Thursday, 20 September 2007

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I Will be on Every Listserv ... Especially That One Someone's signing me up for listserv after listserv after listserv again. I'm convinced there's a database for conservative trolls to consult when they feel someone's maligned their dearly beloved. Copy, paste, then give that vicious liberal the spam he so richly deserves! However, there must be a glitch in their system: this is one of the lists to which I'm now subscribed. (Replace the slashes with "a" to view the site.) The email itself was so entertaining, I took a minute to learn about "Mich/el Isr/el": Isr/el's work moves far beyond the act of painting and the final result of what is achieved on canvas. Yet, if only those portions of his work are considered, he may well be keeping company with some of the most brilliant artists. And while our First Amendment guarantees us the right to make any statement we wish, Mich/el believes that such freedom comes with the moral obligation to use it for good purpose and not sensationalism and vulgarity for the sake of profit and greed. Call me an elitist, but I'm not sure I'd want my official online biography to contain freshman comp. quality filler about the First Amendment. So, what is this work that "moves far beyond the act of painting"? The act of painting is just one component of his artistic expression in a fervently charged performance, one in which his audience is very much a part of the process. To date, there may not be a specific definition for Isr/el's work. Is it a performance? Is he a painter in the artistic sense? Is it a concert? A social commentary? An experience? The answers are all emphatically yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. It is all of those things and more. Mich/el Isr/el is an anomaly. What it is like to experience this anomaly? His performance encompasses a multitude of components. The initial and most obvious being the heart-pounding music, pulsing and reverberating, crescendos highlighting Mich/el's performance in perfect unison to his strokes, sometimes with double fisted paint brushes, others with only his hands. As he spins his canvas, round and round, back and forth, the audience is mesmerized [and covered in paint ], curious as to what his movements and strokes will reveal. Mich/el Isr/el, lithe and athletic, uses his whole body in what seems to be a magical, lyrical, exuberant dance, pulling his audience in as part of a heightened experience. To witness him in action is to think that he personifies the concept of kinetic art [and be covered in paint]. It is that and more, which defies definition. As his program builds to a booming, thrilling conclusion, audience members are left exhilarated and fulfilled [and covered in paint ], having been captivated by his hypnotic performance. Far more than an up-side-down portrait or abstract splashes Mich/el’s presentation exudes originality and significance. I concur: that and more do defy description. Or maybe I'm being uncharitable? For charities, Mich/el's performances raise awareness, goodwill, and funds on a grand scale....
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Update on the Jena Six David Duke David Duke's released a statement attacking the media for its coverage of the Jena Six. (Did I mention Kevin's mensch-work before? I did? It bears mentioning again.) Duke likes to paint himself not as a white supremacist, but as an advocate of white pride. Whites aren't better, by this logic, merely different in a way that should be celebrated. His complaint is that the media is focused on how much Jena celebrates their white heritage, when, in fact, the entire state of Louisiana does: Much has been made of the fact that I won an overwhelming majority of votes in Jena Louisiana in my election bids for U.S. Senator and for Governor. Such is said to falsely label the people in Jena as “racists.” In fact, I won the overwhelming majority of the White vote in the entire state of Louisiana, not just in Jena. He's understandably upset by how the white population in Jena has been portrayed as racist. The prosecutor who charged black kids while letting white adults walk for the same crime was supporting his race. After all, White people in America have lost our basic civil rights. Whites are now deprived of human rights by racial discrimination in jobs, promotions, scholarships, college admissions and in many other programs. But why harp on commonplace hypocrisy when you can expose virulent racism to the light? On the same board to which I wouldn't link previously, David Duke posted his statement. The comments it elicits are ... telling: The blacks all believe that if they show up in mass numbers they can get their ways. And up to now they have been right. Hopefully the people of Jena will wake up and help turn the tide of the plague that has invaded their once peaceful community. Thank you Dr. Duke for standing up for the people of Jena. Thank you for all you have done for all of us of White European Heritage! Not that it's all positive: Why doesn't Duke do what Sharpton does ... Be Active instead of recapping the whole incident for us. We need a white Sharpton, not someone else who sits back and complains. He surely has the recognition, and support to organize big protests, yet seems think he's doing us a valuable service by telling us what we already know. Gee, thanks. Duke himself responds: You younger guys reading this, it is time you stepped up to the plate. My focus today is on getting a lot of David Duke's [sic] going hot and heavy! Getting a lot of David Duke's [sic] motivated and knowledgeable! Getting a lot of David Duke's [sic] elected! I have been more successful at that in Europe than the US, but hopefully that will soon change. So, if you like what I say and think I should do more what you say I should, then please be my guest, do what you think I should! I urge every White activist who reads these words to do the same....

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