Hyperbolic Masculinity

Power Thumb

We have seen strides in the understanding of gender roles in the past 20 years that have radically redefined how we perceive maleness, femaleness, and the entirety of the gender spectrum.  Indeed, this alteration of understanding has left many confused as to the place of the genders in modern society.
Unless you happen to possess the mountainous confidence of Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris represents the ideological Man.  Physical prowess manifest.  Compassionate wisdom incarnate.  Norris transcends our understanding - not of gender - but of what it means to be human.

Oddly, the gentlest and deftest of his hands.

 Indeed, Immanuel Kant once postulated that one could only exist entirely in the realm of the living or the realm of the animated.*  Norris, however, has robbed us of that certainty.  Capable of existing in multiple forms simultaneously, we are left with an omnipotent, omnipresent god figure in human form.
Some hypothesize that masculinity is predicated on an intrinsic quest for the position of the Alpha.  In our escapist world of alternate realities, many men have fled the world of corporeal competition for a surrogate existence.  The world of MMO gaming has provided competition for those who have opted out of the world resplendent in the mastery of Norris.
But they cannot escape.
No one can.

I mean, seriously?  A snow tiger?

*Nope

Roar, My Kittens.

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.Abe Lincoln

Universal.  Transcendent.  Ambition and the image of a powerful self is often brought down by the reality of our world.  The desire to - as the artist notes - "Roar like lion" - a verse resplendent in poetic merit - is one which every human feel.  We are expressionistic species and our roars seek to define and affirm our very existence.

Yet the laughter follows.  Inevitably, society tears down that which seeks to be different than it's preordained path.  And so this kitten, a vehicle chosen by the artist to emphasize the feeling of diminished stature and patronized ambition brought on by such defeat, represents the broken feeling and ennui which comes when dreams are burnt like effigies to the throne of conformity.

Roar, my kittens.  Roar.

Those of Slovenly Gods

Sir Daniel's Note:
Dearest reader,
I do hope my man-servant reached you with the gold-leaf apology missives I sent to each and every one of you.  If he did not, simply contact me via raven.  I shall have him flogged forthwith.
I do apologize for my recent tardiness.  I know you as connoisseurs, ladies and gentlemen of refined tastes and exquisite senses of decor and decorum and how your sensitive souls must have languished in my absence.
Fret no more.  I encourage you to share and expand this circle of arteests and lovers of high culture, for now we shall new reviews every Monday Wednesday and Friday without fail.
I will stake my own life - using my man-servant as a proxy - on it.
Sir Daniel Zubrzycki esquire PhD, MD, ADD, etc, etc, titles, titles.

And ye,  the Bro did sayeth, "take this hot dog, bro for I am stuffed, and feel not like moving."

Truly original pieces appear from the veil infrequently, their place in the conglomerated soul of art forever sealed simply in their audacity.  Such is the fate of this piece: Slovenly Gods.
With an ethereal quality, lending a sense of other-worldly serenity, this piece speaks a crystalline message of spiritual connection and the human thirst to know more*.
Utilizing long straight lines established by the divine human form on the left, the artist contrasts that image immediately with piles of clothing.  The God-figure to the left, resplendent and beneficent, proffers manna to the mortal.
The long flowing mane of the figure to the right and robust fullness establish it as the god-figure.  It's offering of food to the human first establishes the human as the chosen of men and reinforces the juxtaposition of their figures.  The man - muscled and lean - strives towards perfections which may never bother then god-figure.
The offering: a Hot dog.  The timeless symbol of consummate love and eternal salvation which harks back in hallowed antiquity as far back as the Sumerian empire.**
Slovenly Gods is a perennial piece, timeless in form and function.  Having not drawn on any previous works for any form of inspiration, satirical or otherwise, it solidifies it's place in art's history for originality and cultural commentary.
*"And for some beer or something, what did you put on that thing?"
** Horace recalls an account of Sumerian Hot dogs "Dulce et decorum est edere canem fervens"

Felines: To Be or to Meow

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Frequently life forces us to moments of solitude.  Variable forces mitigate our active agency, life's paths wind in ways which wound and weary.  The passing of time can uplift as quickly as oppress.  Like a brick wall, all of our worries can be stopped in a moment by the transcendent beauty of the world we inhabit.
The scale and grandeur of the universe are kept outside of our bubble of blue.  The atmosphere and clouds block out the eternal abyss - the eternal possibility - of the universe.
This piece calls to mind the stress and anxiety that might lead one to being alone on a rocky outcropping in an ocean or bay area.  Facing toward the light, the figure would be reminded of time's transience, mortality, ennui, the existential hoplessness of optimism, the absolute neccessity for it.  The various maelstroms of contradictions and compliments which house our experience.
Except it is a Cat.
Cat's lack higher cognitive functions.
Just a cat.

Ego facio, ergo sum

A meteoric, reflective piece which births ennui and disillusion 

The "What I Do" meme is the signs of the reawakening of the economy and the renaissance of how we view employment and life choices.
This - widely considered the primordial piece - reflects the timeless plight of the artist.  Specifying that the artist seeks to expand art in it's most contemporary forms, the creator defines the artist's existence within the concept of perception.
It is oft cited that the artist must eschew if not fully disdain the opinions of the masses.  In this piece, the reality of art is revealed viciously, exposing that all art must be seen and thus judged.  The integral aspect that unifies these pieces is the juxtaposition of expectation against reality.  The self referential sections construct the foundation of humor for the previous sections - exposing the opinions of friends and family whose thoughts are often romanticized or trivialized.  The self-section exposes the inner ideal of the craft assumed by the creator and the final two juxtapose the absurdity of society's view against the reality which is often much less glamorous.

What God thinks I do?

Unless you are NPH, in which case, no one can ever truly understand your greatness.

Dunecat

The DuneCat.  A timeless generational piece which speaks not only to the great Frank Herbert, but to the generations of admirers which he spawned and the tribute indie films such  as Star Wars and Star Trek which drew from this genesis piece.
DuneCat, wrapped in a costume of linen, achieves a wormish appearance while still maintaining the adorable feline quality all felines seem to possess.
While the crossbreeding of animals implied by the costume may at first be off putting, the Catmeme derives most of it's humor from the naivety of the cat.  Assuming the cat is striving for attention, the piece suddenly adopts the humor associated with a child attempting to impress a parent.

The Superlative Porringer

Sports support Photoshop

(I'd like to note that I did consider making this post simply a picture of anything related to the Super Bowl.  Would have been appropo methinks.)

Spectacles of athletic and regional dominance have dominated the mentalities of plebeian mobs since time immemorial.  Used to assuage tensions between rival fiefdoms and establish a proverbial pecking order, organized competitions create a distraction from the world at large.  The modern incarnation is most prominent in the Americo-Centric Football tradition.
"Football," ironically named for it's nigh complete lack of ball-foot contact, is a game in which geo-political regions select warriors based exclusively on skill, not their particular adherence to the sponsoring region, to conflict over the possession of the tanned hide of a pig.  During this engagement, the selected specimen of either team are made to clash against each other at high velocities - often causing fractures, the tearing of ligaments, and severe impact based concussions to their brains.  One team must move the skin beyond certain markers to gain credit toward a victory.

It is known that all young males should strive toward this.

Throughout a particular period of time roughly adhering to a calendar year, teams engage in repeated engagements weekly.  At the cessation of this period, teams with particular penchants for victory compete for the ability to engage a final quest for superiority.
The Super Bowl is that competition.
In this ultimate response to the free-market voting system enacted by television ratings, massive portions of wealth are expended to create a spectacle which entices more viewers than the State of the Union (a yearly address by the incumbent President of the United States meant to inform the populous of the direction he intends to take their country of residence).
The competing teams this year represented the regions of New York - though support in that state is widely divided between two teams which presume to control favor - and New England, which is actually a conglomeration of inferior regions dedicated to competing through union.  The team representing New York refers to themselves as Giants despite their mean size being similar on average to that of all other competing teams.  The team representing the conglomerated New England refers to themselves as Patriots a references to their nation's history, though that is shared by their opponents (perhaps a sign of ignorance on their part or a strategy to amalgamate more teams into their union).
During the competition a musical act is brought fourth, presumably to widen the appeal of the spectacle to audience members who may be forced to suffer through by other clansmen.  This year, an aging woman garishly flaunting Roman and Egyptian motifs of extravagance and slave labor wasted millions on a sentiment of world peace.

A very subtle commentary on the plight of the wealthy.

The outcome of the competition saw those presuming to be Giants defeating the misguided diplomatic strategy of the amalgamated states of New England.  Perhaps a commentary that massive corporations and Giants of industry will always subdue a more intellectual, philosophical ideal.
More interestingly, though, is that - during a time of apparent fiscal, social, and world troubles, importance is still given to maintaining such rewarding and empowering traditions such as watching grown men pummel each other in a display of misguided machismo and masturbatory egoism.