HOME | DD

patchworkmemory [2005-08-10 01:13:03 +0000 UTC]

I've been skimming over the controversy of this photograph (very raw, very beautiful, btw) and I can't help but be re-think over and over that if this were some random man's son, a man who was not interwoven so deeply in dA and it's happenings but just a regular Joe Schmoe with a camera, and he took a photo of his son showing this kind of bare emotion, I believe there wouldn't be any such comments about "pity whoring", as it were. There would be comments about how marvelously captured the emotion is in the piece itself and how it tell's a story (which there is and it does).
Simply because Jark is the co-founder of dA, and this terrible thing has happened to him, it suddenly means that if he takes a picture of the emotional effects a betrayl from a friend of the family, and the subject is his son, he must be a digging for sympathy. It's ridiculous to assume such a thing. Art is composition supported by emotion. Photography is about captureing the emotion in a frame of time so that it can be shared and others can empathize or be affected however which way the photo warrants.
In this moment, betrayl is captured. I honestly don't think any man who could put so much love and time into dA would use his own son in any such way as to gain pity and support. It doesn't fit.
This piece says to me that "One mans actions against you can affect those around you just as sharply, if not more so." And this is a very true thing.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Simply-Being [2005-08-08 01:22:07 +0000 UTC]

I guessed, I should share this with you, Jark.

In 1953 Albert Camus wrote, " Our civilization survives in the complacency of cowardly or malignant minds—a sacrifice to the vanity of ageing adolescents.... In 1953, excess is always a comfort, and sometimes a career." It's 2005, and I believe that those words may still ring true.

I'm saddened, when I see what was once vibrant, and alive, coming to a (corporate) end. Of course, I realize as many have, that if I just go about 'business as usual' that soon, the corporate entity will assauge those 'hard feelings' of mine, and everyone at DA will be happily about their normal routine.

I cannot accept this, and so difficult was this for me, that I decided to discover what other, greater thinkers than I will ever be, have had to say on these same matters. You will find this journal peppered with quotes, to support the position I have taken, and that I would hope, many others will adopt.

Did you ever look for something, only to be surprised to find something else? Sometimes, it can be a great feeling, say you're looking for an old scrap paper with something written on it, and going through some clothes you haven't worn awhile, you find a long forgotten Hundred Dollar bill. That's good. Finding a black widow spider, clinging to your fingers in that same pocket, that would be bad.

For me, the whole search began, when I wanted to research the 'dismissal' of Jark. If that didn't seem a dark enough search to begin, I can say it's only become much worse. What I found at the end of that search, had MUCH less to do with Jark, and more to do with me, and the 'relationship' I have with all of you, and with DA. That may sound incredibly selfish, and I admit, it is. Were it not for DA being a place artists could come together to share and comment, I would not have (selfishly) come to know the many friends I have made here. That IS selfish, and as I write, it strikes me as quite hypocritical as well. Yet, even my hypocrisy has it's limit, and I fear that in my search I have found it. Please bear with me, as I will explain fully.

" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." That, according (I believe) to Edmond Burke, an Irish philosopher. I agree, and in my life, I see clearly it has come to this.
Perhaps, what has happened with Jark, can be attributed to 'corporate evil' the result of ONE person's actions? I do not think so, as much as I would LOVE to blame Sotira, factually, he and I share equal blame.

You see, He is just the captain of a ship, a ship which I hitherto unwillingly, GIVE LIFE. And now, seeing this, realizing this, I must reassess my own actions, before 'blaming' anyone else. There's been a rally cry of "COMMUNITY ! !" And yes, I want to agree, and rally everyone together, but I cannot. You see, this 'community' of which we speak, it's YOU, and it's ME. And when I think of 'my friends' here on DA, and I think of that 'community' I think of Annie, and Jessica. I think of Marta, and Sarah, I think of Ying, and Elle, Ninke, and Crimson Faerie…. All of these people who have come together, not only because of DA, but because their meeting, was MY contribution to 'community'. So you see, that whole thing could Not exist without You, and me. And that community I think of, depends on ME.

I am center of a wheel, which overlaps many others., depending upon them as much as they may depend upon me. And when I think of any 'valuable' contributions I may have made, no art piece has ever been more important than my Friends, and their very real dreams and hopes.

Many people are a 'friend' to Jark. I am not, having never had ANY dealings with the man. I know he Founded DA. I know he was 'terminated'. I have no loyalty to him, other than I have been grateful that he Did put this machine in motion. As for my other friends, yes, to you I am loyal, as loyal as I have been and will remain always to my precious Saint Aubri.

Here, is where the line blurs…. Here, is where I must make a stand.

Sarah Ellis, Writing over a century ago wrote this, "To act the part of a true friend requires more conscientious feeling than to fill with credit and complacency any other station or capacity in social life."

Hmmm.. that's a bit harsh, but truth often is. Factually, I've gained more from the DA community, than I could EVER give back, yet, faced with an opportunity to 'give back more' I feel I must. It is a moral imperative that I do so.

A recent poll asked, "If there was an art site which offered more than DA, would you go?"
I'd go, absolutely.

The PROBLEM I have with DA is simple. It's the attitude that I, (a member) can BE treated as a 'commodity'. Further I am appalled at the somber resolution many appear to have that 'DA will remain'.
I do not recall anyone being ASKED if we WILL stay under the new guidelines, and rating system. My feeling is that if 400,000 of us DID walk to another site, then that attitude would change, and quite quickly.

Many have turned a blind eye to the issue surrounding Jark's dismissal, I make no apology, when I say it must be because the truth is clear, even to them, and rather than 'take a stand' they choose to be complacent, and that is something I WILL NOT do. There ARE people who have no idea of the whole Jark drama, and honestly feel they are not party to it. While I can agree that ignorance IS bliss, I cannot agree to empower DA for my own selfish end.

DA exists now, I am sure, a power unto itself, but this could be true of any site. Still it does not mean that I MUST 'accept' blindly when told, that I have to 'just accept' it, because there is currently no alternative to DA. I'm no suit, but I'm not stupid either, I CAN choose, I DON'T have to stay. I remember when AOL thought IT was the 'Only Game in Town' and people Scoffed at Yahoo, saying, "They'll never match AOL for content". .

I am not a citizen of DA, I am a citizen of the world. As such, what I find most appalling and unacceptable, is is the treatment WE are recieving from those that people who CLEARLY PROFIT from our being here. We are beng treated as chattel, MINDLESS FODDER for the corporate canon. We are being harrassed and censored, our freedom to speak out is often handicapped or restricted, all in the name of the almighty dollar. That may be great for those who profit from such behaviour, but I feel it is unethical, and unacceptable in ANY 'art' community, and all of this, they do while piously waving the flag of "Community." I AM THE COMMUNITY, and I OBJECT..

Factually, from a majority shareholder's standpoint, we are all finally just numbers, with our worth to be established by this new 'x,y,z' system. Even though under the new guidelines, SOME people will feel 'special' and favored by the system, we will still ALL be herded like cattle into groups.
We will post 'our art' hoping for recognition, while never realizing the real truth, that as we pay with our sweat and dreams, ultimately, the only people who TRULY profit from it, are a few suits.

A few words to all the 'Little People' who don't think your voice matters, IT DOES. You represent PROFIT. For a site like this, even if you don't sell a single print, even if you never buy a sub, your space on DA is AD SPACE. So when your friends, and relatives stop in to see your latest pic of your Kitty, it translates to PAGE HITS. Page hit's is how ADS are sold to advertisers. You are PROFIT, while many paid positions, (Like sotira's) are OVERHEAD. YOU MAKE DA Money, while Others (aherrm) COST MONEY, no matter how they try to floss over that fact, by calling themselves 'Beloved' anything.

For all those fence sitters, who want to just IGNORE this whole issue, I have a few words from Ben Franklin, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety"

To conclude,. I AM NOT ADVISING ANYONE to "Join the revolution." No, do what YOU believe is right. I've mentioned before, this isn't for Jark, it's for me, and, it's FOR YOU, "my" little corner of the DA community, where this wheel overlaps those few others. It's My little way to say, "I'd stand for you, and risk all, if YOU were dealt such injustice as Jark has suffered." Mine is just one small voice, but it's all I've got, and all I have to lose, and I needn't wait for it to be taken from me, no, I can CHOOSE not to give further life to an unethical corporate beast.

That 'search' for truth on which I began this journal, brought me to these conclusions. (bad) But also to one other conclusion, (good.) I have few friends, and that one tiny LOVE (SA)… I feel I would do us all a great disservice, were I to 'choose safety' or ignore the obvious facts, or pretend to morality while enjoying the (selfish) benefits which I derive from DA. These things I will not do.

I decided that If I have not seen Jark initiate some legal action to regain his position, or some control over DA, then I will not continue past 30 days on this site. It's not much, but if a half a million other people choose principals over selfishness, in deed, and not words alone, then I am sure, the DA community at large would be much better served, either by the 'NEW DA' or by the alternatives which would rise, to meet the demands of those unsatisfied here.

I have spoken

Angel Perez

Simply_Being@yahoo.com

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

jpkuelho [2005-08-08 00:47:26 +0000 UTC]

stop being faggot and crying to everyone about what happened to you, be a man!;/

👍: 0 ⏩: 1