe not Bono’s). There’s no escaping the hit when you buy a Gas Mask Bong - it’s literally in your face!
Don’t forget to close your eyes unless you like them red and watering. Or get a smaller pair of swimming goggles and wear them underneath the Gas Mask Bong so you can watch the face mask bong fill with smoke before your very eyes and all around them too.
The acrylic tube is easily detachable so you can fix the mask bong to any glass bong or steamroller pipe with a similar tube diameter that will fit snugly into the filter hole of the Gas Mask Bong.
There will soon be additional tubes you can purchase for the Gas Mask Bong, including a sealed glass tube with a lift-off glass bowl. Acrylic options include ‘steamroller’ designs that are open-ended so you block the end with your hand when you hit it, much like a steamroller pipe.
WARNING: Use face mask bongs responsibly. Do not buy Gas Mask Bongs for children, pregnant women or anyone operating heavy machinery. Driving under the influence of a face mask bong is right out. Do not attempt to survive nuclear fall-out with a Gas Mask Bong as it may result in disappointment. Please do not partake or encourage the use of Gas Mask Bongs in areas of national concern such as museums, churches, government buildings and Fruit ‘n Veg stalls. Remember, Gas Mask Bongs are sold for legal purposes only, such as the smoking of tobacco or the ocular appreciation of a nice view. Please refrain from indulging in illegal activities such as regicide, bare thievery and general law breaking while enjoying a gas mask bong. Stay safe, stay at home, watch your TV, wear jeans and don’t question anything. Now there’s a good citizen.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Deep political territory
Moving into more political territory, we have street graffiti artists. A minor amount of wandering on the web gave me all kinds of commentary on why gas masks are so popular in this art form: graffiti artists often have to be very quick, so rapidly understood symbolism is a must, and the gas mask is easily seen as representative of government oppression (riot police-- so also as a symbol of preparedness for engagement with them), the effects of social violence but also environmental violence, and general dehumanization (facelessness). says, "It's a perfect symbol for anyone fearing the impending decay of civilization." A comment which would also fit nicely next to the Chris Anthony photos or the paintings.
Post-Apocalyptic Paintings.
He also has tons of them in his paintings, often with the mask merging into actual flesh, as in an evolutionary mutation. Here's Clown of Doom, and Uncle Sam, and It's All Good:
"Vanity Study #39"
Another Fine Artist who has some exceptionally creepy images of gas masks. He is most famous for his award-winning 2007 series of photographs entitled "Victims and Avengers," which caught women and children at the moment of violently overcoming their abusers. A more recent series, called Venice is, as he describes it, "a metaphor for a sinking city, deserving of nature's wrath, leaving its citizens to tread water and explore new ways to sustain life on aquatic earth." In keeping with his apparent leaning towards--or at least readiness for--apocalyptic moments of reckoning and punishment:
"perfect baby"
"The obsession with the "perfect baby" and children who would be progressively more intelligent and fit than the last generation, is an ancient one. Today through genetic technologies, social engineering and developmental psychology we believe we control previously inaccessible natural workings that strongly influence the way children are born, learn and grow...From extreme authoritarian rhetoric to schooling systems of total autonomy. The revolution in reproductive science has come to add yet another dimension to the issue, and blurred the borders between fact and fiction. 'Tasks & Games, portraits of the never young' is a series of 24 portraits, depicting children caught in the middle of the pursuit of perfection before and after their birth....Dramatically lit and staged in traditional photography studio settings, in front of bizarre backdrops or locations that some times overtake their little bodies, or what's left of them, the children are posed with their favorite toys or objects, in their Sunday best. A closer look will reveal signs of severe pain. We get to observe visual renditions of the nightmares they live in, and through them, maybe we face some of our own. They have obviously taken their toll on the kids even if most of them are smiling or smirking. ...The majority of the raw photographic materials originate from the early nineteen hundreds. The children are ...are fused with contemporary objects and environments that seem to consume them. The images are titled after traditional tasks and games. A sharp juxtaposition between the pure nature of old fashioned children activities with scientific methods and their results."
GAZ NATION
Delirium:This is what happens when the Gas masks are Off!
A disoriented
condition with
clouded consciousness,
often accompanied
by hallucinations,
illusions,
misinterpretations
of events and
a generally confused
quality with reduced capacity to
sustain attention.
Welcome to the Gaz Nation.
A disoriented
condition with
clouded consciousness,
often accompanied
by hallucinations,
illusions,
misinterpretations
of events and
a generally confused
quality with reduced capacity to
sustain attention.
Welcome to the Gaz Nation.
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