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hannibals-hoe · 4 years

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Hannibal Commentary

This is a episode by episode rating and discussion of the best show I’ve ever seen.

⚠️Spoilers Ahead⚠️

Season 1

Episode 1, “Apéritif”

Alrighty let’s get into this.

Opening scene- we are confronted with a typical true crime tv series type of landscape- police sirens, officers, dead bodies. The show starts off with a weird sense of familiarity. Then, we are focused on Will. He is immediately thrust in as the main character, despite the show’s title. If you look closely at his expression, you notice how uncomfortable and disturbed he is to be at that crime scene. And as his eyes close, the color gradient shifts as he does- from a casual investigator, into the mind of a killer. As he traces his steps backwards and finally stops outside the home, you can see the look in eyes change. This is vital to the rest of the show so I’m going to call this the “Will Graham Murder Eyes.” He closes his eyes for a moment- but when he opens them again- you can see the lifelessness of a killer’s eyes. The very first words we hear of the show are Will describing the crime itself- a relatively non violent and casual one considering the rest of series. This is why when I recommend Hannibal to someone I always say to get past the first episode because it’s way to basic for the show as a whole.

Anyways, once Will concludes his findings, we cut to his classroom. When Will converses with Jack, we notice his tendency to not make eye contact, as described later on. This is such masterful acting on Hugh Dancy’s part. When Jack asks Will for help, we can see Will’s reluctance. It’s clear he’s uncomfortable with his inner and outer thoughts even so early in the show.

The second time we see Will go into his “this is my design” phase, he is clearly more violent as we see him strangle Elise Nichols. The viewer is almost left with a feeling that Will is actually the one responsible, which is what will happen with those around Will later in the season. At least, that’s what I first interpreted during my first watch. You’re like, “wait, Will didn’t actually kill these people right?” But as the show goes on everything makes more sense about Will’s little mind trick.

Next, we see the sweetest part of Will’s character- his love for strays. One cannot help but smile watching Will care for Winston and his other dogs. It is such a stark contrast to what we have seen so far of Will’s character. And then, we watch him struggle to sleep with his nightmares. When he uses a towel as a blanket, we know that this is not new for him- that he has nightmares regularly. The first episode expertly characterizes Will in a way no other show I’ve seen has done before.

Then, in the bathroom scene with Jack, Will is describing the way this killer (Garret Jacob Hobbs) kills- he says, “he kills these girls quickly and-“ he pauses. This pause, I believe, is him stopping himself from straight up saying “with mercy” instead, he adds, “to his thinking, with mercy.” Will, once again, is fearful of his own dark thoughts and how those thoughts will be viewed by others, specifically Jack.

Then, we see Will at the autopsy table, and a beautiful yet disturbing image of Elise being impaled on antlers is seen. The antlers will become a running symbol in the show, later an elk, then the Wendigo. At this point, I do believe the symbol was not planned, but, I could give the creators the credit of intending for them the sign for evil- in this case, the evil of Garret Jacob Hobbs. When Will concludes that this killer is eating his victims, we cut to our first shot of Hannibal.

We don’t need to see explicit human organs being cooked yet- we know it’s cannibalism. The shot of Hannibal himself is quite stunning- barely any light surrounding his features, he appears almost like a skull in the darkness. We visually know he is supposed to be the villain. But as the episode goes on, it’s quite easy to forget that Hannibal really is a serial killer and cannibal.

Next, we are put in Hannibal’s office with Franklyn. When he places his dirty tissue on Hannibal’s table, we can see Hannibal’s visible resentment. He is once again characterized as the villain. Jack then enters the equation, asking about Hannibal’s secretary, who we never see, though I believe it is quite likely Hannibal killed her, as he only describes her having “romantic whims” and “followed her heart to the United Kingdom.” As Jack walks around Hannibal’s office, he looks through some of his drawings. If you look closely, beneath the art Jack is viewing, there is a distinctly visible drawing of “the wound man” I only noticed this after my fourth or fifth rewatch. It made me so angry because if Jack had seen that, we know Hannibal would have killed him right then and there. While Jack is looking, Hannibal does seem to wonder if Jack will notice the sketch. Hannibal picks up the scalpel, ready to defend himself, but when he is confident Jack is not investigating him, he places it on his desk, arranging it “just so.” Mads doing that was such great acting because we immediately know the Hannibal is a perfectionist, which works out to his advantage during his many murders, as he leaves no usable evidence.

And now, we go to Hannibal and Will’s first meeting. Instantly, Hannibal is able to notice Will’s lack of eye contact. As Will describes why he does this, Hannibal’s expression changes, he looks Will up and down, and gives a small smile. Right here- I believe with all of my being that Hannibal started to fall for Will right there. Will’s kind of sad, dark humor instantly is able to draw Hannibal in. However Will is not able to reciprocate these feelings just yet- he feels attacked by Hannibal’s accurate analysis.

Our next crime scene is more graphic than the first two by a good margin. This is the first of Hannibal’s murder scenes. As we cut between the crime scene and Hannibal’s cooking, we are confronted with the very obvious disgust of Hannibal being a cannibal.

One of my favorite shots is the next, with Will in the shower, (hehehe duh) then the stag. This symbol could be interpreted as either Will’s evil growing within him, or Hannibal- lurking in the shadows. In this case, I lean towards the latter, as the next shot is of Hannibal himself, bringing breakfast for Will. (As the show goes on this symbol will vary in meanings but don’t worry I’ll explain it as best I can.) Already, Hannibal has a want to help Will, by making sure he has a good meal. He could have very easily just traveled with Will to the construction site without food, but in a way, he could have wanted to self-congratulate himself by obviously providing Will with the evidence that could convict him. To me- Hannibal’s motive for bringing Will breakfast is a mix of him showing his nature of self-congratulation (described by Bedelia later in season 2) and wanted to provide for Will’s well-being in the only way he knows how. The next few lines are some fabulous foreshadowing. Will’s initial wish is for their relationship to be strictly professional- however we very well know this is going to change. Already, Hannibal objects to this statement, he is hoping they will become at the very least “friendly.” Next, Hannibal establishes the symbolism of the teacup, saying that is how Jack sees him. Will laughs out loud at that, and that is one of the only times we see Will have a strong expression of happiness. Yes, later on Hannibal becomes an object of resentment for Will, but I think this interaction is a strong indication of what life would be like for Will and Hannibal post-fall.

Now we head to the construction site and the discovery of Garret Jacob Hobbs. Hannibal is visibly impressed by Will’s ability to find Hobbs, and his admiration grows.

Hannibal then calls the Hobbs’ residence, warning that “they know.” It’s such a subtle yet powerful move in Hannibal’s part. I think the real reason Hannibal makes that call is to test Will. Hannibal knew Hobbs would react violently, and he wondered if Will would use violence back. He wanted to test Will’s potential and what he perceived Will to be- a troubled FBI teacher who has dark impulses he is deathly afraid of. Arguably, everything Hannibal does for Will from this point forward is to take away his fears. Will fears his own darkness and Hannibal wants him to finally find peace and beauty in that darkness.

Anyways, back to the show. There is a brief shot of Will, covered in blood, with the pendulum of his mind swinging back and forth. This tiny time jump serves the purpose of both suspense shock. We are left to wonder what Will has done- we can assume it was brutal, but was it evil? I’ll get into that later. So, Hannibal and Will arrive at the Hobbs’ home, and Will is confronted with a nightmare. Contradictory is Hannibal’s reaction to the scene. Even when Hobbs’ wife is bleeding out on the front porch, Hannibal is shown with a non caring and relaxed demeanor. Will makes his way inside and begins his journey to a troubling self-discovery. He shoots Hobbs 10 times, his fear for Abigail evident but more powerful is his hatred for Hobbs. When Hobbs’ falls, he utters that famous line, “see?” I think the completion of that sentence would be, “see, it feels good to kill.” Will is going to struggle with this the entire series and only with Hannibal’s help Will he be able to agree with it.

Will struggles to save Abigail, and Hannibal appears, less focused on Abigail and more on Will. Nonetheless, he uses his big, strong hands (sorry) to save Abigail’s life. As he does so he looks up at Will, perhaps thinking, “Ok, he does have that darkness inside him.” Once the scene clears, Will is back outside covered in blood. I will again bring attention to his expression. His “Murder Eyes” are back. He is reveling in the power that killing Hobbs made him feel. I would not say this is dissimilar to how he feels after killing Randal Tier in season 2 and Dolarhyde in season 3. He’s like an addict from then on- he would deny it, but killing Hobbs was a high he would chase for the length of the series.

The last scene of the episode is in Abigail’s hospital room. Will goes in to see Hannibal, sitting next to her bed and gently holding her hand, sleeping. It’s easily the most humanizing shot of Hannibal. Will takes a seat himself, watching Hannibal with what could almost be described as a loving gaze. In that moment, he completely trusts Hannibal with her well being, as Hannibal’s hands saved her life. In a very subtle movement, Will looks down at his own hands, sitting half open in his lap. It’s quite possible he is thinking that his hands had done something quite opposite to what Hannibal’s have- they have killed.

Wow that was a ride if you read all of that thank you so much. I’ll check for typos one of these days. Stay tuned for next episode ok I’m outttt.

#hannibal analysis #hannibal comentary #hannibal symbolism #hannibal cinematography #netflix hannibal #hannibal #hannigram #nbc hannibal #will graham #hannibal lecter #will x hannibal #doctor lecter #dr lecter #hannibal x will #hannibal parallels #hannibal memes #renew hannibal #hannibal season one #apertif

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antialiasis · 4 years

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Ask for asks and ye shall receive? 17, 21, 25

Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

I think it’s probably always the case that readers perceive something different in the work than the author does; I can try to get certain things across but you can’t quite predict how the reader will react to any given thing. That said, I’m always pretty open about what I was actually going for, at least after a story is finished. There’s a certain philosophy that the reader should just be left to interpret what they read on their own based on what the text says, and I do agree that reader interpretations of a text are valid even when they’re not exactly what the author was thinking, but I personally just really love to hear about the actual thought processes that go into particular writing decisions, hence why I do stuff like talk your ear off about pretty much every decision I made writing TQftL because that’s the kind of thing I would love to read about fiction I enjoy. So I don’t know how much there is left to surprise people with, hmm.

The main things I can think of are stuff I’ve talked about before, like how my stories tend to be a lot more depressing and miserable than I’ve ever been and I’m writing all these extremely troubled people because I like that sort of thing and not because I’ve ever been there myself. A lot of the time when there are posts defending the existence of dark fiction where bad things happen they talk about it as a coping mechanism or catharsis, and I’m there like “...yeah, that’s very legit, great point, but I just like it, though.”

Also Morphic is sincerely not trying to dunk on religion, Dave is supposed to be a huge dick about it, I promise.

What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

TQftL would probably work pretty well as a theoretical anime series, and that’s essentially how I see it in my head. Mark’s internal monologue can be fun but is not that important in itself, so it’d translate pretty naturally to a visual medium; most of the story is action and dialogue. Although I did make a comic of a scene from chapter 73 for an art class, I doubt most of the story would be at its best as a comic; the proportion of dialogue is probably too high.

Morphic would be a live-action film but with more on-model Pokémon than Detective Pikachu. It’s just about a film-sized plot, I think; obviously the pacing issues would have to be fixed and so on, but it’d be a workable movie once that was done. The Dave and Mia extras could be tie-in comics.

Scyther’s Story can just be a flashback episode in the QftL anime. The Fall of a Leader would probably work in absolutely no other medium than writing (unless it’s a high school AU dating sim) because it is 90% internal monologue.

Butterfree is also 90% internal monologue although I guess you could do it as a comic, since most of it is talking about memories, and you could illustrate those (whereas The Fall of a Leader’s internal monologues are just going on about the nature of morality etc. and if you tried to comic that it’d just be, like, an artist desperately trying to invent new angles from which to draw a Scyther sitting there thinking for a hundred pages).

Curse would probably work pretty well as a comic. Show the chant as vague scribbles until the climax. Probably rearrange the scenes a bit. If I ever become a good enough artist and have enough patience I could actually try it.

What part of writing is the most fun?

Those moments when you realize something about a character and everything makes so much more sense. And the moments when you finally get to write something you’ve been waiting to write for more than a decade. Kind of specific I know.

Definitely not the part where you actually have to write sentences. Curse you, sentences.

#writing #ask memes #tqftl #morphic #negrek

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theshinsun · 4 years

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brace urself, this is for the writing meta ask: 2, 6, 7, 14, 17, 19, 20 (if you need a direction for this... I always wanted to hear more about Bring Me Roses), 21, 22, and 24 bc i'm nosy and still very into your craft. thank you buddy!!

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

I'm so excited/terrified to finally start my knb college AU. I've been sitting on this idea for almost two years I'm so ready but at the same time I'm so not ready.

The gist is it's every single self-indulgent, chaotic, projection-ridden idea I've ever wanted for these boys all rolled in a big ball of shenanigans and character growth. It's a beautiful mess and I can't wait to make it happen as soon as ANR is done.

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

This is gonna come right the fuck out of left field, but I love writing Himuro. I have so much fun writing just... snark, and that boy is the perfect outlet, there's no bottom to that salt mine. I remember getting a similar kick out of writing Tsukishima in the past, I just live for sassy dialogue. It ain't much but it's honest work.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

My style is very present, I think (which is funny bc there was a time I never would have considered writing present tense) focusing on what's happening and how it makes the character feel in the moment. I like to write specific, detailed imagery, but I try to keep it short and relevant to the scene, so I can move along and focus on what's important. I wouldn't call it fast-paced, exactly, but it is pretty to-the-point. And I think, based on the feedback I've received, that people who read my fics might agree with that. I've heard that my writing is very personal and character-driven, and I think that might be a byproduct of the time I spent writing in first person. Now I write almost exclusively third person limited, but I still like to get in the character's head and tell the story from their "point of view", I guess.

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

It depends almost entirely on how quick I'm able to come up with a pun lol. Sometimes a fic has a title before I've even written the first sentence, sometimes I have to scramble for something, anything in the last few seconds before I publish it. A lot of the time I'll have a working title like "that one really fucked up aokaga oneshot" for pretty much the duration of writing a new fic… and a lot of the time I'll end up using song titles, even though we're past the days of writing songfics.

17. Do you think readers perceive your work - or you - differently to you? What do you think would surprise your readers about your writing or your motivations?

I think, to a degree, people get different things from my writing than I intended -- which is good! The way a piece of writing can be interpreted completely differently depending on who's reading it is one of the best things about being a writer tbh. I think people might be surprised, though, how different my fics often turn out from how I set out to make them. These days I've usually got a pretty detailed outline for what's going to happen, but even with all the preparation in the world, sometimes a fic will take a sudden detour I didn't expect, or something I wrote before will take on new meaning and change the direction I meant to go in. This definitely happens more with my longer fics, but there are times even with oneshots where I look back at what I set out to write, and what I ended up writing, and they're completely different.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

I tend to write a lot of scenes with characters talking while in the car (cars are an intentional motif in ANR, but in something like GWGE there's not actually a lot of narrative purpose to this) I don't know why, maybe because it's a convenient way to have characters talk one-on-one, or maybe it's because I've had a lot of meaningful conversations while riding passenger, couldn't tell you, but it's cropped up more than once in my current fics and will probably feature in some of my upcoming ones (the college AU strikes me as a likely candidate), and I think it's worth taking note of.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

SINCE you mentioned Bring Me Roses, and I never really get to talk about it, pls allow me to go on a lengthy tangent about my most underrated fic of all time. (Like 90% of the reason it's still incomplete almost two years later is because the response when I posted it was so underwhelming, but I still stand by it. Someday I'll finish it, hopefully, if just for myself.)

I'm so fucking proud of the language in this one. It's not perfect, by any means, but the imagery in my opinion is very strong, and almost every line of dialogue is saying something without really saying it. There are frequent allusions that something happened to Aomine's mother, relatively recently, and that Momoi is worried about him overworking out of grief or guilt, but none of those things are ever actually stated. There's also some pretty heavy implicit flirting between Aomine and Kuroko, even if it's a bit unusual and they're both playing it coy at this stage, the chemistry is there and the interest is mutual. And of course, because it's a florist AU, the flower symbolism… I spent so long researching bouquets, plant husbandry, how to prep and preserve cut flowers, and of course… flower meanings. The main ones that keep getting brought up are dahlias, which have just as many negative connotations as positive ones, including betrayal and instability, but also dignity, creativity and change, and come in a variety of colors shapes and even sizes (Islander or "dinnerplate" dahlias were definitely going to feature in part 2… as well as the connection between them and Aomine's mother). I know a lot of these things might not hit as hard because there's no actual payoff (yet), but still, in terms of "show don't tell" and setting up things to come, I don't think I have a single better example in my fic repertoire, I really went all out with this.

It's a shame I never got to follow through, but I got the impression that there just wasn't a lot of interest, and even if that alone is kind of a dumb reason not to continue, after I worked so hard to pull off what I did, the lack of response really killed my motivation. (I wonder sometimes if it would've been better received if it was an AoKaga fic… actually, I don't need to wonder, I'm sure it would have been, but that's not the story I set out to tell and I'm not going to change it.)

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

Oh, I'd love to do some of my fics as comics. I even tried it at one point; GWGE was going to be a comic originally, before I decided a multichapter fic would probably be less exhausting (the first couple pages are still floating around in my art tag somewhere, though this was back in high school so the quality is… heh).

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Yeah… I reread a lot. Usually while I'm working on a new chapter, I'll go over the ones that lead up to it to make sure I don't repeat the same phrases too much and that the continuity lines up, and I'll also admit to going back and just reading my own fics for fun. Sometimes the only one who's written exactly what I want to see is me.

How I feel about them depends on the fic… some of my older ones are a mix of nostalgia and cringe tbh, but there are some I still genuinely enjoy revisiting from time to time.

24. Would you say your writing has changed over time?

Oh hell yeah. For… better and worse, honestly. I feel like I've lost some fluidity and confidence in my writing, and it sometimes turns kind of stilted, so I try to overcompensate which results in pretty jarring changes of tone, but at the same time, I've gotten much better with rhythm and syntax, my grammar skills are always improving, and I'm able to incorporate a lot more intentional meaning and subtext without always stating things outright.

#shin speaks #writer woes #this turned out... long #long post #knb #anr #bmr #gwge #aokaga #aokuro #meta #thanks friend it was really fun answering these!#not sure if I need a... readmore break here... ah well #answered

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canardroublard · 5 years

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TMFU, Gaby’s fashion, and some feminist film analysis

Back when I slapped together a reblog post about the men’s fashion in The Man From UNCLE in between physio appointments, which somehow got like way more notes than I ever really expected or even wanted, I didn’t address the fashion of the lead female character, Gaby. It was outside the scope of the OP, and I didn’t feel like I had anything new or interesting to say about Gaby’s fashion, or lack thereof.

(My beta says those earrings are the ugliest thing ever. I disagree. It’s a wonder we’re still friends)

Anyways, we see only one brief scene of Gaby in her own street clothes, and a slightly longer sequence of her in her work clothes. The rest of the film, she is wearing clothes chosen for her by Illya. Saying “we just don’t have enough info” is a perfectly reasonable approach to this. So this was the other reason I had no intention of making this post.

But then people started getting interested. Someone reblogged commenting about Gaby’s fashion, and I discovered that I have very strong opinions about something I’d previously claimed was unknowable, and it made me wonder what was going on in my brain.

Then I talked to some other TMFU friends who all seemed interested in what I assumed was common knowledge/nothing unique. So, they may have been feigning interest out of politeness, but it activated the art history side of my brain, and here we are now!

The boring stuff but please read this

I am not attempting to tell anyone how to interpret this film. I am not even trying to change people’s minds or persuade them to my thinking. All I am doing is sharing my thought process. I wasn’t even going to do this for Gaby until people asked. To this end, please don’t attempt to argue with me about this. I don’t want to argue. I won’t respond to it. If you disagree, then please, just move along.

And I’m going to remind people that I love TMFU. I love this movie so much it hurts. Why am I putting this reminder here? Because I am about to apply some critical analysis to it, and in places this will be cynical, and it will not always look kindly on the film. If you just want to exist in a happy “I love TMFU!” bubble and not hear anything less than 100% positive about the film (which is a totally valid choice, I don’t fault anyone for that), then don’t read. But don’t yell at me for being mean or criticizing the film, because I warned you.

Tldr; or, if I were still being graded for this stuff here’s my thesis statement

When analysing Gaby’s fashion, there exist considerations which don’t apply to the male characters. Namely, she is a woman and the male gaze is a thing. So I am very, very wary about taking at face value any expressions of traditional femininity in the choices made for her outfits, hair, makeup, etc. Therefore, when considering her character, I find it much more useful and informative to give more weight to the aspects of her appearance which do not connote traditional femininity, rather than those that do.

For readers who have studied enough media analysis to follow my thought based on that alone, there’s the thesis statement, y’all can go home (or at least skip to the end where I come to a conclusion). If you’re lost, then read on.

(mobile readers, the cut here might not work, and if so I apologize for what is going to be a very long post. Tumblr’s “keep reading” functionality is inconsistent at best, but I tried)

Context is for kings essential for analysing media in a meaningful way

(Or, some brief background. Stick with me here, we’ll get to the good stuff soon)

So, art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Attempting to analyze any artwork (in this case a film) while disregarding the culture it was created in and the intentions of the creator is...not going to get you very far. Asking “what is art” is a question that quite frankly exhausts me at this point (looking at you, Duchamp) but the closest I’ve ever come to an answer is that the only thing that separates art from everything else is intent. And intention only exists within cultural context. So yes, intent and context don’t just matter peripherally, they are one of the biggest considerations one needs to make when analyzing works of art. The creator in this case being Guy Ritchie et al, the culture being British/American Popular Cinema in The Year of Somebody’s Lord Two-Thousand-And-Fifteen.

Everyone views and creates (if applicable) art through their own distorted, murky, imperfect lens of personal experience. And one of the most persistent Things in western art is that cishet men create art based on their experience of Being A Dude. This is crucial, because this lens of cishet male perspective literally underpins almost all of western culture including popular culture. And thanks to feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey, we have a name for this.

The male gaze and you

I’m going to quote Wikipedia here, because honestly this intro sentence sums things up rather neatly (with one exception which I will address momentarily).

In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts and literature, from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer.

What does that all mean? That the Viewer and the Artist are both cishet men by default, and any women are Subjects of art. Women are viewed, never viewers. Men take action, women are subjected to actions. Furthermore, women are supposed to be pleasurable to view. By men. Since the Viewer is male by default.

But I would disagree that the pleasure is inherently based on women being sexual objects. That’s honestly a really damn limited read on the whole theory, and it’s one that Wikipedia itself contradicts later in the article. More broadly, cis men also derive other forms of pleasure from the presentation and viewing of female bodies, including aesthetic pleasure (the enjoyment of looking at beautiful things).

The theory of the male gaze is not without limits. As originally theorized, afaik it’s not particularly intersectional. It doesn’t really address queer perspectives or perspectives of POC. However, these issues are something I just can’t address here, unfortunately. And when looking at popular media, I still find the concept of the male gaze, imperfect as it may be, is a helpful means of analysis, so it’s worth having in your toolbox.

Circling back, the easiest way to sum up the male gaze, if you’re still not super clear on what it is, is with a demonstration.

Ever seen a shot like this in a movie?

And did you immediately roll your eyes? Feel gross? Congrats, you have just perceived and reacted to the male gaze.

Now we actually get back to TMFU

But the male gaze also shows up in many more subtle, insidious ways than fanservice-y boob shots. For this post, let’s focus on the following considerations, which might help everyone follow my thought process more clearly.

Gaby is a woman

She functions as the love interest of Illya in the script (I am not talking from a shipping perspective. What you ship does not matter for this discussion. I am talking about the narrative function of Gaby in the script as written. Put on your “cishet man” goggles for a moment)

Illya is a man who is attracted to women, specifically Gaby (again, I don’t care if your shipping conflicts with this. I am analyzing the film based on a literal reading of it as if I were a cishet man. Why? Because that’s who made the film. That’s who it’s “for”. I am all for queer readings of film--hell, I ship OT3, I myself have chosen a queer reading for how I interact with it, but I’m not critiquing people’s readings, I’m critiquing the film itself and to do that I have to critique its intentions and cultural context.)

Cishet men are traditionally only allowed to be attracted to women who are conventionally attractive. If they were to be attracted to anyone else it would destroy their fragile senses of self and their heads would explode or something. At least I assume that’s what must happen, based on how terrified they are of it.

Therefore, Gaby must be conventionally attractive, because it is literally required of her or otherwise the whole underpinning of western straight malehood crumbles and then where would we get such a pure, vast source of unadulterated toxic masculinity?

(Yes, this is a very cynical read on things. I’ve studied, like, three centuries worth of this bullshit. I’m tired. Let me be cynical.)

Or, to force myself to be less cynical, Gaby has to be pretty because...nope, this is still going to turn out just as cynical.

But what I will say in favour of this movie is that it gives Gaby and Victoria both a lot of agency and general awesomeness, which is quite unusual in this sort of big-budget action film, and it’s one of the big reasons I love it. I’m not saying that the entire film is sexist. On the contrary, there’s a ton of stuff to celebrate about how it portrays its female characters. But these aspects don’t change the cultural context, and we still have to consider the impacts of the male gaze.

Anyways, point being is that as filtered through the male gaze, Gaby is never given the option to, say, wear no makeup (or the appearance of such, as the guys are afforded, this being cinema where “no makeup” still means makeup) because that would look “ugly”. Instead she needs to have a “baseline of pretty” which is way higher than reality because she is not a real human being with her own agency, she is a character created by a cis male writer/director team in a film directed by a cis man in a genre that caters to cishet men.

Gaby doesn’t exist in a vacuum. She exists battling centuries and centuries worth of sexist convention.

Now then, remembering all of that, let’s actually look at her. There are woefully few good pictures so I’m going to have to piece things together a little. Starting with the coveralls.

This is a great look, I love it. And I’m going to give Ritchie a lot of credit here because it would’ve been easy to go for a “Michelle Rodriguez in F&F sexy mechanic lady” look. In case I need to provide a visual:

(Repeat above gif about rolling my eyes)

Now, to be clear, I am not making any judgement about the way any real-life women dress. I’m sure there’s plenty of female mechanics who have their hair down and wear tank tops while working. That doesn’t bother me. I don’t care if real life mechanics choose to do their jobs in a string bikini. Or in cosplay of the bee from Bee Movie. I don’t care (and quite frankly it’s none of my business) because they are real people who can make their own decisions. But what I am talking about here is a fictional character who does not have her own agency. I am critiquing how male creators choose to dress their female characters.

So I personally choose to read much more into the unpretty aspects of Gaby’s outfit, because these are not the “obvious” or “easy” things. Obvious and easy are “of course she wears makeup” and “of course her hair looks good” and “of course she doesn’t look like a swamp witch who bathes in mud and spends her days cursing passing men”. Those things don’t challenge or disrupt the assumption that women must look attractive for male consumption.

Gaby’s introduction to us is with her in a pair of grease-stained, baggy coveralls, not wearing any obvious makeup (again, this is cinema, so she is wearing makeup. For cinema the goal posts around “wearing makeup” always need to be moved from where they’d be irl). There’s very little here that screams ‘pretty’. And that is fascinating to me.

I don’t know how deeply Ritchie thought this through when giving final approval to the costume, hair and makeup. But unpretty is not the default here. It’s a choice

And look at this. This is the stance and dress sense (and socks!) of a woman who does not give a damn about looking good for the male gaze, whether the in-movie gaze of Napoleon, or the implied gaze of the viewer and creator. It’s not ‘pretty’. And this is the only time in the film we see Gaby in her own everyday clothes, as she only escapes East Berlin with the literal clothes on her back.

So how do I think Gaby dresses? I think that for the most part she dresses....like this. Practical. Comfortable. With a few simple touches of things she likes/finds pretty, perhaps, but not with a specific interest in being pretty. She dresses for herself, not for others. And if that isn’t something to aspire to, I don’t know what is.

#gaby teller #tmfu #the man from uncle #meta #costume design #male gaze #fashion #thank you to michael bay for providing me with such a good example of the male gaze

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dpillustrations · 5 years

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Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5: A Discourse on Communication and Storytelling (Part 1)

“The poet must stir souls, not nurture idolaters." - Andrei Tarkovsky

I feel compelled to talk about the latest episode of Game of Thrones. The reason I feel drawn to speak is twofold, because I am an artist and I love Art. It is my passion and my life’s work, and I am most particularly passionate about the Art of Cinema, which includes series and television shows. Entertainment, for the lack of a better word, although it is so much deeper than that word implies. It is my desire to see Art thrive in our culture, and more importantly I want to see our culture thrive because of its Art.

For this reason I would like to draw a valuable and crucial lesson from what has happened with HBO’s Game of Thrones and Weiss and Benioff’s series. I will not be addressing the story through technical criticism. I believe there are people more qualified than I to address those issues as I am not a storyteller (in the traditional sense) or screenwriter, so I will not be addressing story structure and development. What I will be focusing on is communication and storytelling themselves as well as the fundamental worldview that has poisoned this series and why the finale was false in every sense of the word and did not ring true in most of our hearts.

I will begin by asking you, my readers,

How do we tell stories?

Again, this is not about story structure and mechanics, but I’m talking about the very act of telling stories, which is, at its essence, communication. So in other words, I am asking, how do we communicate? There are multiple ways in which we communicate, but I want us to consider the very essence of communication and the how and why it is done. I am communicating to you right now through this blog post by arranging commonly understood words (English language) in a specific manner (grammar and syntax) through which I am communicating ideas. I am communicating for the purpose of transferring information that exists in my mind to your mind, desiring that there would be understanding between us. I would not start speaking to you, an English speaker, in another language not known between us and neither would I suddenly abandon sentence structure – the jumped white over rabbit box the – that is nonsense, is it not? It would be pointless and worthless to communicate with you in any other way than by commonly understood rules and structures of communication that exist between us. So, communication’s goal is understanding, we communicate to be heard. Communication is a forward moving action. We don’t want to stagnate or regress, but to progress in deeper knowledge and establish a connection between us. Now considering we are talking about a television series, let us lay out the commonly understood structures of communication through that medium:

- Language, through firstly the written, then secondly, spoken (by actors) word.

- Visuals which include: Composition (i.e. how a shot is framed) - What is actually in the frame (what is shown to us as the audience vs what is NOT shown to us), and Scene transitions (i.e. editing).

- Music

- Sound

With these fundamental elements is a story told through the moving pictures. Now if you will notice, storytelling through the Cinematic Arts is significantly more complex than communication done simply through words alone or images alone. There are layers and layers and layers of text and subtext through word, actor performance, sound, music, imagery, etc. It is mindbogglingly complex, yet at its core it is still working towards that very simple (though not easy) goal as any other form of communication, which is understanding.

Why do we want to be understood? We desire understanding because we hold a conviction that whatever it is we are communicating will be beneficial and/or necessary for the one hearing in order that something may be accomplished. Whether we are communicating something evil, “I hate you.” or something good, “I love you.”, whether positively or negatively, we are trying to give to our fellow person something that person can then take, process, and react to. We communicate at work to accomplish tasks. We communicate with our loved ones to develop deeper connections. We communicate from our emotional needs. We communicate in order to learn. There is an endless amount of reasons why we are communicating, but they all are done for that one goal - understanding which produces a desired reaction and achieves a purpose.

Storytelling, then, as a means of communication, is being told for a reason. It is communicating information and ideas that it might be understood by its audience and then provoke a reaction from said audience. We do not communicate from the vacuum or into the vacuum. We do not tell stories from the vacuum or into the vacuum. Therefore, story has meaning.

Bond of Union by M.C. Escher.

With this understanding, then, we now see that the fundamental elements of storytelling that I laid out above all have meaning. In every nuance of an actor’s performance, in the arrangement of words, in the notes of the music, in every aspect of a framed image, all these variables contain layers and layers of meaning. You cannot escape it. You are bombarded by it by every moving moment. The storyteller is speaking, and we the audience are listening.

Then we react.

Now, I am not going to go into the psychological and philosophical complexities of actually communicating successfully in any given situation, because we know that our perceptions play a key role in it. How you perceive the world is different than how I perceive the world, and so there are, unfortunately, so many ways in which communication can break down between us because of subjective experience. And if there is a communication medium that is very much made up of subjective experience, it is that of Art and Story. So, I am not going to go into the nuances because I want to focus on analyzing the literal communication structure of the Game of Thrones Season 8 episode 5 and lay out a case for its utter failure at communication which follows in its failure of story which then follows to its failure of being meaningful Art in any way at all.

Daenerys Stormborn

For the sake of time, yours and mine, I am only going to focus on Daenerys’ character and how she was treated in this episode because she is probably the most crucial point, being one of the main characters after all. In the episode we see her fully succumb to her Targaryen blood, going full “Mad King”, as she takes out all her rage and sense of betrayal in not being loved by the people of Westeros on the inhabitants of King’s Landing, laying waste to all the innocent people through fire and blood.

Now, Weiss and Benioff, as well as many Game of Thrones fans, say that this was inevitable, that Daenerys was always going down this route from the beginning, but the argument I am making is that that is just not true. At the very least this fact was not communicated to us successfully through the 7 seasons we have been watching, and I shall make my case as follows by using two scenes (for the sake of brevity) which outright contradicts this character conclusion.

Season 1 finale Episode 10 Fire and Blood

You know the moment I am going to bring up very well, that powerful and moving climax when Daenerys steps into her husband’s pyre and comes out with three newborn dragons. She is Daenerys the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons.

Why was this scene communicated to us as part of the story?

Remember as I just laid out above about the fundamental elements of storytelling, i.e. word, imagery, sound, music, etc - each element is strung and woven together for a purpose. What is this scene’s purpose?

I am going to rewind time back to this moment, we yet do not know what is going to come next in this story, but we are solely focusing on how this finale made us feel. How we reacted to what it was communicating. Of course, it makes sense, does it not, to study this finale within the context of what had come before within the first season? We can’t understand the end of the sentence unless we know the beginning. We must listen to the beginning, middle, and end of said communication because if we stop in the middle of our listening, we will be missing crucial information and communication will break down. There would be no understanding, no meaning, and therefore nothing gained.

We have now just established, then, how we understand.

Through context.

Context is how all elements are arranged in conjunction and relation with each other so as to convey meaning. You cannot just focus on one element, pick out one word in a sentence, pick out one scene, you need all the elements in order to effectively communicate and achieved your desire goal of understanding.

Okay, so what is this scene’s context?

We were introduced to Daernerys and her brother as the last surviving members of House Targaryen (or so we thought at this time). They have been exiled because of Robert’s Rebellion which overthrew the Mad King from the Iron Throne. So essentially, our protagonist starts out in a very low station. She is the “underdog”, and it is extremely low, as her brother is vicious and cruel towards her and she is treated no better than cattle to be sold off. Viserys makes a deal with Khal Drogo as means of gaining an army to take back the throne, and Daenerys is given to him marriage. Being Khal Drogo’s wife certainly doesn’t make our heroine’s life any better as she is forced in a traumatic sexual encounter with her new husband and she is miserable through the strain of travel, and there really isn’t any sign that Khal Drogo even cares about Daenerys and her brother’s purpose of regaining what they had lost. Yet as the story progresses we see Daenerys begin to work her way up. She learns to communicate with her husband and they even end up falling love, she gets pregnant (which culturally speaking is one of the highest and noblest functions for women), and she becomes empowered, able to stand up to Viserys and his cruelty. Our heroine finds her voice. She even successfully eats a horse’s heart, which for the Dothraki is an honorable feat and promises great things for her unborn child. Even at some point Drogo gets rid of her brother, so she is freed from his life long abuse. Things are looking up as Daenerys finds herself in an honorable and secure station in life. However, it isn’t long before calamity strikes again when Drogo becomes sick from an infected wound. Daenerys puts her trust in a slave woman captured by the Dothraki to try and help her husband, but things go from the frying pan into the fire when the woman betrays Daenerys using blood magic and is responsible for both the death of Drogo and their child.

Now rewinding back again, we were also introduced to Daenery’s dragon eggs which were given to her as a wedding gift at the beginning of her story. Dragons no longer exist, if they even did exist, so they are more ceremonial than real. However, Daenerys is drawn to these eggs, which seem to be inert stones, because of her Targaryen blood. She sees something within these eggs that encourages her to press on, to remember who she is. They represent hope for our heroine. And this story element has stayed with us through the entire season. It is only now, at the finale, though, that we see their true significance when in her despair, Daenerys takes her dragon eggs and sets fire to her dead husband, and then steps into the fire herself.

The next morning she is Mother of Dragons.

The reason I took the time to outline the events of the plot was to show you how the elements built on one another. How did they make you feel? How did you react to them? What did this story as laid out through words, Emilia Clarke’s acting, imagery, composition, sound, and music communicate to you? What did it mean? Did we not feel triumphant? Did we not feel wonder and hope? Did not all those elements strung together express suffering, perseverance, and transcendence? Did we not empathize deeply with Daenerys and her struggles? Did we not weep with her? Did we not cheer with her? I mean just look at our pop culture surrounding Game of Thrones – the endless amount of merchandise with “The Mother of Dragons” on it and what “Khaleesi” meant to us as fans. (We even named our children “Khaleesi” and “Daenerys”!) Why? What did her story fundamentally move within us that we reacted in such an ardent way? If we were supposed to understand from the beginning that she was only a psychotic murderer, then why did she inspire such affection within us? Did we not instead fall in love with a strong and deep feeling woman who held onto a dream and persevered through some of the worst possible atrocities in order to realize that dream in a more profound way than she could have possibly imagined?

If Daenerys was always destined to be the series’ tragic villain, then why did we fall in love with her as the series’ savior?

My own art piece Take What is Mine! Weiss and Benioff want us to believe that she was always meant to “take what was hers” through “fire and blood” very literally, but look at the title of the 10th episode of Season 1: Fire and Blood. How was the concept of fire and blood actually used in this scene? Through loss and sacrifice, yes, but then, - new life. She lost her husband and her child, but she gained a miracle, this supernatural event, three dragons. The impossible made possible. Life. Not death.

Season 5 Episode 8 Hardhome

For a non-book scene, this was such an excellently written and performed scene. I loved watching it so much. It was the meeting we were all waiting to have happen. However, we must once again consider the context. At this point of the story we have shifted to Tyrion’s point of view, but I use this scene as an example of what Daenerys means to Tyrion’s personal narrative.

“So here we sit, two terrible children, of two terrible fathers.” Tyrion’s place in the story is not unlike what Daenerys’ was at the beginning of season 1. He is in a very low place. He too has been exiled, a runaway who was accused and sentenced with murdering King Joffery, but an actual killer of his own father. Having been an outcast in society and within his own family, is now literally an outcast and he comes to Daenerys seeking a reason to live. He comes to Daenerys for hope.

We know of the mistakes Daenerys has made at this point, but we also know the wisdom she has exhibited from the advice of others. We have seen her passion for justice and setting slaves free, but we have also seen her mercilessness and her heavy hand of power. In this scene Tyrion points out both of these aspects of Daenerys, but he tells her that he came to see if she was the “right kind of terrible”, someone who could still maintain order and give stability to a kingdom. In the context of this scene, as we look at Daenerys through Tyrion’s eyes, we are in no way meant to see her as mad or cruel, but a deeply flawed, volatile, passionate, and noble woman. She is human, as all the characters of this show have been, neither wholly pure nor wholly evil. Yet it is her dream that sets her apart from the rest of the candidates for the throne, a dream that speaks to Tyrion in his lowest moment and inspires him.

Daenerys: Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark, Tyrell they're all just spokes on a wheel. This ones on top, then that ones on top and on and on it spins crushing those on the ground.

Tyrion: It's a beautiful dream, stopping the wheel. You're not the first person who's ever dreamt it.

Daenerys: I'm not going to stop the wheel, I'm going to break the wheel.

A bold, powerful, and inspiring proclamation! Daenerys wants to stop “the game of thrones”, the petty squabbling of houses and vying for power. She wants to unite the kingdom under one ruler and bring about a better world for it. We believe her. Why? Because Tyrion believes her. Tyrion is also a dreamer just as much as Daenerys, he also values a better world. Are we to believe then that instead of this moment being a turning point for Tyrion, as it was clearly shown to be within its context, of him finally finding a promise and a hope of achieving something better than what has been, that it was actually all just a lie? Tyrion going from a terrible state to an even worse state: Delusion?

Where in this scene or in the rest of their scenes together was it indicated that Tyrion was delusional? In the elements - dialogue, acting, scene composition, the things shown to us in the frame, etc. In all those parts where was this feeling and concept conveyed to us to make a “delusional Tyrion” make sense?

It simply wasn’t, because he isn’t.

Do you see my argument? If Weiss and Benioff meant to communicate that Daenerys was “Mad King Targaryen” then why doesn’t her character conlusion make cohesive sense with these scenes? Taken in all of its elements, in its entire context, why isn’t this communicated perfectly and without question? Daenerys is one of the most crucial players in the Game of Thrones, her and Jon sharing prominence in the stories unfolding, shouldn’t we all, then, be in agreement on the meaning of the conclusion of her story?

Yet instead what Season 8 Episode 5 communicates is in direct conflict with the rest of the show and what it was communicating from the first. However, this episode isn’t the only place of conflict, there has been other moments in the show which showed this kind of disingenuous storytelling (Stannis and his burning his daughter Shireen is a good example this problem happening early on). Even the first half of Season 8 is in direct thematic conflict with the last half of season 8. Somewhere communication broke down terribly, and it simply isn’t enough for someone to point out this moment or that moment as proving Daenerys was always meant to end this way. ALL aspects of the show are communicating something to us, and so ALL aspects of the show must be taken into account and expected to be coherently saying the same thing as revealed by its whole. When we lay out Game of Thrones in all its seasons and its many elements it should be communicating “Daenerys Mad Queen”, but I have just proved that it wasn’t.

If you, my reader, truly believe this was Daenerys’ fate all along, then I ask you in earnest (in the spirit of communication and the desire for understanding) how do these scenes and the seasons they were contained in that I have just outlined above fit within that context of that narrative?

I have now come to the end of first half of my argument. The final question I would like to leave with you before closing is: what exactly is the end of Season 8 communicating? I hope that you and I can thoughtfully study this further. Thank you so much for reading and listening.

#game of thrones #game of thrones season 8 #The Bells #GOT #GOT 8x05 #daenerys targaryen #tyrion lannister #analysis #my thoughts

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acehotel · 6 years

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A Conversation with TURN Gallery Artist Mason Saltarrelli

TURN Gallery’s Mason Saltarrelli is an abstract artist, illustrator and painter born and bred in the city of New Orleans. His work is imbued by the improvisation of jazz, abstract animal silhouettes and color, the last being what Mason calls a “co-author” in his work. Mason will be Ace Hotel New York’s gallery artist for November and has a series of curtain paintings hanging in the lobby of Ace Hotel New Orleans. Here he chats with artist and friend, Joseph Hart of Deep Color, about to-do lists, Black Jaw the alligator and how abstraction can be a “beginning of seeing.”

Joseph Hart: Bridging in and out of painting and jazz music is the notion of improvisation. Can you talk a little bit about how improvising and intuition act as creative tools in here while you're working? When I say “in here,” we're sitting in your studio.

Mason Saltarrelli: I seldom arrive with a plan. More, I have a cast of characters. I'll call on one of the characters to come into the scene, but I don't know what their lines are and I’m not sure what costume they are wearing. Often the plan or story is only fully clear to me after the work is done. A work’s construction is realized through calling on a player and seeing where it wants to go in order to explore. Chance of shape and colors’ influence assist in determining the voyage.

JH: I see a figure here that almost looks like a doll. The image of an alligator pops up quite a bit. Is there anything else in your memory bank that you pull from?

MS: Yes. There’s a dog and a hairdo.

JH: What's the hairdo?

MS: It's a way of making a portrait without being literal. That's where there is a crossover with jazz and my work. In traditional jazz, there is a melody for each song and then the band members improvise solos. My characters offer me the function of melody and adjusting their forms and colors is my solo allowing me to create.

When a musician plays “Sweet Lorraine” or “Tiger Rag,” they know which melody to play. But when it’s time for the solo, they are free to forge a new idea based off of a set construct. The improvisation is where the real fun comes in.

JH: Yeah, that's where the surprise happens during those solos perhaps. When do surprises happen in your studio? When you collide these characters together, or put down a color or a gesture in relation to them and something happens that you didn't expect —what type of surprises happen?

MS: Color definitely plays a big role in surprises. The paper and canvas piece that will be in the show at the Ace New York has gone through many adjustments. By changing the green from blue next to the gray, it starts to push and pull and layers begin to appear. Structures move to the surface and in turn other colors recede based on placement. This creates layers within the piece. Color is a co-author in my work. The importance of the parts that make up the whole of the figures is greatly determined by coloring.

JH: You get a little depth in there. One thing that I've always observed about your work is an extraordinary flatness in how you're applying the paint and you're getting a nice graphic shape often that's opaque. Some of your paint is washed out, but at the same time with some of the tinted canvases and overlapping you really achieve a sense of depth.

MS: Depth is important to me. Each layer, whether it's a work on wood, paper or canvas, is like writing a sentence and those sentences stack on top of one another. Eventually as the sentences build up they create a paragraph. The paintings are paragraphs that are building up to relay a story.

JH: Another consistency in your work as I've known it over the years is a love for drawing. There's a lot of drawing in your painting. I know you have a history with works on paper and making drawings on hand tinted paper. Can you talk about how drawing is important in your studio practice and in your art making?

MS: I often paint through drawing. It’s a method of placing ideas. The ideas then pose questions. Without trying to fully render a figure and utilizing the idea of what something is I define what it becomes.

JH: The stakes are often lower with drawing too. I mean it's historically a preliminary action. I know you don't do sketches for these, but when we think of drawing, we think of small sketches. We think of a preparatory drawing for something larger. When your drawing is part of how you move your arm through the canvas and with a brush with paint on it, I think we carry that low pressure, emotional, psychological space with us. For me, I'll argue that it makes painting more fun, more interesting, more engaging.

MS: Yeah, I do try and keep things fun and then I start working and then I start taking it very seriously. Problem solving becomes important. Using drawing to open things up to see where they can go poses many questions with an infinite number of answers. If I start creating a form that is part of the alligator, for instance, the back of the head, and then all of I sudden decide, okay, it's time to switch into a hairdo or a doll or a dog, I have initiated a story that should be resolved if I want to share it.

Things just open up through drawing, there's no forced intention.

JH: As an exercise, I like to ask myself, if my paintings were to make a to do list, what would be on it. So I want to pose the question to you. If these paintings were to make a to-do list for the viewer, for yourself, what are a few things that would be on that list?

MS: The three paintings that hang in the Ace Hotel in New Orleans for Doc Cheatham, Lionel Ferbos and Percy Humphrey are on hemp. They're curtain paintings in that they're not stretched, but hang freely. The to-do list for the New Orleans paintings was to reflect both personal and musical aspects of each of the three traditional jazz trumpet players through abstraction.

My show at Ace New York this November will include two pieces. In the New York hemp painting, my goal was to successfully combine separate aspects of how I depicted Doc, Lionel and Percy. My intention was simple, revisit three paintings two years later in one new piece.

In the other work, my goal was to fuse my paper and canvas practices and see if I could get them to function uniformly. This piece includes canvas that has gone through a similar patina process as my paper. For this work the to-do list was basically to get the canvas and paper to have a cohesive conversation, to get them to enhance each other simultaneously.

JH: Yeah, it's working. It's a nice little installation. It reminds me of a gift. Maybe this was the wrap for the painting on top of it unfolded. There are all sorts of surprises in there.

MS: I think that paper could actually fold over and hide it.

JH: Yeah, the aspect ratio. It looks like you could wrap it right up. Let's talk about audience. When we're in our studios, there's an audience of one unless you have a friend or visitor over. But when the work leaves the studio, then there's an audience. I'm curious if you feel differently about your work when it's in front of an audience? Is your relationship to it here in your studio different than when these paintings are going to be in the Ace Hotel?

MS: I definitely consider audience. At the same time I don't have control over how they're going to perceive my work. Especially when viewing abstraction, people put their own life experiences into what they see.

JH: Yeah, that's their job.

MS: It is. Deborah Buck, an artist, came over the other day and pointed out that in the smaller canvas piece she sees a person hugging another person. I keep seeing it now because I never noticed that and I've never visualized that idea in my work before. She said it looks like a male figure protecting a child.

To me it's a doll inside of a woman's hairdo. That's one of the amazing things about abstraction, it's not over when the last mark is made. When somebody else starts looking at it it's just beginning for them, and sometimes can actually be a beginning of seeing for me.

JH: Yeah, it's great. I think the audience, when it's in a public space, like you said, brings their own experience and finds their own meaning. It's nice to hear when a viewer shares that meaning with the artist. When you describe Deborah coming in and seeing something that you didn't see, that's a new layer for you and compounds whatever you had going for it on your own. I think that's a great thing. It's a dialogue. That's the dialogue you're looking for with a viewer.

MS: Right. It becomes a type of gift in a way if you allow it to be. When you let someone else take the reins and tell you what you’ve done, and you get to hear their vision. It's nice. It's a way of sharing, it's very personal.

JH: I want to talk a little bit more about the alligator motif that pops up a lot in your work. At first glance when I came in here, looking at this long horizontal painting that's going to be here in New York, I saw architecture, I saw landscape, I saw a street scene, I saw buildings. But then I quickly shed that as soon as I recognized the contours of this alligator head. Am I seeing the same thing?

MS: Yes.

JH: Is this the profile of one of your alligators?

MS: This time it’s the profile of multiple alligators, possibly the same particular one in different incarnations.

JH: It's abstracted, it's not overt, but that sort of elongated alligator. I know you’ve talked about alligators being outside of New Orleans in the swamps. It seems like an important character from your image bank. I imagine it's a fun shape to draw too.

MS: Yeah, that's part of the reason why I use it over and over. It can be a way of loosening up. I remember when I saw a specific alligator in Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana. Its name is Black Jaw. It’s obviously in the present but also you see and feel another time. Certain areas of New Orleans are the same way. It touches on looking and experiencing a different era, a different life, but within this one.

In this particular painting, I started layering alligators and maybe it became not just Black Jaw. Or if it is Black Jaw, it's him being reincarnated a few times and going through a few different swamps rather than just Honey Island.

JH: Right. It's abbreviated too. I mean I think your forms are rounded off and simplified in a way typically. It's not like a rendered alligator head, it's an elongated rectangle with a bulbous end. Then the tell, the show, is usually the teeth, which are triangles throughout.

You're using these geometric shapes to describe this head often. Again, it's going back to the flatness, you're painting in a flat way.

MS: Yes. By simplifying the forms I’m giving color more influence in the work.

JH: The alligator is a starting point, as a form, as a shape, as an idea and you just unfold it from there. It turns into a few other things, sort of holds on to its identity as an alligator. I love that. Is this an alligator too? This one is a front view maybe.

MS: That's a doll with a hairdo above a profiled alligator whose teeth have left its mouth and even become a little hat. The paper behind it is space. There’s a foot behind the canvas drawn on the paper. It’s a hidden self-portrait.

JH: Do you remember the last piece of culture that you experienced? Maybe it was a book you read or a film you saw or an artwork or a piece of music that shook your bones?

MS: Definitely. This past August I was in residency at the Macedonia Institute in upstate New York. That’s where I painted the hemp painting for the Ace New York show. During that time I read Chief of Chiefs: Robert Nathaniel Lee and the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans, 1915-2001 by Al Kennedy. Chief Robbe was the first and only person to be named "chief of chiefs" by the Mardi Gras Indian Council. I would read and then paint. I enjoyed the book so much I read it in small increments so it would take longer to finish.

MS: I remember being a kid and seeing Mardi Gras Indians for the first time. I was in the car with my dad. We were leaving the St. Charles Mardi Gras parades driving back through neighborhoods to get home, and then all of a sudden we saw Mardi Gras Indians masking. They resembled human fireworks. It was amazing. Reading Al’s book was inspiring because it’s such a wonderful story of being called to an art form and how tough yet rewarding it is to be dedicated to a practice that you love. Chief Robbe’s story reminded me of how fortunate I am to have grown up in New Orleans and experienced such a unique culture.

#mason salterrelli #joseph hart #abstract art #interview #ace hotel new york #turn gallery #yes #ace new york #new york

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surflove808 · 7 years

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Do you think this cast is problematic and insensitive? Gather around the fire with me, you delicate tulips. Let me tell you a story.

There will be potty language. And there will be no straddling the fence to appease both sides. So, read at your own risk. But, absolutely always feel free to respond and engage in discussion!

When I got into this show, I fell down the rabbit hole like everyone else, and watched con footage and interviews and became more invested than I ever have in a show because of all the (perceived) incredible positivity and kindness reflected from the cast to the SPN Family and vice versa. I had never seen anything like it. And I was so impressed with this fandom and proud to be a part of it that I do something I rarely do - I gushed about it to friends. Even though I knew they'd give me shit. Because we think we're too cool for school or something. I don't know.

My love for this show and fandom eventually led me to Tumblr and the actors Twitter feeds. I went full fangirl. I thought, "Yay! Other people who enjoy this amazing show. Gifs! Funnies! Fanfics! Art! Support!" And there is that, undoubtedly....but there is also this seedy underbelly that gets far more attention that it merits. And I have become so disillusioned and angered by the shit I see here on the regular, not to mention Twitter.... that I feel like I need to disengage from following both (SPN-wise), so I don't burst a fucking capillary.

Before I do that.... to the handful of "fans" that have caused a Twitter uproar and instigated shortsighted and nasty smear campaigns regarding:

1. Jareds inappropriate joke

2. Mark Pellegrino and William Shatner defending Jared over some other Twitter bullshit. They didn’t cause the initial offense, they merely defended their buddy against all the flamers....which, apparently is not allowed for these specific individuals. They’re so evil. How dare they have a human response to seeing their friend get charbroiled online. It’s like they think they’re real people....

3. Jensen supporting his FRIEND JDM when he was harassed and lambasted on Twitter and Instagram for wearing a Blue Lives Matter t-shirt. *Also, see #2*

4. Jensens retweet of Pellegrinos very nice message welcoming India to the SPN Family (flooding Jensens feed with demands that he not support his castmate and friend because Mark stood up to them or because they don't agree with Marks ideology. Way to take something positive and turn it ugly, BTW. Sorry, India. Truly. I'm secondhand cringing over here.) *Also, see #2*

5. *See previous rants on this page*

Can you please fuck off already? I hear Antarctica is nice this time of year, and that knitting is a great way to take your mind off things and meditate. I might follow my own advice, in fact. But stay the hell away from my yurt. I am stabby when it comes to you people.

There are always going to be people who feel compelled to stir up a lot of shit over anything these guys say and do, and they generally also apply that rule to most things in life, I'm guessing. And I know opinions are like assholes (everyone's got one), but really, there seem to be a handful of folks that LIVE for the drama around here. Get a grip. Be useful. Because what you seem to enjoy doing - Tearing down public figures in order to promote your own agenda, and making threats and accusations and spreading them like cancer? It's not productive. It's toxic. With regards to THE JOKE:

I don't want to tell the joke. TELL IT! No, my jokes are all inappropriate. TELL it! Nah... TELL IT ANYWAY, WE DON'T CARE! *Tells joke* *Sees personal integrity torpedoed and potentially damaged career/legacy due to an influx of online articles based on a handful of tweets by reactionary "fans" who probably weren't even there* Nice set-up, people.

Neither one of these guys is or has ever been anything but gracious to fans, not to mention caring and supportive. That's why fans from all over the world come to see them and share their personal stories of hardship with this cast. And they are certainly not proponents of rape culture.

These conventions are for adults, by adults. And if you bothered to even watch a sampling of con footage of these guys, your delicate sensibilities would probably be overwhelmed by the sexually charged and deeply inappropriate things that get said BY some fans TO these guys. But here's the thing, these actors take it in stride and treat their fans like friends. And these cons are very intimate and personal, open and extremely funny. Is content inappropriate sometimes? Yes, thank Chuck. THAT'S USUALLY WHAT MAKES IT FUNNY.

Have you ever watched a comedy routine? How do you handle dark humor? Can you? If you can't? Don't watch. Don't play Cards Against Humanity either. In fact....turn the internet off and spend time around real people. Build up some tolerance. Take your newfound tolerance to a domestic violence shelter and volunteer your time. Immerse yourself in a new culture. Read a few books. Educate yourself a bit and grow wiser. Pick your battles and fight for what's right. Not for what you "think" is right for Twit hits.

And you know what? If you're the type of person who is going to go on a witch hunt that results in these guys having to share the same platform with guys like Weinstein and Spacey, with potentially irreversible damage done to their professional and personal lives over something like THIS? Congratulations. You've become the thought police. You're demonizing people who have done a tremendous amount of good in the world around them via campaigns that stem from a desire to reach out to their fandom and support of people in crisis, particularly women, over a lame joke that Jared and especially Jensen, didn't feel was appropriate to share in the first place. These are genuinely kind and decent men, maybe do some more background research and check your motivation before you irrevocably damage someones well-being and livelihood.

And because I don’t know any of your names or whereabouts, I can’t actually fuck up your life, can I? And even if I could? Why on earth would I?? Anonymity’s great, though....isn’t it? We can go online and sit on our own virtual Mount Olympus, raining down accusations, judgments and sentences with minimal effort, foresight or concern for the ramifications of our actions.

And Jared is a prime example of that sometimes. I’m sorry to say, because he is a good dude, but he’s guilty of some of the same flamebroiling of people that you excuse yourselves from in the name of self righteousness. The difference is - you can hide behind your anonymity. He can’t. And I’m down with calling people on their bullshit behavior (clearly), and Jared has had it coming a few times, but THIS? This is ridiculous.

Since you seem to be fond of extreme responses, I could make the comparison that encouraging, no....demanding that someone do something that they don't want to do, and then shaming them for it when they do what you've asked? That's REAL textbook abuse. Chew on that for a minute.

Congrats again, because when you search either of their names, that's the FIRST thing that comes up. "Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles made a rape joke". The joke in and of itself doesn't and shouldn't negate all the good they've put out in the world, but in the eyes of the general public outside the fandom? NOW it does. THAT'S what people now see.

It's amazing how a 7 word joke can lead to online character assassination that tears down over a decade of good works. And I wouldn't blame them one bit for shutting down future cons and/or reducing their conversation with fans to subject matter that strictly pertains to the show.

And if you have stated any iteration of "I will no longer be a fan or watch this show because of these horrible meanies"... GOOD. FUCKING. RIDDANCE. It would make the SPN Family a much better place to be if ya'll and your other easily offended brethren who can dish it out, but can't take it, would fuck off to parts unknown to fixate on something else and leave us in peace.

#SPNFamily #easilyoffended #supernatural #Jared Padalecki #cw network #creationcons #Jensen Ackles #dean winchester #Sam Winchester #Misha Collins #castiel #lucifer #mark pellegrino #william shatner #akf #you are not alone #random acts

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stellaruesonlinebookofshadows · 7 years

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How to Create & Activate Sigils

original article here.

Creation & Activation

Sigil creation is a fantastic introduction into chaos magick, and a good way to begin your exploration of occult concepts. It’s also extremely easy to do, completely safe, and only requires a bit of time and a few items you almost certainly have readily available. Although there are many, many variations of the rituals for creating and activating a sigil, we’re presenting the most newcomer-friendly versions below.

We’ve also written the ideas out in plain English, and with a bit of context for why you’re doing these specific steps at all. This isn’t to take the mystery or the “magic” out of the experience, it’s just to give you some basic idea of what you’re trying to accomplish as you go.

Basic Sigil Creation

A “sigil” is a symbol. In this context, it’s a symbol that represents a specific goal, desire or ambition that you’d like to bring into your real life. Although sigils are powerful tools, it’s important to understand that there’s nothing inherently supernatural about them. They simply give a concrete form to an idea, and help to focus all of the power of your unconscious mind on making that idea a reality.

The method for creating a sigil is simple, creative and generally a lot of fun. It can be done alone, or with a small group of like-minded friends.

You will need:

Something to write with. Any normal pen or pencil will work.

Blank paper, at least three or four sheets.

A comfortable, distraction-free place to work.

About 30 minutes, including prep time.

Steps;

Create a quiet, distraction-free environment. There’s a simple reason why traditional magick rituals are done at night, by candlelight, or under the light of the moon. It’s not that one time of day is inherently more powerful than another, it’s simply because it’s easier to focus your attention when you’re not distracted by the normal activities of daily life. Chaos magick is all about bringing a desire or intention one step closer to reality, and the less distracted you are when you’re creating and activating the sigil, the better the results will be. Turn off your phone and your TV. Turn down the lights. Unplug or cover up anything you find distracting. Sigil rituals rarely take more than half and hour (and often considerably less than that), so don’t worry about missing anything

(OPTIONAL) Create a focus area. One of the practical reasons for things like the “protection circles” you see in popular occult fiction has very little to do with anything supernatural. It’s about creating a physical area where everything around you reinforces the ritual. Creating a rough circle around you composed of things that are important to you, or which strongly relate to the sigil you are about to create, helps keep your mind focused during the creation process. Along the same lines, turning off the room lights and working under the light of a few nearby candles helps to keep all of the distracting everyday world in the shadows, at least for the duration of the ritual. Some people find that certain music helps them focus, while others find it too distracting. As long as you’re feeling focused, the specifics don’t matter.

Quiet your mind. Just like you’ve removed the distractions from your environment, you must now to the same for your mind. You don’t need to meditate or go into a trance. You just need to close your eyes, and take a dozen or so deep breaths. Clear your mind of all thoughts, just for a moment or two. Once you’re done, you should be able to focus a bit more on the task at hand.

Write down your goal or desire as a sentence. Be clear, succinct and specific. It’s important to write down the thing you truly want, rather than the thing that you think will give you want you want. Writing “I want a raise at my job” is much less effective than “I want to make $50,000 a year.” This is particularly true when it comes to love. “I want Brian to ask me out” is far less potent a statement, for instance than “I want to be deeply in love with a wonderful man.” You can also write these in the “I will” format, as in “I will open my own successful organic bakery.”

Strike out all the vowels. Words are defined by their vowels. As long as the vowels remain in the words, it’s hard not to see them as words rather than symbols. Without the vowels, the letters can represent any number of ideas. We’re taking the sentence away from it’s role as a literal transcription, and making it one step closer to being a symbolic representation of an idea. What about “Y”? It’s up to you. If it looks or feels like a vowel, strike it. If not, keep it.

(OPTIONAL) Strike out duplicate consonants. If you have a bunch of the same letters remaining, it can be distracting. You probably won’t be using them in the final sigil, so feel free to go ahead and remove them.

Rewrite the remaining letters in a jumble. As you read the vowel-free sentence, you’ll find your eye drawn to certain letters, shapes and orders. We want to break that up a little bit more. An easy way to do this is to write them in a grid or a circle (you’ll see this method used a lot in various forms of sigil magick). Many people also write the letters in their capital form, which helps to blur the line between, say, the first letter of a name and some random letter from another word.

Rearrange the letters until you have a new symbol. This is the fun part, and there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Let yourself play with the shapes until you have one symbol that, to you, looks right. Combine the lines of one letter and the loops of another. Place letters over each other. Drop letters that don’t fit. Make new shapes. Don’t think too much about any of it. You have lots of paper, so doodle until you make something you like. As soon as you make the right symbol, you’ll know.

(OPTIONAL) Immediately activating the sigil. Creating the sigil is the first part of a two-step process. The second part, outlined below, is called “activation” (or sometimes “investment”), and it’s distinct from sigil creation. Some people like to activate their sigils immediately, others prefer to give the sigil’s meaning a little time to sink in first. Activation rituals are fairly simple, but they do require their own preparation and an additional time commitment. The sigil works the same in either case, so it’s entirely up to you.

Congratulate yourself, then return to the world. This isn’t an optional step. Although it may not seem like it, you’ve just worked actual magick. Take a deep breath. Look at the sigil you’ve created. It’s a unique work of art, containing both form and meaning. It only exists because you invested it with your intention, and it was brought into the world by your hands. No one else in the world knows what this new symbol means. It’s powerful, and it’s completely yours. Embrace yourself and your new creation, if even just for a moment, and then slowly come back to the world, observing any differences in how you now perceive your surroundings and yourself.

Additional: Once you’ve gotten the hang of making sigils, you can simplify the process. The instructions above are intended for first-time sigil makers. Once you’ve learned the basic steps, you’ll probably find that you don’t need all of the prep work. You will be able to put yourself in a prime sigil-making mindset almost anywhere, even in middle of a noisy cafe. What’s more, you’ll probably be able to make outstanding sigils in just a few moments, rather than the half-hour estimate above. Well done! This is a great indication that you’ve mastered the basics of sigil creation, and on a path towards a richer, more vibrant life. Just remember to be mindful as you learn more about the mysteries of magick!

Basic Sigil Activation

When you create a sigil, you’re investing it with a certain amount of emotional importance. When you hear practitioners of magick referring to the “energy” of a sigil, ritual or spell, this emotional investment is often what they’re talking about. For a sigil to be effective, however, it requires more than just the energy invested in the creation. It needs to be “activated.”

In the creation process, you’ve built up a substantial amount of psychological, emotional and creative tension, all around a symbol. For the sigil (and your subconscious) to do its work, you have to release that tension. This is called “activating” the sigil, although you’ll sometimes hear this referred to as “consecrating,” “charging” or “discharging.” There are as many methods for activating a sigil as their are practitioners of sigil magick, but they all share a common theme of buildup and release.

As with the sigil creation, we’re presenting the most newcomer-friendly version of the activation process. It’s something anyone with access to basic household items can do in just a few minutes. We’ve also written the steps out in plain English, and with a bit of context for why you’re doing these specific actions. This isn’t intended to take the mystery or the “magic” out of the experience, it’s just to give you some basic idea of what you’re trying to accomplish, and to make you as comfortable as possible with the process.

You will need:

Something to write with. Any normal pen or pencil will work.

Blank paper, or tracing paper.

A candle, fireplace, or other safe, standing flame.*

A metal or ceramic bowl suitable for safely burning a small piece of paper.

A comfortable, distraction-free place to work.

About 30 minutes, including prep time.

Steps:

Create a quiet, distraction-free environment. There’s a simple reason why traditional magick rituals are done at night, by candlelight, or under the light of the moon. It’s not that one time of day is inherently more powerful than another, it’s simply because it’s easier to focus your attention when you’re not distracted by the normal activities of daily life. Chaos magick is all about bringing a desire or intention one step closer to reality, and the less distracted you are when you’re activating the sigil, the better the results will be. Turn off your phone and your TV. Turn down the lights. Unplug or cover up anything you find distracting. This method of Sigil activation should only take about 15 minutes, so don’t worry about missing anything important.

(OPTIONAL) Create a focus area. One of the practical reasons for things like the “protection circles” you see in popular occult fiction has very little to do with anything supernatural. It’s about creating a physical area where everything around you reinforces the mood and emotional state you’re trying to evoke. Creating a rough circle around you composed of things that are important to you, or which strongly relate to the sigil you are about activate, helps keep your mind focused during the activation process. Along the same lines, turning off the room lights and working under the light of a few nearby candles helps to keep all of the distracting everyday world in the shadows, at least for the duration of the ritual. Some people find that certain kinds of music or incense helps them focus, while others find these too distracting. You’re doing it right as long as you can completely focus on the activation.

Light the candle, ready the bowl. You’ll want the candle burning and the fire-safe bowl within easy reach as you go into the next phase of the activation. Make sure to remove anything flammable from the area.

“Invoke” the sigil. This isn’t as arcane or mystical as it probably sounds. If you already have the sigil you created in hand (if you’ve just created it, for instance), you’ve already “invoked” it. If not, you’ll simply want to draw the sigil again on a new piece of paper. You can use a pen or pencil, although some people prefer the look of charcoals, crayons or oil pastels for visual effect. Don’t worry if you’re not much of an artist, this is about the intent behind the sigil, not being a perfect calligrapher. As long as it looks right to you, it’ll work just fine. You can also trace an existing sigil, which is a great way to activate a sigil that you didn’t draw yourself. (If you bought one from Sigil Daily, or found a perfect example in a book, for instance.) The act of redrawing the sigil helps to bring all of the emotional investment — the “energy” — back from your subconscious to the forefront of your mind.

(OPTIONAL) Tear away the edges of the paper around the sigil. Don’t worry if you accidentally rip the sigil, or tear a small piece off of the drawing. Your goal here is to end up with a piece of paper that “fits” the sigil, and to reduce the smoke and flame for the next step.

Focus on what the sigil represents. Look at the symbol you’ve created, and remember the reason you wanted it. Look at all of the shapes and angles. Does it speak to your core goal, desire or ambition? Now that you’ve identified what it is you want, are you ready to release that “energy” — as well as the psychological, creative and emotional tension it represents — and let the magick do its work? Listen to your emotions. There’s always a chance that what you actually want isn’t what the sigil represents, in which case there’s little point in activating it. (If that happens, use what you’ve learned and repeat the sigil creation process to create a new sigil. It should only take a few moments, and you can do it right on the spot.) Once it all feels right, move on to the next step.

“Discharge” the Sigil. There are lots of ways to “discharge” the emotional investment of the sigil, and in this case you’re simply going to be burning the paper you’ve drawn it on. Light one side of it, and then place it carefully in the bowl, making sure not to singe yourself in the process. Watch as it burns, and imagine that all of the emotional investment you’ve placed in the sigil, as well as the idea it represents, is being transformed into a new form made of the universal forces of light and heat. Imagine that light and heat radiating out from this moment, into your past and future. Imagine the glow of the sigil’s tiny light spreading across your entire life. Watch it until the flame goes out. Note: Don’t worry if the flame accidentally goes out during this process. It doesn’t mean that the sigil activation has has failed, or anything supernatural. Some paper burns better than others. Simply relight the remaining paper. The power of this step comes from the intention to release the tension behind the sigil, not on whether or not some wood pulp catches fire.

Let it go. Once the flame of the sigil’s paper has gone out, the sigil is discharged. While the sigil may still be a fun thing to look at or think about, the magick itself has already happened. The process has started, and it no longer needs you attention. Let the sigil and what it represents go. It will work the exact same, even if you never think about it again. That doesn’t mean that you should avoid the sigil or anything. It’s a piece of art, and you made it! But now that it has been discharged, think of it as something like a souvenir.

Take a nice, deep breath, and then congratulate yourself. You just worked actual magick! If you feel the urge to laugh at how strange the whole idea was, do it. Put one some music or something, just to change your state of mind. Now it’s time to return to the world. You’ll probably feel a little lighter, and you may even notice that the world around you looks a little different. That’s perfectly normal, so enjoy the feeling.

Additional: Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride. In the coming days, you’ll start to see little things that are eerily evocative of the sigil you activated. Don’t deny these. Don’t dismiss them, even if they seem minor. This is the process starting to work, bit by bit, to bring your intention into reality. The more open you are to these changes, the faster the magick will come into effect.

It’s important, however, to note that your decisions play a hugely important part in how effective the sigil will be. If your sigil is about meeting a new romantic partner, for instance, you might want to think about going out to a place where that could plausibly happen. Staying inside your home, with curtains drawn and lights out, not answering the door, is actively working against the thing you want. Don��t count on the sigil to do the work for you. You’ve already bought the ticket, now you have to take that next step and take the ride.

If you’re uncertain about the whole “magick thing,” start with something minor and irrelevant. In fact, a great way to test the effectiveness of sigil magick is simply to create an activate a sigil that is of both fairly unlikely and of absolutely no consequence. “I will meet a jolly man wearing a furry hat,” for instance, or “I will overhear someone humming ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson.” You’ll soon be surprised at how utterly powerful sigils can be.

#book of shadows #grimoire #magick #sigils #sigil creation #sigil activation #stella rue

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allenmendezsr · 4 years

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Affirmations Software - Sculptor3

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/affirmations-software-sculptor3/

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The Sculptor Method is loaded with new features, all designed to help you live a more fulfilling life.

Subliminal Technology Puts Manifestation on “Steroids”

In the 1950s, an advertising expert named James Vicary, started testing subliminal advertising in movie theaters. He inserted subliminal frames containing the words, “EAT POPCORN” and “DRINK COKE” within the reels of film. During the movie, the subliminal messages went by so fast that the unsuspecting audience didn’t consciously see the words, but their subconscious minds perceived the suggestions. As a result, Coke sales jumped 18.1% and popcorn sales skyrocketed by 57.7%.

Subliminal advertising proved to be too powerful that it was eventually outlawed. But what if you could use the same technology to install empowering affirmations into your subconscious — beneath the threshold of your conscious mind? Now, you can flash subliminal messages on your computer screen while you work! It’s like advertising to your own subconscious mind and having your desires manifest at an unprecedented speed. I’ll give you this program as a FREE gift with the SculptorMethod. Read on for details.

Anthony Robbins, World Renowned Expert On Motivational Thinking and Affirmations, Said It Best…

“By repeating an affirmation over and over again, it becomes embedded in the subconscious mind, and eventually becomes your reality. That is why you need to be careful what you think and believe, because that is exactly what you will get!”

When you repeat an affirmation — and amplify its power through the computer technology built into the Sculptor Method, it becomes projected onto your mental screen and brought into reality by the innate creative ability of your subconscious mind.

How to Bypass the Conscious Mind to Get the Results You Want with Minimum Conscious Effort

In and of themselves, affirmations are a powerful tool for manifesting. But when you practice affirmations from a deep, meditative state of consciousness (such as that induced by the brain wave player in the Sculptor Method), you increase their manifesting power up to a hundred fold.

That’s because meditation enables you to effortlessly bypass the conscious mind, and imprint affirmations into the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind, in turn, impinges upon the nervous system to bring about your desired results.

Imagine This Scenario:

“It’s 7 O’clock Monday morning. You’re not really looking forward to another grueling week of work, and you need something to get you going. You turn on your PC and the Sculptor Method automatically launches itself. The brain wave player starts to play a soothing tone that puts you in a very relaxed state. Carefully scripted subliminal messages are being displayed. You sit back and enjoy your affirmation experience as the Sculptor Method springs into action (see screen shot below):

The time it takes to brew your morning coffee, you’re done. the Sculptor Method has done its job in 10 minutes flat.

It’s now 7:15 AM, and you’re feeling unstoppable and positively empowered because of the high-octane affirmation session that got you charged up with everything you need to face the day.

The next moment, you’re out the door. You go about your day with the greatest of ease, feeling confident that the universe is conspiring to make your desires happen with no struggle on your part. Your day is filled with success after success because you’re in peak condition. This goes on all day long, and you surprisingly find yourself smiling all the time. Gone are the stress and fear that you used to have – but in their place, a deep-seated peace and confidence that you can achieve all your goals and overcome all obstacles in your path. It’s never been this easy!

For the next 12 days, you continue using the Sculptor Method for 10 minutes every morning or evening. Towards the end of the week, you’re amazed to see that positive things are beginning to happen — things that are getting you closer to your desires and dreams. Every door opens for you and everyone you meet is happy to be with you or do business with you. Money begins to come easily, and you’re feeling vibrant and healthy. You’re on top of the world.

As the days go by, you find that everything you’ve ever wanted in life have all begun to manifest in your life. You’re living the life of your dreams.

But Can It Really Be This Simple?

Absolutely! Using the Sculptor Method for PC can get you started manifesting your desires and dreams immediately. There’s no learning curve involved because the software program is intuitive — so easy to use.

If you can type on a computer, I guarantee that you can make the Sculptor Method work for you!

Here’s What One User Had To Say About The Sculptor Method

“All desire to drink or smoke magically disappeared…”

I used your Sculptor Method in January this year to help me with an addiction to alcohol and tobacco. I had one session where I affirmed that I was healthy. Prior to that day, I struggled with being unable to stop using the substances for many years. Since that day, all desire to drink or smoke has magically disappeared. I now exercise regularly and I am taking back my life. — Thank you so very much for your wonderful work.

— Carmen

So What Do You Want in Life And When Do You Want It?

Earlier on, I asked you to name 3 things that you want in your life. Now that you’ve done that — and maybe even identified many other things you desire — the only question left to answer is when do you want to have them?

I’ve shown you how the Sculptor Method can immerse you in 7 of the top manifesting technologies simultaneously — and materialize your desires faster than you ever thought possible. Now, it’s time for you to act on this.

How Much Is All This Worth To You?

What is the value of getting your hands on this state-of-the-art manifesting PC software program that’s not available anywhere else? What is it worth to have the best possible tool for manifesting your desires? Can you even put a price tag on living your dreams?

I ask you, how much are you willing to invest to create your ideal life? $10,000? $5,000? $1,000? How about $500?

Well, the good news is that you can own Sculptor 3 for less than $100! Yes, that’s right. Valuable as it is, Sculptor 3 can be yours for a one-time investment of just $97.00 (USD). If you’re in a hurry and can’t wait to get started, click here to experience Sculptor 3 now.

Here’s A Snapshot Of What You Get When You Order The Sculptor Method Today:

The Powerful Affirmation Program — Takes you step-by-step through a personalized 12-Day Plan for Success. You will learn how to easily create powerful affirmations customized to your own needs and desires. (Note: You can repeat the 12-day plan as often as you like.)

Subliminal Messaging Program — The Sculptor Method uses a powerful Subliminal Messaging feature which displays subliminally on your computer monitor while you practice your affirmations. You have complete control over these messages, you can add, modify, and delete them. You also have control over frequency and duration. These work magically to effortlessly program your unconscious mind.

The Stunning Brain Wave Player Feature — offers a selection of Alpha, Beta, and Theta brain files that can be played while using the Sculptor Method. By using the Brain Wave files, your mind will become more receptive to your affirmations and visual imagery, increasing their effectiveness instantly!

Autopilot Mode — An automatic mode, useful for situations where you are involved with other tasks (ideal for effortless subconscious programming).

Visual Programming Feature — The Sculptor Method comes with an extremely valuable “visualization aid” to assist you in improving your visualization skills. This is an absolute MUST if you want your manifestation to reach new heights!

A Personal Response Database — When using the affirmation program you will be asked to type in a response to your affirmation. These responses are saved to the Sculptor Method Database so you can view these responses at any time. These responses will prove invaluable when it comes to understanding and overcoming any inner resistance you might have towards obtaining your desired outcome.

The Amazing Sentence Completion Feature — Sentence Completion is the art of repeatedly (12 times recommended) answering a single question called a stem, and answering it as many times as you feel comfortable with. This is a powerful technique — with step-by-step instructions provided by Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D.

The Mission Statement — This option is for users who would like to create a mission statement and have it replace the default backdrop image used in the Sculptor Method. By having your mission statement as a backdrop, you are constantly being reminded of what is important to you, in your life. And by doing this, you’re working some powerful magic on your mind that actually gets you in the mindset to get what you want.

Your Own Power Symbol — The Sculptor Method allows you to select a power symbol displayed on-screen while you are engaged in your affirmation practice. This power symbol empowers your affirmation practice because it holds a special significance to you. Most of the symbols represent various religious denominations, though some are neutral. This is so powerful — you won’t know how well this works until you try it!

Gender-Specific Library Choices — The Sculptor Method includes separate HIS and HER libraries. Both of these libraries come with illustrations and stories — one for each day of the 12-Day program, plus sample affirmations. This helps you customize the program to your gender … very important!

Daily Quotes To Help You Reach Success — The Sculptor Method displays a selection of powerful Quotes each time you start the program. You can add, delete and modify these quotes to suit your desires.

Your Own Associative Trigger Symbol — The Sculptor Method allows you to select to have a trigger symbol displayed on-screen while you are engaged in your affirmation practice. What you want to do with this trigger symbol is to create an association between the trigger symbol and your affirmation so it automatically increases the power (and effectiveness) of your affirmations!

Customizable Set Up Program — The Sculptor Method includes a Setup Program for defining your affirmation, affirmation speed, colors, symbols, illustrations, fonts, libraries, and much, much more. This makes it easy to start using it right away for maximum benefit.

Easy-To-Use Complete Instructions — Quick Guide, User’s Guide & Tutorial which shows you all you need to know to use the Sculptor Method. The Tutorial is graphical based, and outlines all the Sculptor Method features so you can get the most from it!

Exclusive Access to the Sculptor Method Private Web site — This site is available for all registered Sculptor Method users. You will find sample affirmations, articles, additional background images, and much more to enhance your manifesting experience.

You Risk Absolutely Nothing

I’m so confident that you will be thrilled with the Sculptor Method that I’m willing to make this unprecedented guarantee. Get the Sculptor Method today and take it for a trial spin. Take as long as 60 Days to see if it really does for you what I say it will.

Once you experience how enjoyable it is to use, and how easily you are able to manifest your desires, I’m betting I couldn’t pry it out of your hands if I tried. But if, for any reason, it doesn’t give you major breakthroughs, or you simply aren’t satisfied with the results you’re getting, let me know within 60 Days and I’ll be happy to give you 100% of your money back.

So you have nothing to lose when you give it a try today. Within minutes, you will get download instructions, and you can start enjoying the benefits of the Sculptor Method immediately.

“Okay, Heads Up!” Grab Instant Access To The “Sculptor Method” Today

Regular Price $127.00 Today $97.00

Instant Digital Download Available 24 Hours Per Day

Did You Know… ?

Affirmation experts agree that in order to maximize the power of affirmations, they should not just be repeated mindlessly. They need to be fueled by emotion.

The Sculptor Method uses trigger symbols, storytelling visuals, power symbols and other stimuli that effectively set your affirmation on fire — and therefore makes it infinitely more powerful. These elements not only add emotion but a spiritual dimension to your affirmation practice, and they’ve been proven to enhance manifestation by up to 500%!

To Give You An Even Better Value On Your Investment. When you order today you’ll also receive the following bonuses.

(valued at $295.95 – Yours FREE!)

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This guide answers that all-important question and will set you on the road to welcoming love into your life, whether you want it for the first time, had it and lost it, or just want to feel more of it in your current relationship. $27 Value – Yours Free!

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Writable PDF Workbook

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Setting Personal Goals – If you’ve ever dreamed of the perfect life, this Guide, Workbook and Flowchart is for you. You’ll discover how setting personal goals can help you achieve the life you’ve always wanted – and deserve. $27 Value – Yours Free!

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Writable PDF Workbook

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Importance of Conquering Fears – In this eBook, the topic of fear will be discussed in depth. We’ll delve into fear from all angles, including: “How fear can negatively affect your life”, “The nature of fear” and “The difference between a fear and a phobia”. You’ll also find some tips and techniques to help you overcome your fears, as well as discover the positive results that come from facing your fears head on. $27 Value – Yours Free!

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Science of Getting Rich – Audio – W. D. Wattles. Born shortly after the Civil War, Wattles experienced a life of failure after failure, until in his latter years, after tireless study he formulated the principles laid out in The Science of Getting Rich. Time less wisdom and a step-by-step prosperity program. $27 Value – Yours Free!

Audio book

20 Affirmation Posters – 20 (dimensions 2560×1600) Affirmation Posters. Print them and hang them where you will see them often. Affirmation Posters sell from $5.95 to $27 elsewhere on the Internet… yours FREE when you invest in Sculptor 3 today. $119 Value – Yours Free!

20 Affirmation Posters

Breaking Free of Negative Emotions – Painful situations are a part of life, but your perception makes all the difference. If you’re holding onto painful memories and feelings, these are very likely keeping you from leading a happy life. This Guide, Workbook and Cheatsheet will help teach you how to let go of the past and live the life you deserve. $27 Value – Yours Free!

PDF Guide

Writable PDF Workbook

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These bonuses alone are worth many times the cost of the whole thing. But remember, even if you later decide that the Sculptor Method is not for you (which I strongly doubt), you still get to keep these bonuses as my “Thank You” for giving the Sculptor Method a try. So give it a try risk-free today.

There’s Nothing to Learn! The Sculptor Method Does All The Work For You

Make no mistake — this is NOT just another book or CD program that talks about manifestation techniques. The Sculptor Method is a powerful software program that makes things happen…

If you’ve tried books or CD’s on the subject before, then you’ve probably already discovered that oftentimes, they’re just a pleasant read. I’ve been there myself — curled up with a book, feeling hopeful of a bright future. But, did anything change? Getting results is the acid test.

With the Sculptor Method, you don’t have to learn anything. Instead, it will do all the work for you — making it easy to apply manifesting principles to your life and helping you get what you want the easy and effective way. Get started now.

“What an incredible product… I am absolutely amazed that there is something finally so wonderful on the market”.

— Editor/Publisher, Power of One, Metaphysical Magazine

“… success already beginning!

You are providing an amazing service. I held off using because of the cost… foolish idea. I started this AM using the Sculptor Method and can feel the desires in my mind and heart for hope and success already beginning to increase.

Thank you,

— John Gray

Invest in the Sculptor Method Today!

The Single Most Important Skill

If you were to ask me what the single most important skill is, that if you possessed it would dramatically change your life for the better, I would tell you, without a doubt — it’s the ability to manifest your desires. The Sculptor Method can give you that ability — guaranteed.

You will NOT find this program in bookstores anywhere. It is totally unique and sold exclusively on the web.

Listen, here’s the thing: I sell this package through Clickbank, which means I play by their rules. And their rules state that I’ve got to give you an 8-week, money back guarantee. I’m fine with that. I stand by my product completely and know you’ll be completely thrilled with it, and more importantly, the results.

So, use the The Sculptor Method to manifest your desires. However, for your peace of mind, know that a refund is available anytime within the next 8 weeks by simply e-mailing me or Clickbank.

Now who’s taking all the risk?

“ClickBank is the retailer of products on this site. CLICKBANK® is a registered trademark of Click Sales Inc., a Delaware corporation located at 1444 S. Entertainment Ave., Suite 410 Boise, ID 83709, USA and used by permission. ClickBank’s role as retailer does not constitute an endorsement, approval or review of these products or any claim, statement or opinion used in promotion of these products.”

Imagine this… in as little as a few days, you could be on you way to manifesting the life you’ve always dreamed of. Imagine becoming debt-free, enjoying improved health… having happy and loving relationships… finding your dream home… all because you decided to say “YES” today.

This is the ONE program that can give you the life you desire. In just 10 minutes a day, the Sculptor Method, can put you on course to creating your ideal life sooner than you ever thought possible.

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To your success.

Sincerely,

Jeff Staniforth CEO and Founder AffirmWare.com.au

P.S. I’m so confident in the Sculptor Method, I’ll stake my reputation by saying that even if you’ve lived with a “less-than” attitude of limiting beliefs for years, you can turn your life around using the Sculptor Method for just 10 minutes a day. You, too, can start living with the passion and joy that go with being an in control person. I invite you to take the first step to this life-changing opportunity.

Remember: If, for any reason, you are not satisfied with the program, just let me know within 60 Days and I’ll refund every cent. No questions asked.

( NOTE: Your purchase may be tax-deductible as a training expense. Consult your tax advisor) Attention Web masters: If you have a Personal Empowerment web site or blog, check out our affiliate program at www.AffiliateCommandCenter.com

P.P.S. With love and light, thank you for allowing me to present you the Sculptor Method. Bless you… one spark of light to another.

Address details: 30/116 Shirley Rd Wollstonecraft NSW 2065 Sydney, Australia Ph: 612-9460-8098

DISCLAIMER: Information on this site and in our products is provided for informational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for advice of your own health care professional. Please do not use the information supplied by AffirmWare to diagnose, treat, any health problem or disease. If you suspect that you have a medical issue please consult your health care professional. Examples in these materials are not to be interpreted as a promise or guarantee of earnings. Earning potential is entirely dependent on the person using our product, ideas and techniques. We make no claim regarding income guarantees or results from using our products.

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funkymbtifiction · 7 years

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Hi, Charity! I have been having an identity crisis lately. (Yet another of many in the past year of a lot of self discovery and doubt). I spent quite a while thinking I was either enfp or infp, after retyping myself several times from intp to intj to infj and then xnfp. But recently I became convinced that I am an infj and was right in my typing when I first learnt about the underlying cognitive functions (intx was pretty much just from online tests). I know this sounds very vague so far and I’m not giving any details of why or how.

Hey, Mar.

Wish your e-mail address had worked, so we could have this talk in private. :)

Since you were vague in your descriptions of Ne/Ni, I wasn't able to tell which one appears to be dominant, but here’s a few thoughts reaped from the post:

I struggle with seeing myself clearly, but I don’t know if it’s because of Fe or because I’ve had a tough family situation growing up where I was basically not allowed to have an identity separate from my caretakers. I am easily swayed by other people’s opinions and start to doubt my convictions but again, don’t know if it’s Fe or poor self-confidence (or both?).

It could be Fe if you allow other people’s emotions to cloud yours, or it could be the Ne-dom problem of being unable to see yourself clearly. Every single Ne-dom I've ever known / talked to, myself included, had a hell of a time finding their own type and still cannot see themselves very clearly, because Ne is so busy gaining 'outside perspectives' 24/7 and has such poor self-awareness (inferior Si) that it tends to believe whatever idea anyone throws at it about themselves, even if it doesn't match who they are. The idea just sticks to them and them being a Ne/Si, they cannot properly filter it out (Si: Hey, I’m not like that!).

I could especially relate, among other things, to that sense of impending doom and being stuck in the same situation I am currently in and no hope for a better future. Not being able to imagine a better future for myself and seeing only all the ways in which I am stuck and will be stuck stresses me out quite a lot, actually. Sometimes I obsess over it.

All intuitives feel that staying stagnant is a literal hell, so this could be Ni OR Ne. But Ne/Si tends to have a more generic 'I'm not sure what I want, but this ain't it and I hope this isn’t all I ever have from my life' approach and NiSe tends to think, 'it's time I stop fixating on this single vision and DO SOMETHING TO MAKE IT REAL” followed by fear it may fail and then they’ll have nothing, since no other dream / career / ambition has outlasted this one.

To the point that sometimes I can only find solace in fantasizing about meeting that one person who will save me from my troubles, as unrealistic, unhealthily codependent and disempowering as it sounds.

Free amateur psych advice: other people cannot save you, because other people are just as imperfect as you are. This is common in a fearful N user, who tends to idealize and fantasize about a hero coming to rescue them, because they are so uncomfortable interacting with the sensory world on their own. The answer is that you have to save yourself, since no one else will. :)

An aspect of why I believed myself to be an enfp is that I could relate a lot to your more personal posts (especially about writing) or whenever you’d offer personal examples to illustrate type. Or in doubting my introversion because sometimes I would talk to a person and get so energized by that human connection.

What kind of energy? Emotional (Fe) energy? Or I MET SOMEONE FULL OF GREAT IDEAS AND NOW I'M WIRED (Ne) energy?

Right now I’m in the middle of rewriting a novel. It changes with each draft. People change. Motives change. Ideas change. Hell, I decided to change the murderer because another possibility will clean up the plot better so now I’m having to rewrite entire sections and leave other characters out / fill the holes they leave behind. I’m fine with it. It’s fun and somewhat easy. It energizes me. That’s high Ne. “This was fine last week but now it bores me and I have a better way to approach it, so it’s all gonna change and continue changing until I find something that works.” I sometimes joke that me being me, as a Ne, I’m not ‘done’ with something until I can read it twenty-six times in the editing process without wanting to change something at its fundamental level. I know I found the RIGHT idea, after using and discarding a bunch of alternate possibilities.

(My INFJ friend basically writes her novels in head, figures them all out in advance, then sits down and writes it out and changes very little in revision. Ni.)

I struggle to see if I do actually perceive the emotions of those around me and can easily step into someone else’s perspective and I’m observant of the unspoken agreements in a social situation, or if I’m delusional and I just like to think I’m an empath because it makes me feel better about myself.

Perceiving them (Ne) or feeling them (Fe)? When you are in a group, are you watching people so you can SPECULATE on their emotions (Fi) or are you immersed IN their emotions and sometimes lose yourself in the process (Fe)? Are you GUESSING at their feelings (Fi) based on a sense of inner self (”Are they bored? She looks bored. Can’t other people see she’s bored? I would not want to be bored, so we need to keep her from being bored. How are other people not see this?” Fi thinking can actually mean, “Because this would bore ME, I’m projecting being bored onto her when she’s not actually bored.”)

Side note: intuitives often over-estimate their own skills because their intuition / imagination is fantasizing an ideal self, instead of using their real self. And coming crashing down to earth and realizing they were wrong / are not very good at that / really are not a God is somewhat crushing to their ego.

One thing that really made me lean towards infj as a possibility is realizing that, at least for me, writing is a way of expressing and externalizing my feelings.

Why is this specifically shifting you toward INFJ? INFJs do not have a corner on writing. This is equally if not more common in the INFPs. Every Fi-dom poet of the last five hundred years can testify to externalizing their feels in writing.

MY emotions get so tied up inside myself that until I get them out on paper (Te) I cannot organize them or even figure out how to say how I feel -- and that's crucial, because Fi/Te types may resort to metaphors, ducking conversations, or intense internal monologues that may never be voiced (because it takes time to organize their thoughts before they speak on an emotional level) while Fe/Ti types can usually simply sum up their feelings vocally when asked, since that's what Fe/Ti does.

So, are you externalizing to get others' feedback on your feelings and affirmation (FeTi) or are you writing because you know no other clear way to restructure and share your abstract (hard to describe) feelings (FiTe)?

Before, I believed I had Fi because I have strong beliefs about individuality and personal integrity and I passionately hate the kind of group-think that leads to lack of personal integrity in favor of what the majority wants. But at the same time I strongly believe in equality. In fact, I believe what makes us equals is (as corny as it sounds) precisely that we’re all unique and irreplaceable and have a unique purpose for our life, that nobody else could fulfill quite like us.

You should ask yourself: do I pass immediate moral judgment upon hearing new information like a Fi-dom or do I internalize / interact with the ideas before I judge their ethics like a NeFi or do I try and fit the new information into my internal worldview and see how to use it to motivate people in a NiFe way?

Another reason for me thinking Fi is that somewhere along the line I had convinced myself that I hated people and I took on the identity of a misanthrope.

Um. Why would this connect to Fi in your mind?

I have been struggling big time with having too high expectations of myself and with my overall perfectionism, which more often paralyzes me instead of making me work harder. I am studying again after a few years, and the deadlines are just killing me. They feel like life or death. I obviously don’t know how to work with a schedule, I did 90% of the workload of two weeks in the first two days and then felt burnt out and spent the next week and a half distracting myself by researching random non academic stuff just for personal amusement, like mbti and the enneagram, and how to make pumpkin pie, and the relationship between veganism and the tv series Hannibal. Procrastination is definitely something I’m good at. It’s two days before the deadline and I’m struggling with that 10% of work that I haven’t done yet, and after spending the whole day stressing out about it and not being able to write a single sentence of my essay on cave art from the paleolithic, I am writing this instead. At least, just by writing this, I’ve already gained some clarity on what’s going on inside my head, which is always helpful.

I’m 90 pages into a book on perfectionism from a psychological perspective at the moment, but Jordan Peterson has wise words for this sort of behavior: finished is better than perfect.

I too am a perfectionist, but for me it's more spewing ideas out on the page (Ne) and then anxiously trying to formulate them into some kind of structure that has an overall point (Te) and then agonizing over the details in case I got something wrong that will cause people to throw out my good ideas in favor of the misinformation (low Si) due to Ne placing unrealistic standards on this situation due to being combined with perfectionism, which is fear based (if this isn’t flawless, people will judge it harshly and not listen to what it says).

I’m sorry I could not give your type based on what you wrote, but hopefully I explained enough about my thinking process and gave you good enough questions that you can find your type by being honest about your mental processing leading to behaviors.

- ENFP Mod

#question #enfp #infp #infj #mbti #submission

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vileart · 7 years

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Burrowing Dramaturgy: Andy Edwards @ Tron

In Burrows

A new performance in BSL and spoken word, created by Andy Edwards, presenting at Tron Theatre on March 23rd and 24th.

credits: Julia Bauer

The performance frames the act of description through a series of choreographies, investigating the relationship between spoken language, sign and meaning, and exploring perspective and how we engage with the world around us. In Burrows will be accompanied by a number of guest performances. Musician Blair Coron will perform a composition developed especially for the event. Petre Dobre and Adriana Navarro will present the short performance Words, who needs them? What was the inspiration for this performance?

In Burrows began as a short piece, first performed at Only Skin’s SCRATCH back in October 2016. In the work I would describe an image to the audience, an image that was placed onstage so that they couldn’t see it, in 1500 words. What inspired this performance was a desire to make the easiest piece of work I could possibly make, that offered the maximum amount to the audience it could while carrying with it as little as possible. So it made sense to work with an audiences imaginations. Then I also wanted a piece of work I could just turn up and do, make up on the spot, so it made sense to play with improvisation.

The method of improvisation I employ was developed as part of the ground, the highest point a duet of text and dance I performed with Paul Hughes at a couple of festivals during 2015. Initially it very strongly drew from (or, less charitably, stole) Tim Etchell’s solo practice but since then it has departed considerably, and I’ve improvised poetry across a wider range of contexts, developing my own particular set of enquiries. Those enquires are primarily linguistic – I’m interested in how language works.

When offered to present In Burrows at Tron I was posed with the problem of how to take a very solid short work and evolve it into something three times the length, without just dragging it out. I’d been curious about working with a British Sign Language interpreter for a while, largely out of a desire to make my work more accessible to an audience I’d previously not made any work for and also because I was curious about the language itself. Placing Amy Cheskin into the work has been brilliant. A simple act that has produced lots of tensions, questions, that have driven the work forward. Thinking about translation, interpretation and the fuzzy areas in

between has given the project a new lease of life – and certainly inspired me to push forward with it. Rehearsals are thundering along and we’re both pretty buzzed by how fascinating language is, and how it intersects – both producing and being produced by – what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, how you’re trying to position yourself to others and the world around you.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

It is a good launch-pad for the public discussion of ideas – and then, that discussion, happens after the performance has taken place. Any good discourse is advanced by someone making a claim about something, and then other people assessing that claim. Me saying that I think this gives you something to react off of.

The way I go about making performance is to think that each performance I make is an act of making a claim about something, taking up a position, and that by taking up a position I’m inviting others to observe, discuss and criticise that position. That’s the basic task that I’m up to – trying to hold someone’s attention long enough for them to know what it is I’m claiming but with a relaxed enough grip so that they can react to it. And then things that I’m doing are hugely informed by the ideas I’ve previously discussed that have led me up to this point.

I think that’s why art in general is a good space for the public discussion of ideas – because it is often people making statements about the world that have a smaller impact on that world. That isn’t to say that impact is negligible. Not at all. Or that it doesn’t have a significant impact on the world. It most definitely does – and that isn’t always a positive one. But there’s something both flimsy and robust about art that means the stakes are low enough so that we can discuss it but that also our discussion of it won’t kill the thing stone dead. So yes, in that sense, it’s has the potential to be a great space to discuss ideas.

That’s all potential though, because if only a small segment of people can access the space in which the discussion takes place then it won’t be much of a discussion at all. So, it depends on what the performance is, where it is being held and who is allowed in.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I’m not particularly sure. I came about it the long way around and avoided it for a while, in part due to a certain type of pressure applied to me when I was younger, and in part due to being scared that I’d be totally rubbish at it. As a teenager I found acting, with characters and lines and arcs, such a release for a build up of emotions I’d not learnt how to deal with. I did a GCSE, then A-Level, in drama. Then fell in with the theatre crowd at University – after a brief attempt to avoid doing it – then did a masters – after another brief attempt to avoid doing it – and since then I continually flip flop between wanting to knock Shakespeare off his perch and “getting a job in a bank”, forgetting of course that getting a job in a bank is probably quite difficult / the banks might not be particularly in desperate need of my services.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Me and Amy work in a manner where the creative responsibility is a little imbalanced. Given Amy is a translator, that’s a really necessary thing for her to do her job, but it leads to the interesting tension where if the work is crap it isn’t her fault, it’s mine. So it is interesting how labour divides up as a result of that. The pattern is that we meet once a week and for three hours throw things about, try something and note what happens. Then I’ll go away and write something, some notes, a script, or whatever – and then we’ll come back together again and throw what’s left together again. So we move forward like that – and it’s going super well I think.

Thinking about our general approach, we spend a lot of time asking what the audience will be getting from the work, and how audiences with different abilities will receive the work differently. The work will be accessible to a range of audiences including those who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, partially sighted or blind, with integrated BSL interpretation and audio description. This desire to make a piece of work that offers a rich theatrical experience to these audiences informs a lot of decisions we make. Rather than to offer one blanket experience of the work, we’re curious as to what we can offer each of these specific audiences in turn. The work, as a whole, is concerned with a very specific relationship to each and every one of its audience members. It’ll be a bit different for everyone, given that a lot of it will take place inside their heads.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

While I’ve performed my work before, most recently as part of Andy Arnold’s group show NOWHERE during Take Me Somewhere 2017, I am more commonly found as a playwright. Typically I write text for others, in a ‘New Writing’ context, whereas for In Burrows I’m speaking text that has never been written down.

There’s a thread that runs through all this work though, which is about being in control of language. That sentence sounds a bit gross, reading it back. With In Burrows I’m making that process more explicit to the audience then if I were to write a play, which I’d typically do out of sight.

So while it will look very different to a lot of my other work, I think the underlying mechanics are fundamentally the same.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

The dramaturg for In Burrows, Paul Hughes, wrote this note to me after a development weekend: “I’m looking at a photograph by Andy Goldsworthy currently on display in the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art: a line of upturned leaves placed on dense patch of bracken, the stark white undersides standing out from the vivid green of the forest. It doesn’t impress the viewer in how it has acquired huge or rare or precious materials, or on how many people the artist holds in their command, or even in how it has hoodwinked and mocked the institution that houses it. No sustained physical commitment was required to produce this; in fact, the action so simple that we can imagine the exact steps with which it was undertaken. The gesture points towards the artist themself as much as any material circumstance or image.

Is this an alchemical transformation? Do we perceive the artist as a magician, effortlessly transforming reality around them? This can only be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the individual viewer’s tastes, affiliations and readiness to go along with the trick. What’s more clear is the particular sense of romance, of the poetic, within the artist: of the ways in which they read charm and delight in the world around them. Perhaps in this work - and obviously I’m talking about In Burrows too - the artist is inviting us to briefly see the world through their eyes - not as a way to seduce us, but to share with us a way in which we might allow ourselves to be seduced. We stand before an intimate proposition; the individual’s un/abashed offer of their very personal relationship to beauty”

So perhaps that sums it up, perhaps it doesn’t. I’m wanting the audience to have the experience of observing something very personal to themselves, namely their relationship to language, memory, imagination and image. It’ll be small, quiet, and hopefully full of stuff for them to latch on to and play with.

Both In Burrows and Words, Who Needs Them? have been created for the enjoyment of hearing, hard-of-hearing and D/deaf audiences. In Burrows also features integrated audio description for blind or partially sighted audiences. from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2ohvYuv

#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

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closereadingsy-blog · 5 years

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Artist Q & A

About SAMSON YOUNG: CLOSE READING A Dialogue

Curator (Q): The first two questions would be about sound and art.

Samson Young (A): I mean each of those questions could fill a book.

Q: Ready for hundred pages! In one word for each.

A: When we talk about sound, we are always thinking about it in opposition to something else. For example, it’s either sound versus noise, or sound versus music, or sound versus visual. It seems that we are only able to think about sound in opposition to something else. For me, these oppositions are not necessarily true. That said, out of habit, I too do tend of think of sound as the discreet moments of the experience of hearing, the smallest level or the most intense level of the experience. When you talk in sentences, there are the utterances, and then there are construction and structure. A sentence carries the thought that tried to structure utterances into a sentence. Take for example, if I made a single sound by dropping a pencil, that sound is a split moment, beep. If I decided to drop a pencil twice, then that generates a pattern and that pattern carries with it some other stuff in it, such as “the intention of dropping the pencil twice,” or, “me being careless which caused the pencil to drop twice,” you know. Whereas when it’s just one singular experience, the intensity of the experience is more accessible. But this is precisely the opposition that one can try to undo by expanding the thinking about that singular utterance and applying it onto even a sentence. So, it is possible to hear a sentence as shapes of sound, as the rise and fall of my voice, to perceive the quality of how calm or not calm I am on this particular day in the morning. So, in the end, your mind is capable of turning a sentence that carries semantic meaning into just shapes of sound. It’s a kind of short-circuiting of the usual pathway of hearing, and how hearing generates meaning in the mind.

Q: Is sound and art related to your work, or it’s separated?

A: When I think about art, I don’t really think about any particular medium. We are talking about a human activity before it became professionalized into mediums. Then of course it’s more complicated, right, sound is not equal to art, but sound is of art, and art being this much larger thing that exists out in the world that is not limited to what I do, or what any one person does.

Q: My third question is about composing.

A: I have in front of me on my table a very specific arrangement that is “composed” of individual elements, and together, these elements give specific shapes. And although I am probably not—I mean I was not thinking that I was making a drawing—but in the way that I am laying things out, in the particular order that I prefer, there is a rhythm, and the individual elements are in conversation with each other. (Referring to a case of pencil) like this piece is in conversation with this piece, (referring to a book and a drawing pad) these two things although they were laid out sort of casually, they have a sort of conversation with each other. There is a “functional” reason why these guys (referring to the stamping kits) are on this side, but even serving just a functional reason, they still participate in the overall conversation. So, composing for me is all those conscious, unconscious, aesthetic, but also functional processes all acting simultaneously. When they come to you, literally, when they “come to the table,” you find a way for them to be in an arrangement. The table is a container. The form is the way by which all of these different elements are in conversation. Elements enter into the form at different times, and for various reasons, and composing for me is trying to make sense of all those elements make sense as they come to the table.

I compose music, but I also use the word composing when I am making an exhibition in a space, and thinking about how things co-exist in that space. A 20 minute musical composition in a concert hall is a specific sort of container, and an exhibition is just another kind of container. But these containers are not blank slates. This temple comes with something that is already pre-given in its form, and a gallery or a museum space comes with another set of pre-given as forms.

Q: My fourth and the last question that I was thinking, the fourth question about space I mean like space and time.

A: You mean how I treat space and time?

Q: If we as people in art talk about the space and time issue, it is about the philosophical approach on being a human or little things and how you consider space and time when you create works of art. And of course, the last question is on “close reading”. How do you feel about the residency and how the exhibition is going to turn out?

A: I don’t know yet. You mean like what the show is going to be, or how is it feeling to me now, or...

Q: I mean whether if you are at the composing part in your mind before making the work physically.

A: Right, no, but I don’t think it is over, right, until the moment everything is in front of us. Let’s talk about my process here at the temple. I am just collecting scraps of things while I am here. But it’s also more complicated than that: behind the act of collecting, there is always already a direction that limits what I collect. It’s true. But I don’t know if I could ever get away from that directedness until the moment comes. Put another way, I don’t know how to get away from preconceived notions until I know what these notions are, and that I wouldn’t know until the thing is in front of me. You know what I mean? Like, I am collecting, and then sometimes I am surprised by myself. So, for example, it is because I saw a brick wall with gold leaf when I was in Sarnath (where Buddha gave his first sermon), and that image of that brick wall stuck with me, which is driving the decision to make the clay brick pieces here at the temple. But then the other day I caught myself thinking about these clay bricks as sandbags, you know, like military sandbags. I thought, “oh they look a little bit more like sandbags=walls to me now than they looked like brick walls”. And so, you are surprised by the process, and in that moment of surprise you realize the falsehood of your preconception, but if I am busy fighting preconceptions instead of being involved with the process, that’s not the way out of preconceptions. So, I deal with preconception in the same way that I deal with space, like that. But yes, that could well be a limitation, I think I know what you are talking about.

You play the piano, right, do you enjoy practicing scales? When did you enjoy it, as opposed to when did you not enjoy practicing scales?

Q: Like I felt joy of listening and playing at the same time, not just about playing but also listening and appreciating the note and thinking about how the composer felt when he or she made that music. It’s more about...not about just playing the instrument, it’s about appreciating the creation in space and time. So, it’s all about thinking about space and time and about living life and also the creation of art. And if I felt – whenever I feel the harmony between this existence and beauty existing together and then I think we can say it’s a kind of experiencing of art, and appreciating a beautiful work of art is the same for me personally as being in the beautiful nature, like in the forest at dawn or twilight. Maybe that’s not because the forest itself is beautiful. It’s about the air and the sound, the light and darkness and the soil. I think that your five senses feeling everything and I think it’s the same things for appreciating music or piano. But if you were so concentrated on figuring out how to play, it’s just – it’s struggling right. But suddenly I think it happens, you feel the joy. I don’t know how intense you’d have to practice.

A: But do you feel joy practicing scales?

Q: How is it like to you?

A: I like scales. I like creative limitations. Maybe that’s just the stage that I am at, I am sure —well I can’t be sure—but I hope that I will experience something different at a different stage of my life. I like having a sandbox, and then focusing on what I can make within that sandbox.

Q: It may not make sense at all, but being in the same space as you, like inside this workshop with 20 other people together I feel there is no limit between the languages or different countries that each of us belongs to. I just feel limitless, the beauty of feeling limitless like feeling the boundary, but whenever you see the newspapers or TV on the news on what is going on, it’s all about war, it’s all about competitions, and who won who lost. And being in the creation world you feel the nature of living, sharing, joy and that’s all we need. We are all trying for happiness and peace, but why do people have to suffer? The arts have to suffer just to live and may be poor, but some people are wealthy and have sufferings. How to get over suffering, and personally choosing art in life was to find the happiness and I think being with living artists is one of the good things about life, like you feel the joy as you are playing the music too.

So, I think you are sharing your value on happiness or beauty. Maybe you don’t need to think about it all the time—“I am sharing happiness”, but I think you are naturally doing it. I think, I find that is beauty and I think that this exhibition is going to be an opportunity to share your value about beauty, or am I thinking too much?

A: I am not thinking that big. When creating, most of the time I am just like, “this is the stuff that I made, and this is what I was thinking about approaching it.” It’s literally a soup, like saying, “here is everything that is going on in my head.”

Q: But when I experience your work for the first time that was Muted Situation.

A: Muted orchestra, yes.

Q: And meeting you in person I have the same kind of feeling about your work. You are very sincere and appreciate the value of culture and your work allows us to experience it. And so many people may not be able to see you in person, but through the works I think they still can.

A: Well, thank you. But I don’t know how these things work really. I mean, is there such a thing as “unleashing ugly music” into the world and have that music cause suffering or confusion? I don’t know if I believe in that. It’s not that I don’t “believe” that art does something to people, of course it does. In one’s perception of things, one become a part of the things in question, in that one interacts with those thing, right. So of course it does something to you, in the same way that I am pushing this (pushes a tatami mat), and I am doing something to it. But it’s a very specific kind of relationship. There are also psychological, mental and emotional relationships.

The thing that I am not sure about is whether these relationships can directly teach us anything about ethics, in other words, how to live better or vice versa. That’s the first thing that I am not sure about. The second thing is that if art does this one very specific thing, which I do believe in, which is that it makes one feel alive when one is making or experiencing it, then my question is, why do we want to avoid confusion, or ugliness? Art can leave one feeling revitalized and energized, but it is equally capable of leaving one feeling confused and agitated, and all of these states make me feel alive. So, I don’t know if art itself makes a judgment that way. We might want to in our daily life avoid confusion or negative emotions, which we might categorize as suffering, but I don’t know if art wants to do that. It doesn’t try to give you that, but feeling more alive, in and of itself, through whatever emotions you experience, would do something that would to deliver you from that suffering momentarily.

I don’t know if you’ve had the opportunity to listen to the very chaotic Zizek on Buddhism podcast that I forwarded to you. He was talking about Buddhism and suffering, and he said that the one thing that he doesn’t understand about Buddhism is this desire to get away from suffering. The example that he used was very every day: imagine a love affair that you have already gotten over that was painful at the time. If you really did love, as in, if the love was real, then even if you were suffering at the time, you would do it all over again. That of course is a cycle of suffering and pain, but that in itself teaches something, too, which is, the lesson of empathy. Iris Murdock, one of my favorite writers, once said that this is one of the more valuable lessons that art teaches – which is that when one experiences an act of creativity, it makes it easier for one to imagine the Other, because behind each act of creation there is a peculiar consciousness that is different to your own, and this conscious being’s specific predicaments are perceivable in the act of creation itself.

I think the Muted Situation series is maybe the only thing that I have made that has a single-mindedness about them. All of my other works tend to be more “soup-like.” It’s something that I am still trying to figure out.

Q: I think this is it for the interview, but as a kind of spinoff, I have a question that in the past two weeks or so, I think you sometimes mentioned about Bach and Wittgenstein and how do you describe being in this temple and feeling Bach in the Buddhism temple?

A: I think I am trying to relearn my relationship with language during my time here. How much thoughts can language really get across; is what I am saying connected to my mind, those kinds of questions. I am also thinking about the “project” of Wittgenstein. His whole project is basically saying that we have outlived philosophy. If our attachment to philosophy is about holding onto a way of looking into the future, Wittgenstein is saying we don’t need it now, and I guess Zen Buddhism is trying to tell us that we have never needed it.

I think I have no conclusion, at this moment, I am still thinking. I think Judeo-Christian thinking makes it easier for us to realize that we can’t do this on our own, which is a way of saying that we are vulnerable. Realizing that I am vulnerable is an easier thing for me, whereas this whole experience that we are in right now, at this temple, and everything that I have been thinking about in relation to my very shallow knowledge of Zen Buddhism is probably a better way of being with each other in the world, but it is a world that doesn’t need me in it. I am not sure if I am ready to give up “me” yet, because being me is really fun.

Q: Thank you.

Samson Young

Multi-disciplinary artist Samson Young was trained as a composer, and graduated with a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Princeton University in 2013. In 2017, he represented Hong Kong in a solo project at the Hong Kong Pavilion of the 57th Venice Biennale. He has recently presented in Performa 19, New York (2019); Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh (2019); SMART Museum, Chicago (2019); Centre A Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (2019); and De Appel, Amsterdam (2018/19). His upcoming projects include presentations at Asia Society Hong Kong Center and Center for Heritage and Textile, Hong Kong; Xcentric, CCCB, Barcelona; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; and Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne. He was the recipient of the BMW / Art Basel Art Journey Award, Hong Kong Arts Development Council Artist of the Year Award, Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction.

Samson Young: Close Reading

Date : Saturday, March 7 - Sunday, April 5, 2020

(Closed on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and March 20)

Hours : 11am - 3 pm (last entry by 2:30pm)

Place : Ryosoku-in Temple in Kenninji Temple (591 Komatsu, 4 Yamatooji Shijo-sagaru, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto)

Admission : Adult 2,000 yen, Student 1,000 yen

Reservations website : reserva.be/ryosoku2020closereading

Organized by：RYOSOKU Art Program “Meditation Corridor”

Curated and produced by：TOMORROW

Cooperation：Galerie Gisela CapitainInquiries

Inquiries (e-mail)：[email protected]

URL : ryosokuin.com/ryosoku/

Curator: Kayo Tokuda (TOMORROW)

Office Staffs: Shunya Hashizume, Akane Takahashi (TOMORROW)

Cooperation for installation: Super Factory, ADF Ayabe

Photo: Nobutada Omote

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tipsycad147 · 5 years

Text

How To Use Tarot To Set Goals & Reclaim Your Life

Julie Hopkins

Witches are a diverse group of people. Some of us were raised as witches. Others discovered it through books, friends, the internet, a supernatural experience, or a hundred other ways. I became a witch through my love of personal development. It was an easy transition for me. A lot of the personal development meditations, visualisations, and intention setting techniques I’d grown accustomed to were all very similar to spells used in witchcraft. It wasn’t long before practising magic became my main tool for personal growth. Not only was it fun, it worked.

Goal setting is inherently witchy, in my opinion. It’s a way to step into your full power, make big improvements in your life, and create positive change in your world. There are many magical tools you can use to help you with setting goals, but tarot cards are one of the most versatile. Your tarot deck can help you through every aspect of the goal-setting process including getting clarity, creating a plan of action, evaluating outcomes, and asking advice from your higher power.

Here’s a step-by-step look at how to create tarot spreads that will streamline your goals, and guide you towards your desires efficiently and confidently.

Step One: Get Clarity

Getting clarity around your goals before you take action can save you a lot of time and frustration down the road. Your tarot cards can tap into your subconscious so you can clear about what you really want.

Here are some questions that can help you get the clarity:

What do I want to feel?

What do I want my life to look like?

What is my greatest desire?

What do I think I want?

What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?

What do I want that is out of my comfort zone?

What area of my life needs the most improvement now?

Where do I need to focus my energy?

What is my wildest, biggest wish?

What can I achieve in one moon cycle, one season, or one year?

What would make me happy?

What am I passionate about?

What needs to change in my life?

What is happening in my life that needs to stop?

What is not happening in my life that I need to call in?

What can I not imagine my life without?

What do I value?

How do I tend to measure my success?

How do I feel about my current life situation?

What do I want my life to look like in one year, five years, and ten years? (Pull one card for each time frame.)

What do I desire in the short term and what do I desire in the long term?

What does success feel like?

What does failure feel like?

Once you have an idea of what you want, it’s time to go deeper. Here are questions that get into what is motivating this desire:

Why do I want to feel like this?

What do I expect to feel once I’ve achieved this desire?

Why haven’t I achieved this desire yet?

What do others expect of me?

How does this goal support my values?

What do I think about this goal, and what do I feel about this goal?

How would it feel to have this goal right now?

What would I have to give up or release to get this goal?

Does this desire fit in with my current lifestyle?

What would need to change to make room for this new goal?

Step Two: Get Specific

After you’ve identified what you want and why you want it, select a card from your tarot deck that represents your goal. You can go by the traditional meanings of the cards, or by whatever your intuition picks up from the images or energy of the card.

Then write out your goal using one to three sentences. Look back at your tarot card for inspiration. Your goal should challenge you, excite you, and give you an instant visual in your mind’s eye of what your life will look like once you’ve achieved it.

Step Three: Pick A Time Frame

Do this step only if it makes sense for your individual goal. Think about when you’d like to achieve your goal by. Give yourself a window of a few months. Then draw one card for each month to narrow down the ideal deadline for this specific goal. For example, if you decide you’d like to achieve your goal between the months of January and April, pull four cards—one for January, February, etc. Look over your cards and see which month offers the most favourable energy for achieving your goal. Set that month as the deadline for your goal.

Step Four: Identify The Energy You Need

Here are questions to use in your tarot spread to identify the energy you’ll need to achieve your goal. You can integrate this step into your full tarot spread, or draw cards from the Major Arcana as an individual ritual.

What is my current energy?

What is the energy I need to achieve this goal?

What is my highest potential?

Who must I emulate to move towards this goal?

What aspects of my personality should I rely on to achieve this goal?

What are my strengths?

What are my weaknesses?

Step Five: Create A Plan Of Action

Add a few of these questions to your tarot spread so you know where to start and what action to take.

What is my next step?

What are my next three steps? (Draw one card for each step.)

What are three milestones I can celebrate on the way to this goal? (Draw one card for each milestone.)

What path should I take?

How do I get to where I want to go?

Who can help me achieve my goal?

What actions will take me further away from my goal?

Step Six: Check For Blocks

Including these questions in your tarot spread will minimise the potential for self-sabotage. It’s totally normal to feel scared or to realise you have some issues around the success you desire. Transformation can feel difficult! If you see some “negative” cards showing up in this part of your spread, don’t worry. Simply use this as information and ask a follow-up question of, “How do I change that?”

Where am I blocked?

How can I move past my blocks?

What do I need to release?

What do I need to heal to achieve my goal?

What am I afraid of?

How do I conquer my fear around this goal?

How can I get in the mindset of someone who has already achieved what I desire?

What is holding me back?

What is distracting me?

What do I need to call into my life to succeed?

Step Seven: Look To The Past For Guidance

Chances are, you’ve had experiences in the past that can help you as you pursue this new goal. These questions can help you glean wisdom from everything that you’ve already gone through.

How did I get here?

What energy led me to my current situation?

What actions brought me to my current situation?

What mistakes have I made that have held me back in the past?

What energy do I need to keep from repeating my mistakes?

Step Eight: Come Up With A Troubleshooting Plan

No matter how good your plan is, you’re likely to bump up against some obstacles. These questions can guide you when things get difficult.

How will I move past obstacles as I work towards this goal?

Who can help me when I get discouraged?

What will keep me motivated throughout my journey?

Step Nine: Evaluate The Outcome

The tarot cards you draw for these questions can give you more insight into whether or not you’ve chosen the right goal to go after. If any of the more “conflict-related” tarot cards show up here, you may want to reassess your goal. Is it really what you want? If the answer is still a resounding “yes!”, stick with it. Know that these “outcome” cards may be conveying a more intuitive, unconventional truth. Also, keep in mind they are just a snapshot of the current moment. You can re-draw outcome cards every few weeks to see if there are any changes based on your energy or actions. Never doubt yourself or your desires because of any perceived negative messages from a tarot card. All tarot cards carry both positive and negative meanings. Always look at the big picture. Tarot cards are magical tools to support your power, not diminish it.

How will I view myself once I achieve my goal?

How will others view me once I achieve my goal?

How will I know I’ve achieved my goal?

What can I expect to experience once I achieve my goal?

What can I expect to feel once I achieve my goal?

Step Ten: Talk To Your Intuition

When in doubt, ask your inner wisdom, or wherever your spiritual guidance comes from. There is wisdom and power all around you, and you can access it anytime you want with your tarot cards.

What card should I meditate on this week (or month) to move closer to my goal?

What message does my intuition (or higher power, spirit guides or the universe) have for me regarding this goal?

What message do I need to hear right now?

What message have I been resistant to in the past?

Mix & Match Your Tarot Spreads

Feel free to use some, all, or none of these steps when crafting your own goal-setting tarot spread. You may enjoy creating a twenty or thirty card spread to get crystal clear on your goals. You might feel that your tarot spread is complete after only two or three cards. Your inner wisdom will be your greatest asset in this situation. Some witches create spreads “on-the-fly”, drawing cards as different questions around a specific goal occur to them. Other witches like to create a full tarot spread first before they begin pulling tarot cards. No way is better than another. You might enjoy a mixture of the two approaches—planning out a tarot spread while leaving room for a few extra tarot cards if you need further guidance. Tarot is an art, not a science, so don’t be afraid to make up your own rules.

3 Goal-Setting Tarot Spreads For Ambitious Witches

Quick & Easy Goal Spread

Card #1: What do I think I want?

Card #2: What do I actually want?

Card #3: What is my next step?

Five-Card Clarity Spread

Card #1: What is my current situation?

Card #2: What is my highest potential?

Card #3: What is my strength?

Card #4: What should I avoid doing as I move towards my goal?

Card #5: How will I feel when I achieve my goal?

Ten-Card Action Spread

Card #1: Where am I now?

Card #2: Where do I want to go?

Card #3: What is the best way for me to get there?

Card #4: What should I focus on for this month?

Card #5: What should I focus on next month?

Card #6: What should I focus on for the third month?

Card #7: What will be the most difficult thing I face while pursuing this goal?

Card #8: How do I move past that obstacle?

Card #9: What will success look like?

Card #10: What message does the universe have for me regarding this goal?

Do you know how to get the best readings from your Tarot yet?

If the answer is no, then you’re missing out on one of the most useful tools in the craft!

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3ternaln0w · 6 years

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Journalist Jaroslaw Kowal interviewed Luton for Dni Muzyki Nowej Festival, Jan 2019.

Jaroslaw Kowal: Is that correct that “Black Box Animals” were written and recorded in various places across the Europe? How long did it take to make a whole album?

Rob: Yes, That’s correct. The whole thing took about 7 months, If I remember well.

Attilio: I think we had a clear vision from the beginning, it’s been a delicate and complex process but at same time everything was quite instinctive and so, step by step, we ended up at the crucial part of the album and for what I remember the last month was something really intense.

J: Was it initially planned to record music in several places or did You made that decision spontaneously?

R: It wasn’t initially planned, but since I was traveling quite a lot in Europe at that time, at some point I just realized it was way more enjoyable and spontaneous writing/composing on the road, getting ideas whilst hiking in the wilderness instead of being isolated in a studio like we normally do, so I personally tried to keep that way as much as possible. It was like a back and forth nature/studio.

A: Being all the time in a studio could be extremely boring and unproductive, sometimes. The fact the Black Box Animals was recorded in several different places is in my opinion what makes this music authentic and possibly with a so called wild character. So even without planning that much, that happened eventually.

J: “Black Box Animals” is a very dark album, with field recordings included and many different instruments, yet I wouldn’t call it a 100% experimental music - there’s a lot of melody in it. What is a perfect balance between those two worlds that for many musicians are opposite and can’t be combined?

R: Melody was already part of the intuition when Luton thing started, but at the same time nothing was really planned as we were open to the different explorations and sonic practices. I remember when I initially spoke about the idea to Attilio, I was probably way more into the orchestral part of the package but the bigger picture eventually came to us ended up in this sort of collision between those two worlds, strings and abstract electronics. We weren’t interested in being stuck in a single genre or label, though. In this terms we probably see Luton like a sort of open laboratory.

A: Neither do I consider Black Box Animals as a 100% experimental album and even the use of field-recordings is something marginal in my opinion. Creating compositions for classical instruments, sometimes even really ancient ones like russian zithers for example, and blend them with their opposite in terms of nature of sound, that was the main effort in this case. The contrast between a certain dark atmosphere that permeates the whole work and melody is just the natural consequence of the process in itself.

J: Is experimental or improvised music actually evolving? Do You see it changing across last five-six decades or is it more or less the same? On the other hand pop music - which is often seen as music without a soul - is clearly changing year after year. That makes me wonder, which of those is actually more progressive?

R: That’s a tricky question. I’ve never considered pop music a thing without soul, anyway. Music is music but also it is much more than that. We could discuss about that for a long while now and I’m pretty sure that would be very exciting to find out where every word could lead us at some point, the language-like stuff would come out, but at end of the day, I don’t really believe separateness is a great idea, so if you relate the word “experimental” in a John Cage way, thats perfectly fine by me then. We experiment with sounds. That’s what we do and lots of musicians in every genre do, after all. Everything else changes all the time and nothing really ends. It’s not like the world’s gone to shit now and stuff like that, almost the opposite I’d say. It’s a feedback loop, we -as human beings- don’t really need to put some language on it.

A. I personally think that experimental music is always in a never ending evolution. There are several artists keep going in really interesting directions, and this for me means looking for a personal expressive code, basically. But, in my opinion, there’s an annoying downside in contemporary music which is in the difficulty to perceive distinctly the artistic value from the marketing side. Marketing has nothing to do with quality in music or in art in general. Everybody knows that but unfortunately is really frequent that poor and soulless music are sold as sensational hype in really closed circuits, which is something we don’t really like or support honestly. About pop music, well, my preferences are often limited to what I used to listen to when I was younger, so for me it has an almost exclusively emotional value.

J: You are both from Italy, but at Your facebook page Stockholm is set as a home town. Are You located there at the moment and why did You decided to leave Italy?

R: We’ve been to Stockholm a couple of times. We were involved in a sound residency in electronic music at Ems Studios, a truly magical place with an extraordinary vibe and amazing staff. We recorded massive amounts of raw sounds and crazy “bleep booops shshshs trtrrtrtr” (…) from this incredible Buchla modular synthesizer but nothing from those sessions really ended up Luton, eventually. Sad story. But a couple of tracks in the album were recorded there and especially “Sodermalm Phantom Cab” is something really influenced by our Swedish adventures at EMS studios and good times spent together in Sweden. Said that, I’ve been living in Manchester (UK) for a couple of years now and Attilio lives in Southern Italy. There’s not a really specific reason why I have decided to leave Italy I’m afraid, I guess I was interested in leaving my comfort zone for a while at that time.

A: The connection between Black Box Animals and Stockholm is something really strong and without our time spent together in Sweden, our music would not be made in this way, I’m pretty sure. I personally have always lived in Catanzaro, a small windy city in the deepest south of Italy. But generally speaking, traveling is always a great inspiration for the musical composition. However, I tend to always come back to my hometown. I’m going to spend at least three months in Madrid in Spain in the next few months and I am curious to see what this will bring to my music.

J: Stereotypically Italy - or even whole southern Europe - is seen as a sunny place with parties from dusk till dawn, but Your compositions are very far from that. Is it actually that rare to hear Italian band playing so dark and melancholic music?

R: It seems we’re definitely far from that then ahah, but yeah lots of music from Italy it is indeed. It’s not that rare at all. And If you have the chance to check out some experimental music from ‘60-70s too, Archivio Rai or early minimalism, Luciano Cilio, and many others, well, that’s not sunny music at all. Speaking about melancholia, well could be probably because of a sort of mediterranean DNA, couldn’t be? It’s a cultural thing or something like that I guess. But yeah, sun is good. FACT!

A: What Roberto said is true, I believe that the melancholic connotation of music reflects a character, but it is something really difficult to explain with words indeed. Søren Kierkegaard said: “if you ask a melancholic what reason he has for his condition, what do you know what is it, I can not explain it? “Therein lies melancholy’s infinitude.”

J: I’ve seen Your rider and it seems that You have a very clear idea of how Your live shows should look like - no front lights, just monochromatic light behind You or completely dark room with the smoke. I can see how it fits music from “Black Box Animals”, but do You need that only for visual aspect or does it help You get into right mood? Is it somehow helping You on stage?

R: Something truly interesting happens when you listen, performing or doing things in the darkness and/or in self-imposed situations/conditions. I mean, it doesn’t have to be complete darkness, but we try to avoid any interference from music, like visuals, heavy lighting or too many things going together at the same time. Maybe in the future could be different, we are open to explore different ways actually.

A: Darkness is something really helpful to stay focused, but also for meditation and contemplation in general, and I believe it can facilitate people joining any kind of experience. In regard to the live show we would like not having any kind of aesthetic or sensory impulse to interfere the sound. This is also really helpful for us to play in the right condition in order to enter in our dimension. A black box.

J: First sentence in Your bio states that “Luton is an anti modernist duo” - is that because modernism is mostly about realism and it seems that Your music is more about “magic”?

R: That was a statement by Attilio so I would like to ask him if he could explain to us. But yes, about magic, what could I really say? I really do like the idea about that, if you ask me. Music or I would say sound primarily is magic indeed to me, like a primitive force or an invisible spirit world that I pretend to comprehend, and in my mind disturbing a system that I can’t understand and see what happens, well that’s what I call an experiment. At the same time the nature of sound is really similar to botanic or biology. With sounds you can say these big abstract things, something you can’t express with the alphabet. When the word fails the magic happens. Paying attention, contemplation, contradiction, moving all things back where there is nothing is probably my subconscious purpose. And -in this purpose- nature of sounds is my white light, my teaching voice.

A: You should add something really crucial to what you said, Rob. Capitalist Realism, the book by Mark Fisher was a great inspiration for the making of the album. We both are into Fisher vision of the modern life, and we are sadly observing that the widespread feeling of resignation and unhappiness that permeates our lives in general really depends on the capitalistic system and the neoliberalism that has changed any aspect of the social sphere. So work and life, social and real life became inseparable, capital follows us when we sleep, and unfortunately as you can imagine music and arts are included in the symptoms of our current cultural malaise too. Luton is anti-modernist in the sense that we try to reject our frustration of dealing with a so called entrepreneurial fantasy society, by trying to support ourselves to the ritual, the shamanic, the primitive, but also the anarchist side of the music, possibly without being attached too much to something in particular in terms of genre or hype.

J: It’s a bit of a cliché to call an album a soundtrack to non-existing movie, but “Black Box Animals” sounds very cinematic. Did You draw any inspirations from cinema art?

R: I personally studied cinema and wrote about that quite a lot when I was younger, so most probably thats still a big influence to me, but yeah we are both inspired by movies for sure. In terms of sounds, I think the way I worked with the orchestral part in this album is what makes the whole thing very cinematic, stuff like 4d sounds, spatialization, timbres etc. We are now interested in a different approach for the new material which is slightly more like painting or drawing abstract lines but with sound dynamics. You have to capture the right thing, but you don’t know what the right thing means exactly. Most of the times, I have not any clue about what’s going on, I’m just one of those dots between all these abstractions around me like a string extending from the top of my head to a distant cloud or star. It’s really odd.

A: Ours is a cinematic music for sure. Rob and I often discuss ourselves a lot about cinema and we constantly share different point of views about that. This in fact has played an important role in our friendship, I must say. For a song of the album, “Sodermalm Phantom Cab”, we asked Ion Indolean, a young Romanian filmmaker, to direct a videoclip. His style is in some ways similar to new Greek neorealism. We would also like to experiment with other forms of cinema and filmmakers in the near future.

J: What I’m quite sure is that dance and theatre are inspiration for You - both of You have experience in that field. How different is that to writing music without a script You need to fit to?

R: They are, indeed, especially contemporary dance personally. Writing music for commissions is challenging, sometimes frustrating, not always rewarding but you generally learn a lot from it which is good.

A: Experience I had with dance and theatre helped me to develop the ability to adapt my sounds to a context that was almost completely unknown to me. I find it much easier to express myself with self-defined limits. The work I did for Luton was facilitated by the complexities of previous experiences.

J: There are lots of the instruments on “Black Box Animals”, but I guess it’s not possible to bring them all on a live show? How different is this material live to what can be heard on album?

R: Thats considerably different. I would say the album is more like a sort of slow journey whilst the live version maybe a bit more like a black vortex, and consequently more physical, droney and abstract, but also we’re trying to get the job done with some reiterative piano moments in between and we’ll see how it goes. Does it make sense? I don’t know, everything is a process indeed.

A: At this stage we should prepare ourselves to the darkest side of Luton. However, there will be the presence of the piano which is something we’re really into at the moment.

J: What struck me the most is that You’ve started Luton just recently, but it feels like You understands each other perfectly. Were You a friends before starting Luton?

R: Well, I think we impersonate each other in a way, as we actually met each other only twice in the real life and we also live in different countries. But -you know- in Luton we’re just two guys swapping these sort of messy lines on a white canvas, making a lot room for fuckery if you know what I mean. For me that makes sense and it’s way more interesting and flexible that being in the same room jamming on ideas or having strict roles. There’s a kind of mix between mistery, alchemy and playfulness between us and I think we really enjoy.

A: We live in different countries, that’s a fact, but that doesn’t make much difference. Sometimes our level of interaction might be really intense and so our conversations. This is one of the positive sides of the internet age, after all. We’ve known each other for several years but in my opinion he’s like a childhood friend of mine. Connections between people have something mysterious and impossible to understand on a deep level, sometimes.

J: In January You’ll perform in Poland for the first time. Do You have any favorite artists that comes from here?

R: Penderecki and Eugeniusz Rudnik.

A: Apart from Penderecki, I enjoyed the music of contemporary ambient-experimental musicians like Gregg Kowalsky and Jacaszek.

A mention for my friend Nicholas Szczepanik too, American but with Polish origins.

J: Thanks for Your time.

R: Thanks so much, guys

A: Dziękuję, do widzenia.

#festival #luton #blackboxanimals

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