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Guns of the Patriots – Tribute
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Image by -Marlith-
In the debate over video-games as an artistic medium, the Metal Gear Solid series is noted often for its deeply philosophical story, known to most critics as a piece of interactive art. Despite it being an action game and having the player engage in graphically violent actions, the game has a strongly underlying tone of pacifism. Topics discussed through the series include war’s futility, the effects of war on civilians, nuclear proliferation, deterrence and the absurdity of considering a person to be an “enemy”. The protagonist, Solid Snake, an espionage agent and the product of a government cloning project to manufacture genetically “perfect” soldiers, is forced by superiors to perform unethical and violent actions, killing hundreds of people in the process. Towards the end of the first game of the series, the antagonist accuses him of obeying orders because “he enjoyed all the killing”. Unable to deny this statement, this scene comes back to haunt the protagonist throughout the series, culminating in his attempted suicide to prevent himself from being used to kill more people.
In this piece, I depicted that protagonist, Solid Snake, apparently being in intense pain, presumably due to emotional stress inflicted by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, crumbling away into dust. I used charcoal smeared upon charcoal paper to depict the dust. As the game deals heavily with nuclear proliferation and its threat to world peace, I tried to liken Solid Snake’s body and pose to a mushroom cloud. This symbolically represents the destructive and irrational method of attempting to achieve peace through violence. This piece relates to the theme of “spirituality” because, in the modern world, faith for many people justifies violence. A narrow interpretation of volatile texts can lead to deadly and divisive results. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 only divided the country, causing massive insecurity, intolerance, fear and close-mindedness in citizens. To relate the dangers of religious intolerance and fundamentalist interpretation to Metal Gear Solid, I played on the theme of violence and worked off the game’s philosophical commentary to create this piece.
I had a lot of fun conceiving the concept for this art piece. Video games present a large portion of my life (and spending money) and I sincerely appreciate them as a serious artistic medium. Thus, I wanted to use charcoal, a medium that I had not fully explored in the Memory Project, to develop a tribute to Metal Gear Solid, a franchise that I enjoy deeply. While working with it, I learned that excellent value effects could be achieved by smearing the charcoal with my fingers. This lent itself well to the visual depiction of Solid Snake crumbling away into dust. This was a fun piece to make and I feel that I effectively achieved my artistic goals in this tribute to Metal Gear Solid.
fifty two heartbeats [verse five]
Image by the|G|™
fifty two heartbeats [a requiem for 2009]
the entire 8 here:
www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/sets/72157622990446749/
a new decade. new directions. new connections.
this is a beat poem for the eyes in eight parts.
some sections have been considered, some are purely accidental.
fifty two pieces. diverse. from landscape to dada to abstract to portrait. and beyond.
the people, the artists, have made my year better. their gift to me.
this is a visual echo to them. to you.
a new decade.
may it treat you well.
the|G|™
[NB]
this work is in not in ‘absolute’ order of preference.
though of course, from the beginning, i thought about those who have a deep connection for me, so there is a modicum of ‘hierarchy’.
however, i suddenly remembered people who are dear to me toward the end of the process!! you cannot read too much into your ‘placing’ in the mosaics, and that is as it should be.
if you are not in the mix, i can only apologise. it was quite a lengthy process 😮
i will certainly have forgotten people [i can think of several now] who should have been a part of this process, but a year only contains a finite number of weeks.
you are not forgotten.
the best to all my contacts.
should you be interested in the fundamental reasons for many of my contacts being held in high esteem and great regard, please feel free to cast an eye over my new year video. it explains much with regard to how i view my contacts:
www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/4232387716/
once again.
thank you all, for being who you are.
the|G|™
1. Born to be old, 2. heads high., 3. my world now 024, 4. Dungeness – Lighthouses, 5. sugar, 6. DSCN4324.
fifty two heartbeats [verse two]
Image by the|G|™
fifty two heartbeats [a requiem for 2009]
the entire 8 here:
www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/sets/72157622990446749/
a new decade. new directions. new connections.
this is a beat poem for the eyes in eight parts.
some sections have been considered, some are purely accidental.
fifty two pieces. diverse. from landscape to dada to abstract to portrait. and beyond.
the people, the artists, have made my year better. their gift to me.
this is a visual echo to them. to you.
a new decade.
may it treat you well.
the|G|™
[NB]
this work is in not in ‘absolute’ order of preference.
though of course, from the beginning, i thought about those who have a deep connection for me, so there is a modicum of ‘hierarchy’.
however, i suddenly remembered people who are dear to me toward the end of the process!! you cannot read too much into your ‘placing’ in the mosaics, and that is as it should be.
if you are not in the mix, i can only apologise. it was quite a lengthy process 😮
i will certainly have forgotten people [i can think of several now] who should have been a part of this process, but a year only contains a finite number of weeks.
you are not forgotten.
the best to all my contacts.
should you be interested in the fundamental reasons for many of my contacts being held in high esteem and great regard, please feel free to cast an eye over my new year video. it explains much with regard to how i view my contacts:
www.flickr.com/photos/the-g-uk/4232387716/
once again.
thank you all, for being who you are.
the|G|™
1. dream weave, 2. Lime, Grape, Orange, And Kiwi, 3. Grandad Mike, 4. mona, 5. Untitled, 6. Proud Papa
