Introduction Post One - Bell ( ☞˙ᵕ˙)☞

 

✸☆•··.Howdy y'all! .··•☆✸

My name is Bell, a 32 year-old New York born millennial living in Jersey whose just trying to rekindle her love for art by returning to school and developing the missing pieces of the craft after being away from it for so long. 

Photo of me for reference. I'm not actually a hamster. :(

I'm currently working towards a BFA in illustration, with the hope to eventually work towards developing indie comics (and hopefully animation) for myself. I'm not interested in working for companies like I was when I was younger, and would rather fulfill the goal of creating for myself. I'm very big into comics and animation, and could probably rant on a bunch of ones from the early 90s to now, as I try to keep up with the industry. I'm into anime as well, though not as much. Video games are essential, too. Preferably RPG/Story-based, Horror which leads into an interest in the Horror genre as my favorite for film. I feel like cause of this it goes to say that most heavy metal/punk/emo/whatever music is my favorite to listen to; I miss the mosh pits (I kicked in the face twice in a pit) and crowd surfing. Surrealism also holds a special place in my heart. I am also big on psychology, and it was the major I was originally pursuing before transferring to NJCU! I never strolled too far off from the path of art through the years I gave up on it, due to negative influence and financial necessity mind you, as I was also interested in creating music to essentially be used in future works of mine. Here's an obligatory plug!

✶ Click here for hot singles (music) in your area!  ✶

The journey to reconnect and pursue art has been an arduous one.

I've been trying to document what I can of my journey, and maybe will eventually find the time to post what my stuff used to look like before the loooooong hiatus, for now all I have is this: ☞ Art-stagram

And now for the second part!

1. Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hooks

• "We need to highlight the role that women play in perpetuating and sustaining patriarchal culture so that we will recognize patriarchy as a system women and men support equally, even if men receive more rewards from that system (Hooks, para. 12)."

It's an interesting time to be living in wherein this quote sort of comes alive in what it is insinuating. Bell Hooks goes into detail about her experience within a patriarchal, and religious, household where gender roles are imposed and expected as men are essentially the "ruling class". She even brings to light how her mother did not push back against said roles but rather supported and reinforced them. This ideology, despite booms in feminism and women's movements, hasn't changed much throughout the years. What's interesting is how much more apparent it is, in a sense. While it existed and is known, with social media and media in general more accessible, we see an uptick of women marketing themselves as "trad wives", or traditionally valued, or even as the voice of men coming into women led spaces and advocating for the right to patriarchy. We have shows like "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives", or influencers like JustPearlyThings, who advocate on a man's role to cheat and thrive while a women is meant to only be subservient. Rather than offer valid solutions to what could be the result of patriarchal excess causing a rift between both genders, and within themselves, there are women who would rather sustain this ideology under the guise that promoting the opposite would produce even more disastrous results for us all. 

• "If patriarchy were rewarding, the overwhelming dissatisfaction most men feel in their work...would not exist (Hooks, para. 26)."

Hooks' statement here, just as the first, remains very present in our culture today as well. Most men are rather vocal about their displeasure and dissatisfaction with life, to the point where they feel the need to fill the voids within themselves with new pursuits: be it in the form of women, at the cost of others or themselves, vices or extravagances. Much of the media directed towards men urges them to do A or B, to obtain A or B, or even that without A or B in their lives, or else they risk failure as a man. Examples of this lie within the Alpha Male, Manosphere, podcasts (think Andrew Tate) or general politics found that urge men to follow within a patriarchal path or else their lives amount to nothing, or worse, they're no better than a woman. This can become psychologically, and emotionally, exhausting to the point of perpetuating violence when not feeling as if they're "allowed" to obtain what they need or want. 

2. What Memes Owe to Art History | Artsy

• "Through an ironic and playful treatment of a fragmented subject, memes break down high and low culture, disrupting ideas of authenticity and originality (Bucknell, para. 2)."

More of a personal thought, but I find it sort of hilarious to be here to view the meme as a subject of discussion. I can recall the millennial "birth" of the meme through simple, and random, photos with simple text on them spread through MySpace and early Facebook. Never took them seriously, and at times still don't, but can understand how it relates to Art History as a whole as memes, in a different form, existed back then just as well. Memes can either deliver no narrative or tell you a story in just a few words, invoke a feeling even if it is just laughter. Take something original and recreate it for a different purpose - almost like a collage!

Pretty much every day of my life now...

• “'Narratives matter.…Pictures don’t speak for themselves,' [Wershler] said, arguing that memes are not just jokes, but rather have the potential to be more sinister than what meets the eye. “Memes aren’t an innocent process—they carry serious political weight, and not always of the activist variety,' Wershler said, citing the website 4chan’s politics board and other alt-right cyber-communes where hate speech has festered in the form of memes. (Bucknell, para. 7)"

Bucknell's inclusion of Wershler's understanding of memes as more than just jokes is necessary to understand them as, not only an extension to art, but as an extension to propaganda. Many sites and forums marked as alt-right havens flourish in their creation of media, memes included, that depict racist stereotypes, and perpetuate harmful agendas toward women, children, and members of the lgbt communities. Even now, there are memes being created to perpetuate and rewrite history as it is happening. It's necessary to understand the extent of how images are created to feed narratives to certain people.

3. Memes Are Our Generation's Protest Art | VICE

• "Most people interact with these images in fleeting ways as they scroll through their feeds, but creating or consuming political memes that align with one’s point of view can be therapeutic. They reflect what’s happening in society, and help justify feelings of rage and fear while helping us feel less alone."

While there's a lot of arguments over why social media is bad, due to the dopamine spiking and etc, it's hard to deny that it can be, at times, an efficient source of information (obviously dependent on use). Memes themselves are a quick way to relay information during moments when time is way too restricted, like during rush hour or maybe in-between free moments. You can find out something new from a gif or meme and it urges you to look up the context, opening up a new conversation or yes, as pointed out in the article, be a quick way to express a thought you have no words for.

• "Young internet users and activists—such as the March for Our Lives organizers and supporters—are pushing protest memes into the forefront of the conversation, even using them offline during marches and rallies. Then there’s politicians, like the reigning political queen of social media, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez."

I'm not entirely familiar with AOC or her social media presence but this calls to mind Californian governor, Gavin Newsom, who does happen to post from time to time some funny tweets or memes in retaliation against Trump and his actions. Even recently was seen making a face similar to Jim's from the Office in one of Trump's meetings, which the face itself is a meme. 

Gavin Newsom. Not Jim. 

Jim from The Office.

And the cherry on top!

While not a political artist in the conventional sense, Daniel Warren Johnson (instagram here), is a comic artist and illustrator who has been created some pieces recently that are very appropriate for today of comic/cartoon characters against ice.  So far he has done one with Absolute Batman, Godzilla, and here is one of Optimus Prime: