Screw Guns

I am the proud owner of a screw-gun, a nail-gun, a heat-gun, a glue-gun , grease-gun and several other guns replete with enough ammo to get me through most jobs. I wield them with deft unapologetic. Each of my lovelies are kept safe and in fine working order, they never let me down. My guns are used to make stuff, to make a living not a killing. I have no use for guns that destroy with dumb lead slugs. I'll leave those toys for the folks who have nothing better to do than stockpile hunks of metal designed to hurt others and intended to comfort their most inner baseline psychosis, the thought that a mob is surely coming for them someday soon.




Charlton Heston is the Face, Bushman is the Brand.

If you want to understand the why's and WTFs , look no further than the NRA and the clowns/apes who uphold their principals "over their dead bodies". Look and listen more with alarming disbelief at the Eliminationist loud-mouths, not in the fringe, but currently on mainstream TV. Listen , if you have the stomach, to the crazies on Fox; Gloom Beck, Jerk O'Reilly, Rube Limbaugh, Same Hannity and what's her face Mann Coulter.
Their contrived hate-talk is intended to entertain and radicalize the American Right fringe.




There is an element in our culture that is whak. Michael Moore got it right in Bowling for Columbine. "...It is a film about the state of the Union, about the violent soul of America. Why do 11,000 people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence? The talking heads yelling from every TV camera blame everything from Satan to video games. But are we that much different from many other countries? What sets us apart? How have we become both the master and victim of such enormous amounts of violence?



The PopeMobile - Luxury Lunatic Edition.

Many our friends around the world look at America's love affair with violence and make the necessary arrangements when visiting our glorious developed nation. They know what we seem to refuse to accept, that in a civilized society there are safeguards for avoiding tyrannical tendencies and jack-boot thuggery. But then there is the little matter of stun-guns. Tasers don't kill people, people do.

When we visit them in the Old Country, they make the necessary arrangements also.



But this blog is about the swamp... and this post is also about Guns in Art.
Florida leads the nation in rampant irresponsible gun sales and there is an unnerving tilt by ordinary folk towards packing heat. The "law under my pillow" crowd is alive, well and trigger-happy. Then there are the rest of us who are feeling a bit edgy on the side-lines.
Ironically and without pity the artist as spectator will find endless material to express the profound impact that fire-arms have on our psychic collective. A painting of a gun is not a gun, it can not hurt you physically but it can and will at best affect you mentally. Are there really only two kinds of people; those with guns and those with shovels?







In a nutshell: Bad-ass equals Dumb-ass.

*

anti-lock spring brakes

H a p p y E a s t e r 2009

The previous pope was A. O. K., can't tell you why but I just liked him as the spiritual leader of 50 million catholics.

The new guy... not so much.
Can't tell you why, he's just creepy.

Hew looks like the kind of pontiff that could hypnotize bunny rabbits, chew their heads off.

I like rabbits allot. So it was wonderful to visit my cousins in Arbelais (south of Bogota Colombia) to check out their bunny rabbit breeding hutch.

They are so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute, makes me want to hug 500 million Chinese people.

If there is one artist who captures the essence of life, death and rebirth better than Alex Grey, let me know.

The previous president yucked bigtime... but the current is A. O. K.

*

Oh yeah, and a purrrfect Passover to all.


*

Erosion Deconstructed

Doodle on a Napkin.

Most things man-made are usually done twice, once on paper then again in actuality.
Working with Daniel Arsham has been an exercise in deconstruction. We begin with the end in mind, a concept, then proceed with conviction taking mental steps back to find the path of least resistance. The opportunity to produce artwork for permanent installation at Aventura Mall was exciting. For some time now the folks who manage Aventura embarked on an ambitious plan to infuse the halls of consumerism with fine art. In a effort to enhance the shopping experience for those who would otherwise not take an interest in or have the opportunity to experience first-hand the objects of contemporary art of today, the Mall has become the artist's patron.




Romance with Erosion.

Sculptural art production is rarely simple or easy. It takes allot of doing to achieve a desired result, particularly with the visionary work of young Daniel, one of Miami's own wunderkind.
There is nothing simple about simplicity. When you are good, it looks easy.



Because work can be overwhelming "Minimum Effort and Maximum Effect" is my guiding principal. It was taught by dear mentor Dan Friedman, the father of Radical Modernism.




Burning the Mid-night Cranes.

All the installation work had to be done after the mall was closed. Everything had to look all nicy-nice for the next day of shopping.



The Look is oh-so Snarkitecture.



For more on the recent work of Arsham visit Artlurker.

*

Influence and Concern

Daddy Don't Screech.

You don't get to be the father of a nation without tremendous influence and a deep concern for the future of a people in a place that is heaven sent. Our founding fathers could not have imagined that in little more than 200 years this great experiment would be so trashed by a lack of concern for human life and the natural splendor that is the North American Continent.



Old Scruel: Tar, Feathers and a bit of Water-boarding.

Human nature indeed has a sinister side. There certainly have aways been some morally bankrupt people worthy of contempt, but there is another kind of person out there. The person who, in order to feel good, must inflict pain on others. With blood on their hands (bush/cheney) they abuse their influence with no concern for Karma.



My Way and the Highway.

Rush (the Limp) Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Oreilly and their ilk appear to wield tremendous influence on ditto-heads and Fundi-fruitcakes but are not the least bit concerned about our collective safety. They preaches hatred and encourages violence and intolerance. God bless their sorry drug-addled gas-bags.



Material Girl in a Spiritual World.

We are all in the midst of an epic conflict between the spiritual and the material. Call it what you like, Creationism vs Evolution, Intelligent Design vs Technology, the fact of the matter is that it's much ado about nothing. We need to reconcile the cosmic energy with sustainable means of providing comfort without trashing the material world. I used to hang out with Madona when she had little influence and a big concern for fame and fortune. Today she has tremendous influence yet little concern... unless you are an African orphan.




We Eat Cows.

A big juicy T-bone and a bottle of whiskey sure would be nice right about now. I come from a proud and hearty line of Cuban ranchers. But as We are What we Eat, most of today's meat is practically toxic. Our influence on the life-cycle of bovine has brought a grave concern for the very thing we crave, meat. It takes a barrel of crude to fertilize an acre of corn to force-feed the cattle that are pumped with hormones and steroids so their multiple stomachs don't explode.



Q: Why does man kill trees? A: Because trees can't run away!

Hat-racking is a popular request in the swamp as many "landlords" battle the elements using stuff like Round-up and businesses that specialize in lowering the quality of life. Clean is nice but we need all the green we can grow. They paved paradise to put up a parking garage.



I'm Looking Over,
Afoul-leaf Clover-leaf,
That I Over-looked Before....
The world went Car-racy.

So where does all this auto-business get us? It gets us in a pickle with progress.
Where is our influence, where is our concern? It is in the hands of others. We willfully shake our head and carry on in either dis-belief of just plain stupidity for the sake of personal convenience and sing in harmony " that's just the way it is now".



King of Kings, Bang of Bongs.

There is no Godzilla, there is no magic bullet, there is no fairy-god-father, there is no bail-out.
Just me and you and a dog named Sue. So what's there to do? Take a deep breath and find one simple thing to make a difference, be part of the solution. Turn off your a/c when it's not hot. Turn off your TV, read a book. Don't buy individually wrapped cheese slices or single size water bottles. Write to your congress-person. Get Godzilla on the phone.



A Stench in the Trench.

Seriously folk, there is stuff going on out there out off sight that would make your head boil.
Like rock pit mining in the Everglades or economic hit-men in the developing world or black-ops syphonning our treasury. Where is our influence, what is our concern?




Miami and the Beaches are rife with plundering projects. Sure they're good for some few, but is the South Point Park really for the public anymore or is the grandiose MIA Art in Public Places really for us to enjoy? no.

Who cares about what you care about.... swampstyle does.

*

the sky is NOT falling...

... but the the north and south poles are definitely melting fast!
You don't have to be all Gore to recognize that global warming is a chilling thing and strangely beautiful.



Scientists say the collapse could mean the Wilkins Ice Shelf is of the brink of breaking away, and provides further evidence or rapid change in the region.



DWNTWN Miami gets a dose of mother nature. How many Floridians are prepared to live without air-conditioners and cars? I venture few.



In geologic time 50 years is but a blink of an eye, a micro-second. So why do I feel so old?
.


Not all crack is bad.
But when the Wilkins Ice Shelf fractures into cruise-ship size splinters, that's bad.



Size is not everything, but some ice-cubes are huuuuuuumongous.
It's not the icebergs already in the ocean that worry "rising sea levelers" it is the ice on dry land that slips into the oceans that we should be very concerned about.



It's the day before the Day After Tomorrow.
No amount of "green washing" will make a dime of difference.



Clever dude... wonder how many miles-to-the-astroturf this walking lawn-wheel gets.

*

OMG, Bridge for Sale

I just flew back to the swamp from a trip around the world in 80 days and man are my arms tired!


Pick-up todays NY Times to ketchup on current events.



Have you seen the King of Pop sporting scruff and looking really hot?



We all like rich people... specially royalty because without them there would be no 'tickle-down' economics.


If one fool is god, two is butter, three is toast.



People have asked that I post a photo of I Was There, so here it is.

*