Kia ora, key aura, quay oarer!

The Reverend is going ol' school and lo-tech for the holidays, which means I dont have a PC at home, so I wont be able to communicate for a few weeks.

So in lieu of next time......

Seasons Greetings to Hamilton Taight, Mercurius Bradburn, Dr. Benway, all DIGloggers and friends, family and followers of the Reverend Y El Presidente.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported DIG and Neil and Jase as individual artists throughout the year, whether by support, encouragement, inspiration, networking or buying some of our creative outpourings - Kia ora

We look forward to next year, meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones, ranting, raving, making peace, makingh war and making some new art for this ol' world.

DIG!!!

Postcards from Aotearoa

The Reverend (Aka Neil Buddle) has completed a new set of 3 prints, for sale exclusively through Pauanesia Store, Auckland, New Zealand.

The 3 prints show contemporary New Zealand beach life and reference early postcards. Here follows low-res images and the accompanying blurb.

Postcard
The island nation of New Zealand is defined by its coast. From its location, between the mighty Pacific Ocean and the feisty Tasman Sea, to its native mythology, the power, and importance of the elements are celebrated and acknowledged.

The thin strip, where land, sea, and sky meet, is never far away. Here on the beach, New Zealanders are most at home. Whether fishing, surfing, swimming, or just relaxing, New Zealanders relish every opportunity to enjoy this ephemeral landscape; Where the big sky and the roaring surf are reflected in the shimmering sands and the headlands fade like a dream, into the distance…

These prints evoke this environment and the enjoyment of it, referencing the style of postcards, from the 19th and early 20th century – The 1st golden age of New Zealand tourism.

Beenie Man or Batty Boy?

Legendary dance-hall performer, Beenie Man, is in the news this week, having been excised from the Big Day out line-up. Groups and individuals, including Rainbow Youth protested at his inclusion on the bill, because old Beenie Man tunes contain 'homophobic' lyrics. This was further inflamed by an impromptu Facebook group, emerging to condemn the decision. The Facebook group, surprisingly consisted of many people, who did not look like dance-hall fans, or likely to have heard of Beenie Man or dance-hall at all, before this drama erupted .

The furore over these lyrics is old news, he has already given reasons for their misinterpretaion, apologised for any hurt and made a commitment to positivity in Jamaican music. Frankly what he said or his reasons are unimportant to this argument because we are talking about free-speech. The notion of which it seems has become greatly confused with the 'Right to say what you want as long as no-one previously disenfranchised gets upset, and as long as no-one disagrees', which is a far inferior right and frankly not worth having.

What is worrying is the move towards left-wing censorship of ideas, speech, acts that express anything resembling right-wing, intolerant or offensive notions, however deep and wide those notions may go. The idea that a civillised and democratic nation cannot allow certain combinations of 'words', because of their danger to society is both frightening and indicative of a grave insecurity in the concept and the realisation of democracy. Personally I want all ideas, notions and thoughts out in the open, however unpalatable, illogical or apposite to my own views they are. That is how I can learn to understand the issues, the motivations and sometimes the logic of other people who like the rest of humanity are only trying to refine their own instincts and look after 'them and theirs'. That is also how as a society we can deal with issues, through discussion, through debate, through intelligent discourse, not through censorship and definitely not through denial and ignorance.

New Zealand was one of the last western countries to legalise homosexual relations and even then it was opposed by a majority of the public. Homophobia along with racism is alive and well in New Zealand right now, are recalcitrant Jamaican musicians, really the best place to start the fight?

Of course like many of the Facebook group, I too have too much time on my hands at work, allowing me the opportunity to wax philosophical and critique events, as if I had a clue. Maybe this is part of the problem? We have become too used to knowing a little about lots and not much about anything. Now it is so easy, you're at work it's 10am, your friend forwards you some subjective rant about something really facile and PC to side with, animal cruelty, homophobic rappers etc. You are bored and in an effort to dissipate your own frustration at your own life and the world, you start a Facebook group before lunch and lo and behold by hometime, 1000 people have joined it, they've all spewed their guts out about how shocking, appalling, obscene, offensive etc. it all is and you have become an activist and committed leader of a powerful lobby group. Imagine the surprise the next day, when the lobby group gets it's man. No hand printing pamphlets and handing them out on cold Saturday mornings in the high street, no long letter writing campaigns to government, no actual effort beyond a bit of typing and a bit of cut'n'paste from Wikipedia (Cos' you've never heard the songs and wouldn't get the lyrics if you did). In the old days you had to really fight for your cause, pay some dues, walk the talk. Now with modern technology, we can all be activists, and all without leaving our desks, doing our bit to make the world a better place or at least able to dump our crap anywhere in the world but here on anyone but us!

New Manifesto for Artists in the Business of Being Artists

The Fine-Art world is rapidly becoming anachronistic, in it's effectiveness as a means of communicating ideas or as an occupation of worth. New mediums and new forms are replacing some of our traditional and even our 20th century modes of expression. More people play computer games than buy music CD's, more people watch Youtube than go to the movies, more people enjoy publishing imagery, than fine-art.


The fine art world has always had it's idiosyncracies and it's avoidance of engagement with the business of communication, is largely self-constructed. The false proclamation of creative altruism, provides many artists with the opportunity to avoid critique, the accountability to the audience and the challenges of commercial production, through an establishment-endorsed aloofness. This perceived, moral self-elevation, paradoxically illustrates the lack of esteem amongst many fine-artists, in relation to their cousins in the design and media worlds.


Although commercial success is not a measure of credibility and vice-versa, it can be said, that money and commerce are a useful tool in the assessment of worth of a product/service/idea, to the general population based upon, supply and demand. Fine-Artists sometimes act as if the work they produce is both priceless (i.e. Morally and spiritually above definition by the base tool, that is money) and worthless (Not adequately appreciated by the base collective that is the general population). This is despite many artists not producing work that communicates effectively with the general population or work that is not presented in a form suitable for appreciation by the general public. This view stems form a deep-seated doubt and resentment about their own artistic self-worth and a fear of rejection by the audience.


As always it is a case of horses for courses and the trouble only begins when an artist expects recompense for something they don't do and expects no recompense for what they do - this contradictory approach sets up art and artists to be undervalued, misunderstood and unsuccessful. Bizarrely this is completely enshrined and endorsed by the artists own establishment. Whilst this establishment is not a union, guild or other such over-arching organisation, it is this strata of the art world, that could make a difference. Alas it is this very strata, that is either involved in the collection, sale and promotion of art, or the teaching of art, that serves neither to profit nor gain from any revision of basic art business practice.


So here below are a few 'new' ideas for Artists in the Business of Being Artists. Try them, adapt them, do them well and stroke by stroke, we might just paint a new picture...

• You are professional, capable and creative - Act accordingly, be smart, punctual, pragmatic, decisive and dynamic.
• Art is about communication of ideas/concepts/feelings - Decide who you want to communicate with, how many and to what level?
• Money is the best tool yet devised for valuing apples against oranges - It has widely understood rules, standards and units - Use it.
• People don't value what is free or cheap - Charge realistically and optimistically for all of your services/products, then add 10%.
• Don't Undercut Yourself - Establish a retail price for a product, (this price should be at least 3 x the cost of production and in line with other similar products). Whatever outlet, you sell work through, the price is the price. You receive that price minus the commission (Commission is an agents fee for selling your work), whatever that is? - If you sell the work privately - YOU are the agent, you get the commission! Do not attempt to speculate on the retail price in relation to the demographic of a location, it is not possible.
• In Fine-Art, the 'viewing' experience is the most commonly enjoyed - Charge for it! (Yes that means people paying a small fee to view art - think about it!). The viewing experience does not require the artist to intoxicate the viewers at his/her own expense - Charge for drinks (That is how money is made in the performance world).
• Marketing and Promotion are Creative Opportunities - See these activities as a creative challenge and an opportunity to describe yourself in a way that incoprorates your visual language and your 'personality' as an artist.
• Be Realistic and Modest - Art is a wonderful, beautiful thing, we are privileged to be a part of it - Artists are not inherently better, more spiritual, morally superior, deeper-feeling, smarter, wiser or more altruistic than, plumbers, lawyers, traffic wardens or the unemployed (That is about how good you are at what you do, not what you do).
• Don't Understate/Overstate Yourself - Art is not brain surgery/Art is not junk-mail; Dont make extravagant claims for your work (it does not explain the universe and everything in it) and do not understate it either (You are communicating an idea, not illustrating a catalogue).
• Have a Sense of Humour/Be Robust (Thanks El P!) - As stated earlier, Art isn't brain surgery, it may depict life and death but it isn't life and death. Have a sense of humour about art and about being an artist, it will make it much more enjoyable, make you more fun to deal with and will stop you from dissapearing up-your-own-picasso! Be robust too: Art is personal to the artist but don't take it personally. Critique, criticism and dislike of your work will tell you more about your work than a 1000 compliments, take it on board or not, thats your decision.
  
  This is only a collection of loosely formed ideas at present, it contains most of what I want to say and have said on this subject, to various people at some point or other. As I like to say about words at least, 'Untried Ideas - free to a good home' so take these thoughts and propogate them, let me know how well they grow?

No More Censorship!

Recently I have been made more and more aware of a disturbing truth , that has rocked my perception of who I am and the people I relate to. That revelation is that, whatever peoples political persuasion, censorship is accepted, embraced and promoted by all.

I used to think that the liberal, artistic, milleu that I in some way belong to, was the bastion of the reasonable, the intellectually astute and aware, the objective ones who could see both sides of an argument. I thought my strata was the one where, people said let and let live, containing as it does, the environmental, economic, sexual, idealistic refugees from the mainstream.

How wrong I was and how disturbed I am to find out that people on both sides of the fence are mortally afraid of words and images, in short, afraid of ideas. Not only that but they are preapared to become their worst enemy to fight these ideas that threaten them.
No word or image has ever hurt anyone, only the interpretations of them have caused harm. It is those interpretations that we fear, that are dangerous, maybe because on paper they are harmless, such is their insidious power.

Recently I was dismayed to find a lot of 'pro-democracy, anti-rascist' friends petitioning to overturn a valid, democratic election result for a right-wing British Party. Apparently THEY shouldn't be allowed in a democratic forum (Which paradoxically would make it undemocratic). Luckily as opposed to freedom of expression about sexuality, religious views etc. we all know 'rascism is bad', it has been 'proved' to be 'evil', so we are free to damn it with al the scorn in our hearts, aren't we? Is rascism inherently bad? Is the instinctive, fear of the stranger, uneccessary now in our enlightened world? Curiously our instincts also tell us that mating with, strangers makes the human race stronger. Fear first, join later, seems to be the natural way to go. What is the difference between the self-protection of indigenous culture and the self-protective intent of caucasian right-wing groups - colour?

There are many bad ideas in the world and many bad intentions and none of them have ever been stopped by censorship, only by engagement. We need to hear what is being said and thought and felt, both good and bad, to understand, 'what condition our condition is in'. Know your enemy, you will learn more from one person who opposes you than a thousand who stand by your side.

So don't be afraid of images, words and ideas, soak it all up or not (You have a choice!) and let it all out, let the rascists rant, the fundamentalists chant and let the perverts groan. We should be evolved enough to stop reacting with that most dangerously erratic of organs, the heart and start thinking with the far more balanced organ that is our brain.

The PC world is the politics of victimhood, it is about mutual repression, blame, guilt and most of all it is about low-esteem. Saying to us all that; you are too fragile, too facile, too damaged to be able to withstand what you have already endured. Serving only to supress the negative, until it festers and boils over into something truly tragic. I thought that we were tougher, smarter and better than that?

venice beach 08

It was Venice Beach pre Obama.

Pre economic freefall.

On this Beach Boys coast the American dream was crumbling and most of the nation was in denial.

The signposts were all pointing one way, well so it was to me. Reef ahead.

©burgseye08

Stone Secret

Stone Secret

1999 - Neil Buddle

Lino and screenprint on handmade paper (Property of the Artists Parents!)

Another set of artwork from the vaults......

These prints were done from a rock found at a beach in Cornwall. Each print zooms in closer to the rock, revealing more detail. The patterns on the rock were reminiscent of the observable strata of rocks along that coast. The blue was screen-printed and the detail is of course in Lino, on early handmade paper.

A New God for New Zealand

A bad picture of a damaged artwork........however today it just seems apt to resurrect this piece. Made in 2004 (Approx) this work uses piano Keys, hammers and saw blades to create a 'New God' the piano keys represent a korowai or feather cloak. The idea of a new god came from the realisation that this country is like a child still struggling for identity, still alternatively embracing and rejecting each parent by turn as it wrestles with defining itself. The struggle was to find a new identity to strive for, it's (the countries') own.

Currently the piece is missing a 'cup' on the left. One side has 2 hollows and a cup and the other 2 cups and a hollow. The hollows indicate the absence of the other. The maths of the piece imply that 1+1=1.

Perhaps the current damage is indicative of the some of the current racial dischord. That reminds me, I should really fix this up!

The H Bomb - Yet Another letter to the paper...

The front-page of the W(H)anganui Chronicle today is focused on the Nat. Geo-Board NZ decision that W-anganui should be spelt with an H. The headlines featured Mayor Laws accusing the board of racism and being unconstitutional. The irony is of course if both sides applied some actual intelligence and an open-mind they would see that neither side is right or wrong, that both are right, no-one needs to 'lose' and that Wanganui could be a leading light in this bi-cultural nation, rather than it's darkest corner. Here is a letter I wrote today to the Editor, describing the 'nausea' this situation induces...

Friday’s newspaper made me queasy with that feeling you get when you know a tasteless and avoidable furore is developing. The ‘H’ debacle is primed to show the unpalatable truth about race-relations in New Zealand, and we are in the front row seats.

Like rams butting heads for supremacy, the attitudes on both sides, are stubborn and destructive. How did this become a contest between cultures? When did it become one way or no way? If in most bilingual countries, 2 languages and accordingly 2 place names are acknowledged, why not here? Wanganui and Whanganui are BOTH in common usage, they are both already valid.

Who are ‘we’ if we can’t compromise? Does a compromise mean that both sides lose? Why are so many, so bitter and insecure, that they will not give an inch, no matter how destructive, ignorant and pointless, the struggle? As this symbolic issue nauseously unfolds, be assured we will see the further entrenchment of prejudices and self-serving agendas, till we are all sick to the stomach.

A previously unpopular name for Whanganui was Petre (Peter), ironically derived (as all you good Christians know), from the word for rock. Perhaps this stubborn town was better named then, than they thought?

Digging in the Vaults

For the Reverend, the last few weeks have seemingly been a time of new work and a nostalgic look to the past. Though this is rooted in a practical need to archive some of this work before it goes mouldy in this temperate climate or just gets lost. It always reminds me of directions I didn't take and threads that have continued.

I have just posted a whole load of odd prints on Picasa (View on Sidebar Slideshow) and Deviantart from before, during and after art-school.

These include the 'DIG Vinyl' (See left) which I produced especially as a commemorative print for the Blink Gallery Show with El Presidente in 2007. Along side more recent ones like that are ones like below from various stages of my art-life.

Sing Swan Song

Sing Swan Song - Neil Buddle / Assemblage 2009

Entry for Wanganui National Art Award (Amalgamated Tech.)

It's been a long time since I have made any assemblage and the experience as ever has been extremely enjoyable. This piece unfolded it's own story which resulted in this take on the plight of native birds in the face of predators and eforestation. All the bird names listed on the piece are currently on the endangered list, most of them critically endangered, and there are more.

A swansong is a last performance and in this case it is the last birdsongs. The title also borrows from a song by the krautrock band 'Can'. Ironically Swans have thrived here since introduction.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 17th September at the Community Arts Centre, Taupo Quay, Whanganui.

Wales - Mushroom Central

Wales - Mushroom Central (Mixed Media on Board / Neil Buddle 1998)

Through the magic of Facebook, I have recently gotten back in touch with a much loved musical compadre from Wales, Johnny Smoke (Matty Miles)! One of my best and last memories of the U.K was a trip organised by a few of my musical friends, to a home-studio in mid-Wales, nestled in the hollow of a hill called 'Drummers Hill', high up on the side of a valley. The hill had once been part of a chain of beacons, using fire and drums to communicate messages across the Welsh hinterland.

The studio, an old barn, became our home for 4 days. Before commencing to play ourselves stupid, we set out across the verdant Welsh fields in search of Psylocibe Cubensis (Magic Mushrooms). As is the way in Mid-Wales, no sooner had we vaulted the 1st farm gate, when we realised, all around us was a carpet of 'shrooms', calling out to be picked. Our planned, harvesting, became erratic as we started 'snacking' and before long we were drifting further afield in every sense of the word.

This became a huge ramble, involving some very hairy bush-crashing, and the emergence at a lake, that was identical in every way to one which I had painted from imagination at high-school. So clear was the feeling of recognition, I could barely be dragged away from this strange geographical realisation of the psyche. We eventually made it back to the studio, 'put on a brew' and 'got in the groove'. Hours, indeed days passed in the window-less studio. Once we all woke up, after a heavy, heavy sleep and it was dark, it took us a day to realise it was a day later than we thought!

I still have a murky recording of that visit, on tape, which I have spliced and re-spliced to repair. Some of my playing that week, hinted at a style, I could only then imagine, but which has since become a singular part of my sound, a deep, dark, bubbling groove, from the dark side of the mushroom.

All these guys have continued to make music together and apart, Paul and Steve as 'Staedler and Waldorf' and 'D'Booga' and Johnny Smoke is currently playing with Pete Lawrie, who is releasing his first album. But for a brief few days, we all played together, on Drummers Hill - Thank you boyos!

The artwork was produced at Art College, and aside form my obvious desire to use the shroom as my muse, I was also attempting to combine, maps, photogrpahy, paint and relief to create a cohesive image. It is hard to construct a perspective that takes you from a macro-level (looking at the mushroom) to the curvature of the earth in space, within a couple of feet, but I still think I gave it a shot! I was actually going to throw this away at the end of my course and Matty protested. He has had it to this day and it now sits in appropriately in his 'den'. Thanks to Matty for sending me the pic and reminding me of some wonderful times and some of the work, I had almost forgotten.

Wales - Mushroom Central (Detail N.Buddle 98)

Strapped for cash

I recently read a very interesting article on The Big Idea entitled Cashless Creativity. The article postulates an alteration of attitude in society, from one of scarcity to one of abundance. This change it is suggested could be led by creative people.

I was sufficiently moved to respond or rant regarding what I see as 'the self-indulgence of creative utopianism'.

I would be really interested to know what any of our readers thought on this issue? So follow the link to the post and ...

'Imagine a world without money...it's easy if you can afford to'.....

Addendum: Here is a link to another web-forum (Yes I waded in!), where a similar discussion rages. It seems the first thing that we can't afford in a recession, is tolerance, closely followed by contemporary art! Maybe the swing towards 'practical politics' in tough times should be called 'recessionism', which neatly implies the certain paucity of spirit and vision, inherent in much of this attitude?

Thanks to Mr. Mercurius for supplying the link.

"All art is quite useless.' - Oscar Wilde

Rolling

write on

its impossible. i've been trying to write something meaningful for days. everything comes in fragments, not quite cohesive and showing slim evidence of any vital signs

days like these i drag the mind through mud, then hang out it to dry. still no thing. the keys clack clack but they're stiff with hard baked silt.

at best, ideas are fleeting, they are flashes caught from the corners of the eye...barely held, never contained.

©burgseye 2009

Under, over, within.

End of the Millenium Psychosis Blues

10 years ago, I had just completed my Visual Art Degree at the University of Glamorgan, Wales. Having just completed the largest body of work, I have ever produced, I was looking forward to a new life in a new country with a young family. It has taken me 10 years to get back to producing anywhere near as much work as I produced during those 3 years and to begin to see how that might be applied and developed. So now seems an apt time to review and re-present, my Graduation Show from 1999, a decade, century and millenia ago!

The show was an installation of individual artworks. All the work was made from found objects. The shape of the space was an equilateral triangle ( A 'magic' shape), which allowed everything to balance. In the centre I had built a sort of altar and tranmistter so that all the 'signals' being generated by the work could be 'amplified' and 'broadcast' throughout time and space. This concept was heavily influenced by Pythagoras' 'Music of the Spheres' and musicians such as Sun Ra. An audio-collage of found-sounds from the local environment, played from hidden speakers behind the main paintings.

I only have one piece left (A couple of other pieces survive elsewhere) and these few pics and some sketches, and somehow that suits the temporal nature of the work.

Temple of the Extraparaperceptual Process

Ephemeral-temporal

I've posted before about my unhealthy attraction to walls. I'm reviewing a bunch of graffnephemera for a future show and tell. The images below were all shot within an hour on a Downtown city block in LA September 2008.

All images and text © burgsEye 2009

Out of my Treehouse

Over the last 4 weeks I have been working on a new set of prints for sale. The series, entitled Treehouse, will be offered for sale at the Next Door Gallery, Birkenhead, Auckland and through Neil Buddle, direct. Here are the 3 individual prints presented as a triptych, with the accompanying information which will be included with the prints. The Treehouse series juxtaposes two iconic ‘Kiwi’ elements; the colonial villa and a native tree.
The depiction of modest villa/cottages, references the employment of these mighty trees in building much of New Zealand’s early infrastructure and housing. This large-scale deforestation by colonial settlers has had a huge impact on New Zealand.
These prints are intended as a gentle reminder of the importance of celebrating and conserving both the natural and built heritage of Aotearoa's majestic trees.

God's Gimp

Sketch print for a developing idea.

This image is less about sex and more about life, the idea of us being manipulated by some unseen power. Despite the struggle we enjoy it anyway, happily spilling seed, fruitlessly on the broken ground.

It also references the influence that christian moral values have had on western society and the rest of the world and how we are in-some-way, in bondage to them.

Dylanizm - A Dangerous Cult or Hope for Humanity?

DIG, The Reverend, El Presidente, Hamilton Taight are all only part of a larger picture, a greater network of underground/overground re-active agents.

Recent communiques from Hamilton Taight, have contained some startling new intelligence from RE-Active agent Burkoffski, collected at great peril in the field. This information I will now divulge to you - Please note that DIG takes no responsibility for any enlightenment you suffer as a direct result of receiveing this classified information.

One of the most intriguing discoveries is a new movement called 'Dylanizm'. This movement seems to be terra-forming Suburbia, by subtly extracting the essence of the exceptional, from what was previously considered a barren waste of mediocrity.

No-one knows who or indeed what exactly, this Dylanizm is? However despite it's secretive origins, disciples of Dylanizm are busy propagating, their manifesto, through subliminal advertising and subscription-only publications, such as that featured here.

The only questions seems to be..."Will you join the revolution?"







(Confidential Audio-Report from Stithen-AC, by Agent Burkoffski).

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its a Roadcraft Campervan!

Here is a set of commemorative prints begun 'en route' showing the awesome Roadcraft Campervan by the Whanganui and Whangaehu Rivers and on the Central Plateau.

Kia Ora

The Wheels

The Reverend scouts for the source of the Whangaehu River.

Rev at work, sketching and cutting the days quarry.

At Whangaehu lagoon, the rivers end before it hits the Tasman Sea.

Pete's house and BaseJumper @ Whangaehu Beach.

The Whanganui River road between Pipiriki and Raetihi is now mostly sealed.

Rev's caffeine fix at Tokaanu.
all images ©burgseye 2009

The wheels courtesy of www.roadcraft.co.nz