The end of pretty: My own artistic style

"Cotton Candy". Watercolor. Original Art by Zander Esteban

A sense of me

I like making people laugh. It is one of things that - based on my observation - I do effortlessly. I like seeing people be happy and laugh at my jokes and at the things I do for fun. I particularly am fond of irony and sarcasm. One friend told me I was so good at doing it, that sometimes it confuses her if I am joking or I am being serious, which makes her uncomfortable sometimes (which I find funny; is that too much?). This is me in the real world, a hilarious and spontaneous guy. But, when it comes with art, I am different. I like to think that art is a vessel of things or emotions that you can't or don't usually show in real life. Being a firm believer - firm-ish - of the zodiac, I believe that as a Gemini, I will, and always be two-faced. I am not just the happy, spontaneous guy, there is another side of me that is dark, and mysterious. I take that and apply it to my art, but with my craft I don't hide the other side. I show both sides, creating a unique character. A character that is hilarious and dark, comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. That is my kind of art. In the words of Beyonce (non-verbatim): "I like to make something pretty, then mess it up. That's what makes it mine." That's what I like to do. Like my humor - the irony and sarcasm - I like making people a bit uncomfortable, in the sense that they feel confused as to what to think about my art. I would like to make them think, "It really is pretty, but also vile at the same time. I like it."

ART: Pigments that uncovers our HISTORY

Art has not just been a product of leisure, but also, it has paved the way for learning about different cultures, behavior, people, and certain eras of our world. Ever since the cavemen painted the walls of their cave with dirt and charcoal to depict their day to day life, artists from different parts of the world and walks of life have also used art as a tool voice out their feelings and to tell the world of what event was happening during that very instant. From the aristocracy of the kings and queens, the beauty of their gods and goddesses, to graphic depictions of death. Visual art has been a substitute to the words of Herodotus and other historians. Art allowed a more vivid depiction of life before, helping us - the people of present time - to dictate a future ahead of us. Art let us understood their way of living. With its many forms, such as visual arts, literary, and the performing arts, we were able to study the past in 360 degrees. Art was a supplementary tool for historians to decode the mysteries of the past. They used the different masterpieces the artists of the past left us. Only with art we were able to have a clearer understanding of the olden days.

The colors and pigments that the artists used may reveal to us the metamorphosis that our civilization has gone through. When cavemen first discovered fire by clashing two stones together and/or by using wood as a fuel for fire, the pieces of heated wood became their first tool. They created their very first medium - charcoal. They used black to smear the cave walls and draw their day to day life. These cave walls became the diaries of the cavemen, an account that verifies their existence. The ancient Egyptians - one of the first ever civilizations of the world - thrived beside the river Nile, where they cultivated many plants, such as papyrus - which later on became paper. The ancient Egyptians knew what art and beauty was. They created pyramids that were perfect and would endure hundreds of thousands of years. They painted their textiles with the paint that they harvested from the plants they cultivated beside the Nile. For them, painting was highly symbolic. They only used a palette that contains six colors, namely, red, green, yellow, blue, white, and black. The Greeks manufactured the lead white, which they used to paint the walls of their houses that face the heat of the sun. Vermillion was mined from Spain, and was used by the Romans to paint their statues. It also determined one's wealth, as it was once used by the wealthy people of Pompeii to paint their houses and its decors. Women of Rome used vermillion as pigment for their lips.

As time goes by, people would find more resources to create art with. They did not resort only to the plants but also, they found colors in the minerals of the earth. During the medieval times, red ochre, yellow ochre, umber, and lime white were essentials for your palette. In addition to the azurite, ultramarine was also an important part of creating medieval art. Egg tempera painting was also a fad during this era. After the dark ages, art underwent a rebirth. Egg was replaced by oil. Artists were able to paint artworks that are everlasting. The factor of permanence became important. They were able to use the actual medium as a time capsule, after finishing an oil painting, this meant that this artwork is already sent to the future. Every artwork sent a message and artists were particularly keen about the messages they wanted to send. Many artists painted portraits, both clothed and nude, to send out what might be a picture of how they look like, and their way of living. Many aristocrats commissioned a painting of themselves. Art was not just exclusive as they might have realized it's power. Art grants the power of immortality. Great artists such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci painted religious scenes, and scenes that were from religion.   The renaissance was the shining beacon of light that signified hope after the dark barbaric times. And the baroque was the penultimate evolution of this era. Baroque was extremely outrageous when it comes to details. Rich and opulent colors became more evident in the artists' painting.
The modern age of art welcomed ready-made paints that were products of chemical experimentation. They also started to manufacture watercolor cakes as watercolor painting became popular during these years, especially among the wealthy. Art started to become a leisure and less of an obligation to preserve culture and to document life literally. Concerning the artists' choice of palette, the modern age of art was the turning point from the Renaissance to the new palette of the modern art. The contemporary age's most important creation was the acrylic paints.

Here is a documentary by BBC called 'History of Art in Three Colors' they uncover history using art. And in this episode they use the pigment blue to map out history.

 

Reference: Pigments through the Ages

The Deafening Sound of Silence

Absolute Silence. Equals a world without us.

Imagine a world without sound. A day when you wake up to a world where nothing produces sound. Not where you are deaf, just that there's nothing there to hear.

Can you handle the deafening sound of silence?

Sound adds color to our lives. If there was no sound, then we would not probably appreciate most of the things. Life would be very bland and boring. Like toast with no butter. From music, to the voice of your loved ones (and those of the people you hate too, because why not?), to, say, the sound of the wind hitting the grass, making them rustle. Sound sorts of verifies the existence of these things. Things just doesn't seem to be real when there's no sound. And with that said, we could infer, that sound equals life.

But what about those that not produce sound, are they instantly dead? Is silence equivalent to death and/or lifelessness?

If you could say that something is silent, does that mean that you can hear silence?

Silence is just a term coined to the lack of vibrations that produces sound or there maybe vibrations but they are at low intensity, not enough to be audible. But that's just physical silence. Is it possible for us to live in a silent world? For me, it could never be possible, UNLESS we are all dead. Because if we are all dead, there would be no one to hear the silence. 

There is no such thing as pure silence, because humans have an amazing ability to talk to themselves. Our brain never rests in silence. During the day, when we are awoke, our brain tells us what to do. What foot should you step out of bed first. These things doesn't just happen. Our brain has a voice that tells us, and we hear it unconsciously. During the night, when we are asleep, our brain keeps on running too.

Living quietly make sense, if you're thinking about the 'living in the middle of nowhere' quietly. But living in a silent world or living silently does not really make any sense, because putting the words 'living' and 'silently' together in a phrase would create an oxymoron, except that it kind of doesn't really make any sense. We are never silent, because our brain works 24/7. The only moment that we can live silently, is if we are dead. But how can you live when you are dead?

But whatever lies beyond silence, would drive me insane. If there would just be no sound at all, like, not even silence, would kill me. Like a lucid dream, except it's more like a 'lucid death'. You are dead but you are still able to experience things. And you experience, let's just cal it, 'metaphysical silence.' That would probably drive me insane.

And that day, when you wake up to a world where nothing produces sound, where you are not deaf, just that there's nothing there to hear, would never happen.

Because you are dead.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

No matter how many words are out there. No matter how thick your dictionary is. Now matter what you say. Nothing will ever say as much than a photograph, or an image, a picture, a symbol.

Made popular by the band Bread's song, the idiom "A picture paints a thousand words" has only one meaning, a picture tells a thousand stories, and the reason why? Probably because a picture is open to more interpretation than words. Words are pretty direct, they mean what they mean (No means no for example -- remember this!) but when they form a thought or a sentence, that's just the time where it gets pretty interesting. BUT a picture, just a plain picture could be a symbol to one thing. That's why visual arts (paintings, drawings, illustration) is very interesting, because it allows us to gives us our own meaning to it. The artist may have another interpretation of it, and you/we as the public/part of the public may give another. Let us take Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci for an example.

MONA LISA. A simple caption would have sufficed.

For years and years, a painting of a woman for which they said to be named Lisa del Giocondo has been boggling the minds of artists all over the world. It has been and continues to be the greatest mystery of the art world. Who this woman is, why is she positioned like that, what is hiding behind her mysterious smile, and what is his part in da Vinci's life for her to be painted by him (Oh, and of course WHERE IS THIS WOMAN'S EYEBROWS?)

Different artists (and of course the public) have different interpretation of the said painting. Many have even said that Mona Lisa and da Vinci are basically one, even creating evidences of said theory. The smile, which seems to be innocent and inviting, has kept everybody thinking. There are a lot of theories surrounding this painting and the woman behind it. There is also a theory that she was an alien that came from Jupiter (that one I totally made up heehee)

Mona Lisa has been regarded as the  "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world." (accdg. my friend Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). This strongly supports the idiom "a picture paints a thousand words." Many people have made a lot of literary works, piece of art, that centers around their own interpretation of the painting of Ms. del Giocondo. 

Pandora's Mouth: The Power of Words

IGNORANCE isn't really BLISS

Remember that Greek story. When the first woman, Pandora, was handed a box (or a jar) and she wasn't allowed to open it, but she did not follow 'cause she think she bad, BUT SHE AIN'T. So she still opened that box and unleashed all the evils of the world. Thank you, Pandora. You just gave the world what it needed the mosit, sickness, debauchery, and just pure, cold, evilness.

WORDS, might be the reason of all the evils of the world.

So, what does this have to do with the power of words thing? Well, I was thinking of a good post because I really don't want to JUST make one. And I was thinking, what's a good representation for how opening your mouth and not thinking about what you're going to say? And then I remembered that Greek story.

I believe that words can be very powerful. Words can bring peace, or start a war. But what I came to realize is that, WORDS, might be the reason of all the evils of the world. Because sometimes some people just can't contain their opinion and just respect one's belief. People say a lot of offensive things without even knowing that it's offensive. And that's the saddest thing. People don't even think of what their going to say. People are basically clueless, like Pandora. They are not educated about things that they say.

With the use of those words, you are fueling something more harsh, something bigger, something that causes people to die.

I'm not gonna lie, I was one of those people before. I used to say words like, that word some call women that levels them to a dog. Or that one which -- weirdly, some just say it for no apparent reason -- was used to call people from Africa that were brought to the United States to be a white man's slave. But then I was educated about this (YOU SHOULD BE AS WELL) and now I whenever I see/hear people say those words, I cringe. Then I feel sorry for them because sometimes they just say it to seem "cool", or "hip" and all these things that they think they can achieve if they say these words. Little do they know that RACISM and SEXISM, exists, and STILL EXISTS because of these words. With the use of those words, you are fueling something more harsh, something bigger, something that causes people to die.

There is only one obvious reason for this to happen. IGNORANCE. If people would only think about what they're going to say, and people would value other people's belief, then we might finally find peace in this world. Because if Pandora only listened, gave things a thought, and applied, then the evils of the world might not have existed, or exists. Some people might say "Oh it's just words, it doesn't really matter" but I tell you it's not. If we use words that are offensive, then are just opening more doors for more evil. These things that we can't see, they are the ones who leave a deeper cut.

You are Pandora. You have destroyed the world. But remember that there's still one thing that is left to fix what you have done.

What is that thing you ask?

Hope.

and of course stop saying these words. Use 'yo head! Think before you speak.

What makes multimedia so fetch?

SO FETCH! Raise your hand if your into multimedia

As the time we spend on the internet or using any kind of new media becomes longer, our attention span becomes shorter. Because we are so soaked in to new media, we become this supernatural beings -- well, not really -- we became this "know-it-all"s. Yup, that's a more accurate description of what the new generation (in which I belong to. PROUDLY belong to. "No Ragrets") has become. Thus, we "know-it-all"s get bored easily. We don't pay attention to something extremely normal. We tend to neglect what we think is mundane. Suddenly, after being basked in the glory of the internet, and its instant knowledge giving power, we become thirsty for more. We keep on searching for something fresh, new, and something that would be worth wasting our time for -- or at least we think it is.

And this is why I think multimedia fascinates a lot of people nowadays. Because with multimedia, you are immersed in different kinds of medias spontaneously. Everything happening at once makes it seem like that the virtual world becomes reality. Multimedia stimulates all of our senses, all at once. With multimedia you can be very involved because of it is interactivity. Some would require the actual person/human using such media to physically interact, and devote their whole being (well, not really. But you get the point.) to really get the feeling of the virtual world.

ABOVE. MULTIMEDIA is defined as the combination of 2 or more of different elements (namely text, image, sound, animation, and video). One great is example is a lyric video. This allows the person, to not only listen to the song, but also read its lyrics which are made more visually appealing by modifying the text and also adding images and animation.

The use of multimedia is not only apparent in our homes but in different places as well, and they also come in different forms. At school, students would be more engaged and involved in a discussion if the instructor is speaking/discussing, while their visual sense are also stimulated, by say, visual aids such as PowerPoint presentation, Audio Visual Presentations or AVPs, Prezis and the like. In business, like advertising, people would prefer to buy a product with a catchy commercial (hearing).

Another thing that makes multimedia so click, is that, not only it is very pleasing to watch, it is very easy to make. Everybody who has a basic knowledge about producing and processing images, text, sound, animation, and videos can be a developer of multimedia.

Everything is now accessible. With multimedia, we became sort of a god that can control, well, basically, almost everything that is out there in the virtual world. We have our own "world" to rule over. And what's really cool is that we cannot just control things, but also, share, build, and ultimately, destroy.

The Future: "Is it real? Is it real?"

METAPHOR. An accurate GIF representing how I feel about new technologies.

If you think this is already the future . . . you're wrong.

Remember the good old days when you have your cellphone, the very bulky ones. Where you can only text and call people. Remember the big personal computers, the hunchback ones. And the only way you can access the net is by using a card (I actually don't quite remember how to use those things, but I do remember encountering them). Remember when the only social networking site you have is Friendster, where you can customize your profile, and put a bunch of things you like, and then if you want to send a message, you can post a testimonial in someones page.

Slowly, these gadgets become human. And slowly, we become techno-zombies -- dazed, emotionless. Everything that makes us human is being taken away 

Now, we have the convenience that is smartphones. This magical gadget allows us to do all of this things in just one touch, using ONE DEVICE. Today, we have multiple social networking sites where you can share your opinion about almost everything. Everything is just slide and sweep. These devices we use today, were just available in science fiction films of yesterday. It's always funny to me when I watch these dystopic sci-fi movies that were made in the 60s-70s and they have this weird perception of future. The gadgets, the way we live, the fashion. They were probably thinking, "This is crazy!" "These things will never exist." Well, guess what?

What lies in the future of communicating is really something we should be curious and scared about. There are a lot of weird things going on with technology, and there are a lot of weird things about to happen with it. They say that in the future, it will be possible for us to store our memory into a chip (Like the pensieve Dumbledore uses to view his memories). We might be able to actually put ourselves inside an operating machine, a computer (see Transcendence, a movie starring Johnny Depp). In future, we can be anywhere, without actually going anywhere. The boundaries have really been broken. One second, you can only hear the voice of the person you're talking to over the phone, now, we are able to see their actual faces. Now that's hearing and seeing. What about touch? In the future, there might be some revolutionary gadget where you can reach out the screen and touch your friend's face. See how they're slowly putting our senses in to these gadgets? Slowly, these gadgets become human. And slowly, we become techno-zombies -- dazed, emotionless. Everything that makes us human is being taken away and used as a concept for a much more human-like communicating experience.

FUTURE IN THE PAST. From 1927 science-fiction film, Metropolis. Directed by Fritz Lang

If all of these does not creep you out, well, I'm happy for you. Maybe I'm not that techy enough to grasp the concept of these upcoming technologies. I don't get it actually. All of these things, technological advancements I'm hearing seems unreal. And I think that is the main goal of technology today, to blur the line separating what's real and what's fake. 

Let us just sit back and watch what will happen in the future of communicating. All I want to say is that, I love using all these technology to communicate but what I enjoy the most is talking personally. No matter how instant, or convenient this technologies we have now, nothing beats the presence of a human being. Not a even a cold glass screen.

photos are not mine.

"2014 na, Choppy Ka Pa Rin?"

The internet is now one of the major medium or platform of communication. It has become a tool of communicating in different aspects of our life, it plays a vital role in our social interaction and has made it easier and convenient to reach one another. But all of this will never be possible or easy with a slow connection, how are we supposed to send the message that we want to share to other people if we our connection is "choppy"?

"Huh?"
"What?"
"I-I can't hear you?"
"Speak louder, maybe?"
"I said . . ."

When it comes to internet connection, were probably at the last of the line. Our internet remains slow and expensive. For an ultra-fast internet connection, you'd have to pay twenty-thousand pesos for 100 Mbp/s connection (PLDT Fibr) or twenty-five thousand pesos for 150Mbp/s connection (Globe Tattoo Torque). THAT IS EXPENSIVE. And I doubt that will be really an ultra-fast internet that will be accessible at all times.

We have to improve our internet connection because, with the growing population of internet users, it is very important that our internet be fast and accessible.

Speaking of accessibility, believe it or not, some places in the Philippines still haven't had the chance to have a taste of electricity. So whenever you feel like complaining, you might as well keep it to yourself before everybody calls you insensitive. How are we supposed to reach them if they don't have electricity. In terms of being "connected", we are not yet wired to each other. And as stated in the first paragraph, communication through internet and other technologies is very important.

When it comes to technology, the Philippines have yet to prove its advancement. The things we find fast, is really nowhere the real definition of FAST. Compared to the other countries, the Philippines is the guy in the marathon that finishes last. That guy who everybody waits for in the finish line. The very last guy. The only guy left.We might as well be called cavemen for this "de-uling" internet connection. Let us just hope that one day, we'll reach that level where the internet connection will be very fast it will feel like surfing on air. 

Are you willing to wait? Are you patient enough? Or have you had it?

" 'Di talaga kita maintindihan. Choppy ka."

References/Read more on: (Wikipedia   Abs-Cbn News)
.gifs are not mine. courtesy of tumblr.com

Internet Usage Level: Asian

INTERNET IS POWER. And with great power, comes great responsibility.

Fifty percent (50%) of the world'd population lives in Asia, so it was no surprise that Asians are the world's most internet loving people. According to a research, as of 2012, forty-four percent (44%) of the world's internet users are in Asia. Europe comes second (22%), then followed by North America (11%). Asia houses a total of 1,076,681,059 internet users. Wow! That's a lot of wi-fi-using, Facebook-loving, YouTube-watching, and Google-searching humans.

Today, internet is considered as a necessity, especially for communicating with each other, no matter how far away. Asia is one of the fastest developing regions of the world. We use the internet as a medium of communication in every aspect of our life, and economy. It could mean that, since Asia houses most of the world's internet users, we are on our way to development. It could mean that more people are being oriented to the power of internet, therefore, creating a more educated, civilized, and smart community.

As of June 2012, China sits at the top of the list when it comes to the top internet users in Asia. Philippines comes in at number 6 next to countries such as South Korea and Japan, both of which are very advanced when it comes to technology.

But this news does not just leaves a positive mark. Since we use the internet more than any countries, it may also imply that cyber-crimes are rampant throughout Asia. Internet has also became a medium for different crimes such as human trafficking, and bullying. Which may imply that Asia is also at the top of the list when it comes to cyber-crime.

To conclude, we should use internet wisely and use this power (yes, it is a power, and as the movie Spider-man -- I believe -- has stated, "With great power, comes great responsibility") in nothing but good.

References: ( Tech In Asia  Internet World Stats )

2 Weeks After Glenda. Coping With Power Outage.

AFTERMATH. 2 weeks after typhoon 'Glenda' (international name: Rammasun) hit our town. Photo by Zander Esteban

During the time Glenda was hitting our small town, electricity was cut off as a safety measure. The water in the river was overflowing due to the heavy rain, causing flood all over the area. The wind was the scariest part. As it hits our house, it made a 'hooing' sound. A simple yet scary 'hoo', as if Glenda was trying to talk to us. Making us remember who's boss - mother nature.

After of what probably was the most terrifying moment of my life, we went out and walked through the flood to check our area. What we saw were trees and electricity posts blocking the road. What Glenda left was a heap of garbage, dozens of uprooted trees, whole portion of roofs and ceilings, and families that were left homeless.

The following days were the real struggle, electricity was remained cut off for almost two weeks. It was very hard to get news. There was no way to communicate because there was no electricity. Cellular phones won't work because their either battery dead or there was no reception. For me to know if there was classes that Thursday, I had to travel from Calauan to Calamba just to check if there was classes that day. Unfortunately, there was no classes, so I had to travel back home.

After a few days, reception was back. I get to check when will classes resume, and also, communicate with my classmates through text and Facebook (thank you Globe!)

I still had to render and burn our audio visual presentation for CommTech. Thanks to my group mate (Jerm Narvaez) who invited me to his house to finish our project.

THROUGH THE SCREEN. 2 weeks ago. During the time 'Glenda' was violently hitting our town with lashing winds and heavy rains. Leaves flew all over the place, along with roofs and ceilings. Photo by Zander Esteban

It was very hard to deal with the power outage. Electricity is plays a vital role in communicating. It powers our gadgets, which helps us to communicate. Nowadays,  it is very impossible to communicate without electricity. We would have to switch to 'de-uling' methods, such as writing each other letters. And today, that would be impractical and inconvenient.

If there was one good thing this power outage made me realize, it is that, it is very important to communicate with other people. Communicate with them face-to-face rather than talking to a screen. I never realized how soothing talking with a real, living, breathing person was. I really have grown impatient because of technology.

P.S. Power was just restored 2 hours ago. Thanks MERALCO (even if it took almost two weeks to restore our electricity.)

Tablets to Tablets; Symbols to Symbols

Communication is probably the most important thing in human life. Without communication, we would not learn, know each other, and obviously, understand each other. Even way back before, our ancestors have developed different ways of communicating and interacting with each other. The earliest evidences of communication were carried out using various paintings depicting the life of the different tribes that lived on earth. As early as 3500 B.C. our ancestors started writing using symbols. Sumerians developed cuneiform and Egyptians developed writing with hieroglyphics. These were written on clay tablets. And at 1600 B.C. the Phoenicians developed the alphabet. Years later, in 1835 the Morse code was invented.

And now, after years and years of countless evolution of communication technology are we about to come in on a full circle? After seeing a blog post on micro-blogging website Tumblr, I was very much inspired to elaborate on the said question (though the post was probably a joke, but the point was interesting so I'll take it). After reading about the history of communication technology, I was really convinced, that it MAY BE happening. What if, we have evolved so much that the only way to move further on is to go back? Now, I'm not saying that we should revert back to cuneiform, hieroglyphics et cetera, rather develop some new form of communication technology similar to these concepts.
Or maybe, we already HAVE. During this digital age we are in now, these writing techniques/form of communication was reincarnated in to a more modern way. Emojis. Emojis are the new black when it comes to communicating. First created in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita, the use of these symbols is spreading like a virus all over the word. It's just you're typical 'smiley face', with about 800++ more symbols to show what you're feeling, what you're doing, or just whatever that comes up your mind. It's really amazing how a simple 'red heart' symbol mean that you're in love. Or a simple 'nails getting manicure' symbol mean you're feeling fabulous . . . or just getting some manicure. It's very much like how a single symbol mean 'fish' in cuneiform.

My point is, if you feel frustrated because of our ever evolving technology, if you just look closer it would surprise you how much of the new stuff are actually derived from the old. Cuneiform to Hieroglyphics to Alphabet to Morse code to Emojis. All are the same. It's just reincarnated in to something more modern, but basically they are still the same. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors wrote on clay tablets, and look at us now. With our iPads and Galaxy Tabs. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors drew on walls to share what they're doing. They would probably be so mad at Mark Zuckerberg for stealing their idea.