HERMAN MBAMBA

free poems/ABx/painting pain

2011-10-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

cant stand the pressure
only the headaches that were
ropes
pills
intoxicants
have some to relieve the pain
not belonging here
threats
deaths of the young is unpredictable
lazy to deal with emotions
perhaps do your very best
and life is yours
count among the best

near to the ocean

2011-10-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

with only words that for valueless
only those sweet promises
the rains of the yesterday
wet and soaked in all misery
beneath all that which was
for the success is nothing like the instant ways of the faithful

we step into our realms
with the freedom we thought
living on borrowed dreams are not any secret

free poems/ABx

2011-08-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

routines reduced speed
the reduction of the color is not depressive
same as butterflies have wings, very beautiful indeed
life of the homeless and the hungry is destitution
saved from the grace of significance that decided their fate
if painting would save the world
cleanse me from
not thinking
doing enough
to tell stories far away from my heart
nothing personal last long
it's a shared pain
therefore painters paint the pictures for others
because a painter never understands his own ambivalent nature of reasoning
only those feelings that become concepts
universal
brotherly
the sisters love
expression lies at the heart of the primitive
it's the gaze of everything in your hands

free poems/liberation in the misfortunate

2011-08-24T02:57:00.000-07:00

raise the expectations of designed homes
of friends that only show the material wealth
devoid from any solution
prefers the garden full of rats
and long trees that reaches the sky
believing that their have bought the favor of the gods
only to live among the demons that watch over them
since when did you start living again
dealing with rewards of dissatisfaction
as their busy planning your future somewhere else
and the politicians building bridges where there are no rivers at all
and babies gazing at an undetermined future
locked up in institutions
which is called the learning process to survive and adapt eventually
only to learned that nothing is real, it's a theatrical space
where monkeys don't trust the banana
of lies and pure lies that becomes myths
turning martyrs into superheroes with gender issues
of collectors only collecting their trophies
of those educated fools
some are actually working hard against it
thank you for stealing my dream
but in a true sense, the favor and honor belongs to the two headed snakes

free poems/mistrust

2011-08-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

sweet lover of dreams
work hard for people you want to fuck
open their doors and listen to their whispers
as their fool you with perception
of things
from wise words

free poems/despair

2011-08-24T02:42:00.000-07:00

get some stones from your grave
an earlier death is relevant for some
immortality is a fantasy build on the water
same as those paintings that only exist in the abstract moment
without the thin air, never could all the leaders make any decision
especially one deciding who owns the natural resources
then you should color in the picture
with colors of horror
when goats give birth to babies in the water
and crocodiles showing up at your openings
the snakes will choose another entrance
that of suits and ties with blood on their shoes
lovers will become total strangers
because that painting will be a narrative
lost in words
regaining momentum
find its way into history
written by a awful guy that sneaked through the backdoor
with blue eyes and yellow teeth
almost like golden teeth
but wait for your redemption
for the angels declared war on the mortal souls
and despair will not be a trendy word
again
again

free poems about dislocations

2011-08-24T02:32:00.000-07:00

write a poem on your palm
paint with words that speak the language of colors
invest all energy to buy a villa deep inside the jungle
where wars for your body were fought
listen to all the advise you need
choose the best brush
set that on fire
invite the heroes that were once losers
speak in different tongues
same as those lousy bastards
working against the clock to claim your dream
come on, just listen to their vague lies about things you will never owned
please dear friend, why build a castle from discarded building blocks
shaped in your own misery
you never ask why Kandinsky made those paintings
instead you became the fly in my soup
promising me that we will enjoy the truth of the stars
dear losing friend
you chase the diamonds in other people hearts
living and not breathing for a second
the exterior world of your existence is about gaining status
no matter the words sounded like those wise words
only Jim Morrison would recite
until luxury is only a game of temporary lies
build at the expense of your failure
the life you made is simply only a mere reflection
of words that paralyzes your strength
nothing more than those television shows
where their preach about love
only to shoot
only to scream
only to have fake tits
only to put more sugar in the money
after the demise of these liberated poem
home was never found
never found

Ecstasy of becoming

2011-01-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

with my clear conscience and rhythm of flesh

I embraced inpurity without remorse

a devoured and twisted version

I approach the subverted truth of the selfish

in total admiration for my weakness

a sense of forgetting and acceptance is created

spread like a field of lost histories

written on black bodies

rugged lips

always a servant

despite the witness of the silent night

drowning myself into the shadow of the moon

in moveless glaze

reaching

speaking

rise rise rise

obscured and smiling

knowing the ecstasy of becoming

sitting on the wall

2011-01-25T14:05:00.000-08:00

sitting on the wall

listened to the talk

the news of the mall

as I figure out

mechanisms

capitalism

inflation of the situation

demands a moment

destined to shine

not even without a dime

then society creates opportunities

institutionalizes

modifies

dismiss

my need to shine

even without still a dime

I count the numbers

not mine

listen and talking: The lines in between

2011-01-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

We listen and we listen
As they talk and we just listen
And they talk as we listen
And we talk and they don't listen
We keep on talking and yet they don't listen
And then we try to listen as they talk after we listened
When we listen they keep on talking
And walking and not having time to listen
What we have to say but don't listen
And then we wonder if they ever listen
We left everything and keep on walking, knowing that they never listen
And yet we have to listen
When we refused to listen, they make us to listen
And we keep on talking in hoping that they would listen
And just about we happen to give up the whole shit about listening
Not to even mention talking
We came to an agreement, where we listen when we need to
And we talk when we need to

The state of the artist

2011-01-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

Such astate of anxiety is, of course, by no means exclusive to artists, nor is itlikely to go away in our current uncertain times. Worrying about boom-or-bust(or about floating along somewhere in between) is an inescapable part ofeveryday life.

Improvisation.

2011-01-04T03:34:00.000-08:00

with your SUV and pink cardigan
tools for comfort and non-modesty
never hate the player but the game
with your blue dress mann cotton trouser
never knew that you dig your own crave
such as I despise your taste

post traumatic art

2011-01-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Creativity is an essential quality in all of us. For some it can be an adaptive coping method to deal with otherwise inexpressible, longings, grief, or trauma. For others it can be an expression of the joy of living as natural and commonplace as breathing. A psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy can be one way of breaking the prophesy in the myth that it is necessary to suffer to be creative. This process allows for working through trauma and grieving losses so that creative people can find more of their energies freed to follow their bliss. Trauma influences creativity. Trauma can be defined as an abrupt rupture in any relationship. Witnessing unspeakable acts according to Judith Herman leads to the process of repression, dissociation and denial. Later theorists include sublimation, the use of creativity to take socially unacceptable ideas and make them acceptable as a defense against the overwhelming feelings caused by trauma. Grief work is necessary to integrate trauma. For artists, their work maybe a coping strategy for dealing with grief. The painter Alice Neel, born in 1900, was hospitalized after a suicide attempt in 1930. In this place she was not allowed to create artwork. She was let out on leave in 1931, tried to put her head in an oven to kill herself from breathing in the gas but was interrupted, and was then placed in a different hospital where she was encouraged to draw and paint. She improved over time and later sought out a psychoanalyst for on-going treatment. In 1974 the Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of the last forty years of her work.

Hardtalk with Herman Mbamba. Pt.1

2010-12-21T05:31:00.000-08:00

I'm quite intrique by your latest works consisting of drawings and collage based paintings. Possible to say something about them, I mean what drives you to such a point where a sense of neuroticism seems to be important?

To be honest. Firstly I'm interested in creating an visual experience with the use of cryptic symbols, some intriqueing or provoking. But the most part of my work is about experience at it's firts glance, where familiarity leads to something unfamiliar. That shift is the magic that enhances my works, because it pushes the viewer to look and think deeper. The present subversive cultural influences in my work spans from aesthetical representations of Africa to Latin America, low art to gallery art and so forth. This complex shifting paradigm provides a complacency that suspends comfort while at the same time offer recognizable symbols and images. In this dynamictension the art and the viewer hopefully come together in an expandeddefinition of culture and assumption. Also the fact that I need to be neurotic with relation to form, colour, symbols, or simply aesthetics plays an important role. It's my way of understanding how complex situations or systems function for somebody battling with anxiety.

Interestingly you mention magic as an enhancement to push the viewer closer or deeper in looking what their really see. Would you also say that today art in particular your work, could function as a vehicle to experience something fuandamental with regard to the spiritual world in a material sense?

I have always been interested in spirituality as something one experiences firstly in close connection with your body. This close connection should be in someway related to something metaphysical. Because materiality can't exist without the spiritual connations that creates harmony. Therefore colour is an important part of my work, for it evokes something.

Ok. Some artist's suffer tremendously with depressions, anxieties, tormentations or simply other forms of mental struggles. Where do you place yourself and the idea that insanity is something somehow accepted for being an artist?

Personally I have my struggles but their are not singular. Their are connected with what's happening on the social, political or cultural platform of the given society or simply on a universal level. I'm keen to understand and therefore evaluate my own existence with regard to the next person. Because I take that stand, does not qualify me to an extend to declare me insane or depressed. Besides if there is any form of insanity,its better I embrace it and turn it into something creative. That is the cure.

Now that you live in Norway with all the benefits, thus granting the possibility of simply just being in content with yourself on all levels, especially living a good life. Why do you seemed to be so negative?

It seems you question smells of the old western trick of paternalism. Off course I feels great living in Norway with almost everything I want. But the reality is that the rest of the world is not living like this. It's almost like a child living a palace with a golden crown on his head, banging on the walls and the whole world can hear the beautifull sounds, yet their cant do shit-just listen and listen until that noise is unbearable. Lastly pessimism is not a philosophy but a emotion that passes through and liberal capitalism hould be much more than clothes,houses,gadgets..etc.

Listen to their hype

2010-12-21T05:07:00.000-08:00

Their tell you what you can't do, but never tell you what you can do.

It was me

2010-12-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

I never ask for more. In fact I demanded less. I feel content with the limited

struggles of an ordinary life. It's the path that chose me.

I should not disturb you as you search for the ultimate dream eternal happiness

and the sense of greatness designed to reach the stars.

I carry no grudge for your people. It's only my love for my own that distinguishes my loyality.

If the heavens open today. I will carry the words of the angels to each and every part of your heart.

Fast car revolution

2010-12-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

Living your life in a fast lane

long lines ain't enough

not enough shame

the plan is detruction

orchestrated by the demands

Got the law in sight

while I play their game

riding on death

2010-12-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Forget the lies, the money

we're in this together

And through it all, they said

nothing's forever

And they refused to see

the change in me,

Why won't they wake up' Come on

come on, come on

Let's get it on!

With questions and answers on postcolonialism, art in Namibia and the global scene

2010-12-15T03:58:00.000-08:00

In your opinion and the way you work, how would you categorize the postcolonial situation in Namibia; with relation to art and the globalisation?

It is very clear that globalisation moves at a more rapid speed. Money,people,ideas and exchange of cultures is intertwine largely given thanks to the enourmous development of the information technology. However also these processes of movement is also dictated by political,economical and cultural power, mostly from the North to the South. In the case of Namibia, a perculiar situation took place. Perhaps best describe by Frantz Fanon in his book" The wretched of the Earth " The middle class that particiapted in the war for liberation struggle has simply step into the shoes of the elite, therefore widening the gap between the elite, middle class and the working class. But only having the most part of the political power, their also assumed the role of responsibility on behalf of the majority of the population with the few of the whites, who controlled a large sector of the economy. And yes their still do. Boiling over to the art, which directly is linked within this set up. Therefor one finds a majority of black artists still struggling to talk about identity, postcolonialism and globalisation from an critical standpoint. Because commercially from within the Namibian situation, economically their deemed to fail, for the very same people who invest are mostly white foreigners. In my own work these issues are touched upon in a very subtle way since I find myself quite privilige to understand these problematics from a distant standpoint,however it does not present me as an expert on these issues. It's simply a voyage to understand my own relation to the situation.

In the west the general assumptions that artists with foreign backgrounds are considered as exotic, fresh or wild. Do you think this generalisation contributes to an divided view of experience when relating to works by non-western artists?

Despite all the technological advances, you still have a society influence by it's history and relation to the world. In this case the idea of exoticism is clearly fundamental within the western mind when dealing with the unfamiliar, especially now since the unfamiliar is more often at the door step of western progress. Whether this generalisation creates an divided view of experience is no doubt. It's simply a mechnanism to hold power of definition and diminish the hope for changing the course of history-not only in art but the universal history. It could also be interpret as a question of fear, because if the minority of the world holds so much power almost on all levels of humanity, then one has to deal with the paranoia of western civilization.

You mention the paranoia of western civillization, could you elaborate more what the paranoia is about?

I think the west is more often at cross-roads than before. If you study close at problematics that arose in the last 20 years especially in Europe and America. The collapse of financial markets and the recessions that follow up which influence the job market and the rise of nihihlism in all sectors of the society-including the art. The question of islam and the threat to western values on democracy and freedom of speech. Also the hysteria of terrorism and fear that has become now a frequent word within western discussion-thanks to politicians. With all these issues the grip on power slowly fades away from western hegemony on economy,politics and so forth. There is enough reason to deal with paranoia and the best preventive manner is to influence the majority of the world through strict regualtions using institutional organs such as the World Bank, IMF, United Nations etc to tied the world into a constant state of hostility especially in the third world.

winter _drawing series 2010

2010-12-14T04:49:00.000-08:00

Eat Rich/Fight power

Drawing the line

2010-12-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

What is the relationship between your drawings and your paintings- In which way do they work together or against each other?

I have always been fond of drawing. Going back to the days when I used to make cardboard prints in Namibia. Most of what I do now is fundamental towards that process. Firstly because its process oriented. Its about lines, forms and colours. Thereby content find its way. The relationship between my drawings and paintings is quite similiar but also different, because it presents a unique possibility to expiriment with all sorts of materials. So in my works, both these meduims depend on each other.

Where does all these forms, lines and colours come from in your work?

In my culture it's very common with patchworking. I mean with textiles. Seeing my own mother sewing together textile cut offs to produce something huge would be my first inspiration. Someting that has always been there in a sub-conconcious/conscious way. Interestingly enough it's quite personal. But also that I have a universal cultural spectrum to my work has definetly influence the way I work- from aesthetics of folk art to sub-urban visual aesthetics.

The energy in your work is fantastic,but having a closer look one realises both the brutality and joy of the human state of mind standing close o each other- Is this someting to do with you living in Norway?

Joan Miro believed in the beauty of mischiefed lives dictated by the wonderfull compositions ruled by the organic shapes that are always there, but nobody dares to pay close attention. How else can one tell something awful without scaring the viewer-which again participates in an ongoing process of an art discourse to complete the life of an work. I came to understand the sad stories are best told with flamboyant statements of vivid colours. Also the fact that of living in Norway with almost only grey or dark colours does no good for me-Guess it's to do with the long winters...

There is the ongoing discussion between the authenticity of African contemporary art and the African artist educated in Europe-What is your position on that discussion?

I studied in Namibia before I came to Norway. This is fundamental and very important towards my artistic identity. However I'm always influenced by the global views on art-not only as an African. All this discussion is basically set up as an institution to left out some and carefully choosing who can participate. And the reality is that if one is eduacted in Europe,off course one is close to understand the dynamics easily that is required to participate, but that is not enough. Because you are still an exotic object among the European set-up. But again one could in a subversive language shift the whole art discussion in disrupting the fun. Whether I'm an authentic African contemporary art is purely decided by those who write it's history-I can do my best to detest som parts of that history through my engagement with my work.

Thank you for your time and I wish you all the best.

Ok. You had some great questions but fuck. Most of them did not really make a sense because its the same patternal mindset you have with the rest of the art critic/curator inc.

Winter_drawing SERIES

2010-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

somewhere is home

2010-11-15T06:50:00.000-08:00

far away across the abundance of waters
places and faces are the only reminscent of a past memory
sounds of birds carry the familiar message
of longing for a place to rest the weary and destitute
meanwhile today and now,capitalism is not my friend
except to keep the past memory of home alive
for we have come so far to know that Babylon carry no fruits

Nothing without a cup of everything

2010-10-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Today than before, the strategist within me has lost sight of what is ahead. From left to right, things pop up and ideas flow freely. Those who visit the studio, amazed at first before going into a paternalized mode. Much more than that, one could say that such a form of paternal thinking is clearly embedded within those who just had to feel sorry for the way things turn out. Still being on the issue of paternal mentality and the speed of forced compassion. Just recently the imagery of suffering impregnated on our conscience has been some form of entertainment. Between all the fancy advertisements for gadgets to make our lives easier, sanitized imagery captures the guilty feeling and awakes our urgent call to contribute towards the bettering for the suffering pops up. Not sure whether imagery filled with all the clear references towards suffering really changes our perception in dealing with suffering itself helps, remains something abstract for most of us. While the west flourish in absolute excess for material want, rest of the world goes around beheading each other for a slice of bread. Go ahead and play your part as you decide now and then if the left over of yesterday would really make a difference-Or create another complex of dependency. While the rest of us should be happy to live in a dome of cheese at the expense of those who can't really decide for themselves. Today the scenario is quite different. The white man has proclaimed himself as the saint, while playing the role of the devil. Quite absurd. Almost like arriving at a techno party, with a monkey suit and white shoes with everybody spaced out on chemically induced drugs. If that's the case, some of us would prefer to watch teenage mutant turtles for the rest of lives only to be interupted now and then by some episodes of Knight rider.

2010-10-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Everything I ever owned

2010-09-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

As the clouds gather the rain
The sun meanwhile laughs at the melancholic moment that never was
Freedom becomes just another word for simplicity
Again and again cynical souls occupy the terrain,once reserved for the few
Laughter in the dark alley and light becomes your source
Act and re-act in total obedience
Knowing that love and hate was once a couple
Just as Lucifer was one of those angels
But is it wrong to be strong in the rain
Come on, you pussy face for once you were the real thing
After a while, nothing really matters
except the fact of keeping your big head above those waters of Babylon
Should we or just me, bow down to what is known as the law of the land
Your future is being discussed as you try to make sense of every word that you just read
I.D.C.W.T.W.W. F. I. D. O. T. W. A. S
I DONT CARE WHAT THE WORLD THE WORLD WANTS, FOR I DONT OWE THE WORLD ANY SHIT
Cryptic metaphor of the wise should not be under estimated
For once the world shunned away the silent minds
Not knowing that their control the unknown energy of the celestial world

A dialogue between an art critic, an influential politician, a street wise hobo and a famous artist.

2010-09-17T03:24:00.000-07:00

Art Critic( AC)

Influential Politician(IP)

Street wise Hobo( SH)

Famous Artist(FA)

AC- why is art so important but yet so sometimes senseless in the lives of ordinary people?

FA- Art is not that important unless we find the importance in that. It's merely a question of comfortablity.

SH- What the fuck. It's more important to know the rules of the street. It's where all the shit takes place.

IP- Excuse me, but you can't use that kind of language. Art is important because it gives value to a valuesless society.

FA- I don't care as long as I can get some cash for what I do. I need to survive in this capitalist world, known as a free market circus.

SH- Oh yeah. Rather spending time to be creative, I prefer to check out places that I can call home for the night. And all of this is blamed on the politics of the day.

IP- Stop playing the victim. Be engaged in future despite the fact that we make the future for all of you guys.

AC-Well I decide the future of artists. I dont know much about poverty and such. I'm interested in shaping the theoretical position of whatever is created and called art.

SH- Ok. Tell me if surviving on the street is called art. Because you need to be creative to know who to knock over for that next fix of heroin.

FA- Heroin. That sounds disgusting.That choice of addiction is simply for losers. It's the same as fighting a war in Afghanistan and getting paid in dope.

IP- Fuck all of you. I need to go and prepare my political programme before the voters will change their minds.

AC-I need to read the latest somebody wrote on Andy Warhol. So in a polite way I need to go.

FA-Well for me. I need to go ahead and think of my next master piece that goes together with the sofa of some rich collector in one of those metropolitan cities.

SH- Good for the three of you. Success and happiness is your mantra. For me, everything else really does not fit in. Therefore though I wish to change my life, the tide is against me and all of this is because of you snobbish dudes being intellectual and all that shit. So I prefer to organise my next fix.

5Questions & Answers

2010-09-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

How to you define your artistic practice?
Not sure if defining my artistic practice would do any good to what I do. However since you ask- I would prefer what I do as part of a micro process of something large I'm always searching. After being abducted in my dream one particular night in Sweden by foreign forces, I feel like what I do is still embedded within that dream.

What do you mean by that?
Well the sub-concious was awakened and ever since, the idea of forms,colors or concepts are quite dream like-almost like floating in delirium stages of a pointless revolution. Therefore observation and deterimination to understand every dream after that is important.It's real events that also interest me, without the autobiographical baggage that makes it easy to read. Such as people are interested in what I do because I have a tag of excoticism.

Has your work changed after being in Europe so long?
Yes and No. Of course my approach to material has been influenced after coming to Europe. Including all the theoretical references that gives value to what I do has also been influenced. But only with some sort of resistance, because art history is favorable and runs across the fine lines of Western dominance on culture and such. No in the sense that I had to keep the baggage I always carried with me as question of safety.

How would you define the critical position between making art and living in rich Norway?
Both are intertwined in such a way that one would not see any difference. Its the same thing. Sure it becomes easy to work with art in Norway with all the fantastic funding for artists. That's something special. But generally all of it comes with a cost. For me living in rich Norway has not yet transfomed me large, but has provide me with questions-such as the question of comfortability. It's damm comfortable and at the same challenging. I'm sorry I'm getting super depressed with all your questions. Perhaps another interview in a different format would be wonderfull.

Last question though-How do you see the future?
Shit. What a very optimistic question, that only optimistic kinded people have the right answer for. Don't get me wrong. Nothing personal. I don't want to decide the future, neither can the future decide for me. I prefer to ground my dreams in the present from memories of the past. You with me there.

2010-08-28T15:14:00.000-07:00

2010-08-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

VI snur det sammen

2010-08-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

2010-08-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

GIVERSTAKERSKEEPERS

2010-08-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

2010-08-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

humble ones are dispossesed from the truth to resist

2010-08-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

pessimism is just an melancholic emotion. not any philosophy. things run by the fake Christians. endorsed by the vision of telepathic forces. Man becamed possesed by what man owns. people write names on their cars. accept religions and ways of life to fill the void. the emptyness of this world makes me cold. out of nothing comes nothing. the preacher still preaches the same lie every sunday. desire and lust is nirvana for some. for some it's the hopes and dreams that keeps them alive. everybody wants something. nobody really knows what. In all honesty there are so much lack of originality existing in a world, more fast on track with the ideological power of globalization. Yes, lets all sing with one voice and the sound of that song is much better. Sure we don't want some to be out of the game. ~~Capitalism~~ sells dreams for those seeking desperately a way to escape. retail marketing aggresive social networking of friends, convincing lovers, cheating on love ones simply for quenching the thirst for desire is the basic ~~illusionary freedom~~ of individual right. fake rastafarians preying on the innocent and ignorant. the humble ones are dispossesed from their truth. under the pretext of one love and one god, ~~fakeness substitutes~~ the lust for a fuck. the dirty water of babylon fuels the temptations of the weak heart. but at the same time, ~~smoking weed~~ is some ~~illegal activity~~ because there is a war on drugs. there will never be a war on morality. again there will always be new terminologies. to catch you off guard. with fake smiles that confused the observant mind. words they say are nothing but the waste of breaths. only the true words for wisdom would make a beggar into a king.

NEW PAINTINGS FOR THE FUTURE FOR OTHER NEW PAINTINGS

2010-08-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

After longing to paint on canvas for a very long time. Finally I could paint again on canvas.

Did Naomi Campell flirt with Charles Taylor...if so, why not?

2010-08-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

SIMPLY THE BEST!

2010-08-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Painting as a catharsis

2010-08-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Working on painting project influenced by the naivety of creativity. Through this project I want to envision an primitive abstraction which will be some form of reflection of our contemporary society.

In compositions of bold colours and stylised patterns of existing and invented personalised symbolism. I want to create a intricate world of abstraction, where the painterly language of naivety ultimately makes sense from a senseless realistic perspective. With gestures of discipline chaos and formalised concepts, the symmetrical arrangements should be deceptive in this painting project. The figurative in the painting project should present architectural forms, where creating moments of recognition only to be devoured by the urgency to associate forms with feelings of expression. The paintings could be catalysts as a means to negate the paranoia of lost in abstraction and only to be re-united between internalised and externalised perception of reality.

Most of all, the painting project could rejuvenate a sense of belonging,as I keep losing track of where I was last.

Painting as a moment between pleasure and pain

2010-08-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

Few days ago I started to paint again. Usually it's a challenge to put colour on a blank surface. The significant presence of the material and the conceptual ideas that I might have for a specific work always create that challenge. Due to the challenge of working with empty ideas towards a point, where pleasure evolves is for me a painful experience. This is not something personal I try to convey through my paintings. It's rather an abstract representation of pleasure and pain as I observed it daily. Therefore there is no autoboigraphical narrative in my work. I prefer to have it that way.

Of course it's wonderful to paint. It's wonderful to work already existing imagery and the same manner as inventing new imagery. For me this process is simply an extension of reality within reality itself in the way I interpret it.Why? Because art should filled the void where reality is blurred and requires some form of interpretation.But again all these is purely a state of subjectivity. If I'm for instance interested in the emotional represenation of pleasure. What are the images or symbols best describe that feeling? In the paintings I planned to work, I wish to be much more naive than before. In my way of working, naivety is relaxing comfort because I could relate things around me with a extremely childish approach,just for I know that nothing is complete. Neither art could do such a wonderful miracle to make things complete.

Perhaps in my next post, I would mentioned the relationship between naivety, pleasure and pain.

everything and nothing is not something

2010-07-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

not everything that glitters is gold

brand new second

used under the pretext of the good

searching for the solution

under the pretex of perfectness

gaining the material of the world

request with sweet words to spread wide open

as the moment of flirtation guarantees something sexual

buried between pleasure and pain

while the fine difference between fault and conscience

deprives the mind for the reason of joy

increasing this cycle of anxiety of existential consciousness

which is the result

where everything and nothing is not something

Contextualisation of an delirious mind and the process of artmaking

2010-03-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

Being forever in this state of delirium, substantially I became to lost sight of the importance and essence of living, giving and subsequently being part of the whole process. However cold and brutal as it appears to be, if you have that feeling of only being left with a void and continuously searching for an existence. Then of course more questions reaches your mind, with less precise answers. After making that primer decision to move here, a place I have nothing in common on all levels imaginable. The sudden feeling of cultural and spiritual death has reached my sub-conscious, with the challenge as widening and eventually requesting me to develop mechanism strategies. What these defensive strategies would be should not be a matter of time, but as a matter of necessity. Basically as a matter of necessity driven by the sheer will of survival. Just to be faced with the ultimate confrontation of a cultural death sounds very obnoxious for man is the essence of culture. As a mode of evolving, discovering or simply instigating some form of change through challenge. But if living in a place such as Haugesund, I come to be confronted on a daily basis, by it’s remoteness and it’s comprehensiveness for lack of critical thinking especially on an arts discourse.

The overall question on a personal perception is shrouded by predicaments such as developing methods for approaching, confronting or disseminate. Firstly to identify mechanism for approach involves full participation within the already existing minimal art discourse. These could involve in setting up initiatives in the form of platforms, where the discussion of art and its relation in a social setting such as Hauguesund could be relevant. It could be a point of departure to involve artists, culture enthusiasts, policy makers on cultural issues and just simply the general public that is in some form or another involve within culture. The second phase would involve the identification and confrontation of the polemic obstacles preventing artists working with issues of concern. In my opinion these phase is very important, for it could challenge the very core and socio-cultural existential mindset of the majority of Haugesund. The last input would be left for the artist such as myself, caught in this give and take situation. Since the socio-political and cultural scenery basically is a dead zone, the give and take situation is also frightening. Just by giving or contributing on an artistic basis, the risk of your creative power being drained is an evitable result within the context of Haugesund. However if I find the balance between the amount of contribution I can make and the percentage I received. Perhaps then the articulation of idea(s) could manifest its purpose.

hysteria of a society suffering from dying a slow death

2010-03-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

The masses gathered as the speech makers get ready

to inject yet another dose of propaganda

while passively everybody in attendance

already have sold their existence

in return for silver and gold

at the marketplace where numbers and figures crash

dreams for better living are invented and proclaimed

as a universal human right but again the majority within the masses

live in impoverished conditions beyond despair

and still again another meeting would not deter their presence

but eventually create their interest

in an attempt to sit on the table

because nobody wants the crumbs falling from the table

Unless of course for the ones, not fit enough to endure the race of survival

But unfortunately the table is only designed to fit a few

the rest need to figure

fight among themselves

from what's falling from the table

decide among themselves

who is deemed to receive the little

that falls from the table by chance

and the ones who can't get close to the table

witnessed firsthand the destitute souls injected with falsified ambitions

working so hand to oppress each other

mother against daugther

father against son

wife against husband

creating a cycle of mistrust

speculations

suspicions

misunderstandings

predetermined feelings of attachment

only to result in a ocean of hatred

death

destruction

seperation

because the hysteria of a society undergoing a slow death

is an inevitable reality

A repsonse

2010-03-06T03:34:00.000-08:00

And i liked what i saw. You got great imagination, and terrific goals.But curing Haugesund from its sickness of shallowness and ignorance isa great task. And you must be a great man to achive your goals. But asi stumble upon more and more of your work, i come to realise you mightbe such a man. So i wish you the best of luck. And if you ever needany asistance with projects in haugesund, Let me know and me and myarmy might be at your disposal. Good show

The disenfranchised artist and his art#1

2010-03-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

Is there a centered set of ideals that determine a dominant hierarchy of values , which influences our perception of the geopolitical, social, cultural or economical viewpoint of the world? With this thoughts of contemplations, I have became much more interested more about my existential questioning of being an artist in this world. Perhaps more by being an artist in Haugesund, with very little or a non-existing platform for any arts discourse. With this major shift, the idea of questioning becomes relative within my approach to art making or the process of it.

But through these process what I find interesting and frightening simultaneously is the reality that strikes me most. Firstly the interesting part is that I through the added frustrations, misunderstandings and expectations of being an artist in Haugesund; is that the process of producing art becomes some sort of an catalyst network succumbed to the act of releasing. However on the other hand, it's frightening in such a way that the challenges are part of institutional structure that dominates and influences the perception of the majority here in Haugesund. So these presence of power within the collective consciousness of the majority creates a situation where an contemporary artist with a " foreign" background is deliberately erased from the public memory of the majority. And then you create an disenfranchised artist without no " real" connections.

Sounds like I'm playing the easy role of the victim. But reality is much more complicated than playing that role easily. The price of criticism is that one should provide other alternatives to better the given situation, of what you criticize against in the first place. More than finding alternatives I choose to create works questioning, firstly in dialogue with myself in relation to the world and it's unjustified policies of representation. When one becomes disenfranchised due to one's cultural or economical otherness, certain issues of discourse of course gain limited entrance within the mainstream field of discussions.This could be regarded as part of some sort of violation of human right, especially the right to participate. But again I should not forget, participation can also be a luxurious privilege and therefore invitation becomes relative.

Much more than that, I should concentrate on championing for the inclusion, participation and recognition. Or either I can disenfranchised myself more than I have been by the existing dominant structures representing the majority, the white Norwegians.

A repsonse by Petr Svarovsky

2010-02-28T07:32:00.000-08:00

hello herman,
thanks for the link to your blog. i like howyu write - and i think it's important to write about such things. justfew comments: racism is an interesting thing, to my surprise, iexperienced racism from black people - i shouldn't be surprised,actually, because racism has probably biological reason, anyway.

justfew comments: this "white male dominance" is apparent, however to methings are not that simple (this is my personal attitude). i will showit on an example of male dominancy: for years i was aware of this, andpartly on basis of laura's wish i was inviting guest teachers on basisof gender - e.g. more women. it worked somehow for me, but it didn'tbring a wished effect: to encourage more female students to work withtechnology. quite opposite, i would say. ok, no wander, so anotherexample: when curating show, i was trying to have at least balancedratio between men and women. i gave up. in the end, i just picked upmost interesting works, which were communicating well together. i wasmore loyal to art then to gender equality. i had no other artist thenwhite ones. all norwegians, actually. ok, it was for international showand they WANTED to have norwegian artists, but still. i was consideringanawana (her work would fit to topic), but i didn't even ask her in theend. why? well, her work is very strong, but it wouldn't fit to otherworks. it is too exceptional, so it wouldn't work. i could offer her asolo show, but just transport of her work i was interested in wouldexceet a budget which was suitable for 4 norwegian artists. also -anawana is in another rank now - sydney biennial, venice, manifesta -it's not easy to ask her to exhibit in some no-name cellar or backyard,it would be a bit irresponsible (i just talk from my privateperspective here).

so, result looks racist and chauvinistic, but i don't think i am like that. ok, maybe i am, but i don't mean it :)

whati am trying to say: as curators, we have many reasons why to pickcertain works, artists, whatever. diversity is good, but people alwaystend to relay on something / somebody they know when they haveresponsibility. it makes them feel safe :)

anyway, when i watchanawana's career, i disagree with you. she doesn't have many shows innorway, but she has some. she is getting grants, she is invited tolectures, etc. compare to most of former students of her age, she istreated better then norwegians. maybe it doesn't look like that, butcheck the numbers. well, other's, maybe including you, maybe are not, ijust don't buy that example with anawana.

keep writing!
best

petr

http://silver.avu.cz/someevilisgood/

I write what I Iike

2010-02-25T04:34:00.000-08:00

Concerning the post about the state of situations for many artists with a non-Western background. I have probably created internal enemies already. But that does not concern me, because I'm exhausted to be pigeon holed for the positions I take and are ready to defend.

Because the fact that the game Western cultural institutions play is infected by unjustified practices and driven by imperial interests of their given states. Why should the rest of the world be held hostage by a minority of people in the world (note: most people of the world live outside the northern hemisphere)

Perhaps I should concentrate on the problematic and unjustified representational politics that sustain some powers and ignores some completely. Its quite on a systematic level. From the "national" institutions such as museums that deal with acquisitions to private commercial galleries representing artists. Within that space there is clear sense of interest often driven by geographical and racial interest. The truth is hard to swallow, but there is a racial profiling when it comes to art, its platform for discourse and the definition of its power. Have a look at all the big events such as exhibitions or seminars-Considering the percentage of the multicultural look of Oslo. I could feel sometimes like a island. But again the whole society is divided and the fourth pillar of power dealing with the mediation of then masses plays this game cleverly. As said before the individual collectors(mostly white males) of art, besides the major institutions in Norway possess a conflict of interest. This interest is represented through means of share holding in major newspapers,television channels or other media sources. Therefore through creating strong interest by way of over represented media coverage, eventually the price value of their collections rise...which again are mostly Norwegian born artists.

As much as the policies of globalization presents the Westernized hierarchical values, it also presents a white supremacist culture. The truth of the matter is that there majority of the world's population is dark skinned and this way systematic oppression by the West is no surprising...Perhaps as a mechanism for future survival? Say if that's the case, why should we pay the price of poverty,isolation,systematic and institutionalized racism, state terrorism,gangs,heavy drug consumption rate, High HIV-aids, teenage pregnancies, social-political instabilities, high illiteracy rates and so forth....

Note: I'm sitting on volcano and I fucking write what I like

If only

2010-02-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

If distance divides places

where feet can't answer

if words are moments

times are thoughts

pressing on the shoulders

breathing the air of this world

if mingling with the ashes of the past

and being paralyzed

by the reality of truth hidden

and still

if faces of strangers were historians

in their own right

if avoiding in any way is a

reflection of ignorance

would there be any consideration on your part

if not a extended composed misconception

of your thoughts about the movement of happenings

If today is the same as yeasterday in the day before

2010-02-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

If today was yesterday, tomorrow should not be like today.........

Norwegian cultural scene is for the priviliged white

2010-02-21T03:19:00.000-08:00

For a while now I have observed how power is flowing when it comes to cultural representation in Norway. Since I'm a visual artist I would therefore prefer to go into detail, how power is shared and who has the authority to decide the flow of power.

First if you're familiar with the exhibition of 2008 focusing on young Norwegian art, titled " LIGHTS ON: Norsk Samtidskunst" at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo. Ideally the exhibition was to showcase the latest developments or trends of young artists in Norway. It was an interesting exhibition with very good and bad works at display. However problematic with exhibitions such as that is that it creates an, almost exclusive identity of a group of artists. In this case most of the artists participating in the show were Norwegian born and we all white. Despite the fact that there are Norwegian born artist, who are not white and which have shown an significant importance lately within the Norwegian art scene. Is perhaps because the Museum have strong ties towards showing works by artists of Anglo-Saxon regions?

So the tendency you find within the Norwegian art scene is all the exhibitions with titles with strong relation to a national identity. Through this way of organizing exhibitions, the rest of artists without a strong Norwegian identity are simply left out. Its more worse when they are not white. Their participation is guaranteed only when there are shows dealing with their otherness. But again these kinds of shows are for institutions dealing with the other. The scenario is simply; You can sit with us but you can't eat what we eat.

So clearly the rules of power control is quite obvious. Privileged white artists and curators receives the upper cut and thus control the power of definition. There has been no single artist with a non-Norwegian or for the most part an Non-Western background receiving enough press coverage like Bjarne Melgaard, Gardar Eidehttp://www.sorrywereclosed.com/eide_einarsson_gardar_works.php Einarsson, Matias Faldbakken, Marianne Aulie, Vebojørn Sand,Unni Askeland to name a few. Off recently another artist with a Zambian background Anawana Haloba presented Norway at the Venice Bienalle 2009 in Italy. Suprisingly nobody ever heard of her and the simple excuse was that she hardly exhibits in Norway.

It's no surprise at for me since the whole embodied structure of European project has always been solely a game of culture. A question of domination and sub-domination. Depending mostly on which end you sort of position yourself. Norway is no different. Especially with the rising influx of people with a non Western background and so the obvious comes apparent. The mindset of that we should first and foremost take care of our own and slowly, carefully and objectively we can open up more.

Melancholic Negro

2010-02-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

You find yourself at a dead end

sweet words

promises

angst

living on lies

at the comfort of others

wealth and death

different words

between pessimism

and the good energy everybody fakes

imbued with nothing but total madness

acting

reacting

impressive

and admiring the genius of a painter

with a cold heart in the depth of a horrible winter

the sun plays games

until there are no more rules

for living

The bleeding knife:

2010-02-19T01:40:00.000-08:00

Absolute truth replaces the abstinence in you

Living your life in a false pretext

With time you could choke in your own vomit

That's before your have reach any summit

The blood that will run from your wrists

In this context

I see your face

Is it fate or desired actions

Contradictions are served last at a bad dinner

Flirting is a promise for a sexual guarantee

The weight of comprises have became illusions

As sleepless nights are the remedy

Places and Faces don't matter anymore

The hatred for your is an obnoxious anger

a place of refugee

a grave

a dead end

a crossroad

a money safe

Under the disguise of lust

Desire loosen itself

And temptations take over

Weakness controls your decisions

Unfaithfulness is old as truth itself

A promise becomes a comfort to a fool

Fine clothes and good looks matter

So everybody gets flattered

And receives the compliments

While the regrets becomes a collective consciousness

And the other ultimately dies

with guilt

self-pity

bad conscious

lack of conviction

a hole in the heart

while the blood

runs

pours

becomes cold

eyes rolled back

lips turn blue

and final goodbyes were never made

only a mix of uncertainties

contemplating

that his life was wasted

and perhaps in the next life

the angel in him will be awaken

NOTHING LIKE THIS OR THAT: its the way it is.

2010-02-19T00:07:00.000-08:00

LANGUAGE OF US AND THEM: A setback of a memorised revolution

2010-02-16T01:42:00.000-08:00

If it's a question of domination
Then sub-ordination creates a complex of inferiority
It us and them in a chaos of misunderstandings
Them is the other without a purpose that requires clarity
Them is the other without the name nobody knows
But we are the us that makes the rules for engagement
Us is not the other without the purpose
Us is the people with names and codes you need to learn
Between us and them
The line has been drawn
Keep your shit in your back yard
Keep your otherness in the back of your brain
The organ between your ears
The years of us and them itensifies
with the riots and the marginalisations
Because it's us who make the call
Can't you recall your own history
written by us the victorious minds
And still it's a question of domination and sub-ordination
Between and us and them

SOMETIMES......

2010-02-15T23:49:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it rains,snows,the wind blows,depression takes over. Sometimes the rain continues forever, the sun shines, the clouds make love,wars are
invented.Sometimes there are no answers, people agree to disagree, art is lying,politics matter, it's difficult to make the right choices. Sometimes a dictator knows everything, a lover is destructive, bias information convinces the ignorant mind, it's useful to cut against the grain.Sometimes people cheat under the disguise for lack of something, it helps to be pessimistic, the truth plays hide and seek, its a multicultural slave plantation, disgusting opinions gets the most attention, being melancholic is a question of fate. Sometimes the bottom line is to question your whole existence without any regrets....

Surgical love: The subdued imagery presented by the artist

2010-02-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

A Hidden Agenda

2010-01-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

Wild black man running free with some cash
Not knowing that those who can count
Know how to make the round
Often it's the white man
Who decides for the savage
Those filled with rage
Can't intergrate
Can't relate
Can't know right from wrong
Because him just want the thing
That makes the round at the end
Without any thought behind his mind
The racism keeps him behind
But he can't be victim
Without a limp, he continues to run free with the little cash

abstracted frustations: acrylic, collage,markers on canvas

2010-01-14T07:29:00.000-08:00

Often in a fast lane

2009-12-22T00:28:00.000-08:00

without precision there can't be a decision
time closes in
redemption is a far cry
living now fast
no time to grasp
because lost time is a worthless past

the future demands more than that
without questions there can't be answers
why the bombs of frustation
why all the rush to be appreciated
then most of all and not least
could things be more in slow rhythm
so we can listen, understand, appreciate
love
reject
hate
see
and work with our own way in our own time
because it's what the future demands of us

WhoWhatWhereWhenWhyare you looking

2009-12-22T00:13:00.000-08:00

In the shadow of miseducation

2009-12-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

defected and misinformed

unsuitable and disfigured

shameful and disgraced

immortal souls that are infinite

definition is the precise domination over thought

detected repressive conditions are individual

diabolically unleashed and resisting the grain

nothing but your own existence forms matter

defining the core of your presence

when everything else is a complete void

nothing remains and nothing starts

a chaos buried under complete silence for discipline

listening quietly to the rumours that keeps the weak bounded

in places of dislocations and love for nihilism

hope simply is replace by fear to succeed in the name of failure

as your close friend, lover, family or even just a jealous neighbour

keeps you at bay when the golden goose starts to lay its precious eggs

your favourite television programme distance you between everything else

nothing remains in its consistency

form of your thoughts becomes sort of silence

not even the bombs that ignites the anger

disturbs your moment of peace

as stupid-ness and ignorance

bears the hallmarks

of your existence

which you proudly defend

in all forms possible

to make your cause

valuable

powerful

intolerant

justifiable

but the stream of consciousness flowing among the courageous ones

intends to paralyze your triumph

ruin your success

make your prospero life

a burden

through words dipped in wisdom

casting light over the shadow

of the miseducated

Haugesund2009:#1

2009-11-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Been months since I painted. Of course I look forward to paint again, but the joy of drawing lines, circles or curves has taken over my life. Not sure when I will get a studio, but I have decided that as soon as I get hold of a space. Then I will start to paint. But most importantly that process of painting will eventually kick off as soon as I get also a " real" job. Then I will afford to pay for a studio space.

Haugesund is a much smaller place than Oslo. The challenge is huge-new environment and therefore the challenge is huge. I could only redeem myself through a creative expression. So all the work I have posted for the last month, which consist mostly of drawings is the mental preparation for a big work. Of which I planned to devout all my creative energy to. These dreamlike landscapes are actual situations of my life-The chaos, depression, obsession, frustration etc...

Some say these works are very African....Not sure what that means. Anyway I disagree. Yes I was born in Africa and I don't need to make art to show my " Africaness" for there a more than a million ways to express that. Perhaps art is only a tiny fraction of that collective identity.

NB: I wish to write more, but I had slept quite shitty and it's fucking tiring to be philosophical early in the morning.

HUAGESUND2009

2009-11-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

GaliBlog: Chronicles of Contemporary Art & Culture: Hotch Potch London @ MK II in Hackney

2009-11-02T02:54:00.000-08:00

GaliBlog: Chronicles of Contemporary Art & Culture: Hotch Potch London @ MK II in Hackney

New SketChes: In BlacK & wHite

2009-10-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

New SketChes: In CoLor

2009-10-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

2009-10-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

ConFronTation GiVes WaY tO NegoTatioN: xeRox coPY,CollAGe on PaPeR2006

2009-09-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

WaitInG: AcryliCs oN MDf PlaTE 2006

2009-09-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

No TitLE:

2009-09-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

LiVE ProPaGaNDa: SaiNT BoB GeLDoF_500 000 00US DollARS?

2009-09-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

KeeP NorWaY CleAN: InTeRnaTioNaL TranSLAtioN

2009-09-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

2009:sOOn 2012

2009-09-18T12:11:00.001-07:00

2009:sOOn 2012

2009-09-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

2009:sOOn 2012

2009-09-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Blessed or Cursed: The Multi-CulturAL Slave Symptoms

2009-09-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

Is my confidence a threat to you
Now has I enjoy the fruit of ancestors past
The oil, the wealth, the kindness,
And most of all
The facade which eventually lurks upon me
On what I know that brings me closer to my negritude
Which is a sponge for your dirty past
covered in pride, in books of beauty
What more is a threat to you-Prospero
Is it my love for being dark and mysterious
Is it my yearning for being black and proud
Even as you shout so loud
About your insecurity
Your doubts
Your welfare
Shrouded in secrecy of liberal politics
Be like us or get out of the way
It's figures that buys you best friends
Sells you dreams
That convinces you that
being white is right
And being black
is most of all being wrong
But in case you brown-
You have the chance to stick around

THE ART OF COllecting Art: BUilding ART Collections

2009-09-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

* INSTINCT AND INTUITION *CONVICTION *PASSION * HAVE AN (ACQUIRING MIND) * PRACTICE AND CULTIVATE PATIENCE * OBSERVE * USE YOUR IMAGINATION

A big part of the pleasure in collecting art has been the educational process and the gradual development of greater self confidence. Lucian Freud is a British Painter type: Contemporary Art, is said to be the "most expensive living artist at auction of the 21st Century "...,with a "Big Sue"painting.The painting called: " Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" sold for $ 33.6 million or ï¿½17.2 million at Christies in May 2009.The Sitter is (Sue Tilley ) and she sat for Freud over a four year period.The London based Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich is said the buyer of Lucian Freud's Big Sue and Francis Bacon's triptych which sold for $ 86.3 Million or ï¿½43 million. Trust your instinct especially if you want to collect art meaningfully. Meet someone who will take the time to educate you more to have confidence in your tastes and if you are a couple,you both try to get there together;Learn about different artists and have different pieces in a collection,your appreciation grows the more you look at art. Collecting is not just buying art,it is really spiritual which you have to have a 'passion' for. Is esthetics, rather than economics,is the guiding principle when assembling a great collection?However,in the late 90s,new art collectors face a bewildering array of choices. Not only they have to choose a focus -which medium,which period,which artists-in the increasing diversity of fine art but must also make decisions about budget and value in an ever-fluctuating market. I know of a budding art collector ,who saw a painting by a Jamaican master painter and paid down monthly until she finished,so, one doesn't have to have a lot of money to start collect; I say to anyone in terms of collecting an artist,it is important to collect works from different time/period as the artist progresses;

Heroes and Zeroes

2009-09-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

Without the preciseness that directs a good soul. With the fact that you can be part of a system of organizing chaos. Just to know the possibility that exists to be more just rather being rude. Knowing that it is actually harmful by working hard to understand the fine lines of power. Or just the knowledge of having no clue whatsoever what the above written lines really mean for you. Otherwise I would only mention that their are at war with themselves. Not because of a choice. But simply as a matter of passive resistance. Of not critically assessing their whole existence. I'm at war(No F-16 bombers,Apache helicopters....) with war. The beautiful dialogue between my needs and taste. So Heroes and Zeroes is one thing, existing of two. Very much related, co-existing within the social realm of our present day self-destructive engagement with society. Being pissed by the long lines in the cathedrals of consumer culture-Today known as malls, supermarkets....Well words escape as I try to formulate, regulate or unleash their power of meaning. Whether their will paralyze the thoughts of the mindful reader. And thus making the crucial choice between the Heroes or the Zeroes.

A STAR IS BORN

2009-09-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

" In mid -1998, the White House put another villain up on the global marquee. He uses the stage name Osama bin Laden; he's an Islamic fundamentalist, sports a beard, wears a turban and caresses the rifle in his lap. Will this new star's career take off? Will he be a box-office hit? Will he manage to undermine the foundations of Western civilization or will he only play a supporting role? In horror movies, you never know."

EDUARDO GALEANO

UPCOMING PERformance in thE GALLERY: WatCH the STAR and Count THE TIME

2009-09-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.tegnerforbundet.no/

2009-09-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

"If we behave ourselves, it will come to pass. We will all see the same images and hear the same sounds and wear the same clothes and eat the same hamburgers and enjoy the same solitude in our houses all alike in the neighborhoods all alike in cities all alike where we will all breathe the same garbage and serve our cars with the same devotion and carry out the same orders of the same machines in a world that will be marvelous for all who have no legs or wings or roots"

-Eduardo Galeano

2009-09-01T14:27:00.001-07:00

AACHRONYM: Microsoft Photoshops Black Man Out Of European Ad

2009-09-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

AACHRONYM: Microsoft Photoshops Black Man Out Of European Ad

NeT-ArT - Virtual Space for Art and Communication

2009-09-01T13:49:00.001-07:00

NeT-ArT - Virtual Space for Art and Communication

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IDeaS for Existing Projects#SuperNatural Gangsters09

2009-08-29T12:17:00.001-07:00

DANCiNGTHEDANCE&gOLDENEEgDREAMeR

2009-08-29T11:46:00.001-07:00

2009-08-28T10:19:00.001-07:00

MULTICULTURALISMINFAILUREOFDOOM

2009-08-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Remember as you move
Your presence is not tolerated everywhere
It is a democracy and the ideals are liberal
Yes because presence makes you aware
Not of the danger I pose
But of your ignorance to accept only my indifference
As I need to positioned myself from a object
Towards a subject of your desire for exotic taste
Certainly again as you remember your movements
just another object towards being subjectified

GANgsters:IDEAs:- multiCULTURAl SLaveSHIP

2009-08-12T11:04:00.001-07:00

FIVE TO ONE AIRSTRIP PLANE GIRL WITH A SUITCASE

2009-07-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

THE GLORy AGAIN

2009-07-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Death is always with us and ....what matters is not to know whether we can escape it, but whether we have achieved the maximum for the ideas we have made our own. As it lurks into our social conscious, the idea of lost to death is closely link to memory. Structure of memory affords us the strength to embrace the difficulty of that loss.Therefore within our societies, everything matters.Lost is equivalent to gain. It's obviously a question of balance. Something I think is so much institutionalized within Western societies. The whole relation to death, ideas of it or death itself is simply of how the relevant institutions will deal with it, something that connects the individual to the wheel of the past. In our societies, the wheel of the past is driven by ancestral forces. Considered to be irrational thinking here in the West. Unfortunately we see the past connected to the present, which in case informs us more about the future......

BIOLOGICAL ILLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS#5

2009-07-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

BIOLOGICAL ILLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS#4

2009-07-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

BIOLOGICAL ILLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS#3

2009-07-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

BIOLOGICAL ILLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS#2

2009-07-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

BIOLOGICAL ILLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS#1

2009-07-23T11:46:00.001-07:00

THE RETURN OF THE MAIN CIRCUS #22008

2009-07-22T12:56:00.001-07:00

HERMANMBAMBA&CHRISTIANHENNIE CIRCUS ACT #12008

2009-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

GHOST OF GARVEY STILL ALIVE2007

2009-07-22T12:52:00.001-07:00

DELIGHTFUL TASTE OF THE WORLD2007

2009-07-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

HERMAN MBAMBA

free poems/ABx/painting pain

near to the ocean

free poems/ABx

free poems/liberation in the misfortunate

free poems/mistrust

free poems/despair

free poems about dislocations

Ecstasy of becoming

sitting on the wall

listen and talking: The lines in between

The state of the artist

Improvisation.

post traumatic art

Hardtalk with Herman Mbamba. Pt.1

Listen to their hype

It was me

Fast car revolution

riding on death

With questions and answers on postcolonialism, art in Namibia and the global scene

winter _drawing series 2010

Drawing the line

Winter_drawing SERIES

somewhere is home

Nothing without a cup of everything

Everything I ever owned

A dialogue between an art critic, an influential politician, a street wise hobo and a famous artist.

5Questions & Answers

VI snur det sammen

GIVERSTAKERSKEEPERS

humble ones are dispossesed from the truth to resist

NEW PAINTINGS FOR THE FUTURE FOR OTHER NEW PAINTINGS

Did Naomi Campell flirt with Charles Taylor...if so, why not?

SIMPLY THE BEST!

Painting as a catharsis

Painting as a moment between pleasure and pain

everything and nothing is not something

Contextualisation of an delirious mind and the process of artmaking

hysteria of a society suffering from dying a slow death

A repsonse

The disenfranchised artist and his art#1

A repsonse by Petr Svarovsky

I write what I Iike

If only

If today is the same as yeasterday in the day before

Norwegian cultural scene is for the priviliged white

Melancholic Negro

The bleeding knife:

NOTHING LIKE THIS OR THAT: its the way it is.

LANGUAGE OF US AND THEM: A setback of a memorised revolution

SOMETIMES......

Surgical love: The subdued imagery presented by the artist

A Hidden Agenda

abstracted frustations: acrylic, collage,markers on canvas

Often in a fast lane

WhoWhatWhereWhenWhyare you looking

In the shadow of miseducation

Haugesund2009:#1

HUAGESUND2009

GaliBlog: Chronicles of Contemporary Art & Culture: Hotch Potch London @ MK II in Hackney

New SketChes: In BlacK & wHite

New SketChes: In CoLor

ConFronTation GiVes WaY tO NegoTatioN: xeRox coPY,CollAGe on PaPeR2006

WaitInG: AcryliCs oN MDf PlaTE 2006

No TitLE:

LiVE ProPaGaNDa: SaiNT BoB GeLDoF_500 000 00US DollARS?

KeeP NorWaY CleAN: InTeRnaTioNaL TranSLAtioN

2009:sOOn 2012

2009:sOOn 2012

2009:sOOn 2012

Blessed or Cursed: The Multi-CulturAL Slave Symptoms

THE ART OF COllecting Art: BUilding ART Collections

Heroes and Zeroes

A STAR IS BORN

UPCOMING PERformance in thE GALLERY: WatCH the STAR and Count THE TIME

AACHRONYM: Microsoft Photoshops Black Man Out Of European Ad

NeT-ArT - Virtual Space for Art and Communication

IDeaS for Existing Projects#SuperNatural Gangsters09

DANCiNGTHEDANCE&gOLDENEEgDREAMeR

ExposÃÂ© - Namibian Sin Column: Namibia Features at Michael Jackson's Memorial

ExposÃÂ© - Namibian Sin Column: Namibia Features at Michael Jackson's Memorial