ORWELL, George - 1984 [Utopian Dystopia]

If you haven't read 1984, you should, it's the novel that gave us terms like "Big Brother" and "Orwellian", in fact, reading and understanding the book is a sign of mental maturity in this brave new world. [Previously] In Equilibrium we had control through religion, drugs, lack of emotions and total submission, in "Brave New World" there was an extreme example of social change, shockingly resembling modern day "homo mallus" in a constant search for mindless happiness and infantile group behavior, now we will be talking about the uber-dystopia.

Perpetual war, perpetual surveillance,  scarcity of basic goods, censorship, lack of any real knowledge, lack of freedom of thought, degradation of human relationships. So which ones do we have?  Anyone reading this on a tablet in a ski resort in Switzerland while drinking Irish coffee will obviously say none, just like the "Inner Party" members in 1984 enjoyed all the blessings of the industrial revolution with little or none of the drawbacks. So it seems that we started with our first and fundamental similarity, one that I have not mentioned above, it's the pyramid of (political) power. I suspect we can easily arrive at a discussion about Communism or at least Socialism but that's not the goal. The way in which humanity deals with these levels in our social structure doesn't eliminate the fact that the levels (or social classes) are here to stay. We can enlarge the playing field with as many levels as we wish but if we are to narrow the field we will get a minimum of two, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the smart and the stupid.

Hesther Van Doornum (visual) and Graveyard (audio)

Graveyard is a Swedish rock band formed in 2006 whose present members are Joakim Nilsson, Rikard Edlund, Axel Sjöberg, Jonatan Ramm. The song presented here is "Hard Time Lovin" from their 2012 album entitled "Lights Out". I absolutely love this album, it's a masterpiece from the first song to the last. It has the classic hooks that make songs go to the top, a warm, bluesy sound and a voice that makes a common front with the instrumental part in overwhelming your auditory cortex. The lyrics are at the bottom of a the article. Enjoy.



Offician site   /    Facebook page

Hesther Van Doornum is a Dutch artist with a captivating "sketch-like" style and adequately used metallic colors.

The compositions, colours and poses personify conscious and subconscious archetypes; they symbolize the search for the inner self and thereby serve as metaphors for the various aspects of life, such as love, sadness, silence and tranquillity.  Emotions, experiences and life stories can be clearly recognized in this imagery.

As you will see, her portraits are created with the intention of conveying a particular feeling or emotion to the viewer, depending on the work.  This, in my perspective, makes her artworks very adapted to the present aesthetic paradigm where most seek straightforwardness and minimalism.

Hesther on symbols:

Consciously and subconsciously symbols feed the artistic creative process. In traditional cultures art often has a purely symbolic meaning and thereby expresses the beliefs and aspirations of communities. This is different in Western cultures; due to the growth of individualism in art, art has lost a part of this more explicit symbolic aim. Symbols, however, have continued to play a role in art in various ways as an expression of archetypal themes, an application of traditional images or a means of giving form to personal messages. 

Official site 

Gallery

Thoughts

Beyond

After Midnight

In the shade

In plain sight

Breeze

Awaking

Muse

Daydream II

Daydream IV

Lyrics

Darling, I'm leaving now,
But it's only for a while.
It won't seem so long once I'm back into your arms.
Each night I go to bed
Wishing I was at home, next to you.

I know you wonder what I do when I'm gone,
'cause, honey,
I know what you have heard
And I know what people say
And sure I've tasted fruit of many kind.
Once I had a piece of you
There was on me for nothing else.

Stay with me and see what tomorrow brings
'cause, baby, I know those days I let you down
We'll make it through, through these hard times.

Oh, baby, you and me are the same,
Slightly used and damaged, that's okay.
I even think it's good, no matter what they say
'cause they got you here today, right here with me.

It was something in your eyes
That made it clear.
I knew that he was right, not a shadow of doubt
When I felt your touch.

I know those days I let you down,
But we're gonna get through these hard times
See what tomorrow brings,
Will you love me and stay with me forever?
The pieces came together,
The point is that the people have failed by last careers,
No more faces passing by.

I know those days I let you down,
But we're gonna get through these hard times
See what tomorrow brings,
Please love me, as they will live forever.
I got no need for no one else, no one else.

Once I got a piece of you, there was no need for nothing else,
No one else.