Merry Christmas! (or, if you have hangups with the cultural traditions of certain countries, "Happy Holidays"!)

I'm away from the tedium of computers and blogging for a few weeks. I've posted an assortment of photos and drawings below to leave up in the period that I'm not posting. The woodcut from a book cover is not my work (obviously), everything else -- for better or worse -- is.

I love Japan and can't wait till get back. I also love the U.S. and can't wait to go. Both countries are great in their own ways. Those who can't appreciate that should develop a more honest appraisal regarding what is good in life and culture or just join a socialist political party and whine.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...

Another reason to love Japan...

Book Cover. Woodblock print from the late Edo period (from my collection).

Carved Fabric for Abstract Interpretation

Felt Cuttings

Gods of the Night

Textures and strata

Eruption of Filaments.

The collapse of attention (a doodle on college note paper).

Rustic Symmetry

Reconciliation of Opposites

Ideas with little relevance to the matter at hand -- a "doodle"

Architectural Ruins...and Dreams

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

The Playful Rooftop

Steel Maggots

Hallucinogenic Profile

Mother and Children.

Japanese Woodblock Print (from my collection).

The Peaceful Coexistense of Man and Nature.

Pan's Entry.

Peace and Transcendance / Age and Decay

Among my favorite styles of art are those which convey what I'd call the rustic charm of decay. Although that may not sound particularly pleasant, I think examples of such art can be quite beautiful. In much of my own attempts at photography I've sought to capture this quality.

One can see this particular style of beauty in the engravings of Giovanni Piranesi and many of the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich. Although I've heard many people describe such an aesthetic as "gloomy" or simply "dark" I think they may be missing the point. I would describe the mood as a sort of dignified decay, as if objects could have wisdom. Such images convey an odd archetypal mix of both structured endurance and subtle demise -- the play between the two brings forth a kind of slow tension and reminds one of such dichotomies as power and transcendence or will and sacrifice. In photography, one can find an excellent example of this in the work of the Japanese photographer, Shinichiro Kobayashi, (sorry I wasn't able to find any good images of his work on line) who's images of abandoned warehouses and factories (for example) convey a haunting peace amongst bizarre but natural symmetries and color.

The following photos were not deliberate attempts to copy a style but a mere opportunity to capture a particular genre of art with my own camera.

Contemplations on a Reliquary for an Umbrella

Archaic Monument to a Mundane Artifact.

Crypt of Faded Grandure.

Time and the Maelstrom

Time is a cruel blade. It carves a life neatly then trails mere residue of what could have been. With a thousand gentle taps it cuts the most profound to crumbs and lays perfection in waste. It replaces active engagement with the ghosts of contemplation, and the weight of existence with the buoyant release of resignation.

Time is a feather that cracks pavement, an angel’s breath that roars, and a storm cloud that summons the advent of whispers.

A Progression of Physical Continuity.

Comments and Responses

I've occasionally received e-mails regarding this site and my other sites. When I try to respond to them, the message comes back as "undeliverable" so I apologize to anyone who has e-mailed me and appeared to have received no response. I figure that the Blogger system is just sending me copies of the comments made to individual postings.

Also, on this site and my other sites, I occasionally receive e-mails with no actual message content. It arrives as "from Promethean...., to Promethean...." In these cases I have no idea what is being sent to me so, again I apologize for not responding or understanding the bizarre technical quirks of the Blogger system.

On another note; In this blog’s heading I make reference to poetry as part of the sites content. Sorry there is little poetry thus far. I've written plenty but I've ultimately been too lazy to type it out for the site thus far (I certainly wouldn't claim it to be that extraordinary anyway). Perhaps in the future...

Anyone offended by my political cartoons or comments can perhaps move to Cuba, or at least Sweden, where they can worship the glories of the The State and express their "compassion" by forcing others to comply with their whims.

A thousand praises to the dynamism of free, open, and diverse society. Capitalism is cool, screw socialism.

Thanks for looking at my stuff.

Evening Oasis in Japan

The Stoic Conversation

A Spirits Premonition of Events in Time that Will Scar His Soul

Landscape

The Paradox of Radical Chic

The Age of Stone and Steel

Serenade

Electric Eros

The -- less than -- noble end of "good intentions." (e.g. The Law of Unintended Consequences).

Hutongs; Beijing, China

Gothic Revival

The apprehensions of the terminally wise.

The interface of achetypal transformation.

Sacrifice.

Selling Amway...I mean, Communist "philosophy."
There's something about the smiley-face thing in propaganda that's always made me sick. "Yeh team!" This is a classic Marxist poster from Ho Chi Minh city showing the great strides and joy of living in a police state that executed and "re-educated" millions.

Same ideas, same result everytime. Such utter nonsense.

"Enemies of the people." Photographs of some of the prisoners in the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. As in North Korea today, many of these prisoners were "guilty" of nothing more than being related to someone who was not a devout follower of European bred Marxist-Socialism. Remember socialism is a team sport and there's no "I' in "team."

A philosophy that only an intellectual, artist, or Hollywood millionaire could love.

Boundless Journey

The Night

Pasta

Primeval Rite

Hauling food around in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The Storm of Contemplation

The Dynamic Exchange

The Pianist

Only The Best

Bone Carving

The Adoration of Melancholy