Join for FREE | Take the Tour Lost Password?
[x]

deviantART

 
©2007-2010 *relaxeder
:iconrelaxeder:

Artist's Comments

oil on canvas

thank you very much to :iconwc-stock: for the cool stock photo i used as reference.

I used the title “impotent” in the sense of being or feeling unable to take effective action… a sense of powerlessness. Nothing to do with sexual dysfunction.

In doing this painting - I thought it was a feeling (or state of mind) many could relate to, and painting it was sort of a catharsis for me. However – I’m not trying to condone or glorify helplessness. As my artwork tends to reflect… I’ve become increasingly disgusted with the state of things in the world (especially the U.S.), and then frustrated in terms of knowing how I could contribute to changing things. The media, the blind patriotism, rampant consumerism, religious fundamentalism (not religion in general - just the fundamentalists), war mongering, narcissistic corporate greed, and on and on… they plague my thoughts and frustrate the hell out of me.

Anyway, I had a DA friend ask me not too long ago why I always piss and moan about things instead of getting off my ass to do something. He didn’t use those exact words and I don’t think his intention was to be offensive… I’m guessing he was just curious. At any rate – he had a point. I think that there’s a tendency for those of a progressive bent to do a hell of a lot of complaining and not much else. The reason for this is (in my humble estimation) that liberal sorts empathize very deeply with the misfits, the suffering, the poor, the disenfranchised, and the destitute – then we just flare up in anger at the bastards that walk all over them. We’d like to do something about it, but then our many limitations become all too apparent and we lose ourselves in despair. Also – we progressive sorts aren’t exactly the most organized creatures. We’re often more right brained emotional folks that have flashes of inspiration and creativity, but not much in the way of daily habits or a consistent framework that lends to a cohesive kind of productiveness. This is unfortunate – because many of the neocons out there are extremely organized… they’ve got little in the way of a heart, but they have extremely productive (yet - self-serving) hands. We’re all heart, but then our hands tend to get confused as to what to actually do about anything.

What should we do? I don’t know exactly, and I’m open to suggestions. I think as a start we have to be humble enough to know that we can’t do much by ourselves – we’ve got to come together. There probably aren’t gonna be any liberal supermen (or superwomen) to come save the day. Firstly – we shouldn’t underestimate the power of an organized group effort. One person votes, they recycle, they ride their bikes to work instead of driving to work, they turn off their TV, they become responsible consumers, they work at becoming politically informed and aware, they volunteer, they donate to worthy causes, etc…. yet nothing seems to change. “What does my little vote do?” “What have my feeble efforts accomplished?” By themselves these efforts (admittedly) don’t change much and there’s certainly no sense of immediate gratification. But if there were thousands or millions or billions of people with the humility to say to themselves “every little bit counts” instead of “fuck it – what can I do?”, well… collectively we could change the world.

Thank you for enduring my (extremely long) preachy-assed monologue.

Comments


love 1 1 joy 0 0 wow 0 0 mad 0 0 sad 0 0 fear 0 0 neutral 0 0
:iconabddevil:
First this is well done work i like it, great idea.
i agree with you and i kept on trying so hard to change something but it didn't work, you can't change the fact in a short time but it will take long time, you can't change people but they can change them selfs everyone is brainwashed by the media, i complain everyday every hour about many things but i will never give up at least i will guide the people around me and try to show them the truth and the real facts, i use my energy my power to do something useful and to be honest I'm sick of this thing but there is no other way i have to live with it and you keep on talking and no one is listening because you are telling something real, people just want to watch the tv and get more and more brainwashed, the new generation will be more and more like robots and puppets, its a very sad thing for me.

--
N o t h i n g a s i t s e e m s.
:iconxmooxmoox:
you know, I learned about the uglier side of this world and the people around me at quite a young age, so I learned not to care before everyone else as well. I guess i'm a little too apathetic, but caring too much about things like that get in the way of being a human being.

.... atleast it made sense before I typed it out.
:iconcobaine:
Wow...really wow.

I love this. I think it's my favorite piece by you...I love it even more than the drawing you did of me ;)

The message is very clearly portrayed and I really like you explaining your concept in the description.

And no, it doesn't sound preachy. :heart:

--
i'll sell your memories for fifteen pounds per year but you can keep the bad days.
:iconflesh-box:
You are fantastic!

Hmm.. photos, photos, photos... I got all my hair cut off now so I look different! Hehe I have no friends to help me take them. Excuses excuses! No no, I can assure you they will be on their way ;)

--
Expect the worst, accept the worst, demand the worst.
:icon8rename8:
its a very good concept
:iconnoir501:
it´s great! the hands are perfectly done and the colors are great!

--
remember where you came from, remember what you are --- NIN
:iconjasonmckittrick:
Really nice!

--
Member of the Dark Arts Asylum
Buy My Prints! [link]
:iconsilverwolf90:
Beautiful job. And i completely agree with you. People usually do nothing because they think in the wrong way. As you told before, little things we can do as turn off the tv won't save the siberian forest or the polar bear but between 'i do something, even if little' and' i don't do anything cause it's no use' there's not the sea, there's an ocean. we cannot do incredible things, but the little we can do, just do it. it won't change things tomorrow, the next year or the next ten years but is a way to start do something bigger. if we all change our way to think then we'll be able to change the world. i know what i've said is simply impossible to realize cause our society, media and so on are completely still in front of reality, maybe because they don't or don't want to see it and in the same way peolpe behave. but, i don't know how to explain it, if i do something i'll be happier cause i will be able to say 'well, i've done all possible' and it would be a kind of personal conquest against this horrible society, wouldn't it?
Fiuu.. sorry for this long (and maybe no use) comment but i wanted to tell you you've my support (even if just moral ^^"") ^__^
And compliments again four your work :heart:

--
La fortune est femme et bien le montre; elle n'aime pas les hommes supérieurs.
:iconpetitemistress:
thk you for writing that long-ass preachy monolog.
i like it asmuch as the painting as i tend to askmyself much of the same questions...
oh well ._.

--
Love isnt blind... it's retarded.
:iconrelaxeder:
thank you, dear. and thanks fer favin' :hug:

yeah... hurry with the photos and i'll be paintin' you!!! ;)

Details

October 24, 2007
3.8 MB
105 KB
400×1227

Statistics

101
292 [who?]
5,739 (0 today)
0 (0 today)

Camera Data

Hewlett-Packard
HP PhotoSmart C850 (V05.22)
1/24 second
F/2.8
11 mm
200
Aug 28, 2007, 3:58:59 AM

Share

Link
Embed
Thumb

Site Map