Nov 13, 2011

Neighbours, China Dolls and Tennis Socks ........









We have had new neighbours for about three weeks. 
They have a dog. 
The dog doesn't bark in the normal doggy kind of way. Instead it 'yips'. 
For the first few days the dog 'yipped' all day and half way into the night. 
On the third night it woke me up at two oclock.
Then it woke me up at three.
When it woke me up at four I lay awake for an hour deciding what I would do.

By the time I climbed out of bed at half past six I had decided that if the neighbours didn't get rid of the dog I would either: 

1) sue them, or
2) kidnap the dog, gag it with some of my old tennis socks then dump it down a mine shaft.








Of course as a kind hearted intelligent man I didn't do any of these things - after all someone might see me, or worse, recognize my tennis socks when they finally found the body.

Instead red eyed and saggy cheeked, I went and politely knocked on the neighbour's door the next morning.

But that's another story - needless to say the dead rat in this  image is a metaphor for something deep in my psyche. 

Did you know that rats belong to the genus Rattus? And the black rat is known as Rattus Rattus? Who ever said that scientists don't have imagination, eh?






About this image? It's for IF's "Silent".  As you can see it works on three different levels. The top level, the middle level, and surprisingly enough, the bottom level. I think the justification for the paradigm, is found in the imposition of the persona of the rat, mirrored of course both symbolically and metaphorically by the metallic finish on the horn, which, in some ways, the horn itself is an iconic archetype of both the horn of plenty - representing harvest, lust, and loud noises - and the God of Thunder, Thor, who had an amazing lisp, and a way with his tools. I haven't even touched on the flower patterns which came with a book of Japanese patterns, on their own DVD which was marked, Copyright, nothing in this DVD can be reproduced, I mean I ask you? How can they sell you a DVD of patterns that you can't use....? I think that's why I gave them green nipples, which to be perfectly honest, was an accident, but I thought, gee if that sicko sadistic Surrealist guy can do amputee doll sexual innuendo, the least I can do is give my dolls green nipples.....

Okay, sorry about that.I just felt like raving as the kid next door has started playing with his electric car outside my window. The car goess zzzzzzzzzzzzsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip, ssssssssssssdfagggggg, gggggggwwwwwww wwwippppppp every five seconds. The kid goes YOOOOOOWAAAAZAA and kind of gurgles occasionally in excitement. He sounds a little like a baboon in the last throws of a tumultuous orgasmic terminal pancreatisis.

I hope his mother poisons him accidently before I have to use my tennis socks on him. I know which would be the worse fate.

Err, just kidding. Actually my neighbors are quiet, well mannered and a joy to speak with.






The genesis of this image.

 Recently I went to our national gallery and saw an old book of photographs of dolls by Hans Belmer. Very surreal. A quick search on google gives me a lot of pseudo erotic bondage type photos so beware. This  is one of the photos in the book I saw. I didn't realise it was meant to be erotic till I saw it in the context of his other work. I just thought it was weird.... in fact maybe I shouldn't have bought it up.... but I think his work evokes an emotive response and so is worth examining for this aspect alone.

Thank you for those people who wished me well with my books. That means very much to me thank you. There was a small mention of one of my artists' books in the paper on Saturday - which is also very exciting! 


Meanwhile prayers for Jack Foster's wife who has been very ill recently. You can wish him well at Jacktoons if you like.

Jack's a good bloke and a very funny guy and I'm sure he'd appreciate your prayers more than you imagine.

19 comments:

  1. OK, Andrew, there are good dog psychologists today. only that they charge more for psychologists to people. Perhaps the poor creature in her head load some kind of problem since his early childhood as a young dog. which leads him to disturb the neighbors all night.

    Oh, you do not have a dead rat in your head, right?
    would be preferable to have your head into a horn and the God of Thunder blowing strong!

    The dolls with green nipples ... Not bad, you can see everything in the vineyard of the Lord.

    Ok. I send my good vibes for Jack Foster's wife :)
    And good week for you

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  2. Wow! I did not understand a word about that emprical metaphorical cognitive deductive stuff. Ugh. Heheheh. Goodness it's like reading Isaac Newton in Latin which I tried and all it did was made me assume that absent-minded look all day. Okay, I want to know the outcome of your visit with your neighbor. These kinds of things interest me becausse I have neighbors who do things that irritate me. First I send my husband who is always polite and tactful. If nothing happens I threaten to go there at which point my husband says he will take care of it. If nothing happens, I go outside which I never do except at least once or twice a year. I go to the neighbors and their door bell does not work so I wait for them to drive up and I tell them what bothers me. At which point they accuse me of being a racist, because according to them I don't like Mexicans, Hispanics, Filipinos, Blacks or White people. just because, and they think I am Chinese. Hehehehe, but they stop what they are doing what irritates me and then I never appear outside again for another year.

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  3. Ok, I went to the link, that's pretty creepy, I mean weird, I mean unusual, yeah, that's a better word ;) I like your dolls much better, even if they do have green nipples :D I have neighbor issues too. I think they are pretty universal, and usually involve children and/or dogs or noise. Or all three!

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  4. No wonder there are mass murderers. These are the types of dolls with which they played, probably. Well, at least it will provoke me to be a misogynist.

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  5. WHOA HOLY MAMA. Talk about evocative! This is what silence looks like when it is screaming. Their lips might be closed and the rat may be dead, but the colors are blaring like a visual cacophany. Oooh, and the metallic sheen on the horn is satiny sweet. I love that you chose such a strong image for Silent!

    And that Hans Bellmer guy? Seriously disturbed. Creepy. But his images sure do stick.

    I have a sleeveless vest with nipple cutouts just like these. But mine are more like leopard print.


    On a more serious note, I've been thinking of Jack and his wife with concern and hope and prayers. Take care of yourself too, Mr. Finnie.

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  6. Hello Andrew!
    I suspect that the service, the transmission of thoughts, is not working well ... :))
    Or have you received any messages??

    well, I'm very out of date with your work ...
    I can barely draw, and visit the blogs
    I see that here, we have many new features,
    always with impeccable drawing, which is peculiar ... I read your texts, and how to use the translator, need a good time, to detect
    mess he usually does!
    The last posting I read, was that of Ned Kelly, who took me 'travel' in a very interesting research, which did not even comment ........
    I am a bit scattered ... and tired .....
    is a phase that will pass soon!

    but I'm here to leave a hug,
    and mark my presence!
    cheers!
    De

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  7. You poor thing! Maybe you should think of something equally offensive and rude to drive them away. Give the kid the Hans Belmer book of photos for a bed time story.

    That is disturbing and weird stuff, some of it's pretty cool though!

    Your dolls are not disturbing, they're quite lovely, nipples and all.

    Most people don't realize that many gods and deities like Thor suffered with speech impediments. Sad but true... :)

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  8. Okay. Now did you know that your writing is always such a huge distraction to your illustrations? Sometimes I don't know where to look first. It's like... Oooh, a green doll...the dog yips...a dead rat (cool!)...Thor has a way with his tools (hmm?)...sadistic Surrealist... green nipples (what? what? where??!!Oh, oh, I see em!)...boy next door... zzzzzzzzzzzzsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip, ssssssssssssdfagggggg, gggggggwwwwwww wwwippppppp...... (???)

    Yah. Inhaling. Exhaling. :))

    So you see, I always come here prepared. I take my time. I would ignore the text, drool over your images, THEN read. At least that way my brain won't get overheated. Heheh.

    PS: I did check out that link you gave me before and they do amazing work! Didn't I thank you before? Ugh. I'm so rude sometimes...

    PPS: Oops. sorry...THANK YOU!!

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  9. Hhm. Blogger just gave me "satanz" for your blog's word verification. How creepy is that?

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  10. ja, Andrew, vielleicht liegt es am Älter werden, da steigt der Gehörpegel mächtig an, denn da stört schon eine kleine Biene…..
    selbst wenn der Hund verstummt ist, wartet man ständig „wann bellt er wieder“ ?
    die grüne Farbe der Hoffnung…..das schöne Bild.
    mit Grüßen Jasmin

    ein Gebet für Jack Foster Frau

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  11. Andrew, thanks a lot for your presence, I was away lot of time, naw finally I'm back, I finally moved to Swiss...

    kiss and see you soon

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  12. Wow, gotta love those colors! Especially loving those florals too. I'm not sure what to say about the link. I find it disturbing but kind of fascinating at the same time.

    You have to use duct tape with the tennis sock or the dog could spit it out. In fact, you could just use the duct tape. Would keep the puppy busy for a while anyway.

    Moses wasn't a good speaker either, that's why his brother did the talking.

    Thanks for the heads up about Jack's wife. Wishing them the best.

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  13. don't kidnap the dog, Andrew...I was watching an old Seinfeld episode today where Elaine can't sleep for the same reason and kidnaps the dog helped by Kramer... for what I see it's not a good idea.
    My neighbours are very annoying sometimes but I've never thought of using clothes as a lethal weapon :D
    I love your dolls and the green nipples are perfectly fine with the rest of their bodies.

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  14. Hans Belmer work is very disturbing, some of the pics makes me think I'm looking at the Black Dahlia's murdered body...maybe he was sublimating some impulses through his work.
    You could try that with your neighbours instead :)

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  15. maybe some things should not be googled but I can't follow that rule when it comes to strange artwork...
    so I googled it :)
    This man must have irritated Hitler a lot...his drawings are really good.
    Have a great noisy neighbors- free weekend, Andrew.

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  16. I haven't even begun to read this yet, but I had to quickly compliment you on the green nipples.

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  17. Hi Andrew
    do you know you are very kind person?

    Yes? Than it is good. And I see you are good not only in .......( here is not enough space to put it down ) but also in .... and also in all kind of languages.
    Pokusim se neco napsat napriklad v tomto jazyce. Dekuji srdecne za vase vtipne a velice zajimave komentare.

    Well, the mist is gone and I can see again our flat landscape..... one dimension is gone.
    Nevertheless it is better for driving car .....
    Have a nice weekend !

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