Category: Media

Just weird

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

There is a moment when you realise you have to unplug when you start exhibiting strange or unusual behaviours. It’s surely better to unplug well in advance but as is so often the case the ‘red flags’ are often ignored. Considering the rather strange and ever-changing world we inhabit I guess it’s to be expected.

Nevertheless some of these distraction strategies are a bit weird. Sucking ice cubes, counting Pi (π) decimal places, cold showers, water submersion, obsessive cleaning, cracking nuts, fidgeting and nail biting, peeling glue from your hands, popping bubble wrap, hoarding, smashing glass, ceramics throwing, folding hot towels, watching gross videos on YouTube, listening to foreign languages (without understanding them), reciting recipes and polishing silverware. 😮 Some of these activities seem normal enough but the weirder ones are concerning.

So how do you unplug and what’s the best way to do it? While I admit to fidgeting, watching YouTube (but not gross videos) and buying stuff that I don’t need, the best remedy for me is physical activity whether it be stretching, yoga or just stepping out and taking a walk. Nothing beats a good book for distraction. But a real one and not some generic digital text generated by ChatGPT.

Blogging

Why do you blog?

I began blogging some years ago and I thought about this question when I started out. What is the key motivation to write and then to post online? I guess it varies from one blogger to the next
For me it’s a somewhat self indulgent experience and I’m not overly affected by the opinions of others. Let me clarify. I value the blogosphere – the opinions in the community of bloggers, whereas I don’t care too much for social media. Bloggers have the opportunity for individuality and they are free to express it. All voices are welcome and their differences merely adds to the variety. Compare this to regular social media. While theoretically, you have free expression, currently there is a crisis in regards to freedom of speech. And quite often it’s the style and content that is lacking. To me, ‘micro blogging’ appears dull and moderated. By contrast, bloggers seem unafraid to express themselves in their own words and they can do it without the distraction of infinity apps and manipulative algorithms. I’d rather do without endless newsfeed and upselling and I don’t care for millions of indifferent users. Why not leave the beaten track and find somewhere to express anything you want? (Well, nearly anything, tee-hee).

Frida Kahlo

I have never seen a Frida Kahlo painting until I had the opportunity to attend the Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution exhibition at the AGSA. There are roughly 150 works from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection showcasing some of Frida’s most iconic works. The show is especially successful because her work hangs side by side with Diego Rivera’s and affords the chance to be seen in the broader context of the Mexican Modernist movement. I will focus primarily on Frida’s work for the sake of this discussion. 

Her style appears to combine traditional representation with a kind of illustration in order to convey her vision. This hyper-representation enables a unique individualized form of Surrealism. But it is achieved in a way that appears both lucid and effortless. She combines autobiographical and cultural symbology in a unique synthesis that could be described as radical. Sometimes described as magical realism or new objectivity, contemporary artists and critics such as Andre Breton and Bertram D. Wolfe describe Kahlo’s work as individualized Surrealism. To me this challenge to compartmentalize her work reflects her individuality and independence from convention. Perhaps her style is best described as combining realism with surrealistic elements, folk art, violence and death.

Today Frida Kahlo is celebrated as an international artist but she is also seen as quintessentially Mexican. What are some of her influences? 

Following the revolution, Mexicanidad rejected colonialist elitism with its European bias. Indigenous cultural traditions were Kahlo’s passion and inheritance and became critical subject material for her, along with her artist husband Diego Rivera. But Kahlo’s expression combines a unique individualised expression that is particularly poignant today because it also conveys triumph over adversity. Her tragic road accident at age eighteen meant for life long disability. Today we value diverse cultural groups more and more and historical figures such as Kahlo spearhead the achievement of not only women artists but also that of disability. Through her artistic vision she is able to confront stereotypes and change them in the eyes of future generations.