THE DARK STAR
OF ART
The Positioning of Art
The historical experience of art split
into seven or nine distinguished disciplines, ends now as a perfect
simulacrum of itself – the nail in the coffin articulated by Dali,
Warhol et al, as in entertainment, design or decoration, industrial
object or technological effect being art. So, there's no art any
more, it has become the “our own image”, a “selfie” ― no
more need for a specialized subject who produces art-ware. From the
start of recorded past, artist was economically controlled and had to
deal with contents imposed by money mongers (who couldn't really
conceive more than that anyway), from religious to revolutionary and
now marketable pornography. At the end, there's no one left to
control. Everything is under control. Mission accomplished. The
Spirit parked at the End of History. Robots come. Artists are gone.
But, how was it before the history, and
is it now the same case again: artists become once again druids,
shamans, sorcerers, sages, magicians ― this all comes to mind, and
why not? The position of artist, a man who is communicating personal
experience which is not easily acceptable by the existing
civilization, is at, or rather, is pushed beyond the margins of
society. If you take a look at what now passes as art, it has all
come to perfect technological mimicry of physical / nature ― a
fascinating replica of idealized reality, the Plato's ideal love, the
mimesis come true. The tools that can deal with this kind of
articulation are available in all media outlets ― the image
recognition, or lets put it into more fashionable meme ― pattern
recognition tools, easily applied by non-creative and overwhelmingly
ruling mediocre minds. The art critics too are gone, obsolescent,
outsourced to a non-reality of history's end.
The present state of things, in fact,
liberates artists from all obligations towards society, nation,
class, you name it. This is total separation. It is freedom and
levitation. And more than that. Who would have imagined! And it was
not initiated, caused, committed by artists. I have very clear
conscience about this. No karma. Art is moving to its next
reincarnation, or further on ― to nirvana. We'll see how and why
soon enough.
The Avant-Garde
I need to say a few words about the
avant-garde, the historical or/and contemporary one. This ends
avant-garde too. It (they) were the last-ditch effort of art to
secure its position in the great family of social / biological life
phenomena. But, as in Bible, the Noah Ark had no designated place for
this “animal”. Good old Noah wasn't saving any kind of tech in
his crate, not to mention art. I say, good riddance.
The avant-garde, tit for tat, always was
about either something “new” or “deconstruction” ― of
language, image, logic, tradition ― dada, abstract painting,
theater of absurd, experimental music, etc. Among the recent and most
endurable movements, Signalism is all about the methodical
assimilation of latest scientific, media and communication
technologies and their transformation into art (the visual potential
of Internet actually exploded with visual poetry and text
availability). The 21st century avant-garde is practically
creating a no-go zone for blokes, with its sophisticated usage of
existing tools to an almost (absurdly) alien effect ― a sober and
serious approach to the contemporary phenomena versus the “lets go
have fun” superficial consumption of diet-pop in all forms of
applications.
The art and avant-garde are, this is a
fact, now one and same. And this is strictly because the compromised
artists finally lost their declared vocation, turning into applied
artists, while avant-garde artists did not manage to pull / drag or
assimilate them. The latter are the ones who survived. But ― where?
Poverty Rich World
Globalization has created a poverty rich
Earth. All the credits go to both the rich and poor ― they have
fashioned a cheap world. The rich have stolen, using their infinitely
devalued and cunningly redistributed money, the best art objects
from the past. However, at this moment, they have no idea how 21st
century art looks like, because it is beyond their horizon. There's
no money in it. There's no knowledge of it. It doesn't belong to
them. There are no art interpretors left. There are only educated
sycophants. And 'tis gonna stay like that. Because the knowledge
possessed by druids, sages or shamans is a “secret knowledge” for
those who have blinded themselves for it.
The Dorian Gray Selfie
I want now to take a look at what we
face. To what formal stage has Dorian Gray's picture evolved? All the
fear mongering about technology has come true. But, the nature was
once too, too great an enemy. What have humans done in the meantime,
where have they arrived? Running away from natural elements to
ideological and then again a new and tremendously powerful elementary
force ― technology. Is there anyone, in this overtly insecure and
unpredictable world, who doesn't feel at least uncomfortable about
the present and imminent future? The prying eyes, drones, politically
correct denunciation, intoxication ― the industry of terror. What
is the position of art, how does it maintain the contact with such a
world?
It doesn't. The art had analyzed the
world and it lays dead before it like an exploded fractal. It is
decomposed and phantomized. It is animated, yes, but artist knows
it's just a slide show. The frames are disconnected and
non-directional. The world's cadaver jerks in bursts, makes empty
statements and then jumps again into its own mouth. Who can take
seriously any of its statements? The political system devouring,
before our eyes, its own constituents. Lie upon lie, denial upon
denial. That's intelligent behavior? This is where I'm getting at:
Where is the intelligence?
Intelligence is the art.
Intelligence is the ability to acquire
knowledge. This has been overlooked by society, which is normal,
because society is not a source of knowledge, it is a source of
ignorance, manipulation, corruption, lies, slavery, physical and
psychological oppression, negative selection. Intelligence is
evolutionary impediment. Many were attempts to integrate intelligence
into society, but we witness it all over again ― zero fucks! In
modern nomenclature, just like in the past, art, the intelligence, is
disconnected from the chain of command.
The Immortal Hive
When artist insists on truth, he
develops a tool which can permeate and puncture the incoming forms /
phenomena and by doing so he remains unaffected by them. This
automatically excludes the artist from the existing social power
distribution grid and modes. And since the human civilization is
actually the culmination of life on planet Earth, artist is facing
the imminent transcendence into the realm beyond life, since the
conditioning of life does not apply to someone who has seen through
its promises, its advertising and self promotion and ― failure.
Logically and traditionally, it is called ― death. However, the
method which characterizes artist's activity is capable of renaming
and reconnecting the reference system, so it turns out that, life
being the realm of ignorance, death remains the realm of
intelligence. Now, think about it. What kind of existence is there in
the domain of death / knowledge? Can we go there with our bodies?
Since bodies are traditionally (we're used to believe) ― us? What
the hell are we supposed to do? Die?
Technology is already advertising
infinite possibilities regarding cybernetic and biological
prosthetics which can be applied to humans, placing emphasis on
“consciousness transfer” to a machine with better calculating and
memory management ability. This is a fascinating promise and is well
represented in the SF literature so far, the only literature that
really matters because it is based on anticipation and not on
justification ― and now it seems that the promise is coming true,
it is at its first stages of materialization. Who would gamble that
in exchange for becoming a bodiless, starving and ostracized ―
artist?
The promise of immortal, maintainable
and affordable technological body form wins. It exerts the absolute
attraction to an ignorant mind. The organic existence evolves into a
Borg-like, stringently practical hive society. The human-insect is
being born.
The Dark World
The realm of knowledge / art, transcends
space / time continuum, it transcends life, and its only connection
with the physical world is practically ― the articulation, a system
of reference which enables perception of both realms, unlike the
empirical method which is incapable of seeing anything beyond its own
reflection. The match ball belongs to men of knowledge. They can
exist in both parallel realms and remain the only connection between
the two, and the only ones aware of such configuration. But, there is
more.
The world of dark matter ― world of
unconditioned bits of information. The world which cannot be probed
and forced into submission. The world which can be only indirectly
brought to attention because it is not reactive. And this world
constitutes far more of the known Universe than the physical world of
matter conditioned to be reactive.
The Lost and Regained Property of Art
As art was assimilated into history it
lost its knowledge articulation property. It was not needed by
society. Many artists became confused, deprived of articulated
speech. This task was assigned to church and later science. In both
cases, reference systems were structured in such way to prevent any
individual breakthrough through the fog of war created by the
parasitic pyramid of power distribution. The individual salvation or
liberation had to be sanctioned, “indulged”, by institutional
mechanism. This individual endeavor of liberation was projected too
to the physical human form, life ― while in truth, life is
something that needs not be saved but overcome.
Now that the idea of salvation /
liberation is utterly banalized, the “each one his own smiling icon
saint” has been attained. How long will this abomination hold? By
accepting life as ideal state of existence the knowledge of life
itself is being lost.
There is no point in arguing about this,
because one needs intelligence to deal with the problem. Intelligent
people, among themselves, never argue, they only do the
brain-storming. The unintelligent ― they debate, troll, war.
Those artists who have gained the
necessary momentum in their exploration of reality, have acquired
knowledge which defines them ethically and esthetically. One cannot
go against his own knowledge. It is the knowledge that defines
personality. Knowledge is personality. What is the other kind of
personality, the one of the physical individual ruled by ignorance?
There isn't such. Individuality is not personality.
The long exercised and false flag
discussion about the free will, as in free will of human being lost
in the supreme will of a supposed omnipotent and omniscient being
(God) was ultimately debated from the point of ignorance which
favored individuality (inevitably arbitrary) ― and was unable to
comprehend a different kind of “order” in the Other World. The
existing hierarchy of power was projected on the Other World as if it
possessed the same property of conditioning. There is no hierarchy
nor is there conditioning between the particles / bits of information
in the realm of knowledge. That is the crucial difference. There is
no controlled distribution of knowledge, like in this copyrighted,
post Eden and post Destruction of Babylonian Tower world.
The Copyright Plug
The copyright, as in SONY owning the
music of Jimi Hendrix for instance, is the global end of culture and
art. Because, it is not really SONY who creates art.
The same plug was pulled in Marxist
theory, which claimed that the product of labor should belong to
workers, but the problem of alienation was systemic redistribution of
wealth and it had to be resolved by inter class revolutionary
struggle. The truth is, Marx didn't see that the only work there is
was done by the ideas, and people were only used as fuel or food to
accomplish the well being and survival of ideas, which have, like an
alien force, enslaved humanity since time immemorial. Thus the
“enemy” was misnamed, as if there really were two classes of
people, the worker and the capitalist, while in truth they are both
slaves to the same idea. Soilent
Green really is people ― that is another good insight from the
SF literature! Too bad political and social philosophers are unable
to see through this. But artists can.
Still, who gives a damn about the
artists, who are no better than social parasites and whose work is up
for SONY to possess it and realize profit? Artists don't have the
social and political structure necessary to ensure monopoly on their
work. It is not known in history that intelligent people ever created
a mechanism of oppression, like state. It was always the gangs of
idle, worthless people who did that, who organized and armed
themselves, proclaimed themselves “Aryans” and “nobles” and
imposed their will, exterminating all those who would disobey. The
art here had no tool to change the world. Neither did Marxist
revolutionary ideology.
But, art had found a way out!
Tunnel Out-a Dungeon
Even though the solution has been
present in written form for several millenniums, and continuously
updated, it appeared to be too weird and unacceptable by the ordinary
people. Transcending human form is opposed by the mighty ideas of
family, social position and accomplishment, it is monotonous and
monochromatic compared to the lively promise of happy family and
socializing ecstasy.
If one is to become a monk in order to
be free, what the hell!
Artists like monks, do have some credit
and license for being weirdos, but can never exert too much
influence. So they are somewhere in between, standing and living at
no-ones land. They can see the other side, but when they relate their
experience to the normal people, it has to be watered and wrapped in
form of fantasy and allegory and does not directly affect the
inexperienced. Because knowledge, unlike delusion, does not have the
property to affect, that is a huge problem. Otherwise, knowledge
would unquestionably and instantly win over the inferior delusions
which constitute the world. This is the burden men of knowledge have
to carry. And they must continue their way, often alone, without
company, leaving everybody else behind.
Here I will cut short ― the
transcendence happens only to personality. It is the personality, the
focus of attention that moves from the realm of life to the realm of
death, from ignorance to knowledge. Bodies have nothing to do with
personality transcendence. Physical deterioration and death are there
for all. But identification is not mandatory.
In truth, personality is always there in
the realm of knowledge, the method of attaining personality is the
method of shutting down senses (classical meditation). Movement of
personality is fictional. It is how we present, project ourselves in
our minds, but reality is ― the dispersal of delusion must take
place. And it can only be done by understanding.
On how to attain this, how to discipline
ourselves, books have been written, and there were great teachers at
all times. It rarely took form of art or artists, because of the
historical adoption and re-designation of sages into religious or
philosophical figures, and the specialization of artistic language.
But now artists can not avoid seeing their task as much more than it
was believed it should be. Now, when artists are on their own, they
have to increase their formal motivation or ― perish. No more
larpurlartism, it is not enough! Doing art for enjoyment ― not
enough! Consuming art for enjoyment ― not enough!
The Cosmic Network
Artist has to combine his skill with
philosophy ― the articulation of experience in language is
mandatory, it will create sensible system of reference, a network
which enables personality to move efficiently and to interface with
other artists / men of knowledge, to support each other and to
eventually act in this world with much more impact. Through
knowledge, not through projected groups, parties, syndicates or
sects. Artist must sensibly understand what he is doing.
The “personality” is not
individuality ― personality is the (dark) force spread evenly
through the Cosmos. The force being knowledge, because what it does
it does by knowing how. As the mind-eyes of an artist open, he
becomes part of this, to knowledgeable men, now visible realm. He
enters the world of dark matter, where freedom rules, actions are
freely conceived, not enforced by protocols. This is the only kind of
interaction possible in the Dark Universe. The sharing of knowledge /
force, the equal distribution of all for all, the misnamed, slandered
and fearful “entropy” as sharing (not unevenly exchanging as in
this copyrighted, monopolized and profit / extortion based world) ―
an explosion as in Big Bang, the end of physical suffering and
entering the Nirvana.