Art Rebellion
An Experiment in Collaborative Art
People with passion can change the world for the better
the moment they begin to overcome their fears
People with passion can change the world for the better
the moment they begin to overcome their fears
Well, ok... Lets face it. The world has gotten pretty ugly lately, hasn't it?
But is it the world, or is it our inner-selves that's turned a dark corner? After all, have the sunsets changed? No. Have the stars in the skies grown dim and blinked out? No. Has the summer breeze stopped blowing? No.
Perhaps before we can help heal the world, we need to heal our inner selves first.Somehow I feel that we need more creativity in our individual lives in order to push back against the dark miasma. By fighting against our fears and anxieties we can find our own Liberation. And there is no better way to fight those anxieties, I think, than doing art. As it happens art is where we meet anxiety on an individual level. Most of us, in fact, are afraid of doing art. Why is that? Because we fear that people won't like the art we create. It will be too ugly. Too painful, misshapen, discolored, awkward and awful for people to like. But what we are saying, actually, though we don't know it, is that we feel others will feel that way about us if we tell the painful, misshapen, discolored, awkward and awful truth about ourselves. This is the core of our problem. It's called Insecurity. And worst of all, many people go through their entire lives without confronting it, without asking 'Why should I feel this way?', and without ever finding out that there is no good reason after all.
In fact, we are all great artists. Let me prove it to you. Draw an apple on a piece of paper. Draw another. Put a line next to it. Draw a squiggle. Look at it. Does it look ugly to you? Is it misshapen and foolish? Maybe it is. Or maybe it looks pretty. Maybe it looks amazing. But one thing I can tell you for sure - however it looks to you, it is a prefect expression of your emotion when you drew it. Perfect.
I once was trying to do a pastel drawing when I first went to college years ago. It was horrible. It came out ugly, and dark, and stupid looking, and it was all messed up and wrong. And then it suddenly occurred to me. That I was so anxious about what people would think of it while I was drawing it that it was in fact a perfect expression of my anxiety. Perfect.
I am a great artist. So are you. We all are. All we need to do is find the courage to express ourselves honestly. We must, in fact, stand up to our darkest inner demons and conquer them with that courage. We must do this before we can help the world. And one of the best ways to conquer our inner fear is to do art.
To conquer our fear is our individual Liberation - a pathway to Enlightenment. Especially if we gain the courage to do that art together with others.
And so I want to encourage this through an Experiment in Collaborative Art. End your fear. Learn to express yourself freely, and you will obtain Liberation and Strength. And with Liberty and Strength people can do amazing things in life. My hope is that people will stop cowering in the shadows of their own fears, open their eyes to the beauty that is all around us, and live in peace.
I hope to encourage this through this Experimental Collaborative Art Project. If people learn to express themselves through art, and liberate themselves from their fears, perhaps the world will be a better place. I think so.
How to Join the Art Rebellion
2) Write "Art Rebellion" on the piece somewhere. I like to number mine in the order I created them, so mine read "Art Rebellion #1", "Art Rebellion #2", "Art Rebellion #3". You can make any code you want, of course.
3) Place it somewhere in public where other people will unexpectedly see it. I like to put mine on garbage cans, lamp posts, parking meters, mailboxes, or wherever people would not expect to see artwork. Someplace where someone who sees it will be surprised, and hopefully delighted, or intrigued, or mystified.
4) Record your Art-Rebellion on video, or take a picture of it, and post it to YouTube in your own Art Rebellion Channel, or on your blog.
5) Send a link to your Art Rebellion and I will post a link to it here. And so we can in this way expand the Collaboration.
6) Do as many Collaborative Art Rebellions with total strangers as you can. It's an amazing way to meet people. I often will sit in a restaurant and try to get others to help me with my collaborations. It's been amazing. Sometimes the people just stare. They can't imagine doing a piece of art with a stranger. Others laugh, but won't draw. Some walk away, completely weirded out. But some people actually pitch in and draw a line. Then another then another. And then it's my turn, and I draw a few lines. And then they take a turn. Its a game. We add to the collaboration together. I have seen some really amazing artwork come out of this process.
"So, Collaborative Art Rebellion has two benefits. First, it brings people together for the purpose of overcoming fear. And second, it increases the amount of creativity and beauty in the world.
Wow! What a wonderful, healing idea! I love it!"
- A total stranger somewhere
7) Rinse & Repeat! Keep going! :)
Note: I almost always leave the artwork behind and unsigned as an ego-freeing exercise and often wonder whatever might have become of these works.
Join the Art Rebellion! Defeat your fears! Experience Liberation!
:)
Sincerely,
Art Rebel 1
