The Deep Horizon Disaster is yet another chapter in the history of people and our environment suffering at the hands of corporate greed, corruption and irresponsibility.  Yet we as a populace are still surprised when these things happen – oil spill after oil spill, disaster after disaster, tragedy after tragedy.  When will we learn that corporations have no moral compass, only calculators?

The driving force behind our current world culture is money.  It is profit, it is greed.  It is having as much as you can, more than your neighbor and more than you need.  It is about having power and control, image and status.  About ego, envy, and jealousy – it is Capitalism.  We capitalize on the weak and ignorant, on the less developed, on the poor, on the less aggressive, and on the environment.  We consume, assimilate, invade, suppress, pollute, and destroy  all in the pursuit of industry, of positive quarters, of cheap labor and the highest profits.  In this industrialized world the only thing sacred is money  and “In God We Trust”.  All else falls to the hammer, the axe, the drill, chainsaw, bulldozer, refinery, sweatshop, hook, net and harpoon, the bullet, bomb and the battlefield.

Throughout our history man kind has used technology to master his environment.  Initially it was for survival – building a fire for warmth, cutting down trees to build shelter, making arrows and spears to hunt for food and protection.  Our technology has come a long way and our civilization has grown exponentially in every category except in terms of respect – respect for our environment, for wildlife, for other cultures, religions, for other peoples loss, struggle and suffering. We exist in our metropolises removed from the effects of our support of corporations and industry. We watch the fallout on television and when the “story” gets too real, when the commercials for cars, pharmaceuticals, vacations and airlines can’t distract us from the sobering destruction of the monsters we’ve created we switch to something “more entertaining”.

We are an irresponsible civilization.  Ashamed of our actions when confronted by them but too comfortable to change.  We finger-point, we blame but we take no decisive action.  We are too lazy to make hard decisions and choices, instead we leave it to the next generation who then leaves it to the next and the next and so on.  Over the last 500 years we have proven that our species is unwilling to respect our environment and the resources it provides to us.  We have hunted species to extinction, exhausted easily accessible resources and eradicated entire societies through war, greed and economics.  We are like a giant cloud of locusts, destroying all in our path, even our own species.

Our current lifestyle is unsustainable.  Fossil fuels are becoming scarcer and the risks of gathering them outweigh the benefits.  All the easy oil has been found and we are consuming what’s available at such a rate that we will run out of what is left within a generation.  The desperation of our situation although un-reported leads to decisions to deploy such risk laden devices as Deep Horizon and the principles of corporate entities make them prime for disaster.

Humanities greatest progress is made only after our greatest tragedies.  Hopefully when this is said and done the Deep Horizon Disaster will usher in an age of clean, carbon neutral, sustainable energy, but we must be the ones to force change amongst corporations.  After all, why would they when it’s cheaper for them not to?

What more evidence do we need to support the fact that we as a civilization are destroying the earth?  If we don’t alter our attitudes and treatment of the environment immediately we will see it’s ultimate destruction by our hand in our lifetime.  Our monetary agenda has set us on a path of self destruction and our arrogance resulting from being at the top of the food chain has made us oblivious to the fact that the reapers hand is that of man and the hourglass is quickly running out.

Perhaps our extinction is our greatest agenda…

Their lustful convictions pledge allegiance to the almighty power and greed

See seeds born withered parents steer children add a lesson to their ways

Some preachers false prophets educated pigeon droppers usin’ our sins, to get paid – slaves.

Give them freedom but give them dope, take away their leaders cause that gives them hope

Sell them dreams of change and things like they were never Kings and Queens before. – as small as a giant.

– Big K.R.I.T.

Big K.R.I.T. – “K.R.I.T. Wuz Here” – Rap Album of The Year

Yashuah Klos & Work in Progress

Q:  How do you describe yourself as an artist?

A:  I’d like to appraoch that question by describing the art I make.  Of course everybody’s process is specific to their personal predilections and the goals of their work.  Being in grad school and thinking comparatively amongst my peers there- I guess I’d say that I’m a more product-concerned artist than process-concerned. Though I am enjoying my process and it does reflect a certain painstaking dedication to forging the image- I think more about how a piece looks and operates aeshetically and conceptually when the viewer is in front on it.

"G"

Q:  So to you,  being product concerned entails what specifically?  When you are creating art are there any overall aesthetics and concepts that you are looking to express?

A:  Product, to me, in this case just means the final image. So I’m more invested in what the viewer will experience when confronted by the image rather than what myself or the viewer could find during the ‘making’ experience of the work. Though I should say that people do sometimes ask me how the hell I’m making these things.

Q:  Speaking of materials, your work to date has spanned several – from paintings on canvas, to sketches on and in conjunction with recycled materials and most recently large wood block prints on fabric.  Has working with such varied medium been a conscious decision with the viewers experience that you speak of in mind or would you say that these works have been a more evolutionary journey of you as an artist?

"They Came Like Thieves In The Night"

A:  You could say I have a sort of traditional painting background starting with illustration as an undergrad and my training in Italian Renaissance oil painting. Photorealism painting was a way to marry my need to make representational images with a ‘fine art’ medium.  Before I discovered Kehinde Wiley I think I was trying to use the status of academic European tradition to ‘elevate’ my paintings, but ultimately I felt that the imagery and material wasn’t textured nor complex enough.  That’s when I started doing the collages with painted cardboard mounted on wood panel.  They became more like actual signage and all about surface, as opposed to trying to deal with 2D illusionary space which denied the surface and denied themselves as objects. I wanted them to announce that they were man-made weathered objects, or something like a contemporary relic.  The woodblock prints developed through realizing that I wasn’t that interested in color or paint- and that I constructed tight paintings because of my affinity for drawing.  So woodcutting is just drawing by removing the negative space with a chisel. That’s where I’m at now- but this transition through mediums wasn’t ever planned. I’ve only worked with one medium at a time thus far.

“Monique”

Q:  Throughout all these mediums your work has also consistently featured a large amount of mystical symbolism and allegory related to initiatory rights and high sciences.  As a viewer I interpreted these as a personal expression of you as an individual and also as statement to the viewers themselves.  Some seemed more literal than others, some even came close to being narrative and often they seemed like lessons about the spiritual nature of man, the struggle between higher and lower self and the realization of ones true identity.  These are my impressions but would you like to shed some light on these features?

A: Well you know… you and I have studied some of those same schools of thought as we were comin up.  Being from Hyde Park you are in the mix with the Nation of Islam’s headquarters, the Jesse Jackson legacy of Operation Breadbasket/ Push/Rainbow Coalition…plus you’ve got Hebrew israelites and all types of Freemasons and Christians and the Black Stone gang with all their Moorish Science and Islamic influence. So I used to represent that ‘higher school’ environment through symbols.  I think that all that time I was trying to get at how in the black community in America- we are very determined to undo our dishevelment from slavery. On the southside of Chicago there is a militant attitude toward spiritual and political progress, and cultural reclamation.  Rather than use the symbols now- I try to deal with that attitude of recouperating.

“ALMITY”

Q:  There’s been a recent explosion of pop artist collaborations with major luxury brands and corporations.  What is your perception and take on this?

A:  I feel like this is a question about the commercialization of fine art for corporate agendas, and I would have opinions on a case-by-case basis since there are differing degrees of that inherent compromise in the culture-consumption game.
It seems like the most basic trouble for the artist in that deal is that he or she must speak to the lowest common denominator- which is who the corporation aims to sell to.  That means the art usually blatantly, or if it’s ‘fine art’- more subtly, use devices that are readable and attractive to a large audience- usually sex and stereotypes.  As artists though, we get funded from corporate sponsors sometimes and they have boundaries on what they will be associated with, of course.  Every artist makes desicions based on what they believe their gain is from that relationship. It hasn’t gotten tricky for me like that yet- I speak as a bystander on those deals…for now.

Q:  Your recent work in woodblock prints has gained you a few awards and even a write up in the New York Times.  Do you feel that this medium is the future of your work?  What drew you to it?  Can you share how you plan to incorporate it in the future?

A:  Yes! That work is the ‘Banners’ series that’s getting some attention- and that’s great. I am really enjoying  woodblock printing right now- though I’m exploring diverse ways of printing and constructing the print.  As we speak I’m working on some large collages that are 2D images ‘built’ of inked  paper, and woodblock prints. (see ‘work-in-progress’ photo) Though I’m pushing woodblock in ways that make contemporary the medium- I’m very interested in studying traditional woodblock printing techniques.  Maybe the future will hold a trip to Japan!

Yashua Klos is a visual artist and MFA candidate at Hunter College in New York City. He has attended the Pratt Institute, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture &  L’Atelier Neo Medici in Monflanquin France.   Originally from Chicago, he currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.  His work is in private collections in Chicago and New York as well as in the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation in Atlanta.  For more information on him and his work please visit: YashuaKlos.com

I like cars, in fact driving is one of my favorite pastimes – that is as long as I’m driving something nice or at least fast. I tend to lean towards sports coupes of a foreign maker and although I do stare at Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s with a degree of lust just like the next man, they for several reasons aren’t really me. There’s no denying that they both make some of the best sports and super cars one the planet. That they’re bathed in racing heritage, history and prestige and that they are the biggest rivals – striving to one up the other with each new offering. Deapite their greatness, their legacies and engineering, there are things I dislike about them both. Ferrari’s for me are just a bit too sexy, and far too popular and as much as I like the majority of their enteriors I hate their steering wheels and F1 controls which look like, well, controls from a bare bones F1 stock car. As far as Lamborghini’s go I’m a huge fan of the Murcealargo although it’s not a car you can drive everyday. In fact they’re all a bit much – vehicles that you take out everyonece in a while. I mean besides the general impracticality of it, who wants to drive a car that looks like a F22 fighter jet on wheels everyday? And then there’s the enterior, frankly it’s ugly, quite unrefined and thrown together looking for a car of this class. I desire something with a bit more elegance, something you could drive everyday if you so desired without being “that douchebag who drive’s the obnoxious Lambo or Ferrari everyday”. And that’s why, for those reasons and others the Aston Martin DBS is my favorite car.

Just look at it – the beautiful understated but still apartent sexiness. The softly sculpted lines that speak of athleticism and performance while giving it a muscular stance. The elegance and class, the taste and refinement, the level of craftsmanship inside and out. I even love the key which is cut from saphire as not to scratch. And then of course it moves with the speed and agility you’d expect from Aston’s flagship vehicle that replaced re legenday Vanquish. Just check out the video below I’d you need further convincing of it’s prowess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b97UVBCqPXI

Finally!  I can barely believe he’s actually gone.  Just like I barely believe that we stomached him for so long.  It’s regrettable when you think about our idleness these past 8 years in which we allowed the Bush administration to pass policies that created the most un-American America in my lifetime.  And although America is an evolution of its founding principles and ideas, the requisite in its existence is just that, its evolution rather than de-evolution, or even mutation.  Bush was a physical embodiment of everything wrong with this country.  A living example of  the tainted principles and false ideologies that past generations tried to do away with and this generation all but put behind them, at least until he came around.  His rhetoric was simple, primitive, arrogant, dismissive and divisive.  His policies infringed on our constitutional rights, damaged our reputation in the world, and weakened our global dominance, influence and presence.  His lack of action before and during such domestic crisis as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina displayed a shocking level of unwillingness to be proactive in preventing such tragedies and an unpreparedness to deal with their aftermath.  Socially, Bush sparked a revival of the southern, christian conservative right.  A movement who’s principles often echo religious intolerance and superiority and contain racist, segregationist and separatist undertones.  One could write volumes on his fowl-ups and the damage done to the country as a result.  And as we continue to reel from these with the possibility that we may in fact have not seen the worst to come economically, his departure is a moment of reflection.  As bad as he was – and he was certainly the worst anyone currently living has seen – he did unknowingly cause some good.  Fore in all his failures and countless mistakes he created a populace that was fed up with taking a back seat to the actions of their government.  One that was ready and willing to retake ownership of it and support a leader who embodied their principles and vision of the future.  Without Bush would we have retaken a vested interest in our government?  Would such an amazing leader as President Obama have sought the office?  Would we, the people have restored our voice?  It’s hard to say, but what is known is that we have a lot of work to do.

I read quite a bit and currently am consuming the following books:

Egypt: Art & Architecture – More of a browse than a read.  I’ve studied ancient Egypt since I was a child.  I read Medew Netur and am well versed in the ancient history, culture and theology.  My mother sent me this book for the winter solstice, which I celebrate rather than a specific religious holiday as I don’t adhear to a specific faith.  The book is more of a reference than an actual read.  It’s filled with tons of pictures, site plans and blueprints.  It’s a healthy reminder that I need to finally take a trip there to see the structures in person.

The Plan of Chicago – Carl Smith narrates the story of Daniel Burnham and his plan for Chicago which transformed the city from a congested, unorganized hub of the American midwest into the world class city that it is today.  As a child my parents and I would frequent a theater in Burnham Plaza, and I often wondered who this Burnham was.  The story of his life is as interesting as his work itself and I recommend anyone with a interest in architecture, city planning or the history of Chicago to look into it.

American Lion – I was watching the Daily Show a few weeks back and Jon Stewart had author Jon Meacham on as a guest.  When the two began to joke about absolutely ridiculous anecdotes from Andrew Jackson’s life – like the time he fatally shot a man in a duel on the White House lawn after the man confronted Jackson about having an affair with his wife – I knew I had to read this book.  Although I’m only at the beginning, already it’s painting a rather colorful picture of this former President.  It’s entertaining and eye opening, shedding a lot of light on not only the office in that time but also the man himself.

The Places In Between – Rory Stewart gives an account of his walk across Afghanistan.  If you have an interest in this region and can’t go there yourself, this is the next best thing.

The Secret Science – It’s probably John Baines most famous book.  In it he deals with the principles of Hermetic Philosophy.  I read this book for the first time about 8 years ago, and it totally changed by perception on life and the world around me.  I highly recommend it.

Lone Survivor – It’s the story of a Navy Seal team caught in an ambush while on a dangerous mission inside Afghanistan.  All members of the team except the author were killed.  Although I’m not a fan of the writing style, it is none the less a first hand account and therefore worth cringing through poorly written sentences and tons of arrogant statements.