Tag: writing

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Pareidolia

Pareidolia pervades much of my art.  It remains one of the most striking phenomena which I experience during the creation process, and has become somewhat second nature for me over time.

What is it?

Pareidolia is when your imagination sees things in objects which aren’t necessarily there.  Examples of pareidolia are cloud watching, seeing a man in the moon, or looking at a house and seeing a face.  Our brains are wired to pick out patterns and meaning out of randomness, like in a Rorschach blot test.  In fact, this test takes advantage of pareidolia.  Facial pareidolia is even more prevalent because our brains are adaptive and sensitive to identifying faces, even as infants.  Pareidolia is why a Christian might see an image of Jesus in a burned piece of toast.  People tend to interpret new, unseen, and unrelated objects through the filters of what is familiar to them.  I believe that the phenomenon of pareidolia is a useful way to bring unconscious materials from the depths of our consciousness up to the surface. This can be extremely valuable not just therapeutically, but also artistically and creatively.  It allows us to bypass filters in our consciousness.

When I first started getting back into making art long ago, experiencing pareidolia was one of the things which astounded me the most and got me the most excited about making art.  I would see faces, objects, shapes, entire dramas of form and color, in the random noise of drippy paint splatter.  After the awestruck amazement I experienced faded a bit, I soon realized I was uncovering aspects of my unconscious though the art which I was making.  This excited, and also terrified me.  What would I find buried within the tombs of my own subconscious?  What kinds of things had been buried in the catacombs of my mind?  Traumas, fears, deep yearnings, dreams, ancient data from past lives, the awakening of ancestral DNA, all of the above?  

I started thinking of art making as more like an archaeological dig. 

In my artistic explorations, I would uncover mythical objects of my unconscious as they would appear within the splashes of color.  I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time and never went in with a plan, so I was continually surprised by the results.  Nowadays, I have become more comfortable traversing this space and allowing my unconscious out of its proverbial cage to play and teach me things. Play is essential for me to enter into a flow state. 

Pareidolia is still something which infuses my artwork even though I have grown and changed much over the years.  The more I practiced making art spontaneously, the more I have become comfortable with interacting with my unconscious mind and encountering the often beautiful and sometimes terrifying things which seem to live within it.  Slowly, I have explored the dungeon depths and mapped out various sections of unconscious and imagination, and I have learned so much about myself in the process. It has been therapeutic for sure.  

Nowadays, I try to bring a more balanced intention into my creative process by planning pieces out and applying techniques more mindfully, but I always leave room for the magic of pareidolia.  Sometimes, letting go of your mind just enough to let inspiration in allows for miracles to happen.

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Concept Maps

When I plan to actively create, sometimes I like to bring a map with me.  I call this a concept map.  It isn’t a map of physical territory, it is a map of conceptual territory.  I use it for navigating internal spaces of my mind and soul. It helps to orient me to the cool and creative ideas and concepts which I want to explore and draw from during my creative experience.  Often, these are ideas which I have accumulated in my notebook for further creative explorations.  They might be concepts I found in books I am reading, symbols from my symbolic library, or even just feelings or intentions which I wish to heighten during my creative process.  

“I find that having a concept map around helps me to ground the process into these ideas and creates a template for them to begin to mix in fun ways.”

Sometimes, creation can be a powerful and chaotic process and if we are taking a very open approach it is easy to get sidetracked, take a random turn, and go down some long roads which we never meant to travel down.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, maybe this is what we want to happen in some instances.  But it can also be nice to be extremely open and still be able to stay focused and oriented on certain ideas, and for me, a concept map helps me to do this.  In my map, which is often really just a list, I insert any ideas which I want to actively inform and influence my creative process so that I can continually circle back and reference it at various points in my journey.  Maybe I don’t know what I will make, what it will look like, how it will even happen or begin.  Having a concept map around helps me to ground the process into these ideas and creates a template for them to begin to mix in fun ways.  

I think of creation like a journey or a trip.  I keep my concept map with me during my voyage so that I remember to hit all the cool attractions along the way.  The purpose is to cultivate a proper set and setting for a creative enterprise.  It is meant to amplify my intentions for my trip.  I consider my creative process to be similar to a shamanic ritual, an opening for an altered state of consciousness, a hallucinogenic journey (and sometimes it is just that). Things can get hectic in the spirit-world, so make sure you bring a map along with you so you don’t get lost.

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Artists Against Censorship

Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is financial advice. These are my personal opinions.

In my most recent post I mentioned how I have been experimenting with Rumble, which is a video and streaming platform that offers alternative video services to Youtube, owned by giant corporation Google. You might be asking why I decided to use Rumble, being that Youtube is readily available and that is what most people use.

“The reason I chose to use Rumble was because I am an artist and Rumble has come out strongly against censorship.”

The reason I chose to use Rumble was because I am an artist and Rumble has come out strongly against censorship. Youtube, along with other Big Tech social media platforms, have controversially censored many content creators which they do not agree with based on ideological, political, and other dimensions. I fundamentally disagree with these acts of censorship and I believe that all artists, creators, and indeed all citizens, should be firmly against censorship on principle. But especially artists should be advocates for free speech because without it they don’t have a job anymore unless they toe the line.

Totalitarians who censor always eventually target artists because artists bring new ideas which challenge the status quo and this is a challenge to their power. Tyrants seek a monopoly on the ways in which people can envision reality. An example is how the Nazis confiscated modern art, labelling it as degenerate. In this sense, making art and being creative is a political act in and of itself, regardless of the medium, because it is an expression of one’s free speech.

I first found out about Rumble because I had noticed that it had become a serious alternative to Youtube which has essentially monopolized video content. I took the time to look up and read about the values and principles which guide Rumble. I learned that they are firmly against censorship and cancel culture. So I went and watched some videos of Chris Pavlovski, CEO of Rumble, speaking about the platform. He speaks about how Rumble was created with the small creator in mind, as opposed to influencers, ideology, or politics. Basically, what Youtube was before Google acquired it. Rumble seeks to be a neutral platform for content creators.

“Back in 2013, as small content creators were quickly becoming deprioritized on incumbent platforms in favor of influencers, corporations and large brands, Rumble was founded upon the principle of empowering these small content creators and giving them a platform to express themselves.” (Our Story, Rumble.com)

Based on this initial research, I chose to use Rumble’s platform for my video hosting services. I think Rumble’s monetization is a better deal than Youtube’s for creators. I also feel secure going forward that Rumble will not wrongfully remove my content for reasons which I find unacceptable. If I am going to spend a lot of time making videos and content (which I plan to do), I don’t want to have to worry that one day this platform with delete me and all of my content for some unforeseeable reason.

Fast forward to February 2022 and I have now started to make some videos. These were my first experimental attempts at ever making videos without any experience. They were pretty rough and I am still learning with each new one. The most important thing is that I was having a lot of fun and I became impressed with Rumble.

I noticed quickly that there were not many artists on Rumble yet. I realize I am being somewhat of a first mover by moving to Rumble, its not ‘cool’ yet. But I doubt this will last for long because user growth on Rumble is skyrocketing, which leads me to believe there is a huge demand for neutral platforms and a migration is taking place away from Big Tech companies. While other tech companies are decreasing in value, Rumble is growing. I continued to do research into this company.

The next biggest selling point for me was learning that Rumble plans to not just be a Youtube alternative, but also a large-scale cloud hosting service similar to Amazon Web Services or Microsoft or Google Clouds. This is a gigantic market which is an essential service for businesses in today’s world. Its something like a $200 billion market.

“I expect that many businesses in America will be extremely incentivized to move away from services which are open to cancelling them at whim.”

For example, Amazon Web Services provides hosting for giant corporations such as Netflix, Facebook, BBC, and even Twitter if I am not mistaken. Famously, Amazon deplatformed and shut services off to Parler which was a rising alternative to Twitter, further catalyzing the debate around free speech. In light of this, I expect that many businesses in America will be extremely incentivized to move away from services which are open to cancelling them at whim. Rumble is set to suck up a huge market share of this giant market from these big boys.

They have already begun doing this. I learned that Rumble was partnering with Truth Social which has now just recently launched and exited its Beta phase and become the number one free app on Apple’s store. Truth Social is the first customer for Rumble’s cloud – that is a huge client. For the record, I have created a Truth Social account and I have been using it for a few weeks. In the span of three weeks, I have amassed many more followers on Truth than I have on Instagram over the course of 8 years on the platform. Truth Social has opened my eyes and made me realize how much their competitor’s algorithms pretend to connect people, but in reality they silently and manipulatively throttle connectivity in the background. For me, it is not about politics, I need technology which doesn’t censor me with manipulative algorithms behind the scenes. Rumble, by successfully hosting Truth Social, has proven that their cloud hosting and servers are up to the task of servicing companies at the largest digital scale.

“I see clearly that Rumble is working towards the goal of reopening the internet and bringing the power of content creation back to the people.”

I haven’t been making as much art or videos for the past couple months because I have decided to work my ass off and invest my spare earnings into Rumble’s CFVI. Truth Social will be the first in a large wave of internet migration in the coming years. I see clearly that Rumble is working towards the goal of reopening the internet and bringing the power of content creation back to the people.

I support the vision of a technology stack built on the principles of freedom. My desire is for a free internet to once again emerge where people are no longer under the boot heel of corporations, scraping their way uphill against rigged algorithms for views, self censoring themselves to not be cancelled or to fit into a perceived mainstream belief system.

I call on and ask for all artists and creators who believe in free speech to be a first mover and bring their video content to Rumble to help grow the artistic community there. I want there to be more art, music, and creative content on the Rumble platform. Rumble makes this easy – you can even setup your Rumble account to automatically cross-post your videos onto your Youtube account if you want to use both platforms simultaneously.

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Art Machine

Lately I have been thinking about how I am basically trying to build an art machine. My heart and soul and creativity are the driving engine of the machine, like the flux capacitor if you will. That part of the machine I have been taking care of my entire life, and its a continuous process that will go forever. It is the part which continually seeks to generate more and more work, engage new mediums, practice and experiment: it is passion. It is also the part which is continually inspired by all the things of life such as people, places, events, feelings, ideas. But other parts are needed for the machine, too.

The machine needs a way to reach people so that they can interact with the work it produces and have their own experiences with it. Instagram is an available tool to do this, and I have connected to many beautiful people through this tool and through sharing my art through it. Recently, though, I have been moving away from this tool. There are many reasons, such as the oppressive algorithm, the high amount of bots and low real human engagement, the fetishism over influencers, censorship of artists I admire, the change in emphasis from visual art/pictures to short videos, as well as the environment it has created for artists where I see us as having to scrape and grind for minimal attention.”

“I eventually realized that I wanted a place which I fully owned, which was truly mine…”

I eventually realized that I wanted a place which I fully owned, which was truly mine, so I built this website for myself and started exploring new tools. I have a decent bit of experience with computers but I am not a web developer, so this was a challenge I am proud that I have tackled. Building a website allowed me to build my own store as well, along with other functionalities such as this blog. This means I do not rely on an external source to display my art which ultimately has power over me. The downsides are that it takes much more work and there is not a pre-built market attached to my website (such as say, Esty). But I enjoy that I built it and it is mine, I have much more freedom over it.

‘Arcturian Vision Weaver’ Painting Art Timelapse 2-23-22

Recently, I have begun to make videos on Rumble so that people can watch art being made as entertainment and maybe even inspiration. Bob Ross inspired me so much when I first began making art, as I had very few examples of artists to turn to and learn from. Rumble is another piece of the machine which allows me to extend myself into that space through the medium of video. The videos have become art themselves for me. Maybe that part of the art machine can drive traffic to my website so that people can view or even purchase my work. They will have more of a chance to view my art from the comfort of their home. Or maybe people will simply find the videos entertaining or educational.

“Recently, I have began to make videos on Rumble so that people can watch art being made as entertainment and maybe even inspiration.”

It is exciting that I have built a functional art machine with multiple parts with different purposes. I foresee adding new modules to my art machine in order to give it even more functionality. I am interesting in exploring new tools and technologies being developed to do this. Part of the purpose of this art machine is to give my creative passion a greater reach and a more sustainability throughout time, in an organic and self-developed way. An essential feature is that it maximizes my freedom as an artist. This is a creative project for me. Thanks for being around and checking it out and reading.

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Symbolic Library

“A symbolic library is like an internal repository of symbols, concepts, forms, etc. As we move through the world as humans and artists, observing, learning, practicing, and growing, we naturally begin to gain experience working with certain symbols and forms. Over time, they get added to our symbolic library.”

Something I am focusing on improving as an artist right now is developing my symbolic library. What is a symbolic library, you ask? Let me explain how I conceive of this concept and how it has developed during my time making art.

A symbolic library is like an internal repository of symbols, concepts, forms, etc. As we move through the world as humans or artists, learning, experiencing, and growing, we naturally begin to gain experience working with certain symbols and forms. Over time, they get added to our symbolic library. For me, one of the first things which I found that I immediately loved to paint were eyes. I was simply naturally drawn to eyes because of their beauty and complexity, as well as their symbolic value to me. I love their ubiquitous nature for the human experience and how they represent consciousness.

Over time, I became more and more skilled at representing eyes, both by observing their structure and functions, but also through the experiences of learning about how I enjoy painting them through the act of doing it over and over via artistic experimentation. Now, I feel very comfortable drawing eyes. I don’t need references for eyes, I can simply draw an eye at will. I can say that eyes are safely contained within my symbolic library.

I can’t just draw eyes forever, though. There is an entire world of forms, symbols, and concepts which intrigue and inspire me. I yearn to make ever more complex work which incorporates and blends many different things. I have become aware, however, that some things are challenging for me to paint because I do not have much experience with them. These things do not yet exist within my symbolic library. For instance, if I wanted to paint a skull years ago, this would have posed me a challenge, and it did. What do skulls look like? What important forms exist within a skull? How does the light hit a skull? Where are the important contours? How does the jaw, teeth, eye sockets work in the anatomy of a skull? These are the kinds of questions and answers which we gain through observing, working and playing with a symbol.

At first, the unfamiliarity we face with a new symbol might represent a barrier to us. We may just keep making the same symbols which we feel comfortable with, but I think this is a trap. If we practice overcoming those barriers and pushing through the challenges of learning and incorporating new symbols into our library, then I think we will begin to grow much more quickly as artists. In fact, if we embrace this process is becomes quite fun. After painting and drawing numerous skulls from different angles and in different poses, I now feel like skulls are a modest resident of my symbolic library. I can visualize them in my mind, I understand their anatomy, I can make them do what I want. Rinse and repeat for the next symbol.

“It is like a visual encyclopedia which exists in my mind’s eye and which I can bust out on the fly at any time. A mental spell book which contains all the art spells which I have mastered.”

Adding new symbols to my library used to be a mostly unconscious process for me. I would intuitively find a symbol which interested me and begin to draw or paint it. Now, I am actively seeking out symbols which I like and making a point to learn all about them and understand them intimately. Once I observed the process was happening I decided to make it explicit. I am keeping a list of symbols which I consider to already be within my symbolic library, along with a list of symbols which I have specific plans to add through study, investigation, observation, and of course, practice.

Dovetailing off my last post concerning programming habits, I am focused on observing and playing with these symbols consistently. I am seeking out interesting references and examples wherever I can, observing them in nature, and practicing sketching and painting them. My goal is to incorporate the ever growing list of symbols into my internal symbolic library. It is like a visual encyclopedia which exists in my mind’s eye and which I can bust out on the fly at any time. A mental spell book which contains all of the art spells which I have mastered. It gets even more fun once you begin to represent and mix them together in novel new ways.

I am excited to continue to grow my symbolic library. I look forward to when dragons live in there amongst the faeries, when the wizards can co-mingle with the aliens, and all the succulent floras and faunas of my imagination can grow eyes as they burst out of Pegasus skulls amidst the mushrooms and crystals peppering the landscape.

What symbols are in your symbolic library? What symbols would you like to add? Let me know in the comments!

Image: Bibliothèque humaniste de Sélestat 21 janvier 2014-97.jpg
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Attribution: Claude Truong-Ngoc / Wikimedia Commons – cc-by-sa-3.0

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Neurological Pathways

“Learn a new skill, try a new medium. Even though it is difficult there is no choice because change is the law of life, so why not enjoy it and get passionate about it?”

Doing new things is challenging sometimes.  And starting new habits can be difficult at first.  Breaking out of the norm is so… abnormal.  But it is healthy and necessary.  It has to happen for growth to occur.  I’m trying to carve new neurological pathways all the time.  Learn a new skill, try a new medium. Even though it is difficult there is no choice because change is the law of life, so why not enjoy it and get passionate about it?  This is the great love of learning. Make the process more efficient, like a sharpened knife or a well-oiled machine.  This is supposed to be play. Run at it instead of away from it, avoidance sucks. Maybe this website can be part of my personal process in its own way. 

Websites aren’t really my thing, so it has been difficult to make editing it into a practice as I juggle life.  But I’m doing my best to find ways to make it fun and creative and useful.  I’m using it as a creative reason for me to sit down and write something right now.  It is easy to get used to doing the things we know; they’re fun and they have worked for us creatively before.  We have to try to remember to forget those things so that we can branch out.  Otherwise we will stop exploring and finding new things and this leads to stagnancy.  New things inject life back into the old things we do, we don’t have to throw them out entirely.  I’m pretty good at exploring my artistic and creative landscape.  I’m less good at maintaining disciplined practices.  But I do believe that it is necessary to practice so that learning can set in.  If we don’t practice the things we learn, then the neurological pathways remain superficial. For me, it’s about creating synergy and removing barriers to practice like making it more fun and less uncomfortable.

One way I am trying to improve this is to program certain habits into my daily schedule. I downloaded an app called productivity which helps me program and keep track of habits, so that I can try to remain more accountable to myself. It’s not just creative habits either; I programmed basic things like eating breakfast, watering the plants, flossing, cleaning clutter, economizing work spaces, and drinking water in here, too. That has actually been hugely helpful for me because I can get sidetracked all day doing more interesting things to the point where sometimes I forget chores or tasks; I can even forget to eat or not be able to step away from what I’m doing to make food. My personality type is very high in creativity and openness, but not so much in conscientiousness.

I also have programmed habits such as doing daily sketchbook entries, making time for painting, writing something everyday no matter how small it is, as well as reading something each day like a research article or part of a book I’m working on. I have it programmed so that I will also make more regular website updates, and I plan to have more creative and introspective things to share when I do. Maybe one day soon I won’t need the app anymore. So here is to disciplined practice, carving new neurological pathways, and maintaining positive feedback loops .

Image: Rat primary cortical neuron culture, deconvolved z-stack overlay (30614937102).jpg
The file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.