2010? No Silly, it's 1950s Stepford America

We will have a perfect nation of perfect people to meet our standards of normal - welcome to nazi america. Clit chopping distasteful? No worries - they now have a drug to fix that nasty proclivity for being gay:
"Pediatric endocrinologist Maria New isn't just trying to prevent lesbianism by treating pregnant women with an experimental hormone. She's also trying to prevent the births of girls who display an "abnormal" disinterest in babies, don't want to play with girls' toys or become mothers, and whose "career preferences" are deemed to "masculine."

"The majority of researchers and clinicians interested in the use of prenatal “dex” focus on preventing development of ambiguous genitalia in girls with CAH. CAH results in an excess of androgens prenatally, and this can lead to a “masculinizing” of a female fetus’s genitals. One group of researchers, however, seems to be suggesting that prenatal dex also might prevent affected girls from turning out to be homosexual or bisexual."

"Meyer-Bahlburg writes that “CAH women as a group have a lower interest than controls in getting married and performing the traditional child-care/housewife role. As children, they show an unusually low interest in engaging in maternal play with baby dolls, and their interest in caring for infants, the frequency of daydreams or fantasies of pregnancy and motherhood, or the expressed wish of experiencing pregnancy and having children of their own appear to be relatively low in all age groups.”

Because not playing with dolls or wanting to grow up to be a housewife and have babies is wrong you know.

What the fuck are we regressing to? I swear i was being mildly sarcastic when i said welcome to 1950s but i'm afraid that is exactly where we are headed back to. 

Oh and this was a lovely little snippet from the article:

“The challenge here is... to see what could be done to restore this baby to the normal female appearance which would be compatible with her parents presenting her as a girl, with her eventually becoming somebody’s wife, and having normal sexual development, and becoming a mother. And she has all the machinery for motherhood, and therefore nothing should stop that, if we can repair her surgically and help her psychologically to continue to grow and develop as a girl.”

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/06/29/doctor-treating-pregnant-women-with-experimental-drug-to-prevent-lesbianism

It's too late. They gave up before they even started to clean up the spill.

The power has always belonged to those who have money. And they will do anything, ANYTHING to ensure they keep the power as well as as much money as they can hold on to. This is a longish video but worth watching as one of the residents of the Louisiana coast who has sat in on BP meetings and seen the mock cleanup efforts first hand talks about it, as well as the illnesses cropping up in the region.
We, the people, are nothing more than collateral damage to the powers that be. We are expendable. Stupid asses don't realize or don't care that when they kill the planet, they're just as dead too.


Kindra Arnesan refers to a Fox 54 video taken in May, of fish coming to the surface, bumping into the boat as they die. That video is also below. The bucket of sludge they pulled out of the water accents the horror.


Provided courtesy of Southern Sage - check out his blog is you haven't already.
http://jsgotgame.blogspot.com/2010/06/kindra-arnesan-must-see-video-oil-links.html

Gotta Share One of the Funniest Stories I've EVER Read

Some of y'all know Riff Dog from my old blogging days, but may not have been following his escapades. His stories are always entertaining, self depreciating and well written. Some of them are also dang hot. But today, Riffy out did himself. Mr. "I love to give you a cliffhanger" managed to do a rug yank and take all his readers by surprise in one of the funniest stories I have ever read.

Most definitely not safe for work and be prepared with napkins to wipe up the spew if you're drinking while reading.
http://ashleyandme.blogspot.com/2010/06/meet-saika-at-office.html

Plug that Shit Up Already!

One of my long-time and dearest friends, Gaddy, has a brilliant mind. He's not just brilliant - he is a fuckin' pittbull when faced with a difficult problem - specifically a scientific one.  The uber-geek in him worries the problem bone until he has it dissected, spit out, reassembled and a possible solution, or at the minimum, a method of approach developed.

I confess I don't comprehend all the nuances of what he proposes in his oil spill remedy - cuz face it, i'm an artist and not scientifically inclined - but it sounds viable to me. It certainly sounds better than what has been done so far. Check it out here:
http://dopaminedreams.blogspot.com/2010/06/jane-somebody-stop-this-crazy-thing.html

Breaking Taboo Logo

yeah...picture says a thousand words.

The Big News! Are you ready? Really Ready?

No Arts Day for the next few weeks BECAUSE we are launching New Dissident Radio on July 4th. 
Not only will you get to enjoy The Award Winning DAMage Report on its own station with Arts Day every Wednesday BUT you will also get an additional hour of Lakota since I've also been given my own show.
(everyone ooooh and ahhhhh with me.) :P


It will still air live out of Los Angeles but be available via an internet feed and podcast. I'll post more details as we firm them up. Big on air 4th of July party for the unveiling and y'all are invited.


Not sure yet what my show will be called or what day and time will be one because i still have to decide on all that stuff. For those that remember the old Kali blog - it will be a mix of that and the old Lakota Princess blog with topics including arts, taboos, stomping out stereotypes and wacky humor. Nothing's sacred. ~grin~


ideas on show topics, stories, guests, name of show - i'm open to hearing what you guys think, want, like.
Someone be sure and tell me when i can start doing the queen's wave to all my loyal subjects... :P

Stay Tuned... Big Announcement Tomorrow.

Recent paintings to hold you over until then. LOL!
The first several are done with the limited paint boards. The last one is a photoshop painting that is still being worked on.

DAMage Report: What Color is Whitewash in the Crayola Box?

Excuse me... did someone roll us back into the 50s and 60s when I wasn't looking?  The rise in bigotry has been more and more evident in politics lately, but in the arena of the arts? 


In Arizona artists and children painting a mural on an elementary school featuring faces of kids who attend the school were the subject of drive-by racist slurs. The anti-black art campaign, which demanded the removal of  a dark-skinned latino child's portrait in the mural was adopted as well by a radio talk-show host who also served as a city councilman. The twat has since lost his show. Following the protests the school principal revealed a decidely chicken colored backbone, and ordered the faces of the Latino and Black students to be changed to Caucasian skin. When THAT was protested, he claimed it was an artistic decision. Right.


The Councilman Twat said "I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's President of the United States today and based upon the history of this community, when I grew up we had four black families - who I have been very good friends with for years - to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'


Apparently anyone with skin darker than pasty white looks the same to the Councilman. It's always fun to note that invariably the protest of  "i'm not a racist" from a bigot's mouth includes "i'm good friends with them there black people." (Please insert visual here of me making gaggy face with finger down throat.)


The principal has since back-pedaled and allowed the mural to remain as intended, reflecting the diversity of it's student body. Ya think?


But back to the first point - are we sliding back as a society to an era when people think it's OKAY to yell racial slurs at not only adults, but children?  If art is a reflection of society, and is supposed to get a reaction, then what this mural revealed about the community of Prescott, Arizona, and possibly a portion of the American people is very dark and scary.  Quick hand me the whitewash crayon. We can't have anything "dark" showing up here.


If the art world is dominated by white males, then that singular perspective is going to be reflected in the arts. A friend of mine, who tours with Disney's Lion King, told me recently that the number of roles for a middle-aged black man on Broadway or theater anywhere in the country, is almost non-existent. No one writes the roles, therefore the roles aren't there for the actors. 


It is interesting that it was easier to find news articles and reference points for gender bias in the arts, than it was to locate information about racism and the arts. Does that mean it doesn't exist. Of course not. It means it hasn't been deemed news worthy.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/arizona-elementary-school-mural_n_601436.html


http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/06/principal-arizona-prescott-mural-wont-be-lightened-immigration-racism-obama

Graffiti Art: Sacrosanct or Sacred Cash Cow?

Should really good graffiti art be treated as a rare and valuable artistic resource to be preserved or should it be left in it's original environment and let whatever happens to it happen, as part of the validity (or invalidating in some cases) of the piece? 


That question, as well as who really owns the art has been a big arts world debate this past month. 

The heated discussions have been sparked by our quirky friend, Mister Banksy. Who no doubt is having quite the chuckle over all this. I think I'm in love with this guy. His self-effacing and contradictory sense of humor definitely makes him as intriguing as his art. So I take back everything I ever said about the art always being more important than the artist. It's no surprise that the artist Banksy is becoming as much an artistic product as the art he produces.  I do believe whether this is intentional or not depends on which brand of coffee he drank on a particular morning. And that makes me smile.


Banksy defies, resists, hops in and out of, any and all boxes the public, including art critics, try to place him in. The thing is he doesn't do it in a vapid "look at me" way. If you study his art with its political, ecological and social commentaries you can see that he creates to provoke thought. Isn't that what art is supposed to do. From this is born the conundrum. Should it be preserved and protected so generations can be exposed to its thought provokedness... or by removing it and turning it into a commodity, does it invalidate the purpose of the art? 
Is it like the process of living: you're either lucky you got to experience something by being in right place and time or you weren't?


Banksy recently left four works in Detroit. One was "removed" by a non-profit gallery, one was destroyed during attempted removal and one was power-washed away by a building owner (ouch). 

The lone remaining painting is of a cartoon rat balancing on a tight rope (which is really a rusted old chain that hangs there.) The Tightrope Rat has become a favorite for Banksy fans and undoubtedly an arts destination since the exact location is now well publicized for visitors.


The "preservation" of the "Packard Plant Mural" has created an uproar with the arts world (once again) dividing on each side of the crumbling graffiti splattered wall.  The gallery that removed the painting from the original site has had to hide the art after receiving numerous threats. The mural's removal touched off an impassioned debate about the meaning, legality and ownership of graffiti art. It's a valid question. Once the artist walks off... who does it belong to? The building owner, the city, whomever finds it and claims it?

In a recent and rare interview Banksy gives his thoughts on permanence of graffiti art.

"Graffiti isn't meant to last forever.... I've always been uncomfortable with the way galleries put things on a pedestal. I think art should be a two-way conversation, not a lecture from behind glass. I'd like to say I'm politically motivated but the reality is I'm just far too lazy for capitalism. If Banksy has become a brand, then it's a brand that doesn't believe in itself. There's probably a contradiction in hiding your face while shooting off your mouth. But I don't think it's terminal."

So according to Banksy, anything that happens to the art he leaves behind - whether it is enshrined on site as an altar to the gods of graffiti or destroyed by random or intentional "accident" is all a part of the dialog with the art. Just don't let the galleries put it behind glass.

Some additional off topic thoughts on Banksy:
For someone who makes a mockery of being high profile and tries to hide his identity Banksy has been garnering quite the share of publicity. In the last decade, Banksy's name has appeared in more than 720 New York Times articles. This year, Banksy was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People, and "Exit Through the Gift Shop" - a self-documentary, opened to gushy reviews and to date has  grossed more than $1 million in only 31 theaters." 

Does he deserve all the attention? The innovativeness of some of his thumb his nose at art and society antics are definitely creative. Banksy once printed counterfeit currency in London, replacing the Queen's head for that of Princess Diana's. Where the bill would normally read "Bank of England" he printed "Banksy of England." In disguise, armed with a hammer and nail, he hung re-imaginings of the Mona Lisa inside the Louvre. His escapades go on and on. It's really quite fun following his mad hatter dance in the news.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100529/ENT05/5290305/Gallery-that-took-Banksy-mural-puts-it-in-hiding

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2010/05/banksy_bombs_detroit_sorting_t.html
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/drawn-from-the-shadows-wanted-man-comes-out-to-play-20100528-wlcx.html