Be part of the world not apart from the world:
Warning! there now follows a heavy environmental rant on an artist's blog post.
Ironic eco postings. "Don't use computers get outside and breathe!" Do the people need to hear that? You are stopping them from having the outside experience too. Maybe they are outside already? Then they should not glued to the phone. mindfulness podcasts while the world is burning!
Who Knew?
original artwork by Jonathan Oakes
mixed media on photograph
25 cm x 20 cm
(October 22- gallery)
“I need to watch!” “I need to know!” “I need to respond!” “I need to charge!”
Focusing on these addictive technologies deemed necessary but not used previously. The focus and attention is drained. We look away, away from the Earth. Away from the place of our birth. We do not notice that nature is becoming restless. Roaring because its being is being ignored. The extremes are showing. The gap is widening between the tech dependent children. With downloaded experiences. To virtually uploaded images. Nothing is gained. No position is changed. The weather screams for attention just outside, although it is only noticed on the news."
Humankind has lost/ is loosing touch with the natural environment which produced our species in the first place. Forgetting what we are all made of.
In the constant quest to gain power and command over the natural world basic factors have been forgotten. Respect is perhaps the most important.
Although respecting each other, human to human is, of course important. Unfortunately and critically it is the loss of respect for the Earth as a whole, and the immediate environment that has become frighteningly apparent.
Trying to reconnect billions of people to the natural environment and to reeducate humankind is surely the only way to protect a sustainable future. Battling to heal a septic wound that has been festering since the industrial age. Progressing to kill ourselves and future generations. Suffocating nature's wonders.
Is it due to a religion or to an attitude or even due to a religious attitude that some of humankind thinks themselves as superior over all things natural.
Simply Too Much Packaging
original artwork by Jonathan Oakes
mixed media on collage
20 cm x 29 cm
(project 53- gallery)
Too much packaging. Throw away and do not repair, it is not economically viable.
Organic brain foods from across the world, trying not to feel guilty about the carbon.
So in touch with the global population as long as they have smart phone.
Friction:
Friction is caused when two objects touch. If one object is a road and the other is a man then friction is caused on the roads surface and the mans feet, it hurts him.
So he buys some shoes. The friction still occurs, but now he is more comfortable, eventually the shoes wear through, he also needs to go faster.
So he buys some more shoes, this time he buys ones with rubber soles, these are far more comfortable, however they do wear out more quickly than his last pair.
He buys a pair of ‘Nike air’, far more comfortable than any shoes, comforted by a pocket of air. He is in a hurry he runs in them but he gets a puncture in them.
“This is costing me a fortune in shoes!” He says. So he buys a car with four tyres full of air and suspension on the car giving as much comfort and control as possible when travelling at that speed. However, friction is still his enemy.
His tyres wear out because of the constant pressure of contact.
So he buys himself a hovercraft, no friction there.
There he is floating a few feet above the surface of the road, having lost contact with the earth as soon as he put his shoes on, (realising he was naked.)
Now he is able to go on longer journeys in shorter lengths of time thanks to the advancements of technology.
all images and writings are copyright Jonathan Oakes 2023