January 30, 2009
The Eternal Sunshine of the Capitalist Mind
This song has been in my head all day. I finally decided to find it online. Here it is:
It's called 'Солнечный круг' (Solar Cycle). It's better known to many as 'Пусть всегда будет солнце' (May There Always Be Sunshine). It's an anti-war song. If you grew up in Eastern Europe (or at least around Eastern European emigrants) you most likely have this song seared into your head. I posted the lyrics in English below the fold.
It's probably been over 20 years since I heard this song… well, outside of my head that is... Hearing it again is like being hit with a ton of nostalgic bricks. But what really struck me were the visuals of the videos. The second one especially has all the hallmarks of Socialist Realism. And, yet… they are so… well… American. Besides some minor differences in clothing, and the like, the whole thing wouldn't have been out of place in the US… at least in that timeless-Norman-Rockwell-eternally-50's-LIFE-Magazine-innocent-Leave-It-To-Beaver U S of A that still grips the popular (and political) imagination.
I'm often struck by an uncanny sense of déjà vu whenever I watch American politics unfold on TV. The discourse is carefully circumscribed by what can or cannot be said in public about the economy, socialism, Islam, Israel, etc. The 2008 campaign was only the most recent example of that. As much as I like and support Obama, I'm still bothered by the slick visuals his campaign saturated the airwaves with. For all the soaring rhetoric (and yes rhetoric matters) and 'straight talk', everything is still directed at saving Capitalism (with a hefty dose of socialism if need be... but shhhh). Socialist Realism is the term used for art which furthered the goals of socialism and communism. Until the Soviet collapse, it was the officially approved style of art for decades. How long does Capitalist Realism have?
May There Always be Sunshine
Translation from folkmusic.com.
Bright blue the sky.
Sun up on high—
That was the little boy's picture
He drew for you
Wrote for you, too
Just to make clear what he drew.
Chorus:
May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue skies,
May there always be mummy,
May there always be me!
My little friend,
Listen, my friend,
Peace is the dream of the people
Hearts old and young
Never have done
Singing the song you have sung.
Chorus
Soldier lad, stay!
Hear what we say—
War would make all of us losers
Peace is our prize
Millions of eyes
Anxiously gaze at the skies.
Chorus
Down with all war!
We want no more.
People stand up for you children
Sing everyone—
Peace must be won,
Dark clouds must not hide the sun.
Posted by tomk at 12:50 AM | Comments (1)
August 23, 2008
30 Percent More Commercial
Almost missed this! My pals at Puny are putting on an art show tonight at the First Amendment Gallery. 30 Percent More Commercial opening party should be fun, full of good art and live music. Here's a little preview. Via King-Mini.
Posted by tomk at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2008
The Magik Show
Zack Soto uploaded some pics of The Magic Show which opened on Thursday last week to his Flickr page. The show looks great, and I look forward to seeing it later this month during Stumptown.
Update: More and higher-res pictures here.
Posted by tomk at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2008
Off-Kilter Magik
click to enlarge
I was going to post this in time for the opening night of The Magic Show a group show at the Pony Club Gallery in Portland, OR. But I just realized that the opening was last night! Duh! I think I must have confused it with the opening night of the Off-Kilter Comics, which is IS tonight. I have a drawing (pictured above) at The Magik Show but not at the Off Kilter Comics show. Anyway, both shows feature a lot of great artists so if you're in either Portland or Minneapolis, go see the one closest to you.
Posted by tomk at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2007
Momus is a Better Blogger
It looks like my updates have slowed down to the point of erasing all entries from this blogs front page! I guess it's time to resume posting. Some time ago I went to a Momus and Mai Ueda art performance in Chelsea. It was fantastic. I already blogged about it before. In fact it was my first post. Recently, I started scanning my sketchbook pages again and the image below was the first one to get scanned. It was drawn based on one of the photographs I took at the performance.
Momus and Mai from 'I'll Speak You Sing'
Click on the image to make bigger.
Since Momus was one of the major inspirations in getting this blog off the ground, it seems like as good a time as any to celebrate his great, and much more frequently updated blog.
Posted by tomk at 12:01 AM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2005
I'll Speak You Sing
This is about a month old, but I just got around to posting the pictures on flickr. The show was great. I only saw one performance. Everyday was improvised. It was a sort of shamanistic 'conversation' between Momus and Mai. Momus would improvise stories based outside input provided by Mai. An Apple iBook served out some spooky ambiance. I also captured some video and audio using my little Canon Elph. I'll try to post it sometime soon. More about the show here: iMomus.Posted by tomk at 10:54 PM | Comments (2)