Meshes of the Afternoon

Maya Deren’s 1943 short film “Meshes of the Afternoon” is to this day, my favorite example of multi perspective media. This experimental movie uses different camera angles and crude editing to give the illusion of an area being larger than it actually is. The film also uses similar techniques to create new dimensions to a room. The plot follows a woman who is dreaming. Over the course of the dream she follows a hooded animus figure with a mirror for a face but can never seem to catch it. The woman treks through several different disorientatingly surreal rooms only to eventually find the hooded figure putting a knife under her pillow. The representation of an internal struggle existing only in the subconscious could also be considered a different perspective. Not only does this film use backdrops that are multi perspective illustrations but it also adds a second way to view reality in the movie.

3 people I admire

Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke's writing has definitely had a major influence on the aesthetics and subject matter I choose when making art. I very much admire his ability to evoke fear in the reader just by presenting them with an unexplained, large object with a smooth surface. It is almost communicating that the straight line or perfect geometry is a signal of intelligent life, however, this is never directly touched upon, making it that much eerier. One of Clarke's most famous example of this concept would be the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). In both the scene at the excavation site on the moon and of the early humans, all were confused by the monolith despite it being such a simple structure. This idea is also prevalent in Clarke's 1973 book Rendevous with Rama. The humans who discover Rama are unsure about what it is because it seems to be an empty structure that they can't explain. Arthur C. Clarke has the ability to make a reader uncomfortable by forcing them to acknowledge the existence of the unknown and that it is bigger than they are.

Richard Nixon

How I long to know the feeling of security and general bliss of living under the Nixon administration. I love Richard Nixon with all of my heart and I want the sunlight reflecting off of his beautiful smile to shine down on me. Mister Nixon is devoted to protecting democracy around the world reaffirming the American public that EVERYBODY'S VOTE COUNTS. If I were alive under Nixon, I would have pledged my life to his greatness and live to crush any country attempting to liberate itself from imperial rule. Remember: you can't lick our dick!

Ozzy Osbourne

The rich yet eerie voice of Ozzy Osbourne will forever inspire me. I will never forget the punishing guitar riffs and experimental song writing that Black Sabbath utilized. I am also very much inspired by Osbourne's unique perspective on religion; it is that is God is something you must find within you and define for yourself rather than to follow a book. Ozzy Osbourne will also never die because he isn't dead yet. I hope he outlives me. 

SYD BARRETT

I have been a dedicated Pink Floyd fan ever since I listened to their first album. I remember that when my mother would ground me I would listen to CDs on a walkman instead of an iPod. Through long ours of listening to CDs by myself, my eyes were open to Pink Floyd's first full length album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

BOBBY SHMURDA

Bobby Shmurda is a New York rapper famous for his tracks Hot N*gga and Bobby Bitch. On December 17th, 2014, Bobby was arrested on conspiracy to sell drugs, conspiracy to commit murder  and weapons possession. He is currently in Prison and will be out by 2020.

Influences..?

I normally do not share my influences as an artist because I am embarrassed by them or they don't make any sense. I might as well get into it because I don't want to drag this out. My influences are not as much visual art as they are things that have happened to me, feelings I am more in touch with whether it be negative or positive, political theory and music. My two favorite visual artists would have to be Junji Ito and Stanley Mouse. They are both visual absurdists with very different cultural influences as they were from opposite sides of the Earth. Stanley Mouse is the American born artist who did all of the Grateful Dead's artwork (let that speak for itself) and Junji Ito is a Japanese-born Horror Manga artist best known for his book Uzumaki. Both artists have an uncomfortable element to them as they play with physical appearance and unsettling ideas. My at-heart top musical influences are very primitive. I would say that Nirvana and Black Sabbath will always be my two favorite bands because their sounds have had an influence on my art since middle school. I don't listen to them as much as I listen to music I like less for reasons unknown. I believe that one of the most influential ideas in my life has been Dialectical Materialism. It has changed the way I look at the world as the two sides of socialism and liberalism can be applied to any situation. This is because one creates unity while the other creates struggle. In the end, I really don't know what my influences are because they're all subconscious so let's end this here.