Ultra-Conservative group, Jesus Loves Corporations (JLC), made waves on Monday when they unknowingly aided the Arts. The JLC is a non-profit organization dedicated to obtaining properties deemed as “historic” or “environmentally significant” for major corporations to exploit. Rick Perry, the JLC founder, has spearheaded efforts to take over wetlands, drill for oil in nature reserves and close national parks for drilling. This past July, the JLC successfully petitioned the U.S. government to fill in the Grand Canyon with cement and build the first ever “Jesus is My Savior Theme Park and Gun Range”. However, it was the JLC’s actions in Royal Oak, Michigan that has many of its loyal followers questioning the true motivations of the organization.
The JLC arrived in Michigan last week in an effort to turn the Detroit Zoo into the nation’s first Christian-themed indoor entertainment complex. The complex would come complete with an All Christian IMAX Theater, Revelations Arcade, Last Supper Diner, and the indoor Crucifixion Carnival with its soon to be famous Bible Thumper Bumper Cars. Unfortunately for the JLC, their plan to force the Zoo’s closure hit an embarrassing snag.
On Wednesday evening, the Detroit Zoo’s administration was scheduled to appear before the City Council to ask for increased funding. The JLC arrived at the meeting, planning to offer the City Council and the Zoo $10 million dollars to deny the Zoo’s petition, immediately sell the land to the JLC and dispose of the “useless animals”. This strategy has worked numerous times in the JLC’s history and they didn’t believe they would run into any trouble. Thus they sent a new employee to finalize the deal.
When Jebediah Strokoff walked into the City Council meeting for the JLC, little did he know that the Zoo’s appearance date had been changed. Instead of the Zoo’s petition, they were considering a petition by a small non-profit art organization called Art for Kids. When Jebediah arrived, the organization’s founders, Peter and Elizabeth Goodheart, were petitioning the City Council for a grant of $5,000 to help fix up the decrepit building they were using to host classes and events. They even brought some of the children in to display their paintings and sculptures which unfortunately for Jebediah and the JLC were all created during their last Animal Appreciation lesson.
Jebediah, mistaking the Goodheart’s for representatives of the Zoo immediately stood up and requested that the City Council deny their petition. He offered the City and the Goodheart’s (who actually owned the property) $10 million dollars. Stunned, the Goodheart’s tried to explain that the property was not worth that much. “We told him it was just a 4-room office building, but he kept looking up to the sky and saying ‘Jesus wills it thus’. Jebediah, who had never been interested in “book learnin”, simply did what his bosses at the JLC requested. The Goodheart’s immediately contacted their attorney and within an hour, the sale was complete and legal. Art for Kids now had all of the money they would ever need.
The next day, the JLC realized their mistake and tried to back out of the deal, but it was too late. The unintentional good deed had been done. At a political fundraiser in Massachusetts last night, a JLC spokesperson stated, “I was deeply saddened by the news in Royal Oak, Michigan. We do not support the Arts. I repeat the JLC does not support the Arts. This was an honest mistake and one that we will correct.”
However, it may be too late to save the JLC’s image. A former member spoke with us about the falling standards of the JLC, “They had the chance to close Yellowstone and they didn’t. They have a chance to close a deal on the Everglades but are dragging their feet. This is not the organization our forefathers had in mind when they formed this country. Yesterday, they helped poor the Arts. What did they get in return? Next to nothing. You don’t help people for nothing. That’s called socialism.” Can the JLC survive this scandal? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
"11" - Literary Art
I have always admired the work of great artists. Regardless of their medium, I love to be swept away into the worlds they create. I enjoy the mysteries of metaphor and am fascinated by fantasy. Sadly, though my own brain is filled with a myriad of artistic visions, I cannot adequately express them through paint or sculpture. Thus, I am left with my words. I have been laboriously working on a book whose working title is “Literary Art”. In it, I attempt to use my words to illustrate the various pieces of art that are wandering around my head. I only create a “piece” when I am feeling particularly inspired so it has been a slow road. I thought I would share with you one of my latest creations. This piece was inspired after watching a news story of yet another “seemed like a nice guy” arrest. The story made me think of how we all hide bits and pieces of our true selves from the world. I wanted to demonstrate this by creating an “every man”. An example of the never-ending battle between order and chaos that goes on in each of us.
Title: 11
Medium: Sculpture
Summary
Imagine with me as we walk through the museum of my brain. We enter a plain white room. In the center of this room is a free-standing sculpture of a well-dressed man standing next to a small table. A clock sits silently on the table. The man is wearing a white dress shirt, black slacks and gives off an aura of confidence. A black tie hangs from his neck. The tie is too long; it slithers forward off of the sculpture and onto the small table. As you look closer, you see that the tie has a very small colorful design on the front, near the man’s chest. The design is small and circular, like a bullet hole. Inside is a bright array of color and design that appears as though it’s struggling to escape the center and invade the surrounding material. You look even closer and see tiny bits of colorful thread extending into the surrounding darkness.
We examine the sculpture as a whole and see evidence of the same struggle throughout the piece. Reflections in his eyes, odd defects in his clothing; from a distance he looks perfectly normal, but up close you begin to wonder what is trying to get out. The clock on the small table is set for 11:00 AM. The tie wraps itself around the clock’s hands with a few extra feet of material resting on the table. You find yourself curious. What happens when you pull on the tie and change the time? You pull and the hands of the clock begin to move as the sculpture slides open. When the clock reaches 11:00 PM, the sculpture is fully open, revealing its chaotic interior.
Photographs, paintings and drawings saturate the interior. Colors burst from his feet to his hair in explosions of his true nature. Some are abstract, apparently meaningless in their simplicity, but curious in their placement. Why are his hands fiery red? His brain dark? His scrotum blue? While others embrace realism: a naked female model, a naked male model, images of pornography, drugs, alcohol, skydiving, images of a coworker’s breasts, a bank statement showing that he is broke, used scratch off lottery tickets, a sports car, a crucifix, a photo of himself masturbating in front of disappointed parents. We see areas of darkness with disturbing images of violence. We see other areas of brightness and examples of love and kindness. We are seeing the true nature of this man. The things he does not show to society whether for fear, shame or privacy. We see in his head, a small child in a cage- scared and alone. Order has been replaced by chaos, but you hear a click, click, click from the clock as it makes its way quickly back to 11:00AM. After a brief time, order has been restored and the statue is closed.
11 speaks to me about the realities behind our masks. In many ways, I have created the Orbson Oracle to tear down the my own barriers between order and chaos. To embrace my true nature so that I am not shackled like the man in the sculpture above. The Orbson Oracle is a part of my chaos, do you know what yours look like?
Title: 11
Medium: Sculpture
Summary
Imagine with me as we walk through the museum of my brain. We enter a plain white room. In the center of this room is a free-standing sculpture of a well-dressed man standing next to a small table. A clock sits silently on the table. The man is wearing a white dress shirt, black slacks and gives off an aura of confidence. A black tie hangs from his neck. The tie is too long; it slithers forward off of the sculpture and onto the small table. As you look closer, you see that the tie has a very small colorful design on the front, near the man’s chest. The design is small and circular, like a bullet hole. Inside is a bright array of color and design that appears as though it’s struggling to escape the center and invade the surrounding material. You look even closer and see tiny bits of colorful thread extending into the surrounding darkness.
We examine the sculpture as a whole and see evidence of the same struggle throughout the piece. Reflections in his eyes, odd defects in his clothing; from a distance he looks perfectly normal, but up close you begin to wonder what is trying to get out. The clock on the small table is set for 11:00 AM. The tie wraps itself around the clock’s hands with a few extra feet of material resting on the table. You find yourself curious. What happens when you pull on the tie and change the time? You pull and the hands of the clock begin to move as the sculpture slides open. When the clock reaches 11:00 PM, the sculpture is fully open, revealing its chaotic interior.
Photographs, paintings and drawings saturate the interior. Colors burst from his feet to his hair in explosions of his true nature. Some are abstract, apparently meaningless in their simplicity, but curious in their placement. Why are his hands fiery red? His brain dark? His scrotum blue? While others embrace realism: a naked female model, a naked male model, images of pornography, drugs, alcohol, skydiving, images of a coworker’s breasts, a bank statement showing that he is broke, used scratch off lottery tickets, a sports car, a crucifix, a photo of himself masturbating in front of disappointed parents. We see areas of darkness with disturbing images of violence. We see other areas of brightness and examples of love and kindness. We are seeing the true nature of this man. The things he does not show to society whether for fear, shame or privacy. We see in his head, a small child in a cage- scared and alone. Order has been replaced by chaos, but you hear a click, click, click from the clock as it makes its way quickly back to 11:00AM. After a brief time, order has been restored and the statue is closed.
11 speaks to me about the realities behind our masks. In many ways, I have created the Orbson Oracle to tear down the my own barriers between order and chaos. To embrace my true nature so that I am not shackled like the man in the sculpture above. The Orbson Oracle is a part of my chaos, do you know what yours look like?
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