e At one hundred years old, this watercolor and ink drawing, with few lines, expresses all the whimsy of mobiles, the frenetic action, some say even sounds of a man-made mehanical whirleygig, and invites the viewer to turn the crank as it were. In other words, it remains as relevant now as when it was created. It contanis and fully expresses the concept of the Rene' Magritte classic, The Treachery of Images aka "This is not as pipe" or as the painting expresses itself in French, "Ceci est pas une pipe." Twittering machine also calls us diagramatically to participate, turn the crank, to animate the two-dimensional work. This image is a plaything of the impossible, the matrushka doll within the matrushka doll and down to the kernel of the tiniest hope within that this machine can work. Frenzy echoes through the playful and inexplicably active quality of the lines, the deft use of color and the personality of each emblematic mechanical creatures. Are they birds reminiscent of a cuckoo clock? This image creates virtual sound. Notes on paper are the preferred method of doing that! Not with mechanical birds.
The language that Twittering Machine uses to convey its message is as timeless as drawings in caves around the globe, on rock walls and outcrops, in the most primitive art we have yet to "discover". It holds the viewer spellbound just long enough to imagine how the machine must work and to have the delight, wash over us imagining the working device. The thrill of it working draws us in like a fractal, yet for most viewers, we will be able to return to the image a hundred times and still wish that we could play with the model the drawing hints at. It has the immersive effect of earlier noitions of figure/ground, adding atmosphere, a hedge or tree-line for depth, by throwing those cares to the wind, perhaps a hundred lines conspire to carve out a rotating globe of mayhem. Sound familiar? After a hundred years, the Authoritarians are still playing their tricks on the public mind, convincing us that a well-entrenched line drawing can substitute for a living organism. The ultra-wealthy continue to fund systems that define our words for us, telling us what we meant, what to be offended by, telling us we can play, but only following the rules and alternate physical reality one must "believe in" to interact with their impossible device. An extreme minority has perfected the art of capturing the imagination of the majority. Perhaps the twenty-first century schitzoid-man is the only one capaple of turning the crank on this old device, this relic, our "culture" that they have fancifully spun, of candyfloss and angst presented at random intervals.
STEP RIGHT UP! GET YOUR ALTERNATE REALITY! TIME IS RUNNING OUT! LIMITED SUPPLY! TODAY ONLY! As the wheels continue to come off our society, we are beginning to understand that by necessity, we are at the end of the age of fossil energy, Renewables and efficient use of energy needs to be the rule, world-wide. The need for forward thinking, grappling with physics and strategically planning for positive changes now and into the future is undeniably necessary. Sadly, Fascists continue to attempt to remove the important parts of society, like humanity and compassion, while the rest of us are moving toward something better. The small strides we have made toward truth, equality and justice over the past hundred years are being screamed down by a paltry few in an effort to hold on to their perspectives and perceived power. In democratic societies, the goal of the majority need not ever be to oppress the losers, attack the minorities among them or ignore those who cannot hope to win; but to lift everyone to a better place. If we revert back to behaving like rats trying to push one another down to stay alfloat, in a bucket of water, we will most surely squander our most fundasmental humanity and compassion in the process.
Remaining playful in the face of these so-called freedom-lovers and their empty partiotic slogans, laughing in the face of nationalists who deem any difference as an assault on their sensibilities or comfy place, is the corrollary to "If you don't laugh, you will cry." We the people, have all this potential, if we would only reach out and turn the crank. This work has been designed to draw you out. I "see" you there, standing, hands in pockets. Some of you blinking slowly, like deer in headlights. Whatever twittering machine is threatening to go off in your head, please, take a few really deep breaths, ask oyurself what you are willing to put sustained energy into and strike out. Grab the handle and give it a tug. Get into good trouble, raise a ruckus, run for office, fill a need that you see around you, not to be an agitation, but to help heal the wounds inflicted by those bullies who would steal our nation because they didn't like the results of a single election. Seriously. Seriously? Seriously! The majority has always spoken as one. Most of us want these seditionists, the forces who would pray for Armageddon, those who want to take us back a hundred years, or claim they are fighting for their own freedoms while taking the rest of ours away, to just sit down, step off or at least stop fighting what we know works. We've got things to do. We need to get on with them. We just want the oppressors, the big money guys and their willfully ignorant footsoldiers to get out of the way! We don't want to oppress the rich, old, White, males (as they have done to the rest of us for centuries)we just need them to be quiet, step aside and let us graciously take the reins.
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