It's a bird, it's a plane...

With the new Avengers movie coming out, I thought I would talk about the kind of art that got me interested in all other art forms as a child, comic books. Comic Books have long been associated with children and fantasy, and although they sometimes break the mold, most people I talk to still beleive them to be a childish collectors hobby. Yet, there is a growing number of people that respect the large number of comic books that are actually well written and backed up with strong artwork.

Some believe comic books to have begun as early as the mid eighteenth century! Yet most would agree that the big push towards popularity came with a special superhero called Superman. Superman and later the cast that created the Justice League would create a fury of young people wanting to find escape in a world that hadn't invented video games yet. Some felt a sever flaw with these characters eventually. Superman himself would go through several transitions as he was originally so powerful he seemed to have no limits. In the 50's and 60's a few new names would change the comic book scene again....

When Jack Kirby and Stan lee collaborated on creating a bunch of new characters for their everchanging label, they knew a new audience was being born. Towards the end of the 50's older generations were beginning to show interest in the comic book field. This led the Jack and Stan to create characters with more depth. Characters now had a personal life, romantic problems, issues with how they dealt with their powers in a modern world. Marvel comics opened the door for endless possibilities and gave birth to the idea of comics being equivalent to both the art world and the literary world.

American Splendor by Harvey Pekar

Underground comics also began to emerge in the sixties, dealing with themes beyond the "fantasy" world. The artist and the writers began gaining strong recognition for their artistic abilities. Lets flash forward to the eighties where two of my favorite comic books, or graphic novels emerged. These would be the "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" and "The Watchmen."

Both of these comics are very well written, with twists and turns that would make even the average comic book fan excited. Yet they also reflect a decade of fear. Fear of nuclear retalitaon from our northen enemies the U.S.S.R. During the eighties, the cold war was still going on, and people from both nations feared that if they did not attack first, a nuke would destroy them. These two comics both dealt with that panic and fear in different ways, and it is interesting to see such a big social theme in something originally believed to be a childs colored picture book.

Comic books have come a long way over the years, and they continue to be celebrated by kids and adults alike. They also reflect my view on art due to their wide arc of interest. Whatever you are into, there is a comic book for it: Superheros (The Fantastic Four) humor (Calvin and Hobbes) even zombies (the Walking Dead). So check out the Cartoon Art museum sometime, and then browse through your local comic book store. It may be the cheapest access to some great artwork!

The Mark of a Criminal

Not a Hologram

My mother is very old fashioned. Here are a few conversations I've had with her:

Her: "Did you see your sisters teacher was wearing a thong!"
Me: "Yeah, I guess she doesn't want to show any panty lines in her tights."

Her: "How long has your friend been dating that girl? Shouldn't they get married by now?"
Me: "Did you stop and think that maybe she's the one that doesn't want to get married?"

Her: "Your brother is starting to have girlfriends, I think its time to teach him about sex."
Me: "He's 15 mom, I think your kind of late on that."
Her: "What do you mean?"
Me: "Mom, he grew up with the internet. Kids don't hide porno's under their bed anymore, they just go online and type "big boobs."

Her: "Can you stay up late tonight, eat the cookies and milk and write a letter from Santa? Its for your sister."
Me: "She still believes in Santa? She's almost 11!"
Her: "You believed in Santa until you were thirteen!"
Me: "I stopped believing when I was eight when I saw Santa's presents were wrapped in the same paper as your gifts. I just didn't tell you because I wanted more presents."
Her: "..." (Glaring at me)

So when I moved into my friends apartment last year to be closer to school, I warned her about my friend. This is because my friend has tattoos. A lot of them, all over his body. My mother associates tattoos with criminality as do most people. Though my mom is a little out of touch with modern times this is a common stereotype that people have about people with tattoos. Yet tattoos are becoming more common and have a much deeper history than western tradition.

New Guinea girls tattooing

Many Indigenous tribes around the world used tattoos as a way of decoration, ritual and many other things. In fact, one of the most preserved ancient humans named "Otzi the iceman" was found to have 57 separate tattoos!

Art or Pornography?

Gustav Klimt

I have a lot of art books, it became a borderline addiction when I started buying books weekly and not having even finished the first one. Yet an interesting concept struck me as I was reading about the artist above. In the book about his life, a chapter was devoted to his "Erotic" works. What was interesting is that Klimt rarely spoke about his art which did not help when these erotic drawings were found. Some see this as more of his great artwork, insisting that he constantly challenged the boundaries of the art world. Others insisted this was his personal collection of self made pornography (From what little we know of klimt, we do know he was quite the ladies man.) Still another group believes these were specific requests from some of his many buyers.

Egon Schiele

What is also interesting is his protege pictured above, seemed to have the same mindset of erotic portrayals of models. Should we chop this up to artists being sex driven maniacs, as this is a common stereotype due to artists such as Diego Rivera or Picasso. Or maybe they were trying to push the boundaries of sex and art in a way that had not been done before. Erotic artwork is not a new idea, and the objectification of both men and women have been around for as long as there was art.

This statue called the Venus if Willendorf is one of the oldest found sculptures in history. Though abstract and not having very prominent facial features, the viewer can deduce that this is a woman due to the enormous breast and hint of a vagina below the bellybutton. Again with little to work with historians can only assume this was a symbol for fertility in our early human times. Yet, who really knows, this could be some statue a horny young boy crafted for his self stimulating pleasure?!?

What is erotic art and what is pornography seems to be more simple these days. One is meant to stimulate you on a intellectual level and one is meant to stimulate on a more primal level. Yet the porn business took a strange turn with a movie that became a huge cult hit, and destroyed the idea of porn having no value beyond the "Perverted"

I wont go into the history of the film "Deep Throat" but I will say that its popularity made porn not only widely accepted, but fashionable as well. So there is obviously a grey area concerning some pornography and some art, but where does it lie? to be continued...

Art is Everywhere

I heard my roommates playing this in the morning, I had to post it...

If you can do it in Venezuela...

This video represents the musical arts, but its message is just as important to the visual arts. The argument in the video is that without this program, many of these children will succumb to crime and violence but with this program they now have an alternative. Its been working for years and only seems to keep growing. Programs set place in California have not been so successful.

So, I believe most Californians have been bombarded with the idea that schools have been facing major financial problems.  This affects students and parents in many ways. In particular the effect that budget cuts have on already schools with a struggling income is heaviest. Many minority students and students that live in low-income areas are facing a terrible struggle to move ahead. Teachers are being cut constantly and classes are increasing dramatically. Too some parents, a lack of faith in public school systems could only create a wider gap between those with financial options and those without.

Many writers and myself included are looking back to our own education with rose colored glasses. I remember dreading the music classes that were mandatory for graduation. I also remeber looking forward to the many art classes offered and being told I can only take so many, as general education requirements were a priority. In a previous blog, I told a story of how my brother claimed not to be able to understand art because it was too intellectual for him. The truth is only that he never had my privileged options to even take a art history class.

There are some alternatives that teachers and parents are trying to take. One is to fill the budget cuts themselves and raise money for lost and cut programs. Again I look back and realize the only time my parents assisted my schools is when it was completely necessary such as field trips or dances. Now I watch my parents weekly doing things for my 15 year old brother and ten year old sister. Sitting in classes all day, contributing many different items, but mostly time. It was strange for me to witness at first, but I realize it is necessary if the parents want their children to advance wuith minimal budgeting help coming from the state.

So I have mentioned how the arts are dramatically being altered by statewide cuts but why not? Why shouldn't we cut something as seemingly trivial as art? Here are some of my personal reasons that I believe are important to preserving the arts in the school programs k-12.

1. Art enriches everyday life: Art is all around us as I have mentioned before. If every building and every logo, painting, and clothes looked the same, life would be boring.

2. Art tells history: Without art, we would have little idea about what happened in cultures that didnt have a written history in the beginning. This includes countries such as Mexico, India, Africa, even the Native Americans. Do we just start history when Europeans began conquering these places?!?

3. Art is therapeutic: I have a confession, when my brother was born, we were told that he had many medical problems and would not live very long (Luckily the doctors were wrong, my brither is today very healthy). I went to a counselor with extreme depression, having at the age of 12 never really faced the idea of someone I loved dying. The counselor found that the best way to communicate with me is when I was making art. This is not a new concept and is a growing field.

4. Art gives new looks to old ideas: When I would pick up my sister from her after-school art classes, they would hang all the previous pictures from the week before. Even though they were all given the same subject "The United States" every child had a different concept of what the "United States" was visually. I was very interesting to see such diversity in such young minds.

I'm sure I have more ideas but I prefer this short article to explain how I feel. Life without art would most definitely be "Eh..."

Killer Art

Issei Sagawa- $300

I came upon a strange collectibles movement a few years ago called "Murderabilia." This involves the collection of items, or art work relating to a murderer or sometimes the crime itself. Currently the biggest name in this certain industry is named Eric Gein.

Howard M. Belcher- $100

 His motives and market he created have been under hot debate for a while now because of how he is profiting from imprisoned killers and their victims. While he claims to not get much profit, nor does he give any money made from his business to the killers, his opponents say otherwise.

Philip Jablownski- $100

Personally, I would have to side with the family's victims. Regardless of the history that Gein says he is distributing through his site, it is a bit morbid and sad that people are even creating a market for this kind of work. Non-personally and with regards to our capitalist society, people do have the right to sell items that have a market, and when I first heard about these items, I admit to having a morbid curiosity as to the items being sold. I don't morally agree with the idea but I admit that as long as the killers are not profiting, and Gein is not doing anything illegal, he should be able to sell items he believes will make him profit. Its horrible and sad, but should he be held more accountable than cigarette and alcohol distributors who actually do kill people? Or even the literature and movies based on these criminals (Truman Capotes "In cold Blood...").

Glen Rodgers- $350

Now objectively speaking, after I browsed the website that sells the art, I have to say that it is majorly hyped and overpriced. Most of the art is downright horrible. I have tried to find the works that are the most aesthetically pleasing to put on this blog, but still the works I chose are very amateurish and not very good. Basically I can't imagine someone buying these works to show someone that the convicted murderer was actually a good artist. Rather I see it more as having pure shock value. I personally would not want these art works hanging on my wall while I try to explain to someone the life and times of the killer... I think I would be more OK with this site if all the profits went to the victims families and the art was actually good! Some of these painting range in price from 20 dollars to 1000!

So my message to Gein is this, your a sick man who has the full rights to do what you do. I hope tragedy like this doesn't happen to you, or someone may be selling a painting by your killer someday.