Mere Puppets of PROPAGANDA!---Cool website, check it!

     I often criticize or ignore advertisements. I do not like all this propaganda because it seems so fake. All it wants to achieve is new consumers. The advertisements serve as tools to make people have fantasies about what their life could be. They are the tool of the band wagon. If someone wears something, it becomes embedded into our media and our lives. People use these items not necessarily for luxury but, for acceptance. We want to be as happy as the images captured behind the lens. We want to be more, so we try to obtain more. By simply obtaining more, does not truly mean that we are richer. Society is brainwashed into wanting to be where these images are. Where are they exactly? Surely, they are fiction because they are deliberate situations. They are caught moments that are merely duplicates. So then where is the value in them? The emotions portrayed somehow relate to us and tap into our feeling sector. We grow fond of these familiar images as if they are truly possible. When in fact, these pictures are meant to be catchy so that they do not fail to be ignored or erased. Its all promotion and fictional propaganda, technically.

     The saying sex sells is so obscene and untrue. Power sells is more like it. People envy power and hence is more reasonable to have people dream about. Countless images of masculinity and “happiness” make sure that people try all the many ways there are to be “loved” and “accepted“. People love to be the center of new crazes and do not rest until they are the product of the media. For what? For a life that really is not the one in the magazine or billboard you last saw. I guess being raised into not really giving attention to name brands, trends, and advertisements has made me nonchalant about them.

     I did however like the comparison about the oil paintings and the “publicity. The painting represents the present state while publicity refers to some “remote” future. The paintings show how the subject’s life is, in a small scope. Pictures do not always “speak 1000 words“. Pictures do not show how the person feels or what is going on in their life. Because, come on, who wants to here about the hardships. We all want to dream of something better so we look to these images for a sense of belonging or comfort. Images in today’s society falsify identity. They play pretend on the reality. When we cease to pay attention to reality, we are only allowing for progression to stop. Well, who wants to be sad all the time? But, who wants to live in a fictitious world?

     Publicity leaks its way into our social and personal lives. They do not really make bold statements about “change” but, rather about how to change yourself and how to be admired. The moments recorded have to do their job; and that is to make more business. If not, then the business itself suffers. They are compensated at the expense of our emotions and dreams. They depict that we have very little now but, can have a great life by creating standards. Our eyes can fool us into imagining something that just is unnecessary.

    1. I love the colors and the geometry of this image. The black background really makes the color potent. I just stumbled upon this image while looking for a very different kind.

2. The two images with the balloons are a performance that I was in with two of my friends for an art internship this summer called "City as Site". We learned a lot about different ways to view art and we created temporary works of art. I loved it because it promotes a sense of community unity. The partnership is with a community organization called ENLACE Chicago. I love what they are doing for low income communities like Little Village, North Lawndale, and Pilsen to name a few.

I encourage you all to view this website because the work we did and the fun we had should be shared amongst others. I enjoyed being in the program and I hope you have fun looking and reading about everything we learned. =)

http://cityassite.wordpress.com/