BingoRage. My Art. Native Art. Other stuff what bugs me.

#artkitteh , King Vases and possession

2013-05-10T05:41:00.002-05:00

So...

It has been a while, BingoRagers.

If your only updates on my activities occur in this blog, then you are really missing my bleeding edge.
I post daily to facebook, twitter (link) and tumblr (link); recent studio pics, mostly.

I always thought of the blog as a place for "important works", but that has come to represent unfinished editing, etc. and must be vanquished with content.

Here are some recent works from our collaborations at #StudioChezZzorhn
All pics click for greater detail.

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#artkitteh

#artkitteh mask - pic showing the foam, clay and paper stages of the papier-mache process.
As you can see, a particularly troublesome nose was adjusted between the sculptural form and first paper.
8)

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King Vase 02 & King Vase 03

This pic shows "first paper" on #KingVase02 , the white clay of the sculptural form, below, showing through.

"Cutting" the paper off the clay; always traumatic. #KingVase02

Adding clay to the sculptural form (wedgy "hair"), initiating #KingVase03

#KingVase03 (l) and #KingVase02 (r) heads, juxtaposed.

#KingVase02 with new chin and more paper added.

#KingVase02 head attached to cardboard torso

#KingVase02 torso papier-mached to foam/antler base.
Basically, the current incarnation of the piece. May 09, 2013.

#KingVase03 , showing hair, brow, eye and ear mods +

#KingVase01 in the #BingoRageStudio, with assorted wall critters and first two paint jobs. February 2012

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Our short film,"HOTEL POSSESSION", edited by Eric,
based on a concept by Z.

Open Letter: A regional revenue-sharing plan for Canadian First-Nations Special Economic Zones (FNSEZ) & “the granting of a resource monopoly from the Crown to First Nations”.

2013-02-19T09:33:00.000-06:00

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A proposal to bridge “the rez and nearest town”; fueled by #idlenomore.

updates: feb.21- removed "simplified" from title

Part 1---
So. I propose something bold... the Canadian First-Nations Special Economic Zone(FNSEZ): Places that can become “New Hong Kongs”; but with a First Nation flavour and less of an unbridled industrial free-for-all. Culturally, economically and technologically-vibrant new economic entities developed outside of the existing regimes of the day. I propose the creation of an economic engine for regionally-derived revenue controlled by First Nations, rather than other, existing levels of government. Most First Nations are regionally-based, rural and invested in the other local peoples of their region as well as the land.

Most Canadians may see #idlenomore on the news and think they have “an Indian Problem”, when in truth, most of Canada has a “rural problem”. The money spent by First Nations in the businesses and contractors of “nearest towns”, our labour in the seasonal industries and purchase of consumeables contribute much to Canada's rural base. Healthy, thriving First Nations peoples, governments and economies would be a radical stimulant for regional Canadian development, in the face of an uncertain future filled with challenges. Issues of climate-change and environmental degradation should inform long-term regional planning with regard to clean, productive water, farmland conditioning, clearcut/forest-reclamation and town infrastructure.

The new FNSEZ's will share revenues collected from the businesses operating within the FNSEZ, with:

local and regional First Nations Peoples,
local and regional township's peoples and
local and regional municipalities' peoples.

All of an FNSEZ's neighbours are to be considered in revenue sharing and development planning; including social program spending and hard infrastructure investment, based on actual discussions of need by “the people on the ground” of a given region. We may choose to pool funds for large-scale regional projects.

Okay, the difficult parts:

a) We need the federal and provincial governments to agree that regional revenues can be generated and spent regionally by First Nations on the region's behalf, without going through Ottawa or Toronto. Trust and dickering will ensue, locally.
b) We need the federal government and Governor-General to grant a new, legitimised “Crown-Monopoly” to First Nations; to fuel and jumpstart the FNSEZ, Medical marijuana supply and research. And to do that that they begin by legalising cannabis agriculture, medicinal research and recreational use at the old Pither's Point Park.
c) Local, regional and provincial persons, businesses and political entities show the resolve and good sense necessary to endorse such a radical notion in the face of legal inertia and slow, economic starvation in the hinterland. And that means the cessation of legal claims against the property currently known as Pither's Point Park and public endorsement of the FNSEZ concept.

Part 2 (below): Why should Fort Frances, Couchiching, other local towns and First Nations (as well as Ontario and the citizens of Canada) endorse this idea?

"Chickenosaurus, Etcetera", Acrylic painting on canvas; flower detail.

Part 2---
Why should Fort Frances, Couchiching, other local towns and First Nations (as well as Ontario and the citizens of Canada) endorse this idea?

The Canadian federal government just got out of the supply-end of medical marijuana. There is a future for medical cannabis research as more jurisdictions allow it and an uncertain supply of consistent, affordable medication for existing medical marijuana patients in Canada. By supporting a First Nation monopoly of Medical Cannabis production and research, a robust medical cannabis industry can emerge, based in regional FNSEZ's. This is an actual economic demand and an emerging public healthcare opportunity and we need new, different jobs out here in the boonies. Eventually, other jurisdictions ~~will~~ may accept “legitimate delivery” of medical cannabis and build demand for export.

Having a new jurisdiction on the local doorstep (in my case the town of Fort Frances and Couchiching First Nation), with legalised recreational cannabis use will bring thousands of extra visitors to the region. However, this is a tourism opportunity that is toppling slowly, as more states vote to allow medical marijuana use and outright legalisation. How many potential visitors to Northwestern Ontario are heading to Washington state and Colorado, instead? If all use, sale, possession, growing, transport, sharing and eating-of Cannabis (within the area of a Special Economic Zone) is legal and hassle-free, I foresee a rise in the sale of minnows, low vacancy rates in town and more fries served at local restaurants every week of the summer.... many, many people will want to visit there, stay for a while, spend a bunch of money locally, return often, immigrate and invest. Especially if there is no more sulphorous smog from upwind.
(A local digression) These pulpmills are dying. Let's close them, honour the existing pensions and make sure they get properly shut down and cleaned up. We can quit overlooking the spills into the river, the choking of the air and the devaluation of our tax base, then. These are tourism towns that people hate to visit because it stinks. Strip the buildings, get rid of the old superstructure, seal up the brick and turn the mills into shops, art galleries and condos overlooking the falls and spawning sturgeon (which are just hanging on as a species). A great view, waiting, under the accumulated steel.

The public healthcare dividend for the regions and Canada, nationally, is potentially large, for the following reason: Many health claims are made for the medical benefits of cannabis medications; but two benefits, alone, can provide great savings to the Canadian public healthcare system: reduced tobacco and alcohol use, or harm-reduction. A structured “maintenance and transition strategy” to the less physically harmful and more affordable cannabis can facilitate the quitting/reduction of tobacco and alcohol abuse.
The benefits of transitioning from smoking tobacco to smoking cannabis is, at base, assumed to be the elimination of nicotine and inhaled industrial adulterants to the tobacco. Different health issues caused by the inhalation of burning plant material can be addressed by the eventual transition to vapour inhalation (vaping) or the eating of cannabis (oral ingestion). These last two methods of cannabis use are less harmful to the body than the act of smoking. (Indeed, they are claimed to be beneficial.)
The greatest public healthcare winfall may be had in isolated First-Nations communities. Limited personal resources spent on alcohol and tobacco can be saved for more productive use. If the cannabis treatment is grown and sourced locally, then employment is created and fewer dollars leave the First Nation's economic sphere, while still circulating. If a FNSEZ is declared in our hypothetical, isolated FN community, then people will pay to fly-in, camp, fish and partake of the regional harvest.

Cannabis opponents basing their opposition on an overall morality position, should acknowledge that community harm-reduction strategies are more morally sound than our current, profit-driven, prison-filling, corporate alcohol and cigarette drug culture. The immoral feedback loop of advertising, legal history and destructive habits is well-documented in our literary fiction, pulpits, soapboxes and cultural criticism essays.

Harm-reduction acknowledges that cannabis-use can cause the need for mental and spiritual healthcare, as well. Alcohol is a depressant; the issues that alcohol-use tend to suppress are often made unavoidable by cannabis-induced awareness. The revenue of the First Nation Medical Cannabis Monopoly will support mental-health treatment instead of allowing the market to mask it with alcohol.

I am going to suggest regional profit-sharing of 90% of profits, after overhead, wages and pensions, administration and losses, 10 % of profits to the FNSEZ's development and discretionary funds. This, in lieu of taxation upon FNSEZ income, either to the provinces or the federal government of Canada, similar to “gaming compacts” in USA tribal casino development. Municipal services to be negotiated, locally.

Instead of multinational corporations operating businesses within the FNSEZ, corporations will be considered non-persons unable to conduct business within the special economic zones. New “cultural economic-development entities” will conduct business within the FNSEZ based on First-Nations principals; to be determined, locally, but based on “best practices” developed over time. Local First Nations Bands and regional business partners may conduct business within the SEZ as “sole proprietors/partners” (hotel, convenience, residential, food, tourism, etc.) participating in the same revenue sharing obligations as FNSEZ Medical Cannabis Growers, Research and Distributors. Some First Nations may not wish to participate in the Cannabis resource development, but still have a business plan for the FNSEZ.

In short, the revenues collected within the special economic zone are administered and spent regionally, not sent to Toronto and Ottawa, first. In this way, First-Nations of Canada can drive regional economic growth, even in the most rural and isolated parts of Canada. Administrative cycling of existing primary-resource revenues (mining, paper, oil, fish, etc.) removes the revenue from the regions and concentrates it, without much return for rural Canada. Which is unfortunate, because that is where your wood, fish, corn, steak, bacon, oil, gold and tourism is located, Canada.

I suggest that “Treaty Boundaries” be used to provide the greater cannabis-jurisdiction boundaries of Canada, a new way to visualise Canadian geography, all First Nations within the greater treaty area participating in the governance. (If you have a tiny treaty area inside a large population density, do not be an asshole about hoarding revenues. We've seen it in the USA native casino boom and its ugly. Group up with the less affluent neighbouring treaty jurisdictions.) #idlenomore volunteers can draw up egalitarian divisions of potential “Canadian cannabis jurisdictions” following treaty area boundaries and rural populations. Cities will fall under treaty-area's jurisdiction for Cannabis distribution, not provincial or federal taxation regimes. Should the Federal and/or Provincial Governments change their mind in the future and “legalise Cannabis” throughout Canada, the “Crown Monopoly” on medical cannabis should be respected.

Under this regime, the FNSEZ formerly known as PPP, would fall in the jurisdictional boundaries of GCT#3 and the immediate influence of the Rainy Lake Bands and Rainy River District towns, especially Couchiching First Nation and Fort Frances. It is for benefit and growth of all my relations and neighbours that I propose to build a cultural centre, myself, in the new FNSEZ. A showcase for local artistry, a place for world-class education/research, economic engine, a tourist destination and rural-development thinktank. I want to clean up the environment, build new responsible housing, recondition clearcuts into farmable prairie, paint when I have the time and install monumental sculpture across the street. You will drive for days to see it.

The provincial and federal governments are loathe to share existing resource revenue streams and are incentivised to relax active industrial environmental regulation in the rural “backyard”; our back yard. We need new economic resources, “green” industry and technology to replace the current paradigm of resource extraction.

I ask the neighbouring and encompassing jurisdictions to agree to honour the declared legal status of the FNSEZ's, abroad, and not arrest, persecute, threaten or harass their citizens simply for visiting us. If cannabis is unlawfully transported from FNSEZ's into jurisdictions where it is still “illegal”, then local law should apply to crime occurring outside the Special Economic Zone. This would be a basic recognition of FNSEZ cannabis legalisation; not an overly broad demand, I would think.

If the mills are closed, here, and the FNSEZ allowed to develop, then the sale of houses on both sides of the river will take off, as we reap the environmental and economic dividends of a changing economy, making things better on both sides of the river. I think that the jobs lost to both mills shutting down could be replaced by cultural development, fueled by the FNSEZ.

We may need to import and pen megafauna in huge enclosures the size of European states, so they eat garbage trees and help turn clearcuts and bare ground into terra preta prairie by adding broken pottery fired from our large clay beds and charcoal pellets of quick growth cellulose (hemp?) to create farmland, where the boreal forest used to be. That's a different open letter, however.

My immediate plans are to continue to create a discussion around my ideas, then hopefully a groundswell of voices to convince the Canadian People and the Canadian Federal Government, specifically the conservative party in power, that this is a great idea. They should endorse it to legitimise their demands for new, independent economic development from First Nations and to facilitate rural development.

While it is a bit presumptive to place an #idlenomore hashtag on this piece, I believe it falls into the realm of community-driven ideas and spirit of political independence that is emerging from the #INM consciousness. Thanks to Ryan McMahon, Wab Kinew, Pam Palmater, Christi Belcourt and others for keeping me informed. Their names, here, do not indicate endorsement of my ideas.

I am -however- calling for the endorsement and spreading of this idea at all levels of Canadian society, public-health mensches, ivory towers, social media and government representatives. The peoples of Canada can surmount the inertia of our collective received wisdoms, histories, biases and other well-padded preconceptions to make real, effective change and take a leadership role in the world, again... with respect to Indigenous relations, rural economic development and “green” innovation.

The territory that I propose for an experimental First-Nation Special Economic Zone, is a piece of Grand Council Treaty #3 land, that the Town of Fort Frances leased, on the site of what would later become Couchiching Agency #1 reservation. It has lapsed from the original 99 year span of the lease and was supposed to “revert” back to GCT#3. Currently known as Pither's Point Park; it is currently in a state of legal greyness.

This is a starting point, only... please comment below.
Please subscribe for studio updates bingorage.tumblr.com , twitter follow @bingorage, email bingorage -at- gmail -dot- com , follow this blog at www.BingoRage.com

The FineLine Art Gallery spring show in Fort Frances is themed "Brown and earth tones". My recent painting "Brown Eye" will be my entry for the show. The unstretched canvas will be available through the show, for $900; rolled and shipped, unframed.

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17 Canvases

2012-11-26T07:16:00.002-06:00

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update Nov. 29, 2012
My canvases are being held by Finnish authorities!
Help, I'm being suppressed! Come see the violence
inherent in the system! #art #Finland

update December 07, 2012
My canvases eventually released from Finnish customs
and went up on the walls of Baari Vakiopaine after the
weekend. Posting some pics of the show.
The LIVE #ZzorhnAndBingoRage show successfully insinuated
itself into the Finnish headspace and laid the seeds of
mental corruption. I will have a "closing" of some sort,
also by telepresence.

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17 Canvases

I have sent 17 canvases to Finland by Canada Post, they should arrive by Wednesday (Nov. 28). My contact and fixer in that part of the world is Finnish Strongman 2009, Bartender Will at Baari Vakiopaine, Jyvaskyla, Finland.

We are going to put on a live ustream episode of the #ZzorhnAndBingoRage show at 10 am on December 01, 2012. This will be arriving at 6 pm, Finnish time; barring the usual problems of livestreaming. Z's working on an outline for the show. We should have a twitter feed for people to ask questions. English please, you Finnish savages; tweet @bingorage . [I use the word “savages” in the same, friendly, male, psychedelic bro sense espoused by Joe Rogan in his JRE podcast.]

The 17 canvases:

1. Orca Breech. An archetypal beast, that we are only beginning to understand. We fantasize about meeting aliens, but we cannot speak to the dolphins, yet.
2. Game of Bronies. Simple, non-objective portraiture. High contrast canvas.
3. DeerCrow. “Transformation piece”. Probably human, but on -at least- a secondary transformation.

4. Quillpoon And Blood-Musky. There is an emergent biography of “the quillpooneer”. He is the only entity that is capable of catching the Blood-Muskies. Huge, fearsome members of the ESOX family that are never seen at the surface, anymore. However; in the time of the quillpooneer, his unique catches created a glut of blood-musky meat. It was fed to dogs, beggars had to take it. What was he writing, out there, on the water?

5. Chimera . There is a long catalog of human beings or anthropomorphic deities in world mythology, that have been blessed or cursed with the physical attributes and divine attribute of flight. Harpies, Hawkmen and Angels... etecetera.

6. Treating The Windigo. Take your medicine, you filthy, fucking Windigo. Boiling grease; cure for douchebaggery and cannibalism, hardcore in its symbolic intent. During a time of famine, in the far north, in the depths of Winter, using up your store of grease to “cure” the greedy cannibal.

7. FrogBeast02. Looks slightly demonic, but don't worry. It looks like there is some sort of “Buffy-thing” going on. Swords and tits make for great tv; what about art?
Heroine? Or Murderer? Beast? Or Person?

8. Brown Cape, Jedi Dancer. A long night of wine and paint. Talk and music. And dance.

9. Red Turtle Canvas. Originally red turtle, now greenish. It swims amongst the cosmos, but still near the Earth.

10. Self Defenses. Nobody should need equipment like this to live at home; on the physical, or mental planes. Culture is not necessarily your friend. Nobody is this special.

11. ScudFly 4 Halibut, w/ Jonah-Bait. Yo; here's the breakdown: It is obviously a custom-tied wetfly, it's design based in the sport of flyfishing. It is an imitation of a freshwater shrimplike crustacean known as a “scud”. The overall shape of the hook is “wrong” from the perspective of a trout-based design; the steel hook underneath the wrappings has the shape of a NorthWest Coast-styled Halibut hook, with the attachment point and the barb point at opposite ends of a U-shaped structure, but closer than any other points on that structure. Is the Jonah-Bait a miniature human, a “synthetic bait” of some kind, or an average sized human? The bait looks like a normal human. If so, then the prey is Godzilla-like in size. What is it tied to? And, what with?

12. Moozo And Serpent. Look like friends. Both seem to enjoy the summer's sunset.

13. Right Eye. A well-travelled eye.

14. Fish Eater Treaty. An otter-like lizard is petitioning the fish-spirits for the right to use their bodies. They signal their assent, with the smoking of the pipes.

15. Ojibway Aquanaut. Everyone should learn how to swim and snorkel dive. Then float over dark, fathomless water and dream of long swimmy things with sharp teeth. Kick and float on.

16. Bear Pirate Zombie. A true “Hide-painting”, a “skin”. Will, I forgot to get a toy sword or cutlass for him. Could you spot me a euro and pick one up to stick in the loop?

17. Pink Corvid Dancer. A pink bird powwow dancer. Since it is a corvid, it must be related to jays and crows. It seems to be dancing with a rawhide and antler rattle.

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50 Years of Ontario Government Support of the Arts.

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Miss LoonTrout... Sponsorship piece

2012-11-12T06:43:00.003-06:00

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Most recent (NOvember 25) incarnation of the Miss LoonTrout ... canvas.

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Hey there BingoRagers! I need your help to spread the word about the upcoming show in Finland, and my buddy Will Lahti's curatorship at Vakaiopaine (Google translate for website).

I have been recommended for an Ontario Arts Council exhibition assistance grant (Thank you, OAC and Definitely Superior Art Gallery).

I have 4 opportunities, that I am asking my OG BingoRagers, tweet followers, fb friends, accidental blog readers, Stumblers, etcetera to help me spread the word about. You are free to buy, a well.

Post, tweet, RT, “like”, share and so on; the new LoonTrout video and link to this blogpost. Try watching an episode of the #ZzorhnAndBingoRage show. Tell people how awful it was.
Help me find some art patrons. 8-)

1) Limited edition, signed digital prints series of 25 available (2 artist proofs, reserved); printed on canvas, signed, rolled and mailed by tube, unframed.
“Miss LoonTrout in-progress; composite” October 2012
“CutFoot Flees With The Beast” (Homage to “Guernica”) November 03, 2012

$200.00 confirm availability by email before sending money. There will be other works available in this print and shipping format, right now, from BingoRage Studio --- brokenvultureart@gmail.com

2) To view and buy in person; the “Finnish cafe at the end of the world”; Vakaiopaine, December 2012. My unique, original canvases will be available in Finland for the Mayan Apocalypse and the discerning European BingoRager. $300-$1500 CDN range. What's that in Finnish sheckels?

3) “CutFoot Flees With The Beast” (Homage to “Guernica”); original, signed, stretched canvas, 2011-2012. Price includes shipping, insurance. * $ 3 000.00 CDN
Approx. 24” x 18” x 4”

4) To sponsor; 3 cultural endeavours in NW Ontario: #BingoRageStudio, #ZzorhnAndBingoRage podcast partner, Zzorhn of #SpiritFirePark and #LittleBeaverCulturalCentre:
- The “Miss LoonTrout...” original multimedia canvas. |** $21 000.00 CDN
Approx. 3' x 5.5' x 1' For the grand-uncle with everything? See video below.

* CutFoot $ 3 000 includes shipping, insurance.

** Miss LoonTrout $20 000 for “the canvas”, $1 000 for crating, insuring and shipping in Canada. International orders could cost thousands more to insure and ship.

Very Important Notes:
Email for availability and shipping quote before sending any money.
Total payment must clear bank before shipping.
No change for “overpayments”; exact funds only, after email confirmation.
No refunds for final sales or for unsolicited or uncleared payments.

Updated Miss LoonTrout video:

Older CutFoot video.

OK. Spread the word.

50 Years of Ontario Government Support of the Arts.

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Big Hopes for the final season of “Fringe”

2012-10-22T05:15:00.000-05:00

Updated October 25, 2012:
-Photo and description added.
-After consulting the Fringenuity website, I have added scandalous speculation to my previous predictions about the Fringers' fates. (below)

Aw Shucks 2012
Acrylic on canvas #painting.
13.5"x16.5"

The humanoid figure is based on a common "pictograph" of the Canadian-Shield/Boreal-Forest suite of prehistoric rock-art paintings of Northern Ontario, Minnesota, Manitoba, Northern Quebec and adjacent regions.

The upturned hands with splayed fingers (often just three) has been interpreted as "someone seeking knowledge/power". The horns on some figures has been interpreted as "someone of knowledge/power", a shaman.

Big Hopes for the final season of “Fringe”. [SPOILERS ahead.]

I had not kept the FOX network show, Fringe, on my “must-see” list last year, but after watching the first episode of the final season, I am hooked, again. As a story segment, it is actually the second of this final series; episode 19 of season 04 being the actual first episode in this time sequence, jumping ahead some 24 years to the adult lifetime of Peter and Olivia's “lost” child. I had not seen episode 19 last year and was able to see it right before this year's premiere; “in sequence”. The credits no longer focus on the “weird science” aspect of the show, but on the dystopian tone of a future under a humourless, unappealable, all-consuming authority and a population forced to destroy their world for the benefit of that authority. This episode had the brass of BattleStar Galactica's insurgency on New Caprica, a soundtrack reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's darker atmosphericals and an omnipresent grayness.

The last 2 minutes, alone, still choke me up. It has mythology-resonant imagery (perhaps story hints) and strong music choice. The silent acting performance of John Noble (Walter) in a wrecked taxi broke my heart and then filled it with joy; busted eye, ratty houserobe, “miserable future” and all. It's that good.

Walter is lying down on the sofa. He is defeated and wounded from his brutal interrogation at the hands of “WindMark”, a bloodless “observer” with some status in the occupying force.

Again; he sees tinkling lights tinged with rainbow playing upon the wall. He follows them to their source; a mobile of old, broken cd's catching the sun, next to an abandoned taxicab.

Walter finds a bag at the base of the mobile containing another cd, labeled “Trip Mix 6”. He puts it into the taxi's cd player and it begins to play! WTF?

A spectrum of emotion plays over Walter's face, as he listens to the 80's one-hit wonder “Only You” (recorded by Yazoo) and sees a dandelion breaking through the pavement, immediately in front of the car's window. Musics soars... and cut to black.

Wow. That was trippy. I think that there is much more going on here, than is readily apparent. What is the significance of the Dandelion? There is a small seahorse hanging from the visor of the cab, reiniscent of one of the enigmatic “graphic dividers” that separate the acts of a Fringe teleplay. Does it have a significance, beyond its familiarity? What about the other knickknacks on the dash: dice, chicago skyline snowglobe, a baseball, huluskirt bobledoll, pinetree freshener, random chain necklaces and pendants?

Clearly, there is a breadcrumb trail (confirmed in the rather boring S05 Ep02) implied by the sequence, but it's not apparent yet, if the cab and song have more significance. Walter has been thinking about music throughout the episode and may just be happy to have found any.

The dandelion (as pointed out in another review, by Tim Surette) is metaphorically tied to “Etta”, the lost and found daughter of Peter and Olivia, whom is now a hardened resistance-fighter. She was “lost” during an observer attack, while playing with ripened dandelion heads. (Tim reminds us that...) Etta thinks that she was four when she was separated from her parents, but Olivia remembers that she was “3 years, 1 month and 5 days” old since the dandelion/observer-attack episode, in the park. Is that significant?

My hypothesis:

Potential spoilers ahead.

I am beginning to think that “September's plan” has already been tripped.

So, what is the trap? Or, more appropriately, when and where would it have been sprung? I'm hoping that Season 05 actually represents some sort of simulation that the observers have been baited into and diverted from the actual Earth. I'm thinking that it probably occurred at the time of the Observer “invasion”, when all of the future-humanoids were mobilised for the action. My guess is an extrapolated scenario, not necessarily correct, based on the imagery of the first three episodes of Season 05 and S04E19, but especially Episode S05E01.

In no particular order, yet:

a) Walter's trail to “the plan”, mythic overtones and his musical need. The breadcrumb trail is a granddaddy of archetypal narrative (Collecting energy stones! How 8-bit.), a simple storyline for a simulated cultural-battle architecture. It has been removed from Walter's mind, yet remains embedded in his personal environment and historyscape.

b) The taxicab of wonders and the thought unifier. Is it more likely that a broken and abandoned taxi with a working stereo system would be handy to bring a small comfort to Walter in his recuperation, or that someone left it there for him to find, when needed. Walter hints at music's power to bring new perspective, during his interrogation.

c) The desolate and empty urban landscapes and crowded familiar cultural detritus in an oppressed, dystopian future. The better to not strain an AI or a young “ 'verse ”, with too much character-useable detail, while providing base-level stimulation and shelter for the “sims”. That and just enough psychological ground to stand on for our "real" villains and heroes.

d) The “ambering” process, “amber-gypsies” and our experience of Etta's missing childhood. We only have Etta's reassurance that 20-some years have passed. It may have, in her perception and recollection. (How did she survive the Observer attack in the park?) Anyways, it has been long enough for the sims to develop a subculture and economy related to trade in a materiel used for “hiding from the Observers” (... infiltration of a synthetic timeline by outside uploads?).

e) The Observer WindMark's inability to retrieve “the plan” from Walter's brain, physics “beyond Walter's comprehension” and the apparent ability to hide from the Observers for 20-some years in “amber”. Story devices, or meaningful backdoors to an all-seeing rule of Earth?

f) The dandelion. The dandelion of the Observer attack is finished, gone to seed. The dandelion of Walter's taxi is bright and yellow, poking up through the concrete. It is reminiscent of Stephen King's rose in the "Dark Tower" mythos; representing the protagonist's imperiled universe, growing in an abandoned lot of another world.

Alright. That's my guess about this season. I hope the brooding, epic tone of the first episode is recaptured during the rest of the season.

Laterz.
:Eric

PS:
After being contacted and encouraged by the Fringenuity website, I've decided to embolden my prediction and have determined that the trap was actually sprung when Peter stepped into "the machine" at the end of Season 03. Everything that has happened since is part of the simulation (running in Peter's brain, assisted by "the machine"). It is essentially a dream and explains how he was coerced from oblivion in Season 04.

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The Harpooneer , Jonah-Fly & “July First, 2012”

2012-07-04T04:23:00.000-05:00

The Harpooneer , Jonah-Fly & “July First, 2012”

- The Harpooneer

The Harpooneer is not the protagonist of his novel, Moby Dick. Neither, is he, the villain. He is a shadow figure, a “hired gun” brought on board for his skills, and for his cultural distance from the rest of the crew.

As he sinks, he glances upwards and beholds Ahab, backlit and merciless. The final stab at hope is lost as his knife flutters and flashes away; the ropes, fresh and rotten, hold fast. He thought that the birchbark would be the last thing seen, but it was the sky, of course.

Ahab and the crew only saw flashes of a fluttering blade, then there was nothing.

The great Sturgeon is bleeding profusely from her belly, but she has been injuried, very badly before. The fresh harpoon point is also bleeding, but slowing. The hook in her lip is ancient and unreproducible.

- Jonah-Fly

NYMPH
Barbless Scud – Fly 4 Halibut w/ Jonah – Bait

If this is a Trout – hook, then the man is very, very tiny; approximately 1/4 inch tall. Surely some sort of synthetic bait.

If it is a Halibut-sized fishhook, then the man is most likely a native North-American elf species, or whatever those Northwest Coast Empires called them. How do you say “fairy” in Kwagiulth, or Haida?

If the man is man-sized, then the hook is intended for a leviathan on the scale of Kaiju; Godzilla and Cloverfield-sized prey. No whale, dinosaur, mosasaur or shark, living or extinct has ever been large enough to bite this hook. If something bites this hook and you are on the other end of the “mono”, then your civilisation just fucked-up, bad.

Either, the man is about to die, or there is some unknown tech/GenMod at work; in order that he not drown. Also, there must be some neutral-buoyancy measure in the “fly-tie material”.

Perhaps the “monofilament” is some sorta super “gel-spun” line; #2TrillionTest .

- July 01, Canada Day, 2012

This is the first pass at my 2012 downtown Fort Frances art project, on the historic Rainy Lake Hotel, on Scott St. I will continue to document the progress of this project throughout the summer, perhaps streaming live, while painting and installing the monumental papier-mache multimedia piece. I am vending and displaying there, Thursdays throughout the summer (weather permitting). “Smallmouth at Stream Bottom” (working title). I am planning to have the work done by the time of the 2012 FFCBC (Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship); in order to publicise and fundraise for a monumental multi-element bronze and granite sculpture installation.

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Spinnerbait and "The Mob Mentality"

2012-05-12T00:08:00.001-05:00

--
Photos click for larger size detail.

Will be updating with Facebook comment extension shortly, please check back in half an hour.
19:45pm CST
Now updated with Facebook commentary.
21:47 pm, CST.

21:52 pm , CST. Edited to get rid of spammy-looking art sale, sorry.
20:23 pm CST, May 13, 2012 Blogpost abstract, edited from FB comment thread:

This is the summary of an essay that arose from FB commentary thread re: a proposed ten year jail term for wearing "masks" at Canadian protests, posted at the end of this blogpost. Please check out the pics and vid below and Pls tweet, stumble, FB, etc. Thanks

Puppet and mask street theatre is a court-recognised and historically significant artform and way of having a public voice, outside of socially-mandated "channels of communication". The proposed "ban on masks" can and will be abused to interfere-with and legitimise the abuse of puppet and mask troupes. I know it's not part of your daily reality, but these are great people and great artists working for you. In order to preserve it, it is necessary to acknowledge that public art is legitimate way to lobby our shared society, our shared mindspace as well as our political system. To agree that we are engaged in real conversation, to try to find areas of agreement. I am lobbying the room to agree that masks and/or the wearing of masks at our protests should NOT BE BANNED in Canada AND AFFIRM that public mask/mask-type/puppet theatre is a legitimate means of public expression. Considered responses only, please.

PS: They want to put people in jail for ten years (10), for "wearing a mask" at a protest.
You are not endorsing a spanking, with your unthinking assent.

04:01 am, CST. May 14, 2012. Sent my MP an open letter.

Mr. John Rafferty, MP;

I don't know if you have heard this argument against the proposed mask ban and imprisonment legislation: It would begin to exclude or at least punish the puppet and mask street theatre techniques which are successful tool s to attract attention to the message of a protest. The proposed 10 year ban on "wearing of masks" could be abused as the blunt instrument and threat of official suppression of free speech. A "grey area" with exceptions to the rule would only leave wiggle room for prosecutors and riot police to arrest and prosecute first, then sort later.

Thank you, for your consideration.

Sincerely,
:Eric C. Keast

:Eric

This is a new painting, on an old canvas.
It's called SpinnerBait;
A "Colorado spinner"-type lure , permanently attached to a single-hooked
jighead, with rubber skirt.

It is designed to provide plenty of action at slow retrieve,
allowing the caster to plumb holes and structure.

The wire, swivel, rings and spinner-blade of this lure -without a lure, but with a snap- can be obtained at your local tackle shop. I've always called them colorado spinners, they come in a variety of colours but I like the metallic flavours and they can be attached to a wide variety of lures, other than "jigs".

There are some robust, heavy-gauge wire varieties of the spinnerbait, produced for freshwater musky and saltwater use, with large, heavy, multiple spinner-blades and interchangeable large-body rubber baits.

-----------------------------

Here is a recent clip from the Zzorhn And BingoRage episode, "The Privacy Apocalypse"

BingoRage Filthy Puppet Theatre

presents:

"1984 - deleted scenes (as reenacted by sock puppets {live})"
[The action starts about 03:12, but give the start a whirl.]

written by Eric C. Keast
produced by : Zzorhn

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The latest Zzorhn And BingoRage show (Season 02, Episode 17),
“The Mob Mentality Apocalypse” (link to Ustream.tv)
is in the metaphorical can. Episode notes, are as follows:

We are late. Our bandwidth problems. Video quality gets better two minutes in.

Intros. Penguins and polar bears do not fight. Feed back. (Eric has first breakdown at 8:00; does not want new show member, will consider a “hot intern”.) Zzorhn pimps his FB chatroom page. Eric warns against inviting the internet into your back yard.
Stealing blues songs is bad. Eric is angry. This is a comedy podcast.

Skit, re: Montreal taxi driver hit and run. Eric wears a suit, get corporated by Zzorhn. (18:20) I object. Horse puckey. Hello DanniPants 24:51. Watch Montreal taxi driver hit and run after Zzorhn vamps in blue. Eric says the tax driver abused an imbalance of power and is therefore in the wrong. Eric then tries to make the point that our government and corporations are increasingly abusing the imbalance of powers in society?
We want to see the missing video of previous time; how much is missing? Eric drops knowledge about Canadian news and P.Q. Student riots as backdrop to this story.

Art review: Papier-mache rattle and puppet. 50:25. Describe papier-mache process with foam and clay model, transfer to handle for "functional sculpture"; war club theme.
The internet is built for cats, 52:04. What a good JohnnyCat.

53:45 Pack mentality. Safety in numbers, power in numbers. Our fractal metaphors don't surprise me. We like to think we have free will. Everybody likes dogs; even if they have sexual needs and Eric's bestiality fear. Eric realises that Zzorhn is full of pooh. Again. Zzorhn implies that we are all in danger of succumbing to our animal nature, our pack nature; when exposed to a “mob”. ~~Sathyrhana~~ "Satyagraha" 1:03:00; Zzorhn is happy that I made a certain distinction. Eric says that the Internet is the veil drawn over your eyes and police risk dehumanising themselves by “alienisation”. The black bloc are agents provocateurs and a danger to peaceful protest.

1960's psychological experiments regarding imbalance of power, social behaviours beyond our control and the appeal of creeping fascism. Stanley Milgram, the Stanford Prison Experiment, The Third Wave . The" third wave" experiment is not well-documented, but seems to suggest that their is a leaning towards fascism, in our deeper pack mentality.

BingoRage Filthy Puppet Theatre (1: 17:00). Excuse me. 1:19:30 The Milgram experiment (as enacted by sock puppets). 1:23:50

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This canvas has a divot, created by long storage against a pointy thing. The fabric may rebound a little, but the dimensionality has been set in an acrylic matrix.

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Facebook comment update from May 12, 2012.
21:15 'ish pm, CST.

- (Okay; just had to interrupt the update to check out ruckus, at the window. My big old round cat, the brave Johnnycat, is sitting in the window and two ravens are sitting in the branch immediately outside the big panes, discussing how to dissect and share him. Johnny seems to love the attention. What a brave Johnny.)

Fellow forum members; please do not mistake my previous points as an endorsement of violence.

I am a staunch believer in the rights of "free speech" for all, "freedom from violence and threat of violence" for all and "freedom to have a voice in the affairs of my society" for all, which -for myself, yourself and others- is mostly limited to our shared pool of armchair political speech, by reasons of health, calendars and/or location. Other people who have access to city populations and seats of government can lobby the actual physical persons whom represent us, or wish to "manufacture our consent" (Noam Chomsky), in person. Their bodies , their rights and their privacy are being broken and battered for us, a significant portion of the population (Perhaps for you at times and in the interests of my intellectual foes, occasionally.). They represent me, because they are brave for me, for us and even for you, occasionally.

What, then does this have to do with the wearing of a mask? Why would a person wear a mask? There are only two polar answers, you cannot deny one or the other:
a) Because they are a criminal, or have “done something wrong” and wish to escape punishment.
OR
b) There actions were legitimate and they wish to preserve their privacy for legitimate reasons, and wish to escape punishment.

If you say there are no legitimate reasons to preserve your privacy and the wearing of masks at protest is a criminal act, then you are endorsing punishment for what you consider “immoral beliefs and/or actions”, not a crime against person or property. These are fear-based reactions accessed by your consciousness when you perceive someone else as an “other”, not an intellectual judgement. This is the animal response system that propaganda, advertising, political media messages, canned news, press releases and the emerging “arena-politics” play with.
Zzorhn speaks to the pack mentality in our most recent show ("Mob Mentality" link above).

I can prove that there is at least one legitimate reason to wear a mask to a protest. Without a doubt and beyond contravention. (Unless, of course, you are just a mindless troll for your set beliefs{ERIC; Cite particular meaning “reactionary, provoking online behaviour”}, hijacked by some malevolent, reactionary memeplex that you are not aware of, yet.)

If the protestors are using theatre and artistic tools to tell their story and voice their position, such as puppet and mask presentations, then these are legitimate, timeless means of public media, public voice. Please, let us not get into the game of creating exceptions to an atrocious rule (that only gives police and prosecutors a "grey area" to arrest people in); please just admit that there is a legitimate reason to wear a mask to a protest.

If it is your contention that this is not a legitimate means of public expression, then you really may be irrelevent and have to reevaluate what it means to be human, for yourself. You are without art, or in denial extremis: going insane with the contradictions that you are allowing to fire around the inside of your head.

When you see a gathering of people labeled as a “violent protest” -regardless of your political stance, economic stance, religious stance, urban vs. Rural stance, right/left position, etc.- You, I and everyone else should be held accountable to recognise there are many social systems in place to label and shape how you perceive that event. That doesn't mean that everything is a lie; don't live in fear, live in ongoing evaluation. Look at different sources and actually read the arguments.

You have to acknowledge, not that you are wrong, but that you may not be correct, this time.

No one person is ever right all the time and you should be suspicious, when the media and social sources you choose to believe, echo what you think is right.

Most people in the past chose not to dig too deeply into the “official story” of events in our society because it was a hard thing to do, and dangerous, as the bodies of murdered journalists around the world and the beating and imprisonment of media in our own countries would attest to. However, nowadays, we have access to more information, as an increasingly participatory audience, that was supposed to be hidden from us by distance and official silences and denials. Or sources are augmented by the spread of cameras, phones and connectivity; the evolving “participatory panopticon” (Jamis Cascio) that we are embedded-in and growing. It is becoming a powerful tool to criticise the behemoth of government with accessible, proveable numbers, photos, video, scientific research... real evidence that is increasingly sourced and produced in a non-university, non-corporate, non-governmental, non-NGO fashion. It is open-sourced, crowd-sourced grassroots that is in increasing danger of suppression.

I speak about the erosion of free speech so much, because it really is on the rise. When I was growing up, my generation X and the previous generation of Baby Boomers (now in power, a huge segment of the population) grew up in fear of the official enemy of North America (Yes, Canada, too, was frightened). They were the bad guys, because they were a torturing, totalitarian state and closed market, where free speech, free movement and economic innovation was not allowed. We, were the champions of life, liberty, freedom from torture and “cruel and unusual punishment”, good governance and free markets. Well, we beat the Soviet Union and now we are embracing and endorsing an emerging, creeping totalitarianism, that is already endorsing the tactics of oppression and suppression that once were accusations leveled at the “thuggish KGB”.

When we allow the nonstop, persistent erosion of civil rights on the ground and in the evolving online fora, we are endorsing the punishment of legitimate criticism. Sure, that means that bad actions will still occur, but that is what our legal system and prison system is for..

the punishment of bad actions,
not the punishment of the desire to preserve our rights, our privacy.

A mask is speech; it says that "you frighten me and I do not want you to find me", for good reason or ill.

Saying that a person is not allowed to protect themselves from official violence means that you endorse the official punishment of people you disagree with. Therein lies the road to fascism. It is subtle and seductive to say: "violence is wrong, unless it is used against someone with whom I do not agree, even if they are right".

There is an Indian word, "Satyagraha", which means "insistence on truth". It has spiritual interpretations, of course, but I like the real world insistence on the truth, a "reality-based" world, where evidence has primacy over "gut reactions". It means that humanity should base its decisions on the realities of the world, not the "just-so" stories about the environment, the afterlife, evolutionary science and "dirty, violent protestors" that we share with people that think like us.

I do not fear the increasing surveillance that we are all subject to, as long as it is evenly distributed. When all politicians, corporate executives, policemen and bureaucrats -you and I, as well- are subject to the same level of scrutiny as everyone else and our free speech is truly protected, then all corruption, unnecessary violence and stealing would disappear, theoretically.

But, if the people in charge use the surveillance state only on "us, the population" (yes, you too), if the elite/aristocracy/police/oligarchs/politicians/whomever can “switch it off" ala 1984 (G. Orwell) and operate criminally without fear of legitimate consequence, then the corruption and insanity of contradictions above us is insulated from change. Allowing the erosion of rights for some, endorses the erosion of all your rights.

This comment started out as a response to a previous posting, but I would now like to announce an initiative for the forum: Could we as a loose, rather random group of folks with widely varying views actually work together to create shared public documents, manifestos that are sets of shared agreement on how to fix the world, or at least little parts of it, a little at a time. I propose the hashtag #ZBGmanifesto to tag future proposal/discusion on the Bar and Grill page.

If you have stayed with me, so far, then "Bravo."

Have I spoken to the rationale within you and convinced you that the wearing of masks to a protest should not be illegal?

The short version of my blogpost: Puppet and mask street theatre is a court-recognised and historically significant artform and way of having a public voice, outside of socially-mandated "channels of communication". The "ban on masks" will be abused to interfere with and legitimise the abuse of puppet and mask troupes. I know it's not part of your daily reality, but these are great people and great artists working for you. In order to preserve it, it is necessary to acknowledge that public art is legitimate way to lobby our shared society, our shared mindspace as welll as our political system. To agree that we are engaged in real conversation, to try to find areas of agreement. I am lobbying the room to agree that masks and/or the wearing of masks at our protests should NOT BE BANNED in Canada AND AFFIRM that public mask/mask-type/puppet theatre is a legitimate means of public expression. Considered responses only, please.

----------------------------------

Eric, in front of the "Northwestern Ontario Warrior Walleye, Not A Fucking Zander" canvas.

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The Day After - Societal collapse as movie-of-the-week and sock-puppetry

2012-03-25T17:18:00.003-05:00

"Sky Battle"
#BingoRageStudio
Acrylic on canvas, 2010-2012

Update: March 24, 2012
Tonight's #ZzorhnAndBingoRage episode - www.ustream.tv/recorded/21372091
Addressing Nuclear angst of the 80's, sock puppets, etc.
Update: March 31, 2012
Added the edited sock-puppet video to this post; "The Day After: deleted scenes (as portrayed by sock-puppets).

WARNING: Adult language and adult situations.

The Day After (1983) A review, etc.
This article contains SPOILERS, disturbing imagery and coarse language.

I am watching this old, melodramatic, made-for-tv movie again, in order to prepare for the next episode of the #ZzorhnAndBingoRage show. Sunday, March 25, 7 pm, CST, at
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/zzorhn-and-bingorage-wandercast

The video is in “VHS-quality”. And by “VHS-quality”, I mean it’s a heap of crap.

I have stopped the video at its most dramatic point to sum up the film so far: All these really nice, earnest, loving people that I am being introduced-to, are all about to be rat-fucked out of their civilisation. Corn-holed by history and power-addicts. I mean... these kind and gentle motherfuckers are about to eat shit and die, for no good reason and it makes my nuts tighten and my stomach hurt to remember how frightening this movie, and its ilk, were.

It makes me wonder if it wasn’t just part of a coordinated media scare tactic to keep us North Americans in line, putting up with the deregulation of corporate interests and the economic sinkhole of military spending started with the Reaganism that creeped over the border and into Canada. Clearly, the target audience for the movie was rural America, but it was well-known that any missiles coming from the Soviet landbase would be flying over Canada. Perhaps the “Russkies” had plans to detonate a few at altitude, over old Canadia, just on scorched-Earth principles; Denial of refuge and aid to their enemies and other bronze-age sentiments. That was the kind of thoughts that we, the last of the cold-war children were supposed to have, while watching this movie-of-the-week apocalyptic pulp.

It continues to seek out and fan the flames of armageddon indulgence in the dreams of the faithful and the memory and guts of the lapsed.

The main stars include Jason Robards and Steve Gutenberg. “The Gute”, of Smodcast infamy. There are a bunch of familiar faces and complete nobodies-no-more in the ensemble, including the old-fart from Northern Exposure. I am watching the movie in order to critique it and also to refine the draft of my most recent script for The BingoRage Filthy Puppet Theatre:

“Deleted scene from The Day After (Steve Gutenberg vehicle, 1983); as performed by
sock puppets”. (Check it out live, tonight.)
(OK; it wasn't really "a Steve Gutenberg vehicle", but doesn't that phrase just sound delicious?)

Like I already said; I have stopped the movie at its halfway point. Shit’s getting real. I don’t remember if The Gute ever makes it home, or if there is anyone there. That’s hardly relevant, but I remember his scalp falling off in my hazy recollection of the first time I watched this thing. Not in bits, but, like, all-at-once. That recollection is the basis for my puppet play. As I watch, I wonder if “The Gute” was really the right pick for this role.

There are alarms, ominous silent landscapes, reasoned, measured tones of voice rattling off codes and the flipping of switches and pushing of buttons. Oh yeah, we are using this in the show, too.

My sphincter is puckering in childhood fears as unquestioning technicians and bureaucrats follow their playbook of my doom.

When Z and I try to recreate the tension of those moments, I should lean over and
“tell him a secret”, but make him promise not to tell anyone, “Ever!”; even though we are likely doomed to perish in the retaliatory strike upon our position. Make him promise. Then, tell him.

- Z: “What could possibly be so bad that you can’t tell me without promising not to repeat
it, if we are going to be vaporised in the next eight minutes?

- Eric: “Z... I fucked a bear, once... It weren’t right.”

Go to black.

The start of the nightmare: Nuclear missiles literally fly out of a farm family’s back yard. The ones the government promised them, and us, never to use. Nuclear holocaust was our 9-11, but it never actually happened. It was a sim, a threat; a virtual apocalypse held over our head like the Sword of Damocles.

Ah, the “skeleton shots”.
Iconic cold war imagery, seen through the perceptions of a helpless, omnipotent observer as the immediate world is transformed from matter to light, shadow and heat. We see the shadows of numerous skeletons, metaphorical millions, stripped of their flesh a fraction of a moment before the bones, too, are vaporised.

At first, explosions in the sky strip us of our electricity and our technology. The shitbags have just murdered the last few thousand years.

Explosions on the ground rob us of our cities and our peoples. You can feel the heat coming, before the blast wave.

I had to stop and rewind that whole detonation bit. I feel dirty... like a junky, freebasing that old, used fear, finding a way to cook it down a bit more. We won the cold war, didn’t we?

---
The special effects may seem a little dated,
but they still gives me that ol' gut-punched feeling.

---

After the immediate effects of the nuclear detonations, this movie reveals itself as a modern incarnation of a 1950‘s “hygiene film” with hokey lines like “Dad... what is radiation?”. The PSA continues as the nuclear family huddles amongst their practical food and water stores and listen to the soon-to-be-dying-a-lingering-nearby-death whining of their family dog (which should not be let into the family shelter, unless it is to be immediately cooked and eaten). Doctors huddle about the cafeteria, planning their defense while DeusExMachina explains the effects of an EMP. The messages are so clear, these many years later. Be prepared, the government will not help, fuck off and die.

Then, the zombie apocalypse starts. Wait, what?!

---

I can hear the presumed few of yous sayin’: “The Day After, was no fucking zombie-movie. It was a nuclear armageddon-type depiction, sees.”

I say that the nuclear exchange between the USA and the USSR was only the initial apocalyptic event.

The real horror always begins after the first apocalypse, be it: volcano, meteor, tsunami, earthquake, moral decay, flood, siege, plague, massive direct attack... or some such variation of this queue. The land left bereft of civilisation and supplies always becomes a zombie apocalypse; just with varying degrees of death in the participants. The hubris of the zombie apocalypse is that we take satisfaction in planning to be amongst the living, the winners... that it is possible to be amongst the ultimate winners.

Is this is the core metaphor of our age? A hip, new incarnation of the same, old story:

The endgame in any series of personal and societal apocalypses is the metaphor of “my fortress and our survivors” against “the other”. The other... being in various states of strangeness, bloodlust, decay, hunger and desparation. The line between living human predators and undead human predators becomes moot in the real-world application of societal collapse and attack upon the species. Especially if both are covered in shit, rot and radioactive dust.

Zombie Zeitgeist
#BingoRageStudio,
Acrylic on canvas, 2011-2012

This movie could not be made, now. There are no happy endings. There is no moral high ground. There are no plucky heroes triumphing against the odds. The movie ends as the squalid zombie apocalypse begins to gain momentum.

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The Day After; deleted scenes (as portrayed by sock puppets)

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Update to Miss LoonTrout - Spirit Fire Park sponsorship opportunity, March 2012

2012-03-23T10:27:00.001-05:00

Update March 24, 2012. Early a.m. - Another Miss LoonTrout video added to end of post. New vid includes explanation of the Mayan calendar.

This painting has been around a while, but it keeps getting better:

"Miss LoonTrout Got A Crappy BoobJob,
Mr. & Mrs. CrackPenguin
Pull Their Tired, Old William Tell Routine,
Nanabush Is Alive, And In The World."

It was in storage for a couple years at Definitely Superior Art Gallery in Thunder Bay; then again for the last year, in the back of the studio.

I have been working on new canvases for most of this winter's painting, but lately I got the bug to take another look at some existing works. Nothing is ever done, while it's in the studio.

---

My most recent video with Miss LoonTrout; sock puppet interpretation of the Jay Mohr podcast, Mohr Stories #35, and a promo for our upcoming #ZzorhnAndBingoRage show.

---

March 2006, old BingoRage studio.

Used papier-mache technique to secure mask to canvas, on 1"x4" boxframe.

This paper cast had one other "brother", that was sold separately , as a wall-hanging, blue clownmask.

It was not as creepy as you might imagine.

First paint on the "Miss LoonTrout..." canvas.

It looks so nice and uncluttered.
Simple.

Nanabush still has two, healthy antlers, strongly attached to his head. This imagery is a recurring motif in my work, taken from rock art and shamanic traditions around the world. The human figure portrayed with horns or a "halo", to denote wisdom and power.

---

This next video documents the process of "bead-embroidering" the "ghost" into the early LoonTrout canvas.

By July 2007, all the major parts were in place (except background-fishey, just added).

Irregular concentric rings ripple out from Nanabush, as he strides through our reality, like the ripples in the pond as he strides through the shallows.

The doorway, from which the bead-ghost entered the reality of the painting is much better defined at this point.

The Turtle figure is still prominent, upside-down in the upper right quadrant (under LoonTrout's left wing).

Nanabush's right antler is now busted.

---

This is how the canvas looked, as it was displayed at the
DefSup Art Gallery, NOCAA-10 show
(Northwest Ontario Contemporary Aboriginal Artists - 10)
winter 2008-2009.

Very, very bright. I had used a white spray paint to highlight the mask and needed to cover it up with alotta green.

UFO is more dimensional and Nanabush's third eye has appeared.

---

This is how the piece looks today, after I have been tweaking it for the last week.

All the characters have gone through visual upgrades.

Turtle is all but completely gone, replaced by a new character, the vertical background fish.

Vertical, background fish arose from a conversation with my friend Toshie and his dreams of surfcasting...
so, it must be a dream-striper.

---

The whole painting is a pile of chaos:
Damage by circumstance, bad decisions, survival by chance and the skin of our teeth.

The CrackPenguins are depicted running "their tired, old William Tell routine"; a grim drinking game.

It is based upon the "accidental" shooting of William S. Burroughs wife, down in mexico, famously portrayed in the David Cronenberg film, Naked Lunch.

The "Crack-Penguin" is a personal trickster-figure of mine. You just can't trust a penguin, they're always trying to ingratiate themselves.

---

The LoonTrout character cuts quite a figure.

It must have been a strange set of circumstances that allowed the pairing of a Trout and a Loon; natural enemies.

You would think that growing up in a blended household and overcoming certain self-loathings would have innoculated Miss loonTrout from the ravages of advertising...

But, no. She, too, has gone under the knife.
Probably a cutrate, back-alley-type cutter.

The UFO, in the background, now makes more visual sense as it attacks an "old-timey" police car, rather than the little stick figures that I had put there, fleeing, before. Happier UFO, happier artist.

---

Nanabush and his advising angels.

There appears to be some sort of moral arguement going on.

Nanabush seems to be in rather high spirits. At least for a trickster, who's had to tear-off his own right antler. Medical reasons, or what?

---

This piece is available as a sponsorship opportunity for Spirit Fire Park. We are installing the paper "Sturgeon Mama" statue in the park this summer and would like to build a roof to shelter it from the worst weather, as well as new muralwall infrastructure.

Purchase this sponsorship opportunity for $20 000:

- Receive the "Miss LoonTrout..." canvas, or have it sent to the museum/library/etc. of your choice
- Have a new mural installed at Spirit Fire Park, in your name, your business name or loved one' memory.
- Build a shelter for the "Sturgeon Mama" statue.

Yes. That is a bunch of clams.
If you haven't got it, please spread the word and pass this on to any rich relative or the notorious art patron in your life.
Forward, tweet, blog, pod, etc.
Thanks.

:Eric

"Miss LoonTrout - evolution" video; with Mayan calendar explanation.

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What's with all the frakkin' apocolypti?

2012-03-19T07:55:00.005-05:00

Updated: March 21, early in the a.m.
The canvas in the accompanying photos
to this posting is called
"Grief And Beyond"
It was begun after I received word about the
death of a friend's mother, recently.
My friend Z, lost his grandmother this winter
and my own mum passed, a little while ago.

The main character in the composition is "the survivor". The antlers are representative of "acquired knowledge or wisdom", in shamanic pictography, worldwide.

The main action in the background is the allegorical crossing of the Styx and an imagining of the transition from flesh and information to mystery.

I'll post the video about this piece, shortly.
:Eric

---

"What's With All The Frakkin' Apocalypti?"

- That may be the question that you are asking yourself if you've been following my newest endeavour: The Zzorhn And BingoRage Show. An atavistic, yet intellectual, cultural review. Certainly, there are moments of quiet desperation, near-crying and sulky bitchiness...
but shit gets real, occasionally.

The title refers to this season's overarching goal: Staring down the Mayan Apocalypse, millenialism, armageddon-seekers, fear-mongers and the impending panopticon.

It started out as a comedy podcast, but is hardly ever funny; not that there aren't moments of humour amidst the pathos. We are the embodiment of "a little knowledge being dangerous" in a world where authority is being leveraged to make us stupid, reproductively overzealous, poor and docile.

"dangerous"? To whom? Certainly not to our neighbours, friends and family; our whole community. No. "Speaking Out" is a danger to the powers-that-be, whom are civically and morally obligated to oppress us.

So, we are exploring the ideas of apocalypse, cultural and imperial collapse, armageddons, existential threat and popular media.

That's what I've been up to. That and painting... and a little sculpture... and some #AggroDemocraticoDocumentarianism. I have been promising Zzorhn and our "viewership" that I would start publishing more videos. I must apologise; I feel that I have some sort of mental block that is preventing me from publishing what is already essentially done. A ridiculous inability to finish punching a few more buttons and make a few more decisions.

Tonight; I remedy this, with Media Trap. This piece was painted to accompany a previous "Zzorhn And BingoRage" episode: "Media and the Technological Apocalypse".

During our most recent show, we spoke about Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" and "Fight Club" as our relevant movies. This is my review...

[Spoilers ahead.]

Apocalypto; A review of the 1996 film as history and metaphor, keeping in mind who made it.
Eric C. Keast, March 07, 2012

---

Mel Gibson’s epic film, Apocalypto, starts out as an Anthropological tour of pre-Columbian tribes of Central America. There is hunting, sex and humour in village life, but a hint of darkness is creeping into their jungle, pushing refugees before it.

The main character, Jaguar Paw, wakes from a prophetic dream, warning him to flee, but it is already too late. Empire comes to ravage his village and enslave his extended family; it is all that he can do to save his wife and child, before capture. Thus begins the march to the top of the world.

As they approach the outskirts of the Mayan city-state, they skirt the edge of a tremendous clearcut stretching to the horizon; the jungle is being mowed back, one tree at a time.

It is at this point that the film’s universe turns.

The city’s newest slave acquisitions are marched past a strange sight beside the road; a crying girl standing over a fallen body... a woman. They are both covered in some terrible growths. The returning captors beat her back in disgust, when her cries for pity are rebuffed. She carries “the sickness”, which the captors know enough of... to fear.

All the fear leave the child’s character and is replaced by judgement. The child becomes an angel of doom and pronounces her judgement on the empire. The implication is that the child represents some sort of divine intervention.

But from whom? Quezalcoatl? Jaguar? Nope...

It’s Mel Gibson... in allegorical representation. We have left the anthropological reconstruction behind and have entered a story-space of cultural propaganda. The girl represents a physical wave of biological destruction that spread out in fron of the first Europeans and their new religion. Her appearance as an angel, bringing divine judgement is lacking a line: “There is a new god in town and he’s about to start kicking ass... Yay, Christianity!!”

Now, just wait... don’t get all knee-jerky, just yet. Just because Mel is a little right of the current pope in Catholic matters doesn’t mean that this is a bad movie. I think that it is a great movie and a great representation of a cultural era that it is hard for us to fully conceive of, as modern “western” viewers.

But as a rural-Canadian, obvious leftwing-artist-type and Ahnishnahbeh; I have to say that the movie should not be seen without considering it as a cultural object, with implications in its imagery. All cultural objects have an agenda, either constructed and/or acquired.

The captors lead the jungle-dwellers through various layers of the city, which has extended its feeding of wood, stone and blood outward, like the tentacles of an organism.

The film’s delicious visuals of mass human labour and epic civil endeavour resonates with the imagery of Dante and Hieronumus Bosch. The bound captives are being guided through the various layers of hell. They pass a column of slaves cutting and chewing up rocks for the city; varying in size from pyramid block to plaster dust. They pass through layers of charcoal-makers (fire), madness, sickness, poverty, failed agriculture, starvation.

As they enter the city, the central market is abuzz with activity and produce. Although the countryside is failing and the vast population of the culture is slowly being deprived of their lives, things seem to be just fine inside the city.

It is at this point that new “castes” of people are introduced, the “elite”. They sit around the city, laughing and carefree. Some are carried about the city. Others participate in its important religious duties. There are priestess and musicians working double time; singing and preparing the ongoing ceremonies.

Husband are separated from wife and child. The men continue the march to die; the others to be sold or discarded.

The raucus machine of death continues in an orderly fashion. The sacrifices are painted a special blue and marched past a beautiful painting of their impending doom, explaining the procedure. It is kind of like a boilerplate sacrifice-contract that you ink with your passing. Nice touch.

Then. It is up the ramp... to the top of the world.

The death that the head-priest and the King’s family have in wait for you at the top of this Mayan city-state really, really sucks. I’ll save that and the ending for yous that haven’t seen it yet. I want to talk about cynicism and history, now.

The obvious questions in your mind at this point in the movie should be “Why the fuck is this happening?” and “What the fuck?!!!!” You should be ANGRY, or at least feeling a little bit ill by this point. If you have no empathy or sympathy with the jungle people about to die or live in slavery for the rest of their lives, you really should. They are you. Let me explain.

---

The sacrificial lambs may not be all of you, but they are most of you. Most of us. They are the victims of a social machine evolved from spare parts of resource extraction, resource management, history and myth, labour shortage, technology, power and religion.

They are the victims of a cynical ploy by the super-elite class to buy some more time and power atop the apocryphal “heap” of the regional power system. Using their society’s intellectual and scientific resources, they time the tightly-managed harvest and murder of their neighbouring societies to coincide with a solar eclipse and “prove” their rights to rule as successful petitioners of the gods and their right to skim the very best off the top of their society as directors of its economy.

Now the question that would never be asked at the top of that pyramid is : “Is it OK for us to pretend that ours is an unquestionable path, even though everything is a lie and we live by the suffering of millions below us?”

The implication of the story is that the ceremonies are now over, because of the eclipse. It is not certain how long this bloodshed has been going on, but a later scene indicates that there are hundreds if not thousands of victims.

The gruesome imageries depicted in the movie are probably good representation of events that actually occurred at different times in the Mayan empire, perhaps at every significant astronomical event. It is not known to me if those types of mass sacrifice were still going on during the earliest contact period with Europeans. The height of the Mayan empire had already passed by that time, fragmenting into smaller city-states. The Mayans, of course, still walk among us.

The last portion of the movie completes the arc of Jaguar Paw and lands the judgement of the plague-angel's prophecy.

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The 2011 BingoRage Roundup [Part 1]

2011-12-28T02:26:00.001-06:00

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*** PSA WARNING & SPOILER: Adult language and disturbing ideas, below. ***
*** Seriously... go now. ***

It is an uncomfortable fact to acknowledge, even for some die-hard evolutionists, that people kept interbreeding with the ancestors of chimpanzees for millions of years, multiples of generations, even as our ancestors began to move away from the root ape lineage.

The thought of our ancestral "grammas and grampas" inheriting and donating genetic material with Bonzo just feels wrong.

But that is bad analysis; a moralistic "ick factor" weighted against the measure of reality. Proto-chimps and proto-humans were not hybridising to create an unholy chimera against the rules of some dogmatic "nature"; they were two separate, but overlapping populations emerging from an older, extinct ancestor on the basis of reproduction mechanics. That does not preclude a design, there is simply no evidence-for or need-for, design, in species and speciation.

Mercifully, we are no longer able to interbreed with the chimpanzee. Imagine the embarassment that a liger's mother must feel.

Right Eye
Acrylic on unstretched canvas. 2011. approx 24" H x 26" W ; 2 coats acrylic matte sealer.

It has been confirmed (apparently), that the Neanderthal swapped genetic input with Europeans, but not contemporary African humans. They didn't go for the whole "caveman" thing... apparently. Not into Bears, so much, back then.

Forget that noise; that's not even the most scary, interesting human evolutionary information to come down the pipe in these, the last years of the Mayan Calendar.

The bestest and most-inspiring mindfuck, for me, is the near-certainty that there were 2 or 3 other "human species" coexisting with us, as late as 30,000 - 50,000(?) years ago. Homo Floresiensis "Hobbit", "Woman X", Neanderthal and -possibly- Homo Erectus.

Throw in the contemporaneous, giant, temperate Orangutang at the end of the Old World and at the gates of the New World, Gigantopithecus [aka BigFoot] and it is no wonder that our dreams, fears, archetypal stories and nightmares are filled with Aliens, Strangers, Ghosts, Demons and other hairy, striding, all-too-familiar Monsters.

Your meat is identical to that of the mouse. That doesn't mean that you should f*#@ it. Bonobos are sexually proficient and promiscuous, you could probably train one to boink you, but it would be expensive. Afterwards, there is no guarantee that the beast still won't bite off your face, because: they are not monogamous.

They are alot like us.

(Update, 1430 hours. Editors note: I have no idea where this thought was going, or what it has to do with "2011", so I am electing to finish here, with the following thought: Those folks across the water and down the street are all in our family. That's what a species is... a giant family.)

---

The impending Ryan McMahon/Clarence Two Toes/RedManLaughing podcast-themed interview/inquisition/bare-knuckle powwow continues to impend.

The semi-official #ZABRW (ZzorhnAndBingoRageWandercast) Media testscreen. Acrylic on unstretched canvas, 2011.

I haven't started cutting [Part 2] of #ZABRW S01Ep14, yet. I am... listening to Joe Rogan's podcast, Episode #166. It is so reassuring to listen to another germinating fruit of the psychedelic reawakening of of North America. The right-wing nutjobs of this world would hold that it is imperative to stomp out civil rights, due process and the ability to publicly disagree with the system; much of the overall human progress achieved and lost in the last hundred years.

Joe Rogan battles against the douchebags for us and takes direction from his followers; embraces and respects them...

Listening to the Joe Rogan podcast, the Deathsquad.TV Network, the Marc Maron WTF podcast and Kevin Smith's Smodcast Network has become, amongst other things, an emerging masterclass in comedy and the comedian's art. A window on the behind-the-scenes, philospohical conversation about entertainment and the wider culture.

The Zzorhn And BingoRage Wandercast
Click here, for the enlightenments.

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Art "resale royalties", do they help or hurt artists?

"... the right to 5 percent of a later sale is like a lottery ticket — and like lottery tickets, the vast majority of ticket holders walk away worse off. And the net effect is to transfer wealth from unsuccessful artists (the lottery losers) to successful artists (the lottery winners)."

Regardless of the effect upon painters and sculptors; my fear is that this could be some sort of Trojan horse for "Big Copyright" to start imposing fees on derivative works, which will be pursued with a policing fury and judicial consent that the average paint spiller cannot afford to pursue their righteous pittance claim. Suck it, "Shartists" (sheeple artists) Copyright and TradeMark of BrokenVultureArt/BingoRageStudio.

The only artists that this kind of financial device may benefit are "1 percenter" artists (whom do not need the extra loot), "wannabe 1 percenter" artists who could use a little boost, corporate intellectual property speculators, lobbyists and willfully ignorant legislators.

Do not feel alarmed; this is how most corporate money is created nowadays: finding or creating new rules to tweak, new loopholes to explore, greasing the skids and lying about malfeasance.

I'm not bitter.
Really.
Happy New Year.
:Eric

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New podcast episode, new canvas, older masks

2011-12-25T22:50:00.001-06:00

ZABRW - S01 Ep14 (Part 1) “North Korea, Zzorhn birthday, True Romance...”

Woooo, woooo, woooooo, Conspiracy theory, expensive beep, so ronery, wayne and shuster in a dungeon,lobbing buckshot through your neighbour’s window every six months,vice guide to NK slave camps, mining with acid, naked gun fragment, shiny thing, melt down libyan money, the light is shone behind the curtain behold the breadless sandwich, clipboard confessions, bypassing the wigger rastafarian, spoiler alert, Do you do everything Elvis tells you to do? ex-cop pisses off a Don, alabama’s corkscrew fight, superman has lex we have timmy64, ryan endorsez ronPaul, Eric wants it bigger, we hose the video feed and had to stop the audio feed, cat intermission behind the emerald curtain. Part 2 due by New Year; special guest?

---

Those are my notes for the first half of our most recent podcast. “The Zzorhn And BingoRage Wandercast” , Season 01, Episode 14 (Part 1), is now posted.

I want to clarify my point in the discussion of the Sicilian Ancestry scene between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken. Dennis Hopper’s character knew he was going to die and reached back for the most base , encompassing, “historically plausible” and fearless insult that he can muster. The truth, of course, is more complicated than that. Google it. But, check this; A significant percentage of all asian men are descended from Genghis Khan, supposedly. That dude and his male heirs married, “conquested”, raped and orgied their way back and forth across half the known world, dropping his seed in all of his enemies, friends, uneasy neighbours and hosted diplomat’s wives. So who cares about the Moors in Sicily? As genetic insult, it seems sorta piddlin'.

Our second live attempt had switched from a 20-person voip chatserver to a free videocast streaming site. We lost some of the audio to creeping feedback; too many microphones and speakers locked into exotic feedback loops, three different laptops, two functioning cameras in a crumbly basement. The video seems to be encoded in some exotic flavour of flash video that defies editing, so far. Will work on a different video studio setup for next live attempt.

You can watch a portion of the live video at Ustream. Fair warning; it's a bit lame. I know there's a commercial and audio drop... fast forward to 03:04 after commercial, thanks.

New camera/usb microphone working out great; my fave xmas present, so far. Looking forward to new, impending audio projects. Going to do a sit-down with local boy made good, Ryan Mcmahon of the RedManLaughing Podcast, about the new media and probably - the democratisation and hustle of the new audience. Then there is the long-shelved audiobook reading...

The newest piece that I have been working on is the Rock Bass Uber Alles. It’s about 50 inches H x 24 inches W on unstretched canvas. The fish in this scene become more fully realised, the deeper they are. Their strict order is being trespassed, however. The meaningful layering, cut with lying thread.

Staying near my internet connection this Xmas, touching up some papier mache pieces that have been in semi-finished limbo. A layer of clearcoat to the painted pieces. A dash of red to the cheeks of this one, while slathering a base coat of scarlet for another’s first-paint.

"Blackbird" and "Rosy Cheeks". Acrylic on paper, 2011.

Cooking up a batch of paste to finish off a couple small sculptural pieces and a mask with a ragged edge. Layers and layers, squinting for thin spots ‘gainst halogen’s lamp. That’s how I’ll be spending the next couple days.

---

Both of these paper masks were "cast" from the same clay face. The papier mache process changes the soft clay and subsequent "copies" taken from the same sculptural form. Changes can be exaggerated in the fabrication process, after the initial paper cast is taken off the form. Then, of course, the final paint can make a world of difference.

---

"Rosy Cheeks" and the "Blackbird Mask" -above- are different generation casts of the same clay form... evolved.

The brave JohnnyCat shows his mettle, by furiously guarding the blaze orange hunting clothing, earning him the title of "Bestest hunting cat in whole house (when orange cat isn't listening)".

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The Old Sea Captain Vs. The Ancestral Jay

2011-12-19T07:27:00.000-06:00

-- Click most pics for larger view.

I had said that this painting reminded me of an Ojibway archetype; an essential battle, a terrifying synergy between water and sky on a big lake or other substantial expanse of water. The mythological imagery that leaps to mind is the purported enmity between the Thunderbirds and Mizhepezhou.

In this canvas, the water role is played by the "Old Sea Captain"; A bushy-lookin', clay-pipe chompin', twisted and dehumanised Davy Jones mutey (mutant, not speechless).

He is spewing/projecting some offensive force that penetrates and defeats "The Ancestral Jay", a now-extinct corvid of dubious anatomy.

Part 1

Part 2

After stretching and fixing the canvas onto the boxframe, I mixed various blues, green and white to make a turqoisey colour for the background. Using the handle of my paintbrush, I "scratched" a quick sketch into the wet paint.

Honestly; the canvas didn't look like much after first paint. The scratch lines were traced with grays and whites, dull sage greens. When I started throwing paint at the hair, it began to change.

Adding black, hard lines to the Sea Captain turned it from a full profile to a partially straight-on face. Dripping paint reinforced the throat lines of the bird.

Introducing the pipe nearly obliterated the jaw, which had been defined with thick, hard, dark lines. It reaches far into "our" space; the bowl becoming the foremost foreground.

Detail pics of the Old Sea Captain and The Ancestral Jay, before the solid, tube-squeezed lines and dots of the final changes.

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Joe Rogan, discussing #OWS on his great podcast.

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Twilight And Totem-Pole Painting Puzzle - Nov. 2011

2011-12-09T09:53:00.007-06:00

Update: 5pm - Auction link fixed and podcast link added. Dec. 10_3am - Embed latest podcast, with flash player. Add more pics.

The Zzorhn And BingoRage Wandercast podcast page.

Season 01 Episode 12

Our Winter 2011-2012 Sponsorship-piece will go on auction at Ebay, December 9, 2011; 9AM PST Twilight And Totem-Pole Painting Puzzle - Nov. 2011

The chickenosaurus is... perhaps, not as feared as the brave JohnnyCat, but it is still a formidable presence. However, in the company of dubious bunnies and pop-vampirism, it feels like a lamer. Bad chickenosaurus.

The canvas was begun after this autumn's deercamp. It underwent many changes -as you can see, in the video- but managed to maintain its chickenosaurusness.

I am auctioning off this work to help cover our butts for the winter, so if you have some rich uncle or crazed hippy bosses with money in their mattress, please forward this post. The auction begins Dec.09 and only runs for seven days. There is a chance that it may reach its destination for Xmas, depending on the vagaries of paypal transaction, but is more likely to be shipped in the new year.

The chickenosaurus doesn't yet exist, but Jack Horner is trying to unleash it upon the world. Way to go, science!!

More disturbing than the chickenosaurus or the loose vampirism, of course, are the bunnies of ill-repute that seem harmless, but are just biding time.

So, be a good lad/lass and chuck us some dough, or badger someone with real money, for us. Miigwitch. (That's for the cashy skins out there.)

Oh, look... It's that brave JohnnyCat. Good Johnny.

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SpiritFirePark sponsorship project, Zzorhn & BingoRage Wandercast Season 1 Episode 5 "Internet Gaming 01" and Warcraft-audiencemanship

2011-10-12T17:28:00.006-05:00

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(Updated Oct.14, 2011: Sponsorship details added, below.
Oct.15: minor edits, pic moved and title change,
Returning viewers, please note sponsorship package notation.)

There are three grown men in the room, actively ignoring me while I try to ask them some serious questions. Nuts and bolts -type questions about game mechanics and battle strategy of "World of Warcraft". They are speaking aloud to each other, gesturing and making grand grunting noises occasionally.

It's Alliance vs. Horde, baby.

There are other grown men, grown women, children and perhaps bots on this battlefield, from all over the world. My acquaintances are being attacked by an emergent army of different species, genders, "classes" and levels. This particular battleground pits 15 enemies against our side's 15; I lose track of who is winning and how. I think that this ~~war~~ battle may be timed, but I am not sure. My friend's character stands on a hill, defending some flag while his team is getting their ass kicked somewhere else. I feel distinct hostility from the group as he answers my questions and encourages me to walk around in his skin as the others continue to get beat down, mano a monster. We win, somehow. The guys compare their stats and brag about their "damage per second", etc..

Later, we refought the battle of Normandy in WOW fashion; a tall ship has docked and is spilling attackers onto the pier. Our side play the allegorical German gunners, as we rain havoc with steampunk/magic cannon on the seaside. [Parabolic laser-tracer sights.] We retreat inland and upwards as chugging siege engines follow. Eventually, there is no higher ground to fall back to. Afterwards, our guys attack from the shore in a reversal of roles; the time difference to the "objective" determining the winner. One of our players falls into a hole on the dock and is stuck for the entirety of the attack. He can't even kill himself and rejoin the fight.

We're waiting for the next battle to start, wandering around some medieval village comparing companion animals and "mounts", etc. One guy can summon a troupe of Scottish Highland dancers, but is saddened to admit that they can't be summoned in battle.

There is loose talk of fishing, "grinding", foodstuffs, trading and manufacture "in-game" as we wait out the "11 minute average wait-time". An ominous theme plays through the speakers as we are summoned to the dungeon.

"Everybody stay together"
"Eat that fish before we go any further"
"10 seconds..."
...
"Is that a Boss?" (I say)
"No, that's garbage." (A doorman, of sorts.)
"Somebody pulled!" Evidently "pulling" is bad, because our group is buried in an avalanche of hideous critters.
"Tanks are supposed to pull, but this Tank blows."

I wonder, aloud, why they can't attack with their mounts. "What's the point of riding a Raptor (dino) or a Dragon if you can't attack with it?" All present agree with me.

"Is that a Boss?"
"That... is a Boss."
It looks like a gigantic-metallic-grim-reaper-demon-arthropod wielding a battle-axe the size of a bus.

"My guild got hacked once... we saw a character going back and forth to a mailbox... robbed us blind."

"Tank's not going to like that you're pulling all the attention."

My notes end at this point. Much fun was had by all, then they went out dancing.

---

Please be forewarned: The following podcast contains adult language, sulky muttering and poorly thought-out arguements.

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SFP Sculptural Sponsorship Opportunity

These pics show the last big change to the Sturgeon Mama sculptural model, moving the pelvic fins back and lower on the body; a more realistic position. I have striven to make the proportions of this piece realistic, while employing a stylised representation of the fish's body.

The sturgeon has become more realistically proportioned and anatomically corrected as the modeling evolved. The process is further documented in a previous BingoRage posting (photos and video).

Paper copies of this piece will be available for purchase (profits supporting BingoRage Studio and Spirit Fire Park)Papier-mache replicas of the "Sturgeon Mama" will be available in "plain paper"/finish-at-home form, or finished by #BingoRageStudio; available in hanging, wall-mount or floor mount.

We are also looking for someone to sponsor a bronze casting/installation at Spirit Fire Park, which will also provide us with the means to offer residencies to regional artists and expand our "canvas" footprint at the park.

Proposed Sponsorship Project at Spirit Fire Park:
The "Sturgeon Mama" Installation.

A large, gravid Sturgeon swims over exposed bedrock ridges and between the Aspen, sinking towards the forest floor's forage; Bronze back glints amongst the Balsams as distant train whistle blows.

The Ontario Arts Council funded our inaugural season as a public artpark, generously supporting the building of our multipurpose muralwall, paper mask-making for our theatre space and sculpture creation for installation in the park. The sculpting of the foam/clay sculpture model "Sturgeon Mama" is a direct result of that OAC Northern Arts project.

With this sponsorship project, we would like to fund: 1) the creation of a rubber and plaster negative mold, 2) wax positive casts of the fish's form, 3) plaster investments and ceramic shells for the wax segments, 4) casting, fabrication and "finishing" of the bronze sculpture, 5) delivery and installation of the mounted and finished bronze, [subtotal: $ 110 000]

6) 4 artist residencies at Spirit Fire Park over the next two years [subtotal :$ 20 000]

7) ongoing BingoRage studiowork and 8) continuing infrastructure development and maintenance at the park. [subtotal: $ 50 000]

Total sponsorship package: $ 180 000 (N.B. - Subject to change if the price of copper skyrockets + any applicable taxes/duty/etc.)

The "Sturgeon Mama" will be available for private purchase, after we fund the rubber and plaster mold-making process; currently at $ 95 000 (N.B. - plus delivery and installation + any applicable taxes/duty/etc.).

* It is important to note that individual destinations and installation requirements need to be addressed and ~~funded~~ budgeted separately from the casting/fabrication/finishing process.

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We are particularly excited at the opportunity of enabling and encouraging regional arts-community development in NW Ontario.

Please pass this sponsorship opportunity along if you know someone looking for large fish sculpture, riverside-park installation needs, memorial plaques in their name, money spilling out of their pockets, etc.

8-)

The boys at Anurag Art - Bronze Foundry and Studio are just lickin' their lips to get started on this project.

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Zzorhn & BingoRage Wandercast Season 1 Episode 4

2011-10-07T07:14:00.001-05:00

The long-awaited North American Archaeology episode.

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Sturgeon Mama - sculptural form in foam and clay

2011-10-06T07:15:00.002-05:00

-
(Update Oct.15, 2011: Added more pics and sculpting description)
Most pics click for larger detail.

The #SturgeonMama sculptural model has been created by carving the rough form in a stiff plastic extruded foam, with steel wire brushes. This left a roughened exterior which bonded well with warmed/worked oil-base modeling clay.

It has been built-up and modified considerably as it has resolved into its current incarnation. In the future, this form could be significantly reworked to produce a different form. When I had the foam core at the park, I mused aloud about "carving the guts out of it" and making a hollow sturgeon with detail inside, reminiscent of the Morriseau "X-ray" stylisation. Maybe later.

After a quick reference glance at some sturgeon pics, it became obvious that the tail was all wrong, so I used a serrated putty knife, some foam scraps and a whole lotta hot-glue to correct the tail fins. The rough foam-carving had been done without a reference picture, but fit well to the new fin positions; the plan had always been to mount the dorsal fin after initial carving.

The body is highly stylised; with its "rib segment" look and diamond "scutes" (large scales along the sides and back. The scutes along the body parallel the lateral line of the fish, while the scutes of the back are represented by the rippled line of the profile.

Much of the form's resolution was informed by the conscious shaping of the back end of the body, where it meets the tail and along the belly. It is in this curve that the fish grows heavy with its spawn. The expansion of the belly and increased depth of the body necessitated the movement of the pelvic fins back and lower on the form.

The accompanying video has audio from the fabled "lost episode" of Zzorhn and BingoRage Wandercast. Actually, we had too many beers and had lost most verbal command; so, it's really not lost, just not totally useable. The paper cast of the model will be installed at Spirit Fire Park in the spring. This is a link to the BingoRage posting describing our "Sturgeon Mama" sponsorship project at #SpiritFirePark; please pass along to friends seeking ways to spend lotsa cash.

Miigwetch.
:Eric

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Zzorhn & BingoRage Wandercast Season 1 Episode 3

2011-10-03T04:58:00.000-05:00

"Shut the fuck up, Zzorhn!"

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Inaugural Zzorhn & BingoRage Wandercast

2011-09-27T05:09:00.001-05:00

We are calling this the Inaugural podcast, basically because we really screwed up the first one; so, here is Episode 2. Don't expect total coherence.
:E

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Recent art videos of recent painting [and embedded audio inspirations].

2011-04-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

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"Interdimensional Mallard and the Mystical Piranha-Crappie-Halibut Hybrid"
Acrylic on canvas. Video from Jan.6, 2011. Picture is from April 2011, when the painting is clearcoated and considered finished.

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"Yellow Cliffs" Acrylic on canvas. Video from March 2011
In this piece, extinct beasts chase humanity into the present and are left behind. The cliffs echo the land that has been ripped away by continental glaciers.

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"Miss LoonTrout Got a Crappy Boobjob. Mr and Mrs. Crack-Penguin Pull Their Tired, Old William Tell Routine. Nanabush is Alive, and In The World."
Acrylic, ink, beadwork, papier-mache and antler on Canvas.
Video from March 2011.

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"Loon Family" Spring, 2011. Acrylic,ink on canvas.
A fave motif of Norval Morrisseau.

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A "Tell 'Em Steve-Dave" (TESD) podcast animation.
TESD brought to yous by www.SMODCAST.com

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BingoRage LinkyPost ; Spring 2011 edition

2011-04-14T18:40:00.001-05:00

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JeffHealey
Acrylic on (Stonehenge) paper.
2004-2009

JeffHealey Wikipedia page.

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Sharks being taught to eat invasive Lionfish, in the Caribbean.

Project Grizzly at Nat. Film Board of Canada. Canadian inventor Troy Hurtubise is best known for his anti-Grizzly suit, but has other interesting works-in-progress.

Sam Harris vs William Lane Craig - Debate: Does Good Come From God - 7 April 2011

Native American music category cut from the Grammys.

$10 000 fine (+) for Rock Art Vandal. Fisherman defaces petroglyph on Colorado River.

2 Manitoba First Nations planning an "illegal" casino.

Voyageurs' TB thrives among First Nations

Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains Feb. 18 - May 15, 2011; Brooklyn Museum.

Native American Artists for Japan.

Virtual museum of Nunavut.

Helping native artists flourish. Native Arts & Cultures Foundation makes its presence known...

A new development model gains steam in aboriginal communities.

Dale Chihuly show at Museum of Fine Art in Boston includes work inspired by Native American basketry.

Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art. Missouri History Museum.

New camera, "size of a grain of salt"

Art of the Canoe August 8-21, 2011. June 1 application deadline.

National Museum of the American Indian's Indigenous Contemporary Arts Program Accepting Applications for Artist Leadership Program. May 2 deadline.

Away Antigone: Saskatchewan reserve bans aboriginal production of Greek tragedy

A council meeting was held Tuesday night and Antoine and the reserve's three councillors decided to pull the curtain before it had even risen.
Kasokeo said she only found out about the decision when someone who was at the meeting called her. The chief had not spoken with her.
Antoine did not return phone calls on Thursday.
"He thinks that the play was written about him," said Kasokeo, who tried to explain to Antoine that both the story and the adaptation predate his leadership.

Fish in Ontario.

Native American Art’s Disputed Boundaries

Ahalenia. Native art blog.

WoodLand Indian Art Show, July 1-3, 2011. Oneida, Wisconsin.

National (USA) Native Artist Exchange

America's Ancient Cave Art Slate.com

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New canvases; LoonFamily (ala Norval) and Spac3Invad3r

2011-03-31T06:58:00.000-05:00

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Two new canvases, stretched on the walls of BingoRage Studio last night. LoonFamily on left and SpaceInvader on right.
Bum electric stapler in middle. I've run three or four packs of staples through this damn thing and it's already burnt out. My mechanical stapler must have survived a hundred boxes of staples... and allowed me to finish stretching these canvases last night.

LoonFamily scratch sketch (enhanced).
The "stacked" family of birds was a common motif for Woodlands School of Art founder, Norval Morrisseau. This is my latest take, on it.

First paint.

LoonFamily and Eric, in da BingoRage Studio.
(Ha!) Nice paint streak down my face. 8-)

After first night on the wall. I think that I am going to finish this piece in greyscale. I have already called it "mock greyscale", for all the blue and red tints seeping in from dirty brushes.

Northern Pike sketch detail.Pike also known as "jackfish", "snake", "hammer handle" (little ones).

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Spac3Invad3r ; primed and masked for spray paint.

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The Waves of Japan and Yellow Cliffs

2011-03-13T11:19:00.000-05:00

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Gamerz detail, from "Yellow Cliffs",
acrylic on canvas, in the BingoRage Studio.

The Waves of Japan are Burning

Why the hell am I reassuring my father
that the good capitalists of Japan
know what they are doing?

After all these years in the bliss of post-coldwar peaceyness,
why are we still living with the bogeymen?
Why are the downtrodden, the vegetarians and the radiant-ones still being punished?

We pay the taxes of this world, not the rich.
We plow the ground and grind your newspapers.
We give you fried chicken and cars.
The rich are rich, because they refuse to play.

Haven't we played this game before,
on the winds of Ukraine, the good ground of Pennsylvania and the rumours of Chalk River.

Why am I afraid for my father?
I am afraid, because the world is too short for us all.
It rolls under our feet, spinning wildy around a boiling cauldron of light.

I am afraid, because the dreams of men are built upon the thinnest of skins; concrete filled with blood, bones and seashells, piled on the shiftiest of sands and sodden hubris.

The waves of Japan are burning and I think my father cried.
The waves of Japan.
I don't need to see metal burn, even if it looks neat.
We're not built to see the guts of stars.
Monkeys don't belong in space.
Just because we can burn metal from the inside, out... doesn't mean we should.
So, I trust the good capitalists of Japan to get their collective shit together in the next few minutes.

I am ready to be uploaded, Major Tom.
I am so not ready for a post-nuclear wasteland.
I am not ready for burning, glowing waves in Vancouver.
Burning, glowing jetstream.
I am not ready for six-legged, plump headless chickens.

Damn those tectonic plates, but they are implacable.
Damn the snow, but it is implacable.
Restrict the monkeys who play with poisons and war on her bosom!!
That, we can do.

I saw the waves of Japan
and the brave, doomed children of Libya.
They are on fire, all over the internet.

I curse you all with a peace like headache.
That is my gift, children;
No more war, but everyone will live forever with migraines and dirty hands, ditchweed and whiskey.
Does that sound like a deal, dirty children of Minneapolis?
You, whom travel the back alleys of Whiz Bang and the tracks of the world?
Will you sell me that story? That load of shit?
Meet me at the Wienery in ten minutes.
Bring us a burning wave and good joke.
I'll be loaded and expecting you, but ya gotta buy something.
Fries, at least.

:Eric 03/13/11

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Mammoth, Wooly Rhinoceros, Short-faced Bear, Ichthyosaur, pictographs, hunter, gamerz.

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Stuff that interests/irks me:

Toronto g20 Exposed

AllMy Relations Gallery reopening in Minneapolis.

Museums Work to Credit the Individuals Behind Native American Artwork.

Native American Public Telecommunications seeking proposals for public broadcasting, funding available. Deadline March 16; US citizens only.

Native artist grant programs at Evergreen State College, Olympia Washington.

Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market. March 5 & 6.

Private titles mistakenly issued on Squamish Nation reserve lands. 94 year-old British Columbia mistake.

New Two Spirits Gallery, opening in Anchorage.

City of Mukilteo, Washington purchases large driftwood carving by Native carver, Tulalip tribal member, James Madison.

Sweat lodge trial fuels Native American frustrations

The plaintiffs, on behalf of their tribes, sought to end the "abuse and misuse" of their ceremonies and hoped to convince the court that their rituals were their property and should be protected under the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act. Just as a merchant can't claim earrings were made by Native Americans if they weren't, their ceremonies shouldn't be falsely advertised either, they argued.
That suit was dismissed in October. The court held that "the operation of a sweat lodge is plainly not art, craftwork or a handcraft." Services can't be protected like goods, the court ruled

Chicago's Trickster Gallery reopening.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Returns Kingfisher Fort Headdress to Native Tribe (Tlingit)

First Nation Seeks Redress for Forced Relocation

The community was forced to give up their traditional life of hunting caribou and take up permanent residence in the relatively urban setting of Churchill, Manitoba.

Vibrant work by Frank Big Bear brightens Purdue gallery

Google Art Project

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam, the Fitzgerald translation.
My favourite quatrain is eternal:

XI.

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

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Bronze sculpture progress; sponsorship and private sale available.

2011-02-05T07:58:00.001-06:00

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It's been a busy Autumn and Winter, BingoRagers. I'd spent less time in my own bed, this Fall, than in irregular squats, kitschy rustic cabins, sister’s kids’ room floor, a posh hotel, a friend’s attic and crappy crunchy convex cabin cots. There had also been changings of routines and sleep cycles that mimics the comic jetlag of the stereotype jetsetting, harried business professional. I have been on a very productive painting swing... when back at home.

The "Reptile Brain" model {right hemisphere} in foam and clay.

The boys from Anurag Art took me duck-hunting in the famous Lake of the Woods. The weather was unseasonably warm, keeping us from seeing the great Northern flocks, but many of the local puddle ducks were still available on our first expedition. The second trip got us into one very exciting morning on a backwater beaver pond. We had to hike over an old, dry floodplain and beaverdam to access the further pond, nearly three metres above the main lake level.

Zach, Teal and wonderdoggy, Oshky.

I served a very tasty duck dinner for deercamp, this year. Stuffed with celery, walnuts, onions and salt; glazed with orange juice concentrate.

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The boys encouraged me to finish a sculptural piece for them to mold and cast. The new bronze piece is tentatively titled "Reptile Brain", the model formerly known as "Windigo Skull Evolution" [previous posting].

The Foam / clay model with rubber / plaster "negative" formed around it. The clay dams hold and form the rubber as it flows and cures.

We are going to cast five pieces as a limited edition for private purchase, one piece for artist proofs and one casting for sponsorship attribution and public installation at Spirit Fire Park. I would like to sell the sponsorship project before private purchases, so that we may reimburse the Bronze gods for their advance preparation, but private buyers for individual castings are welcome.

Cost considerations include bronze ingot "market price", fixed studio and foundry fees for casting and fabricating the Bronze element of the sculpture and non-fixed (yet) costs for: base material and fabrication, site-specific installation requirements, landscape planning, transportation and actual installation particulars. Those costs can outweigh the metal, depending on where and how the piece is to be exhibited.

Chief decider and ship's captain at Anurag Art, Bill Cole.
Bill gestures and grunts, in the direction of rubber mold; perhaps indicating thirst or hunger.

This sculpture can be installed inside or outside, alone or in conjunction with other sculptural elements. Long-term installation is recommended; "mobile/short-term is possible. BVA offers the following SFP sponsorship costs projection as a baseline reference. Costs for other installations will vary, by circumstance.

Please forward, blog, tweet, etc.
Especially if you have corporate chums needing to sponsor some cultural stuff, or friends with casinos...

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Spirit Fire Park “Reptile Brain” Sponsorship:

Anurag Art- Rubber and plaster mold. $1 000
Bronze casting, fabrication and finishing. $8 000
Transportation and Installation at Spirit Fire Park. $1 000
Broken Vulture Art- Artist fee $4 000
Spirit Fire Park- Landscape and installation prep. $2 000
Maintenance contribution $2 000
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Total: $18 000
[Optional bronze plaque: $3 000]

Private purchase; one of five limited-edition castings:

Anurag Art- Casting, fab. and finish {simple base}. $8 000
+ Transportation, custom base and custom installation. {To be quoted.}
Broken Vulture Art- Artist fee $4 000
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Total: $12 000 +

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"Reptile Brain", left hemisphere.

Some innarestin' stuff:

Google Art Project. High quality/closeup scans of great art from world's great museums and galleries.
Marshall McLuhan Speaks. Visionary Canadian Fogey Scholar. Foresaw the Internet; just didn't know it.
The Wounded Knee Museum

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The "primitive" and the "modern".

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Clarence Two Toes has some TV ideas, to pitch.

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TEDxVienna-Johannes Grenzfurthner-On how to subvert subversion

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Changes made to Red Lake's own Chinaski (R.L., ON).

2011-01-21T05:03:00.001-06:00

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Previous CoRL posting.

January 21, later

January 21, early AM

January 8, BingoRage Studio wall.

When I left the studio, this painting was laid flat to halt and preserve the latest drips of paint.

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