Kansas Crimson

japhy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 2:51 pm We hosted an interesting event earlier this year in the spring. My wife and I cruise the end of semester student art shows at the Kansas City Art Institute twice a year. There is a lot of meh and then at least once a year we find a gem or two. We invite these students to show their work at my office on a First Friday. Last year we found two sophomore printmaking students who produced what I would have to say might be the best pieces I have ever seen there. Both pieces were large scale in that they were printed on whole sheets (30x22) and the drafting and detail and thought put into both were just exquisite. We bought the pieces and I arraigned through the head of the printmaking department to meet the two kids and discuss having them put together a joint First Friday show in our office. One piece is an odd pastoral scene that obvious references Adam and Eve and the fall from grace and expulsion from the garden. The other is a demon baby that is half human half goat and has obvious references to Catholicism and scientific journals. In meeting them they could not be more opposite, one a very clean kempt blonde woman who is a devout Christian and the other is a former Catholic ( yes we bonded immediately on that) who is now an espoused Satanist with long stringy hair dressed all in black. I say “espoused” because I truly believe this kid had such a negative reaction to his childhood experiences in the Catholic Church that the only way he could rebel enough was to become a Satanist. My guess is that if I see him again in 10 years things could be different.

So I propose to them the idea of a show of their work side by side, they will curate it and write it up for me and they are in charge of a title. I will provide the advertising and venue. They are buzzing, it turns out they are friends and really like each other’s work and appreciate each other’s aesthetic and work ethic. Bottom line is they had discussed wanting to do a show together but weren’t sure they could find a venue for that. The printmaking department head at KCAI is excited, they are excited and I am excited.

Six months later we reconvene at my office and they show me what they done. The show is titled “The War between Heaven and Hell”. Heady title to live up to for a couple of 20 year olds. The centerpiece of the show is the two pieces of their work that my wife and I bought which we have had framed and they have those sit on their own wall side by side. Then they filled in about 40 linear feet of gallery wall with the rest. It is a pretty big show for two students. On the night of the show Solomon walks in looking like Marilyn Manson’s stunt double coming home from a KISS concert and Lauren comes in all powder and gingham in her best Suzie Creamcheese outfit (I know what you are thinking right now Leawood and NO, NO, NO). I am blown away and my admin is beside herself wanting to slap him. I remind her he is 20 and he has some stuff he has to get out of his system and tonight is part of that. All night the two of them interact with the 300-400 people who walk through and give each other furtive high fives in support of their respective performances. He has his people, they are usually a visually obvious type and he talks to them and they love him and by the end of it he has a couple of people who want him to give them tattoos. Half the crowd looks at his work and some shock appears on their face and they move along. She also has a visually identifiable group who congregate around her work and they talk and about her work, she is also very earnest and thoughtful but in a gentler way.

At one point late in the night a group of 6 college age kids walks up to me and asks me to interpret her large piece and I give them a basic biblical reference for the themes but tell them that once she gets done talking to the group she is currently talking to, they should ask her directly and get this in her words. I motion her over and make introductions and she starts to tell her story. About half way through one of the girls starts crying and then one of the boys starts crying and she stops and asks if everything is OK. The girl stammers; yeah, I’m fine, it’s just that your description and the picture are so beautiful, I can’t help crying, I don’t know why, I’m not sad, it’s just so beautiful. So a group hug ensues. The Satanist who has been taking as much pride so far in the horror he has induced with his own work as the admiration it has inspired; is looking in on this and he is smiling and enjoying the moment as well. All in all it was maybe the best show we have ever hosted with regards to artist/patron interaction and conversation.

So we saw something very rare that night along with hundreds of other unsuspecting strangers. Two diametrically opposite religious beliefs and their followers demonstrating an appreciation of each other as human beings and talking about their beliefs in a sincere way with no one claiming primacy or the ultimate “truth” of their beliefs or trying to convert or condemn anyone. They simply showed respect for each other as people and at the end of the evening they all walked away friends. I have to agree with the crying girl, it’s just so beautiful.

japhy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:08 pm My work-a-day world is filled with ego driven money grubbing power hungry fucks, it is a cynical place where we eat our own. So I try to balance that out by intentionally putting myself in or creating places where there can be small moments of real clarity and human joy and goodness. That show was an experiment that went right.

Stay tuned.

Next month Defixione and I will be traveling out west again to try and secure a location/trip shack for a happening . We may have found the closest thing to El Jardín del Edén that still exists, unseen but in plain sight. If so, you may want to mark the date of the summer solstice on your calendar for next year. Who knows, you might see DC there.

I saw the band IDLES play a couple of months ago, great show and their mantra left a mark so maybe that will be our theme. Joy as an act of resistance.

jeepinjayhawk wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:18 pm

japhy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:08 pm My work-a-day world is filled with ego driven money grubbing power hungry fucks, it is a cynical place where we eat our own. So I try to balance that out by intentionally putting myself in or creating places where there can be small moments of real clarity and human joy and goodness. That show was an experiment that went right.

Stay tuned.

Next month Defixione and I will be traveling out west again to try and secure a location/trip shack for a happening . We may have found the closest thing to El Jardín del Edén that still exists, unseen but in plain sight. If so, you may want to mark the date of the summer solstice on your calendar for next year. Who knows, you might see DC there.

I saw the band IDLES play a couple of months ago, great show and their mantra left a mark so maybe that will be our theme. Joy as an act of resistance.

Defixione is a good man, and from what I see of you here, you seem to be as well.

Sounds like an amazing trip.

I have a home in Palm Springs. Death Valley and Anza Borrego have some pretty cool spots, and some really cool springs.

Geezer wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:43 pm

jeepinjayhawk wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:18 pm

japhy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:08 pm My work-a-day world is filled with ego driven money grubbing power hungry fucks, it is a cynical place where we eat our own. So I try to balance that out by intentionally putting myself in or creating places where there can be small moments of real clarity and human joy and goodness. That show was an experiment that went right.

Stay tuned.

Next month Defixione and I will be traveling out west again to try and secure a location/trip shack for a happening . We may have found the closest thing to El Jardín del Edén that still exists, unseen but in plain sight. If so, you may want to mark the date of the summer solstice on your calendar for next year. Who knows, you might see DC there.

I saw the band IDLES play a couple of months ago, great show and their mantra left a mark so maybe that will be our theme. Joy as an act of resistance.

Defixione is a good man, and from what I see of you here, you seem to be as well.

Sounds like an amazing trip.

I have a home in Palm Springs. Death Valley and Anza Borrego have some pretty cool spots, and some really cool springs.

I'll vouch for Defix, I'd keep my hand on my wallet around Japhy. FYI

Geezer wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:43 pm

jeepinjayhawk wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:18 pm

japhy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:08 pm My work-a-day world is filled with ego driven money grubbing power hungry fucks, it is a cynical place where we eat our own. So I try to balance that out by intentionally putting myself in or creating places where there can be small moments of real clarity and human joy and goodness. That show was an experiment that went right.

Stay tuned.

Next month Defixione and I will be traveling out west again to try and secure a location/trip shack for a happening . We may have found the closest thing to El Jardín del Edén that still exists, unseen but in plain sight. If so, you may want to mark the date of the summer solstice on your calendar for next year. Who knows, you might see DC there.

I saw the band IDLES play a couple of months ago, great show and their mantra left a mark so maybe that will be our theme. Joy as an act of resistance.

Defixione is a good man, and from what I see of you here, you seem to be as well.

Sounds like an amazing trip.

I have a home in Palm Springs. Death Valley and Anza Borrego have some pretty cool spots, and some really cool springs.

I'll vouch for Defix, I'd keep my hand on my wallet around Japhy. FYI

Feral wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 2:10 pm Conversion therapy group founder comes out as gay, apologizes

The founder of one of the nation’s largest conversion therapy programs, who spent decades leading the organization, now says he is gay, apologizing for his role in the practice.

...in an interview with The Post and Courier published Saturday, Game called conversion therapy “a lie” and “false advertising” and called for the dissolution of conversion therapy practices or ex-gay ministries...

...Some 700,000 LGBTQ-identifying adults have gone through some form of conversion therapy as of 2018, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute, The Post and Courier notes...

chiknbut wrote: ↑Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:46 pm

chiknbut wrote: ↑Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:25 pm

Feral wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 2:10 pm Conversion therapy group founder comes out as gay, apologizes

The founder of one of the nation’s largest conversion therapy programs, who spent decades leading the organization, now says he is gay, apologizing for his role in the practice.

...in an interview with The Post and Courier published Saturday, Game called conversion therapy “a lie” and “false advertising” and called for the dissolution of conversion therapy practices or ex-gay ministries...

...Some 700,000 LGBTQ-identifying adults have gone through some form of conversion therapy as of 2018, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute, The Post and Courier notes...

Who knows how many people took their own lives following the advice of this charlatan?

And he responds with an "...ooops, my bad."

This makes me fucking furious.