The Mindless

Purpose, reason and meaning. Do we all have it? Do we all even understand them? What they mean, to everyone, to us. How they shape and form us? Where does our humanity lie when we have no reason, no purpose and no meaning?
We make our own. We give ourselves reason, we create our purpose, we mold our meanings.
There is so much unrest, anger, boredom and wonder. I'm from the UK & I live in a big city. You can feel the unease in the air. Sense it in everyone's words. They are on the verge of something catastrophic, we all know change is afoot. We've changed, humanity and mankind has, it's our laws and societies that have become stuck, out of place and misinterpreted. We live lives of fiction. We spend our money on luxuries we are told are the next big thing. We're taught to believe we can achieve anything. Free speech and whatever. It seems damn evident this is not enough. Though what people don't realize is that even if they go out, break a law or two, steal something, it's a temperamental fix. You taste one bite of a large bar of chocolate and if you like it, you'll want more. You'll then want another bar, you'll want more and more until you get sick, until you can't stand it, and then you'll have something else to indulge in, you'll search for it, quest to find that satisfaction. And when you cant and WILL NOT find it you'll be angry, frustrated, upset and down right feel cheated.
It's not a hero we need, it's not an example we need to have made, it's not a wound that will heal. This is a thirst that will not be quenched. This is a hunger than we cannot remedy. Why? Well because these people are not even sure what they do want themselves. They don't know, they can't know, they perhaps never will know. And maybe some of them, know this. You let a domestic dog go free into the wild and they'll search for humans at first, someone to provide for them, to satisfy them, when they can't find that or get that they'll search for it themselves, the ebst way they know how, track and hunt it down, bite and break the neck of their prey, feed that hunger inside of them to last them, just for the night, then the next night they'll be at it again. But that dog will never find what it wants, because it wants what it cannot have because it has crossed that line, it has become something else it's not longer the friendly 'dog' you picture, it's an animal, and it out to try stay alive. When you bring that back inside it doesn't know of the sheer simpleness of the existence, the damn irony of waste and pompousness of luxury.
You want money? You work for it. Or, you steal it, you rob it, you fake it. It's the input, the effort required. You cannot argue that as a species we are lazy, look at what we have invented to keep us on our arse's?  It's even proven, though not understood, that people who stand upright more in their lives live longer. We want simple pleasures, but we are not prepared to do complicated things in order to get them, we've created webs of institutions and infrastructure that has led to many being eclipsed, forgotten about and pushed aside. If you felt that would you sit around until you died?
There is no message, there is no vendetta or motivation. There is only CHAOS.

The Release

Let go. Let loose. Be free. Feel free. Break Free. Soar high.
We are all so restricted. But why? The greatest opposition to our plans, to our dreams and desires is more often than not, ourselves. We hold ourselves back. We stand in our own way. We sabotage ourselves. Fear, regret, hesitation, second though. Sure there's are pretty much evolutionary and taught to us and our minds, but the gift of being such an intelligent species is also a curse.
We doubt.
Doubt ourselves, others, the world. Pessimism? Some would ray they are just being realistic, well how about you be surreal? Unreal? Our age of science and technology has stunted our imagination of what we CAN do, let alone could do. We've lost our motivation to do the unconventional, or perhaps we've lost our nerve.
I'm not calling you a coward or anything, how can I when it's basically been hardwired into our very design and upbringing? It's natural.
But why can't you, you and anyone else, everyone else, just let go...
What a chaotic, dangerous, reckless, stupid, irresponsible thing huh? It'd also be beautiful.
Freedom is a tricky concept of today. Is to be free to live a life with rules and laws that are not your own? Sure it makes living easy and simple for the species that is vastly becoming overcrowded and outgrowing it's entire planet. But is it right? Is it best? Look at yourself, look at anyone, they are unique, they are themselves, and no one will ever come close to being them, not even a twin, nor a clone. They will not live the same life nor will they be the same person. Every tiny insignificant moment of your silly little life will shape you in ways you cannot fathom.
Anarchy? Maybe, but I'm purposing a simple idea nor ideal to have people 'let go' and 'be free'. What I'm purposing is those little victories. Hate your job, quit your job then, that sort of thing. Claiming back some of... our 'soul'.  The Human spirit is such a strong thing, but it's not dedicated, we have to maintain it and fuel it. We've all had days where we would feel we have accomplished nothing, but think of your every breath, your every tiny movement, each word and action carried out, millions of years in the making. You are capable of so much but that doesn't mean the very BASIC things should be overlooked, the fact you're breathing is such a rare thing. Think of the odds of your very being, your entire existence and then breathe, a nice deep slow breath, it could even be your last.
All the sadness and frustration of our lives, the time we spend crying, feeling sorry and regretting, all the time we think about what we've done and the hurt and pain. I'm not saying this time is wasted, not at all. It's what makes us human and what makes us bear the life we lead. To live a life without mistake is to not 'live' at all. Failure is a part of life, it's a design of life, to learn, adapt and grow stronger. But to simply dwell, to simply be all that, to be nothing but... cold and lost, it's a choice, because for however sad and horrific life can be there is that capacity within us all to... let go.
Relish the sense of being lost, take pride in the fact we're so tiny on such a small planet in an ever growing universe. Our world, our reality, remember that it's OURS, and your life is YOURS. No one can control it nor dictate it. You are not the autonomous construct you feel like you are.
Feel the wind and let the thoughts drift away, the emotions holding you down and pinning you to the ground, they can be overcome, they can be bent, even broken. What we see, what we hear, the mind believes. But we have more control of our mind than we give ourselves credit for. The very myth that we only use 10% of our brain capacity. Well think of it like this, we only really use about 10% of our life capacity. Think of all you could do, all you CAN do.
Oblivion, we're drifting at almost uncomprehendable speeds, dwarfed by our surroundings and enveloped in such a darkness. We just don't realise the brightest of our light, each of us.
Despite everything i've said sounding very free live and perhaps even 'hippy' like, thanks for reading upto this point. I don't claim any idea as my own, I don't see why anyone should claim anything. But my ideals and perspective is simply shaped from my own life, how I've lived it up to now and what had occurred within it. I'm not trying to conform to any sort of restricting belief or faith. Nor you so called sciences. My premise is simple, most likely to many it would be horrific and plainly even boring. It's also not my place to share it. How I see things will never be seen the same way again, even if I was cloned or time traveled or had a twin, the tiniest subtle difference would make the entire thing, different. It's why I can say that each and every one of you is beautiful, no matter how you look, what you believe or what you do.
Sorry for getting a bit.. personal. I know I post usually on general ideas, theories and simple thought. So feels odd to... share. I'm the 'bottle it up' "TYPE".
If you take anything away from this rant, it could be this;
Sit back, ease your shoulders and straighten your back, lift your head slightly, close your eyes, breathe in through your nose very slowly and until you can breathe in no more, then just slowly...let it go.

The Debt

Money, our lives revolve around it, unfortunately, hell our lives may have begun because of it. Our parents deciding they are 'earning' enough to support a child. Money haunts our existence before our existence has even began. And what is it? Our species feeble attempt to structure the chaos of simply being here? What would we do without it? What would it be like? Would we survive? Even Post-apocalyptic future that have been pondered and written about in fiction have had a system of 'money'. Water, books, fuel, bottlecaps, women, sex, guns, ammunition, shelter. I could go on. But the fact is this, our species cannot exist without this barter and transfer of 'goods' something beneficial, rare and/or 'different'. We cannot purchase something or even DO something for someone else without thinking of the 'cost benefit'. How does our good deeds relate into something we can get something out of? How shallow of a society we have. Rare, extremely rare, to find someone who is willing to give, or do something for someone else without expecting, demanding or wanting something return. 'Scratch my back i'll scratch yours'. I'm not saying it does not work, look where we are today. Our cities and culture, medicine and technology. But where would be if we all just live and did things for the sake of doing them? The fact we can?
 We're lazy, there's no doubting that fact, you can try redeem yourself right now with thoughts of exercise, gym memberships, jobs and hours of sleep, but you are. Sorry to burst that fragile bubble of belief there, but it's not like I pull my punches I'm afraid. We work, for ourselves, to fund ourselves, our dreams our families and those closest to us. We torture ourselves so we can claim some satisfaction in some 'luxury'. Even the brightest star fades. No matter the currency, it will burn. We lay down our lives, we waste our time and we destroy others for what most would believe as 'paper'.
 I can't help but feel a tang of reminder in my brain at the cliche of Fight Club right now, and I know that will deter some of you from even reading on from this point. But to erase the debt records, to start anew, fresh and without weight of money on our shoulders that we do not even own. Can we be free? We'd all love to be bit more Tyler Durden.
 But perhaps that is the point, there is no Tyler Durden, there is no currency or debt. It is a construction of an over imaginative human intellect desperately trying to justify the existence of itself in a reality that would, in all probability, do better without it. Our self importance, the pedestal we made ourselves, though well founded and weighed down, will topple. We've already seen fringes of a culture hell bent on the destruction of this so called 'order'. It's not too far off of becoming a religion.
 The human race will do their damnedest to hold onto the world it has created for itself. But even from before we we're 'human' this world was never meant to be ours. We stole it. We shaped it. In all likelihood it will be us that will also destroy it. Out of our great empires of dirt and air there will come a dawn of a new age. Perhaps not even including the human. See we think history and the universe will not function without us, that ol' 'if a tree falls in the forest with no one to hear it, does it still make a sound?' The universe, reality and dimension got on fine without us before and it'll continue without us if it needs to. Come to think of it, we're a danger not only ourselves, but the entirety of what we know and ultimately, don't know.

The Difference

We fear, we fear what we do not understand, that fear can lead to a great many things. Hatred, jealousy, rage, envy, aggression, etc. As human being we have this thirst and pure desire to 'know'. To understand. If many of us had our way I'm sure we'd do everything we could to know 'everything'. And that would still not be enough. A very human thing is to want answers, to need them, to make sense and rationalize something which perplexes us. It's rare we are content to 'not know' and let that which we do not understand be. It may have gotten our race to where it is today, but today is different. Today and for some time now, we have been evolved to a state that doesn't seem... conquerable. I don't mean to say that what we are now is the perfect being, far from it. I don't believe thats within our capacity at any rate. There is more honor today in the animal world than our own. If I had to say what we have become is something less than human. We are so desensitivedsed, out of touch and distant. We've lost so much compassion and understanding. Today is all about destroying, destroying in order to understand. To know. Mystery seems to be feared. Mystery is endangered, if not extinct. Go into space and look back down and see for yourself, we hate not knowing and not being able to control so much we've lit up the dark side of the earth. Perhaps it's the sense that in the darkness we'll see true. See what we are and what we've become. There is an irrational fear of the dark beset in most, if not all of us. Safe to say that this was because we did not know what lurked in it, for our own bodily sense we could not 'see' and find comfort in a blackened world. But now, today. I think what we fear most in the dark is ourselves. Afraid to even be ashamed. Taught to be proud and 'live life'. Honor is no more, chivalry dead, pure good nature is now just... nature.
 Take myth, legend and folklore. We've done all we can to PROVE and DISPROVE fantastical things which had us hope and dream. There is an epic sense of boredom, not just in our culture but in our species. Take a look around at what we have done for ourselves. There is and can be so much more to us, so much potential and wonder. Seems we're just too lazy and confined to be 'realistic'. Realism today seems to be a echo of pessimism.
 So many people are doing and dedicating their lives into fitting in this lore of society, this some what ever changing world, ever changing due to the fact it does not exist, a shakey illusion in to which our species is becoming fixated and consumed by. We are all so desperate to be accepted, to be recognised and acknowledged. Yet it seems we can't even do that when we look into a mirror. What hope have we to do that in a limp lie?
 We're stuck, in every sense of the word.

The Future

Somehow we all wish would could change something, we all wonder what it'd be like to go back and alter our history, make that 'other' decision. Change history. So much so I think most of us forget that we can do just that with this moment right now. We can change history, the history that was just that second ago. We can shape and determine our futures, choose our paths and walk the road(s) we choose. We all seem to believe that to change our history would make for a better today, when we have the power and will to do just that, have a better today, because today, today you can do anything you want. With relative ease and comfort. Now I know in an ideal world money wouldn't be object or restraint. But in this confusing and limitation based world... it sadly is. Though this doesn't bring our dreams to a full stop, not when we have imagination. We have choice and decision, ours to control and make.
 The world, and no doubt our lives, are full of 'what if's?'. But surely it's so much more constructive to consider 'what next?' We all have these thoughts, these considerations and wonders, sheer imagination running wild and being free. And sometimes we just keep it to ourselves, probably more than sometimes, especially in today's world. Though these thoughts of ours, entirely unique don't get me wrong, but they have recurrent themes within every person's thoughts. We are all human and we all have the same capabilities and ideas of wondrous things. We feel so out of place and often, out of time, in a world where we are becoming more and more surrounded by... others. Despite the world's space lacking and lacking, more and more of us are growing ever so distant and far. Why? Why have we lost our connections, our thirst to make one and sustain, why do we feel so alone in a crowded room?
There's nothing wrong with these feelings, these feelings make us human, make us who we are and make us unique, you may not feel them yourself, but don't believe you're missing out on anything by any means. Throughout my rants, raves and pretty much... bullshit philosophies, I'm simply stating my own opinion and thoughts from my rationale and my point of view, my perspective. I'm not saying it's right, I certainly don't believe it to be. But it's a POV, an opinion, a determination and quite the assumption(s), something to cherish, because that is what we are beautifully capable of. Opinion. Such a troublesome thing despite it's mystery, or maybe because of it. Like our faces and our bodies it is unique and different for one and all. Mostly we're creatures of habit and learning, understanding and routine. Knowing what we know is our comfort, when these become besieged by the society, by culture and conformism is when we doubt ourselves, how we look and how we see and think of the world. Thinking ourselves to be wrong... despite the fact that with opinion... with choice... you're never wrong. It's your own decision(s) to even determine if you are in the first place, let alone whether you should feel it or not.
 Decisions, they are yours to make, could be the worst thing to do with them is... not make them. Chance and freewill are such underplayed and unappreciated things sometimes.
 Appreciation; such a underused and unconsidered thing. Means so much to so many but it is so overlooked. To know you're helpful, to know you're deserving, to be appreciated, is a beautiful thing and wondrous feeling. That we only really take notice of when we have it. Doesn't seem like much when it's not there but it's so cherished when it is. So why not make it more aware and evident?

The Broken

Everyone has this need, this unknowing default setting, where we keep secrets, we don't tell other's things, we shy away from what there is, what needs to be done and said.
You can't exactly argue that secrets 'appear' to be effective. Whole governments and countries seem to be fed and raised on them. But where is the line drawn? Can there be a 'good' lie? People keep things from others with one reason in mind more than others; to protect them. Have to ask yourself though, is it them you are protecting, or yourself?
You all think there's something wrong with you in some form or shape, you all think you're not good enough, far from perfect and simply not good enough. How about you consider, you simply think, you are what you are. You're you. In all your beauty and wonder. You are yourself. Don't deny, don't dispute, don't argue or complain, don't worry, fret or be concerned that you are not more. BE YOURSELF, it's all you can be. It's all there is, to be you is be great, to be true and just, to be right and satisfied. Society, friends, peers and strangers can hate and despise, judge and criticize. With no right. But thats their own damn opinion, opinion, opinion generally only matters to one, you. What you think is what you know. If you think you are, you will be.
You sacrifice all you want for beauty, perfection, looks and desires, all you'll get is hollowness.

I know as I write these words that they will have little if not absolutely no impact on the world, on anyone. these are just my words. Just my crappy little notions, but that, that's me being me, i'm writing out my opinion, i'm expressing and digressing. I don't consider myself to be perfect in any shape or form, if anything i'm the polar opposite, but then that itself is a term and conduct of which others and society has put upon me. I'm me, in all my glory and all my weakness. I'm human. Humanity, it's forgetting, it's pretty much forgot, that... that's what it is. I'm so angry, so goddamn angry. At myself, at you, hell at everyone. And it's beautiful. Because thats what you need, that's what's great about being a member of mankind, that RAGE you feel when someone does wrong or thinks something else. The simple intensity of your beliefs and your thoughts. Solidifying the uniqueness and the miracle of our very existence. To be you is more than I can express in words (Yes I'm speechless).

Be true to you.

The Strength

What if we had everything we could ever want, what if we had it all, but someone else, others, had nothing? Who are those out there that will and do sacrifice their want's, their happiness and their safety, for ours?
People have said heroism is being able to hold on and endure that one moment longer. Or to be able to dive into a situation for someone else's benefit, disregarding your own life. But surely it can be as simple as... giving something up. Making a sacrifice. Being selfless.
We need to be selfish in life in order to maintain, in order to be able to live and keep going in everyday circumstance. But it seems selfishness has gone too far and we hold it too dear. It's too comfortable for most. People are so afraid of what they don't know, what they don't understand and believe to be 'real'. Selflessness is an attribute of heroes, a rare thing at that. People think it takes some great victory or occurrence to feel and BE a hero. It's everyday living that should be seen as the greatest victory. I've said before that we're 'lucky' to even exist. We're all heroes of our own lives.
 I think to have everything you could ever want is... a nightmare. What more is there left to dream about? What more is there to strive and drive for? Why would you need to even get out of bed on a morning?

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other, is getting it."

The List

We all have those things we want to do before we die. The dreams to live, the lives to be fulfilled. Those loose ends made right. There's something we all aspire to do, or be. Some of us try harder than others, but there's nothing wrong with that. To simply try is a wondrous thing. To be able to say to yourself, I WILL, then do it. It's becoming a myth almost, to do what you say you will. In the highest forms of 'promises', we're let down, deceived, hopes shattered. Our governments, the higher powers, give us their word they'll do everything they can for certain things, once we give them the power, it's rare we see the fruition of this. I think this has diluted down into the very fabric of our society, the way things now 'work'. Lies become all we know, all we breathe, all we are.
 You can lie to someone's face, you can lie to a group of people, you can live to pretty much everything. The one that will hurt most, the one that will trip you up and maybe just tread on you a bit also, will be the lie(s) you tell yourself. It's one thing to deny your nature, but to willing, knowingly, shamelessly, deceive yourself. Well it's where the identity becomes blurred and the mind fractured.
 In a chaotic world, in troubling times, in daunting situations, we do what we can to make sense, to make do, to live and thrive. To do lists, bucket lists, even shopping lists. It seems, we all realize now, that our lives, even our species, will be a small speck on the story of time. A mild hiccup in the stretch of the universe. And somehow, someway, it's made us less appreciative. And I'm not sure why. We all know, maybe not fully, but somewhat, that our lives are short and the time we have to play with tiny. Yet we don't all push to do more, to get more done, to do better and good, to have fun and smile. Perhaps it's humanities need for some level of narcissism, that idea, that we are unique and important, perhaps it seems the world is just at a point where everyday we're put down, saddened and overwhelmed. Seems to be one good news story for every 50 bad and horrific ones. Our love of drama and terror besieging our reflection. We deny ourselves beauty, the ability to smile and laugh at yourself, that feeling of joy spreading through your body, tingling your limbs and tickling your fingers and toes.
 I don't think there's any denying that we are becoming bitter, becoming quite sour as a populous. We all apparently have so much anger to put somewhere, to do something with, and some of us are ready to dispel that so easily. It's that what's so frightening, so overwhelmingly shameful and eye opening about humanity. Give someone a gun and watch them fire at someone, give them some water and watch them horde it.
 We all forget, we all are loosing that ideal, the simple notion and thought, that, well, it's not exactly perfect, but it's what we have, it's what we get. As pessimistic as I, myself am. I do believe people can be so much more. However meaningless and purposeless life, and existence is... It can also be so much more. You want meaning? Give yourself one. You want a reason? Make one. You want purpose? Find one. Don't expect to lead a great life if you're not willing to go out there and MAKE it a great life. To simple try, to actually DO something to get closer to it. It's more than most people do.

The Glory

We all want something, it's said we all have our price. That maybe true. Reading that you're imagining what it is you want, what you'd give. Trade and barter with in order to get your desire.
Our lives are built upon the notion we are doing, living and being for something more, for something greater and more... meaningful perhaps. We all try to make our lives into something 'purposeful'. Quests for peace, for fortune and fame.
The world is so angry, people are so hostile. Everyone's searching for something more, something better, a light, a glimmer of hope in the overwhelming and daunting darkness of simply existing. I physically hate this world for what it is. There's no escaping it. I detest what we are, what we do. The frivolous actions of society, mending a broken system built upon lies and deceptions, hiding the chaos and the destruction underneath us all. I have nothing against this need and necessity for having more, for believing in more, for faith in better. I know how scary and how simply heart tearing it is to have no meaning, no purpose or existence. Because that is what life is. It's nothing.
You'd call me a pessimist of even a manic depressive, mentally problemed and in all likelihood sociopathic. But my outlook on life is simple, it's effective. I don't believe you can't MAKE something of life. The only purpose you'll get out of life is what you put into it, the only meaning you'll have is what you impose onto it. Reason to live is your choice, your control and question to answer. You shouldn't expect your life to be lived for you, because it will never happen. The only person who will have any weight and responsibility for your life is you. It's your freewill and actions which make your life something.

 A great person once said "live, or die. but don't poison everything".

We all take our little victories from life, getting through the day, finishing a small puzzle, resisting that one more piece of chocolate. These are things that are so overlooked, you all believe them to be trivial, but they couldn't be more beautiful. That small little consequence of your sheer will and power of self is stunning and you should give it more worth, more weight. We've all been told at one point or another to look at the 'big picture'. But you know what makes that big picture oh so much more beautiful? The details, those little 'insignificant' things, small happenstance occurrences which will make that picture truly awe inspiring. The urge, the need, the thirst to live is simply delightful.
That sunset, that handmade card, that little post-it note, the plant on the windowsill, that scent of a place, the shine of a light. Our lives are filled with gorgeous moments we would love to share with so many people, but we have to realise, everyone experiences something beautiful, no matter how infinitesimal, the small, the big, the trivial, the serious.

We're all spinning at a phenomenal speed, but how about you stop, just occasionally, stop, and think.

The Music

Everything is beautiful, it's the fact everything is beautiful that we take most things for granted. It's only when we receive a reminder and a shock, that we realise, that we are able to see, clearly.
Think of everyone in the world, and what odds, what sheer overwhelming chances were stacked against them in order to simply... exist. And then think about what so called great people have done, invented, thought, wondered, prevailed and failed. Stack those chances on top of the miracle of sheer being, what we have then is some staggeringly monumental beauties that were born out of unbelievable circumstances. You may argue that because it COULD happen it WILL happen. Well, that may be true, but it all doesn't happen at once in the same scale nor order.
The first girl I had a crush on was named Natalie, and she made me feel so... nervous. Like I was a fizzy drink that had been shook up too much and was fit to burst at any moment. It was scary, it was terrifying, it was beautiful. To feel something new, to be surprised by yourself just once more is something of overwhelming and incredibly refreshing revelation. To know, not just think, to know that there is so much more than just... you. We're all selfish beings and we're all a little bit narcissistic but thats human nature. Thats how we are born and bred.  It's what happens after we're born that starts to really shape the world, and I say that in the sense that every single life on this planet will have an effect. Everything makes a ripple, regardless of its size, it still spreads across the ocean, the sheer vastness of our societies on this tiny little rock. You could live for nothing, you could feel like an utter ghost, a fleeting lost soul, but your life, your life will have been nothing but miraculous. The odds of you being born are huge, then add on the odd's of you being alive, add the fact you're still alive, then... the fact you're reading this... well in mathematics terms... I imagine it's a large number indeed.
I don't believe in luck, nor fate, destiny of anything. I believe, well, I guess i believe, what can be, is what will be, at one time or another. We live in this world, but there are so many different worlds, perhaps even with different you and me's living on them. Alternative universes and parallel worlds. Just imagine that for every choice you made, the choice you DIDN'T make then spawned another world in a different dimension where you made the other choice, and your life leads on from there. Take into account how many different choices you make in one day, then how many choices EVERYONE makes in one day and have done in the past, are doing now, and will do. That's a lot of worlds and a lot of choices made, being made and to be decided.

The Stickers

A number of you will be receiving some stickers, and a number of you will be viewing this blog BECAUSE you received these stickers. The stickers being 'THIS IS A MORAL FREE ZONE' sign, in sticker form. These stickers are to be placed at the discretion of whoever may have the sticker(s). All I ask is that you send me photos of where you have stuck the said stickers, so I can begin a collection of images cataloguing where and how people have used the stickers. Everyone will be credited to however much they desire. It is you that will make this project work. So I thank you now and i'll thank you many times to come also. Hopefully I will be sent enough images in order to create an extensive and expansive book and also blog which will be monitored and established by me, but it will be through the participation and interaction of you that will get it going, keep it going, and make it strong.
I do have a limited number of stickers, though I can always obtain more. I'm asking for no money from people to send these stickers out to. All I really want in return is some images documenting how the stickers were used. In this respect I believe i've opened it up to many more people. It iss at my own cost, which i believe is only fair as I am the artist and I'm asking YOU to go out and use the stickers, essentially do at least half the work.... Hopefully you wont be arrested, fined or apprehended trying to stick them where ever you see fit. Not Condoning the use of the sticker in unlawful ways... but I certainly can't and wont stop you. That sort of defeats the intention of the stickers themselves. They are to use to say something about a space and the place they are stuck. Their use and intentional meaning is something you have power over. You can choose to tell me why you stuck them in a certain place or not. Maybe funny, maybe questionable, maybe political. Your Choice. I'm simply supplying the stickers to use how you wish. To say what you want to say. I hope you enjoy the stickers and their usage. I'll certainly enjoy and appreciate any and all the images you send me.
Have fun, take care & remember, Art is yours to say what you want to say.

The Doubt

What if?
Those two words can define your life, they can summarize an entire generation. They can change the world.
It's amazing how many words we speak, how many meanings they can have and just what we will say in order to change things.
Though what is done, is done. Words can't change that but maybe they can shift what is thought to have been done. Alter perceptions and change the history books. Thats the thing with life, we can share it with so many people and have one that is so special to us and that we share are all with, but they will never know the full picture. Perhaps we can't even ever know the full picture of ourselves. Our eyes can be so deceptive. Our opinions so misconstrued. Stories and fables, tall tales and fairytales.
Our lies will slowly consume us, our insecurities will frame us and the deceit will define us.
There is no redemption in our day and age where our horror stories and our acts of terror are portrayed more and more than the greatness of our capabilities as human beings.
The legacies and memories we leave behind will remain, but not for long. Even the lives we lead are infinitesimal in terms of what has, what is and what will be.  Not too much of a stretch to compare us to a spec of dust. Even that is quite generous.
This world is full of scary people, frightening what some people do, horrendous what some few do. But something 'the rest' of us fail to realise is, we all have the capacity to do the exact same, and actually even worse.

Lies and deceit seem to shape this world. The Truth seems to just break down and damage the world 'we' have created. Our legacies will be the fables and stories of our lives, constructed and fabricated. Misfortune & Doubt turn this world into a uneasy and very temporary place.
The sense of loss and disorientation in a world built on shaken ground that abides to strict laws that just unshape the world as it is, it's a feeling that transfixes us all at some point, more than others in some. The sense of law and order is a great misdeed to how we COULD live our lives, not saying we should, but then again why not?
There seems to be a serious lacking in living, the world is vastly over populated with our species, just imagine if we were viewed as an infestation? A higher governing power in the universe could put up a big tent around the planet and fumigate us all. They'd have great right to from what we have done to this planet, our great misuse and disrespect for the only home we have.
This ever enhancing and developing that seems to be define the richest of countries deprives them of a unique and treasured ideal, the sense of honor. It is without doubt lost in the society of today and the shaping of the future. We have no respect for ourselves anymore as in such we have lost all hope for everyone around us. The modern man starts to reflect all the hatred and spite in the world and mirrors it onto others and the infection begins. Chivalry, respect, honor, loyalty, worth, they are becoming long forgotten.
The pressures of everyday life today is often too much for many to handle, we are all supposed to make a reason and purpose for ourselves in a time where the big machine should be maintained and lay down your sacrifices for. We're creating something gaudy and empty. Our lives have become a commodity and our individuality has become expendable. Everything is expected and contingency plans in place just should the worse happen. Well now whats wrong with the worst happening? Surely some sense of destruction and threat is good, healthy, it gets you going and keeps you strong. Sheltering away and letting the world spin in its dumb pride is just irresponsible, letting the 'man' dwell in its selfish, glutton filled greed. It showers our every move now days, we want what we can't have, then when we get what we want, we no longer want it no more. Something better, bigger, flashier and smarter emerges. We're taught to love the new and accept with open arms the dreams and words of others, people we don't even know. We're lulled into a state where our defenses are not just lowered, they are annihilated completely and we cannot fight against the hypnotic, suggestiveness of everyday living.
We all feel far too safe.
Pain, a good pose of pain will get the cobwebs dusted and the muscles refreshed.
Anything, everything, needn't be a pursuit of something bigger. A belief in better. A far too common thought is that something will come to us or that fate will bring along something good to us. Well the world is not a good place, the global consensus of what makes the world spin is far too dark a place to imagine. Needless deaths ending even more needless lives. There was a time when every life was a miracle, what changed? 

The Last

What if the last words you ever spoke to someone, was infact the last words, you ever spoke?
What would they be and what would you think about them? How would you feel if they were something horrific and hurtful? Or beautiful and majestic perhaps.
Think about your loved ones and the last things you said to them. What if you never saw them again, what would those last words you exchange be, they'd haunt you for rest of your life no matter what they would be.
I think this simple notion is lost on us today. We live our lives not even expecting death sometimes. When it happens in every second of every moment. Hell upto now, you reading this, approx 100 people will have died, some from disease, some from old age, some from accidents, perhaps even some from murder. Too many people respect themselves so much they forget and maybe have no respect left for anyone else. It's all well and good to look out for number one. But hell if we all did that all of the time... well I bet there would be a sharp decrease in our numbers.
We fail to realise that the people we pass on the street, the people we see in bars and coffee houses, the people we see driving their cars, the people on the bus, the people who clean up after us, well, we forget that they are infact... people.
Everyone looses people close to them, we cling onto the best we can to all those around us, to all those we hold dear, but we can't. No matter how hard our grip and how enduring our strength is, we will loose them, we will loose them all. We never take the time to fully respect them or thank them for all they have done and all they are and then when we want to say it most, they aren't around to listen.
We try so hard to make people happy, to make ourselves happy and to be strong. We do all we can to make an impression, to be something people can be proud of. Most of us fail, spectacularly. But that doesn't make us anymore or any less than anyone else.
Today. right now. It's... an odd time. It's a time when you can see something so old being paired upto or placed next to or related to something so new and cutting edge. Our time is confusing because it seems... everything has been done before and we're just borrowing different aspects from the past.
Everything has been done before, but everything hasn't been done by YOU before. So you, you can do anything.

The Opportunity

What, if you could, would you do, in order to live forever? What price would you pay and what hurt would you inflict?
What are the limits you would push and even transcend, just to survive?
What lies in the heart is dark and what the mind seems to block out is even darker. We all have the audacity and the ferociousness, you can deny you're animalistic and carnivorous nature all you like, but we, like all beings of this earth, are animals. You strip away the fabrications of society, of conformity and obedience and you are left with a harsher world than what you know. "Dog eat Dog" does not begin to cover the sheer horrors, I, you, and everyone out there is able to do. That some, do infact do. Some of these people us 'normal' fail to 'understand'.
You may think I'm talking only about the bad here but I'm not. "It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything" Is this true? Surely, some of you, maybe even all of you, would be curious to find out what it is like to indeed be someone else. What many of us fail to realise is that we are infact ALSO that someone else. The eternal devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, Ying & Yang, Good & Bad, The Hero & the Villain. It is the balance of this that can contribute to a whole human being. Most would think there is never an ALL bad, or an ALL good person out there, but what if there was. Does this need to deny this possibility reflect into our jealous envious nature and how we can never be happy with what we have and always want for more. Are we bred of consumerism, are we children of a never ending lust for more and more, whether that be knowledge, time, money, love.
 What is it we need though? What if anything is necessary?
Take for instance the Dropsophila Melanogaster, AKA, 'The common Fruit Fly'. At most, apparently, a lifespan of 30 days. Imagine if your life was that short, imagine what you'd do, and if you could infact do it, what would do your aims, your drive, your passion(s), what would be your rationale? Does order and integrity, morality and chance, happenstance and consequences become forgotten in the times of dire circumstance and situation? Or is even the threat of death no excuse? Is the fear of annihilation a reason to loose yourself? To loose what it is that makes you so... 'human'?
 I myself use death as a ploy to inter the morality of you, of your surroundings and your time. The looming of destruction brings out the worst in us, doesn't it? It is arguable that the same could be said for money, fame, sex, chance, opportunity. Look at X-factor and all the other shows of the like, if you added a fight to the death to the mix it'd most likely still get the masses queuing up for a chance to be on TV. It seems the fabled "15 Minutes of Fame" we were all apparently due in our lives has now become a Quest for even just 5 seconds.

 Can you tell me, or rather, can you tell yourself. That you wouldn't do something drastic for an apparent "once in a lifetime" chance/opportunity? Even if that something drastic was even a crime, a horror, an act of destruction? How far would you go for yourself?
Where would you draw the line?
That's the funny thing about lines, they're like marks in the sand, they'll either be blown away slowly or taken all at once by the waves.

The Boundaries

I understand that in the world, there is a line, a definite line. Real, Unreal.
This is the core of how we interact and experience life. There are some where this 'line' is disillusioned and misconstrued. We treat them in our prisons and in our mental facilities, mostly.
Now lets think about you, surely a sane minded, down to earth and sure of what they know person. But, what if i could make you think differently?
What happened if something thoroughly impossible in your opinion, happened in front of your very eyes? I'm not speaking about illusion and magic, but maybe I should.

The Shame

There lies a great disappointment in humanity, a great let down of the hype of being the most dominant and so called intelligent species of this planet.
It means nothing.
We live in a tiny world, dwarfed by neighboring planets, galaxies, pretty much the entire universe.
Our idea's of 'space' we are confined to imagining something that is holding this space, the way the human mind perceives the edge of space differs greatly.
What we know, what we understand, what we cannot escape, is the ever dwarfing sensation that we do not matter. In all fact, I believe we don't. But why should that matter?
The realms of imagination is exactly that. Imagination is limited. Creativity is stunted. What would a great work of art look like to another species? Would they have art?
Have we become a sentient species that is able to make 'useless' things, in order to critique and analyze the great, so called, 'useful' things?
We live in a time where the common man is thought to be even less significant than a new discovery that is lightyears away or smaller than the mind can ponder.
What then, does this say about us? Have we grown tiresome of our very selves? Can we not stand to be around not only others of our race and species but our very selves? You can't shake this feeling that we may have had our run, our turn, exhausted our options and our possibilities. Is there no more originality? In having originality itself have we doomed our future actions? Do we consider the past to be TOO certain?
I try to think of time happening all at once. But the way in which we are wired and in how we are, I believe the human condition prevent us from seeing this. Stops us from realizing that we cannot even control the history of our lives, let alone the future.
We could be all long gone and completely non-important. I believe we are. Time is something we have created for ourselves to deal with the fear we are already... non existent. This 'life', our heritage, the legacy of us, could all be just an echo of a moment that was so small, so quick, that it is just... gone.

The Thoughts

What my peers think and feel about my work

Provocative minimalist sadism - Johnathan Barrett

It is an in depth evaluation into the over analysis of the human mind when contemplating the ethical responses to both death and life, portrayed through a sense of a highly provocative nature, embedding the moral wrongs situated within humanity - Anna Ingram

Jarred's work makes me think quite deeply about things that to most people wouldn't matter. He questions the values we have in life and may take for granted. but what about when we are given the options to take away or give these important factors? He has already made fantastic work on the values of life and death, and currently this year is looking at morals. If I am honest I am still unsure what to make of this current work, but I have no doubt he will make something I will want to tell my friends and family about with great enthusiasm - Lorna Rogerson

Well, to me your work has a distinctive feel of shock about it. For me your work is a bit unnerving (and I mean it in a good way, as in it makes me like your work) because it makes you think about yourself, your personality and morality and even the everyday decisions that you make daily which you don’t really think about when you go about your day, basically it makes you question yourself. I think your work tends to veer towards being more conceptual, (and again I mean it in a good way) (I have to mention this cause as you might know I'm not too much into conceptual art) because it has a certain look to it which is simple (mainly computer generated or built and painted white) yet it works really well with your work because the meaning and the importance of your work comes from the text in it, and I think it wouldn’t work as well if it didn’t have that almost minimalistic look to it - Triin Birnbaum

I think that it is very interesting because the question you ask cause debate, especially if I put them to people that have a different point of view to me. At the same time I wonder if the effect would be increased if they weren't altogether hypothetical - Ella Catone

Jarreds work, although not for the morally squeamish-focuses direct, unfaltering attention on to particular issues of human morality ethics and morality which for the most part as individuals, we are extremely keen to avoid making decisions about.
He questions the potential within us all to contemplate the extent to which our moral sensibilities can be pushed...and whether given the stimulus, we could break all moral boundaries that hold us back within ordinary, everyday life. I often joke that Jarred has the mind of a serial killer, but in all seriousness, his artistic fascination with the darker side of the human psyche exposes many intriguing, and often entirely disturbing; insights into the minds of those closest to us - Helen Davies

Every time I look in what you do or get one of your questionnaires I feel like you are not simply just questioning human morality. I don’t know why but every time I watch a film to do with experiments you probably noticed I'm mentioning them to you cause cant help it but think about your work whilst watching them. I realise that you came up with something ''arty'' e.g. the balance piece and the box, they are not just a piece of work, if people read beyond the notice ''if you put ...someone ...will die '' is very much human philosophy rather than concept. But I see that as a good thing, if people feel moved by what you do or even the questions you ask them then they will follow you and your progress ...I do anyway. I like your mind Mr, I like it cause you think outside “the box.” Oh and as for questioning death, the causes, the possible easier choices, or the power to hold the button to ''life'' or ''death''. I personally have a easy approach on death, it doesn't scare me. Sometimes I wonder whats beyond that (afterlife possibilities) so I'm not scared to take a life in saving 100 not killing 100 to save one, guess you always choose who matters more. Typically people will always choose ''the self'' so they will push a button if ''someone...somewhere...will die'' ...they don’t know who that is or who it will be... - Anastasia Balanel



Jarred Knott's Wonderful Work. Mmmm where to start! I think a lot of your work may be over looked or misunderstood on first impact, just because your work is derived from so much complex theory that its not possible to unload it all onto the viewer through one piece of work. As I know about your work, and know all the research, the questionnaires, about the serial killers, and about the testing of humanity, it is easier (I think) for me to "get" and appreciate your work more than somebody who sees it as "just a sign" or "notice", etc.
One thing I've noticed in the transition from 2nd to 3rd year is a shift in the way your work makes me feel. The Second Year Endnote submissions of the donation box and button on plinths gave me a feeling of control. There were may times I'd had a bad day and came in and pressed the hell out of the button, as a way of stress relief. But maybe I was gaining control-of myself, of the situation of others? I can't have taken the message seriously or I would have killed so many people it would be mass homicide...but strangely I felt better afterwards! The wording of the pieces, using "if you" contrasted with "somebody somewhere" makes it all the more appealing. I can relieve my stress and it will affect "somebody" - an unidentified source that I feel no guilt for...until the somebody is someone I know? Either way the button is defiantly addictive...
Anyway, I digress..Your Third year pieces are completely opposite to this. Using the word "Zone" and the phrase "you are entering" makes me feel controlled, oppressed, as though I have unwillingly been placed in a zone I don’t want to be in, been categorized into category I don't agree with. It kind of makes me feel trapped! - Lauren Birkhead

Provocative, thought provoking, controversial - Garry Popple

Jarreds work is a great reflection on him self, his character and behaviour. He is an observer he stands back and watches from the outskirts, from the outside looking in, a voyeur amongst others.
Through his work he uses his observations of the habitual behaviour of others and attempts to change them, setting up social experiments that force us into making difficult and taboo choices - Sally Dyer

The work actively explores the morals and boundaries of human relationships and behaviour. It’s all good - Sam Small

The Postulation

I've got a new idea, refined with the help of Lisa Stansbie.
Would you aim for murder? Who would you set in your sights? Maybe you wouldn't even hit your target and veer off, ending up hurting others? How accurate is your eye for punishment?
To have an artwork that is interactive, and to have that interaction have a definite consequence, that is something of great impact with someone interacting with the work. To see, to feel, to know the consequences of your actions is a resonance i'd like to incorporate within my work. My work is making you act within an situation, but not much of it has evidence of what they have done. Would my work develop a different dimension to it with this?

The RE-Push

A new button, for the work 'The Ease of Murder'. A much more sleeker, professional and welcoming design. Actually a part from a arcade video game machine, works well for that WANT to push it. Also in finding a more accessible button in terms of design i think i'll be able to take them further, perhaps create more buttons, different buttons for different situations. People are more open to interaction when they don't have to sacrifice anything of theirs up, for example the Donation box work(The Value of Death)
I think maybe creating the button more accessible might be a good direction to take the work. Perhaps a smaller version, although is less intimidation a good thing for my work?

The Means

What if i set it up, the whole situation, what if i gave you every tool you needed, what if i handed you the ability?
If i handed you a knife and there was someone bound, gagged and incapacitated to stop you, what would you do with that knife? What would it even say about you if you took the knife from me? All I'm doing is handing you a knife, it is your interpretation about whether that knife is a 'weapon', it is your choice to do whatever you wish with that knife. My very intent of handing it over to you could be to chop up some vegetables for me, you don't know, my silent action is up to your rational, integrity bound and world weary mind to deduce.
Without instruction, without direction, would you do anything? The art bound, those who believe they are just going through a gallery to view 'contemporary' art would probably just take it humorous then move onto the next thing. Well how about if i didn't give you the choice of leaving? I doubt i'd go that far. The sheer action of whether you interact with my work or not, is infact a interaction within itself. Choosing to not gratify my ploys, machines, situations with a action on your behalf, is still, an action.

Imagine a dream, imagine a place you feel safe. A world of your own, to your liking, to your ideals, to your laws. Imagine you had all the control, the power, now imagine what you could do with that. Imagine, just imagine. Now consider this, consider the fact you are ultimately god within this dream, it is yours after all. Or is it. As much as you believe you are the commander of your thoughts and the pilot of your consciousness, there are things are play you cannot comprehend. No matter how high you build your walls your subconscious and your curiosity will always break them down and barrel on right through them. With all the power you believe you have is it too much of a push to suggest in your dreams the laws of reality slip away and your unparalleled freedom runs unhindered, that maybe, just maybe, you might indulge your darkest of desires and see what it's like to really test your moral structure and standing. All well and good to play around and find a nice escape. But dreams are dreams and we all like to be able to have a mild escape once in a while.
Say you kill someone in a dream, say you indulge in that fantasy, would you scare yourself? Or rather would you enjoy it? It most likely would be of someone of distaste to you. It may and even give you satisfaction. Many of you wouldn't admit to a dark desire such as this. Many of you would lie about it. Many of you would be thinking what type of person this makes you. Well surely, if anything, it makes you human.

The Experiment

Through my research and my crit group interactions, i've been looking at creating some experiments. Social experiments. Maybe particularly within my Moral Free Zone. The creation of a moral vacuum could influence the moral choices of people. They could believe they have no moral responsibility within the space and are more free to interact and choose certain things.
What does a person have to believe in order to take a life? What sort of situation is it morally acceptable to kill? Can I morally challenge the individual to an extent they become susceptible to the idea that it is OK to murder, that taking another's life is 'right'? Is it possible to twist the foundations of right and wrong within an individual? How convinced does a person have to be to consider a crime to be acceptable?

The Project

Hopefully sometime soon, I will be taking up residence of the Project space in the University of Huddersfield, showcasing, or maybe more experimenting, with my moral free zone.



I want to provoke, more than anything else, thought, wonder & questions. I think a piece of work which makes the viewer question rather than give them an answer is a more successful piece of art. As they will think about it longer, consider different options & ask others for their opinions & answers. Feel free to come along and make use of the 'zone' as you see fit.

The Return

Back at uni and ideas abound. Work underway already. Many pounds spent in first week. Third and final year.
Work to be gracing this blog soon will be challenging you, yes YOU.
There will soon be more text, more doubts and many more questions available. More installation but with some fresh new concepts, but don't fret, there will be some photography too, with my own personal spin on it of course. For now you can have a taster..



Thats right, more signs, but more meaning too. So don't be disappointed, there will also be some nice fresh perspectives upon the 'Box'.
Work soon will be pushing your temptations and questioning your humanity, assaulting your doubts and perplexing your ethics. Confuse you soon.

The Wonder

In my art I explore the deepest most deceitful parts of humankind, the most horrific and horrendous acts of violence and death, I take in what it means to take another's life and dwell upon why it would drive someone to do such a thing. I'm trying to understand the morally wrong of our kind. Despite it being almost a taboo and unspoken thing, i can't help but in interested in what drives people to these act's, to think what they do and do as they do. I can't help but be interested. Is that weird? Is that wrong in itself? Is curiosity getting the best of me?
I read so much into the wrong, the morally unjust, the evil. And for seeing and being shown just how much there is, makes me wonder how good can win, how right and just can prevail. And no matter what I always come back to the same saying from a movie about war and arms dealing.

"They Say Evil Prevails When Good Men Fail To Act, What They Ought To Say Is, Evil Prevails."

The illness

There is nothing more harrowing, inspiring, thought-provoking & troubling to the modern human than having to face your own mortality. Something that comes about from anything from a little accident or maybe even as fatal as a heart attack for instance. Spending time in hospital, laid in a bed where many before you could have died is a space of contemplation, it's rarely said out loud or discussed easily, but being in that sterile, clinical bed can steer your thoughts on a very 'morbid' path some would say. But you learn your true character when faced with the very real fact that you could be this beds next corpse. Fight, cry, break, shatter, splinter, crack, live. A simple small overnight stay in a hospital bed is enough for anyone to contemplate their demise. As positive a person as you may be, you cannot deny your morbid curiosity to your very own death. We'd all like to have control over our deaths I'm sure, natural feeling for people to be in charge. Death is their grip giving way on the steering wheel of their lives. Not that they ever felt sure of where the road would go, they all know where they want to go and where they'd like to be. But the destination is the same for us all. No matter our direction, speed or even passengers can save us from the final stop on our journeys.
Death doesn't call our names, it doesn't knock on our doors, it waits, it follows us from the very moment we are 'alive', waiting. All it needs to do is step forth and make it's presence known and that's all there is. There is no words death can utter, no sound it could make, no scent it could muster, that can come close to the effectiveness of it's mere presence. It's existence. Death does not need to try, does not need to fight, it need not practice nor rehearse, death is all.

The Hope

Hope: we need it, we can't live without it, without it we cannot call our existence a 'life'. You cannot even comprehend what it is to live without knowing what it is to exist without hope. There is a state of existing, that is just punishment, its of living without purpose or meaning. There is no meaning to this life, there is no high power or any design to this reality. There's no fate or destiny, the only path that may lie infront of us is of our design and our own choice.
Without hope, there is no love, there is no fear, there is no purpose, meaning, reason. Without hope there is no life. A person without hope is truely something to be afraid of, they have nothing, nothing to gain or loose. Without hope a person is no longer a human being, they are a shell and a danger, to both themselves and the very world around them.
They say life is not worth living without hope, well the only way your going to get hope, is to get it your damn self. The only hope you can make is your own, the only purpose, the only meaning you can bring to your existence is your own doing, your own choice and freewill, to choose to live. It's not about doing what your given, its about doing what you want, for the good of yourself to make your existence a life. To make what you have your own, to make it yours is to have hope for yourself. No hope can be gained unless you have hope for yoruself. The heart doesn't want what it wants, it wants hope, it wants purpose, a reason to beat, a meaning to pump, a life to love.
This world is cruel, unforgiving and hard doesn't even begin to describe it, but what choice to we have but to do what we will with the existence we have. Hope makes the difference from a happy life and a sad existence. You can lead a life of tragedy, hurt, pain and misery, but if you have hope there is no reason to call that life sad, to have hope throughout every single spit in the face, every bump in the road, wolf on the path, storm in the sky, hope can get you through. It can get you killed don't get me wrong but hope, well if you have it you die a just and a worthy death. A Warrior's death isn't won with bravery, it's won with the hope that even against the odd's you beleive you can win out, despite the numbers, regardless of the reality, you beleive you can do it, then there's no reason you can't. If you don't, well it's better than dying in fear and numbness.
Hope, for anything, for everything, for yourself.

The Misdemeanors

Pain, anger, hatred. The defining emotions of our humanity. The
memories we remember most and in greatest detail are the ones
involving these emotions. Showing ourselves just how, as a species, we
live. Revenge, vengence, spite, intolerabilty, all born out of our
distasteful interactions with a cruel and unjust world.
Its not so much that the nice guy comes last. It's the fact that
there isn't not one nice guy out there. The way we plaster murderers,
rapists, theives, criminals in general, how we portray them on our
media as something less than 'us'. When intact there is not one of us
who is any better or worse. Whatever one human being is capable of, so
is the rest of humankind. The most horrific actions play backseat to
the capabilies we ARE able to do. We can murder, rob, pilfer,
threaten, blackmail, any 'criminal' act with ease. Don't even attempt
to defend yourself. You know aswell as I do. Your a monster. Exactly
like the rest of us.

The Truth

We all know the world is truely out of control, we can debate, argue
and even have hissyfits over the status of the Earth. But no matter
the arguement or however or whichever way you put it, this planet's
chaotic, imbalanced and troublesome can not be denied. We've all seen
the news, heard the word of mouth and seen it on our very streets,
there's hatred, deep burning hatred. The kind that makes people go out
and kill, all for a meaningless "rep" or status, dog eat dog so
tospeak. Though this hatred is not born in who we choose to take it
out on, it's not bred in the opposition, our anger, our unwavering
madness and spite dereives from our very selves. We hate what we are,
we despise who we are. And in a rational logical world it seems it's
unreasonable to take this out on ourselves. Yet who is more deserving
of our wrath than ourselves?
We've realised our meaning, we've had our great epitanthy. There is
no loving, forgiving God or Gods. No higher power guiding our hands
and our lives for us. No rhyme or reason, no purpose or meaning. We
are in ourselves as out of control and chaotic as the planet we
inhabit. There's no great plan to it all, it just, is. The powers of
fate, destiny, are nothing but feeble excuses dreamt up inorder for us
not to face the truthful, harsh, realistic truth. That there is none,
that there is nothing.
We've devoted our time, our space, our ideals, we've sold our very
selves in order to feel something. Other than the vast empty vaccum of
our so called "souls". We place people on pedastals that are even more
aware and crushed by this ourselves, just to look upto something, just
in order to view and review and critize their own failures,
misdemeanings and sheer lack of being. Just to feel better about our
very shells of being. We even idolise undeserved figures, fabricated
or not, in order to use some of their so called 'qualities' to use for
our own. To make ourselves "better" people. But these self taught lies
are not enough to make our hearts and minds escape the crushing void.
We're all beginning to slowly realise, all at our different paces,
this fact. As horrfying as it is. It's beginning to dawn on us, that
we will not even become as great as the celebrities and religous
figures we epitomize so much, so we question the very fabric of them,
believe they are responsible, believe others more to be more 'well
off' and fortunate, we see false purpose in others eyes and believe it
to be true, flaring our unquenchable envy and jealousy. Misplaced as
it is, it's power is undenyable.
We're not going to get what our fellow beings promise, we're not
going to feel any true satisfaction, we will never feelfulfilled,
happy or loved. Not as much as we want or believe are deserved. And
even then, it will feel shallow, worthless. Because it is.
We will not all become all we want, and we never will be. That
crushing blow is occuring everywhere, the modern world has broken the
disolusioned traditonal beliefs and faiths, is has striped our rights
and worth away. It has shown us for the horrible monsters we are,
monsters who weep in the existence they inhabit, because they are not
needed, meaningless and simply, insignificant.

The Misunderstanding

You have your laws, your repremands and your punishments. And you
think they'll save your 'lost souls'. You 'rehabilitate' and 'teach'
those who have aparently gone or led astray, yet what right, what
justice is there when the everyday person is subject to such decits
which should be just as criminalised as murder one. We jail those that
act 'wrongly' but do nothing about thought. Thought is the slowly
deteroriating freedom left available to us all. Yet even then we are
subject to assault and rape of the mind, psycholocial warfare in every
street, every tv channel, every radio station, littered throughout the
Internet, the realm of free choice and will is now subject to
wavering. We cannot do much in the world of today without temptation,
without deceptions and pure blantant lies confronting our everyday
lives. Our minds are one of the last teritorys left to own, and they
are fast being taken by force.
You believe your systems, your organisations and goverment will save
you, you think they are just, right, acting for the greater good, but
when they themselves have the resources and the means available to
waver and even change your every thought, decision and opinion. Who
can you trust? You can't even count on yourself anymore, we've become
mere tools to up or decline statistics, we're disolusioned into belief
we have free will, freedom of choice. Morality has noplace in a world
where thoughts can be bought.

The Fear

Modern society is slowly learning, gradually opening it's eyes to the
horror the human race has been shunning and ignoring since the dawn of
self awareness. Culture today is addressing the issue which has
plagued the entire populus at one stage or another, the troubling
notion that's gripped each of us in times of severity. Religion is
slowly wavering, crumbling at the realisation of it's pure
ridiculousnous, people loosing faith and belief at rapid rates. The
world as we know it is looking at it dead in the eyes but we are still
stubborn to collectively admit it, we're all so disheartened that we
don't even speak up about it, as if it's sheer discussion could bring
about some apocalpyse. But we all know it. All of us. We all can feel
it, creeping out of our consciousness, dawning in our minds and
eclipsing the heart. It's caused madnesss, murder, Suicide and god
knows how many depravities of man and woman alike. We fear the very
prospect of it, yet we can't deny it's reality. It's the governing
idea that shapes everyday life in our age. That maybe, possibly,
perhaps, we have no reason. We have no meaning. We have no purpose.

The Contemplation

Fear, anger, vengence, some of the core driving forces for people in today's world. The problem with us, with us all, why we are who we are, is because of the growing realisation that there is, nothing. We are nothing, we are so insignifcant people begin to take their own lives in the fact they do not matter. In a ever increasingly distant culture and world, where do we find meaning, when the simplest of pleasures can be fulfilled by technology and modern practices. The human 'love' is slowly being replaced by easier, faster solutions to feel needed, loved, wanted. To be desired gives many meaning. To be loved is such a joy to many. I don't mean there is anything wrong with the niceities of life, but there can be too much of a good thing. Power corrupts, love egotises, desire becomes addictive, wealth looses it's value. 
 In a ever changing and speeding up world of today, how do we find balance? How do we gain our equilbrium? In a world where the horrors of human action can beexperiencedwith the push of a button on a gamepad away for the youngest of our kind, where does this leave our knowledge of right and wrong? How do make moral judgements in a species that is becoming desensitised to the very plights of our fellow kind? You walk past a tramp on the street asking for money, some of you may even try to not even acknowledge his presence. Some of you make the effort to pick out your spare change. Though really, how are either of you a good example of what is 'right'? 
 Kindness towards one another is now a means of 'favours', "you owe me one", a simple gesture, a honest gesture though? Most of us will even huff puff and whine, maybe just to ourselves, in having to do something for someone else. How our own lives any more important than anothers? Yet we are selfish, we only look out for number one, the human species has 'conquered' every corner of the planet, yet we can't even help our closests. There is no link anymore, we are all so 'evolved' that we have now become able to deny assisting another if us. Individuality and uniqueness has spolit us. It has made us fat, lazy, self obsessed and broken us off from being able to simply, care. 
 Family, friends, lovers, today these are no different than a toaster, a Atm, a website. Commodity culture has now successfully privatised 'love'. 

The Freedom

Freedom, is it simply the delusion that we in fact are in control of our own destiny/fate?
Is it indeed selfish to believe that we only have control of our own lives? our every decision has no doubt consequences around the entire globe. Each and every action a small ripple in a huge sea of existence. Does this make it worth while?
Consequence, undoubted mostly feared, so much so many of choose to disregard the thought of what COULD happen, something that MIGHT conspire. Why? Can we ourselves not justify our own actions/decisions? What right do we have? What Judgement can we pass thats not our own?
Is there no freedom anymore? When our minds are made up from initial meetings and viewings? In a fast world we live in speedy determination. There is no luxury of weighing out opinion when once the moment is gone it's gone, and the moment in contemporary times moves faster than ever.
If i gave you a knife and said stab this person (a person being evident beside or in front of you) whilst holding a gun to your head what would be your choice? In such a modern time as we live the judgment is almost sudden, I could not even say i was going to shoot you, but in the fear of the present, death looms on our every instance. Herein lies the crux of my subject matter. If i was to give you a CHOICE would you even MAKE a choice? Would you even consider it to be a open interpretation of your own behalf?
How about if instead of one button to kill someone i gave you 5 buttons, maybe even ten, would you press them all just to seek the consequence? A ROOM covered in buttons, only ONE of which I say will kill someone, would you go out of your way to press each and every one to determine a outcome? Is your curiosity more powerful than your humanity?

The Freewill

Choice, is it all that we have? Or is all we have the illusion of
choice?
Do or don't, there are no garantees. The physical and possibles fall
away when we realise that in the slightest second wasted we could
simply cease to exist, along with the rest if reality. Does thus mean
we should live our lives on instinct? Trust our gut? We have evoled,
become more interlectual, gained more awareness of ourselves and
everything around us. Is this our weakness though? Is what the human
race missing the pure animalistic and primeval? Have we lost our
nerve? Perhaps we are now simply cornering ourselves with just too
much to think about. Our knowledge holding us so high on uneven ground.
Freewill, freedom isn't always the best.

The Choice?

All I do is highlight, bring to attention, make you see. I do not wish
for you to make any actions towards or in reference to my work, for
me, it's about a simple idea, a tiny thought, just the smallest of
notions planted in your conscience is more than enough. I do not make
you donate or push the button, I do not force you to make a decision,
although, what if I did? With my work it is your choice to see it how
you wish, a key part of my work is to evident this fact, you have a
choice. Is that a good thing though? Morally can you even choose? Is
it right even to consider your options? With life on the line, where
does right and wrong come into it? Is the preservation of life the
accepted 'right'? To even think about the choice a wrong? Or is that
just what we are led to believe? Maybe if I gave you a even harder
choice to make you'd see/feel it more in my work. "if you don't press
the button someone, somewhere, will die". Is this too much to confront
the auidence with? Can I shock you into acting perhaps? Scare you into
a decision? If your own life was on the line, how would you act?
Hollywood is fixated on portraying the horrors that people can commit
in dire situations, though these are often pale in comparison to the
horrors that happen in everyday reality. These movies/documentaries
make the Everyman fearful of not himself, like they should be, they
instead become fearful of the other, their neighbour. The attrocities
of our capabilities are rarely a self realisation, more a adding
caution and apprehension to any and everyone around them. We should
not mistrust others but mistrust ourselves. When it comes down to it,
our life or theirs, which would you choose? What if the pressure was
on? Live or die, in the rush, the chaos, do you really think you'll be
making the morally right decision? The socially accepted choice? Kill
or be killed, instinctually, there is not much choice, our
complexities, our so called 'power' and higher evolutionally minds
fixated on that tiny glimmer of 'what if' 'maybe' 'prrhaps'.
Hesitation, it is what our aparent higher placement inthe food chain
has given us. To stare into the tigers eyes, there will be no
hesitation in his choice, he knows you are deadly, he feels the need
to feed, it is in his design and his character, to rip you to shreds
at the first oppurtunity. You, well you will be lost in thought and
moral questions "this tiger could be endangered" the hilarity of the
thought. Our nature, is to run, to save ourselves, the surivial of
'me'. Staring into the oncoming bloody death indeed we will be, we
will be caught up in how to escape this situation, rather than
focusing on the task at hand, to remove the threat, not run from it.
The fear of living is almost as great as the fear of dying. In our
perplexitions of both, we never know for certain if we are indeed
alive, or dead. Is this, just another, choice? Do we, can we, decide
to live? We can certainly choose to die, but do we have any choice in
the matter of living? Should we? Is this existence something we should
even question? Many would say no, many would say to live because you
have life, the gift of being. Though a gift implies some sort of
choice doesn't it? To choose to accept or not? You can even take the
nicely packaged box home, your choice to open it or not also isn't it?
Can simply put it at the back of the cupbaord and forget about it and
leave it to collect dust. Many would question this, many would hate
you for it, to deny life when you have been graciously given the
'gift' of it. Choice, seperates each and everyone one of us, and
unites us universally. To be or not to be? Well that's all well and
good, but how about the choice behind even asking that question?

The Intention

A button, a big red button. What would you do if there was just a big

red button in front of you? The temptation of a button, so big and so
red is a tough thing to resist. The ease and the simple gratification
of pushing it because you can, satisfying your curiousity. A button is
made to be pressed is it not? What is a button that goes on without
being pressed? Is it a button then? A button gives a sense of purpose
and a process of something happening, the allure of pushing it is on
one part to find out it's purpose and intention. What then if I
present you with a button that when pressed, takes a life. Would you
push that button? You cannot deny that you are indeed curious,
tempted, seduced by it. What if, perhaps, maybe, all things we rather
make certaintys. Dare you push a button that could potentially take
anothers life? The logic you hold tries to convince you it's
preposterous, though the insecure and questioning nature of your being
steals this certainty from you. You could be a murderer at the push of
a button, maybe, do you have the audicity to find out? Someone may die
from your tiny, small, insignificant action, is their life worth your
satisfied curiousity? Perhaps. Your essentially being given a 'kill
and get away with it' button, what if tou don't get away with though?
Here lies a true moral test. You need not part with anything of your
own or sacrifice anything on your own part, it is simple, easy and
almost effortless. What do you believe? Will a small press of a button
destroy a life? A gentle push kill someone? A innocent button murder
for you? Who is indeed the wicked here? The button is just a button,
your pressing it for your own expectations of what that button should
do, a demand from the button to deliver and showcase it's purpose in
being a button.
Is taking another human beings life this easy? Have you considered
the implications? The guilt? The responsibilty? The morality of the
situation? If indeed there is.
Who is held accountable here? The button? Surely you will argue it is
the button who is the killer as your simply acting out the buttons
purpose, by pushing it. Gratifying and justifying it's existence as a
button. But the button is just a button, a middle man if you will, you
are the pusher of the button, beginning the chain of events that could
culminate in the ending of a life. It starts with you. You can go on
tour everyday life with no troubles or woes in simply living, but your
every action and decision can be the accomplice to the destruction of
another, cause and effect. In my buttons means it is no more
responsible than your smallest of actions that can build the potential
of effect that ends in someones demise.
This brings about the question of 'intention'. Is this what seperates
us from those we determine to be 'criminals'? Though does this mean we
can all be guilty of manslaughter? My box, nor my button, not even
myself, have the intention to harm, to hurt, to kill, to murder. I'm
simply stating a fact. Someone will die, somewhere. That's no fault of
mine, the box, or the button, not even yourself. Unless you choose to
be. You are the guidance of your morality, the captain of your
responsibilty, the commander of your guilt, the pilot if your intention.
Are you guilty? Are you responsible? Are you intending harm? Are you
morally just? Your choice, I'm afraid.

The Button

Title of button work: "it's easier than it looks" Perhaps?
I have now given you it in such ease all it takes is just the push a
button. A large red button. Who can resist the allure of the seducing
crimson of soft lipstick, sweet cherrie, lush velvet and bloody
murder. I'm not even having you morally put a price on the death of
another. What lies before you is simply, the means. Te means to cause
harm, pain and suffering, if you believe so. You wish to feel the
primeaval euphoria of taking a life? Push the button, see how it makes you feel.
The purity of the button makes it far more alluring than hat of parting
with your money to have someone die. I'm not asking anything of you,
all you have before you is choice. Push the button or don't, your
choice I'm afraid.

The Statement

We are all so obsessed with the value of our lives, the cost of our being, the worth of our souls, body and minds. But what value do we put on death? How much is another persons life worth to us? What moral and ethical dilemma do we reach In holding ourselves accountable for the passing of another? Someone we perhaps don't even know or have any connection to? What do you believe will happen when you donate to the box? I'm not making you a killer, I'm not turning you into a murderer, you are. If you choose to. This work assaults your very morality, what it means to be human, to be accountable and responsible for the potential death of someone, somewhere. Are you the wicked or is the box the wrong doer?what is considered right and wrong here? What if you saw someone else donate to the box? What judgement would you pass on them? Do you believe they are evil? Tempting fate, changing destiny? What are the very limits to your morality? What is the value of death?

The Right or The Wrong?

"To die is to know that your alive" - HIM.

What is this fear that my work presents to you? The implications of what my box may or may not be able to do rings certain bells within your mind about what is 'wrong' about it. Is this the conscience? What is it about this so called little voice in the back of our heads that holds so much over our characters? Over our actions and considerations. The power it holds over us indeed confining, is it even right to listen to it? What if this is simply the sophistication of our species evolution to provide us with a survival voice within? What if the animalistic and hunter aspect of our heritage had a voice? "Go on, just take it", "Strike now and they'll not even be able to fight back", maybe we still hold this within us but others are more in contact with us than ourselves, we call them insane perhaps, lock them up for 'crimes'. The Angel and Devil on our shoulders, of course it isn't that simple, it never is. With our humanity we complicated even the simplistic. We strive for more than we have or there is. The greed of our species knows no bounds. We are compelled to know more, to have more, for there to BE more. Are we ever, truly, happy?

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." -
Dante Alighieri

The Responsibility.

In reference to my work 'The Value Of Death' (the donation box), I seem to stumbled across a aspect of the human psyche which i believe may separate certain social 'classes' and belief. There is a evident choice in whether to feel responsible in the death of another in placing a donation in the box. It's not so much about what you believe a death/life is worth in what donation you choose to give. No, it also has the consciousness attached to it. From whatever it may you place within my box, it is your own morality and choosing to whether to feel responsible for another's death. This can happen to such individuals to such a degree they fear the prospect, the very notion of being a component in another human being's death. Tempting fate, changing destiny, many would believe these to be such things that human beings have no right to meddle within or change. Though I ask when (if) all we have true responsibility over is in fact ourselves, our souls, mind and body, our existence, how can we ever feel accountable for the loss of any life around us? No matter the distance or circumstance.

Where does the line stop/begin or begin to blur on where taking life 'too far' materialize? In disregard for life and its rarity do we create a offensive to all that 'is'? Religions tell us we should be thankful and praise worthy of the lives we are 'given'. Even science tells us that our very existence is such a 'miracle', the exact conditions of our planet, the thousands of sperm, the lineage of our species and here we are. Many question though, If it is indeed possible, how/why is is so special? Do we have any justification in putting a price on life? We often become so obsessed with the mysterious and enigmatic 'death' of the other and thyself, some could say we never truly 'live'. The meaning and reason behind living is a quintessential question(s) in the mind of the human. We are so compelled by our very being that it is said we don't use the opportunity to the full potential. If we had any logic it would seem we would not question this 'life', we would 'live' it, wouldn't we? The eternal mystery of what is and what is not is the plague of the human psyche, our nature, our world, our structure, our laws, our ways, our workings, nothing goes without questioning, we are the forever question marks of the universe apparently. Searching for the answer to ourselves, within the stars, within the world, within our own biology, within our own minds. We are compelled to know, compelled to understand, Not much is a simple 'given' anymore. From our very beginnings we set out hunting, searching, gathering, looking for more, processing everything we encounter.

The way we work is that we are the very centre of the universe in our view. The notion that we are not is the assault upon the self worth and the confidence of the individual. To even be confronted with the idea that we simply do not matter is a fear we rare express because of its deep and fatal blow it bestows upon us. We live in a world of escapes and alternatives, for those of us who cannot accept and cannot comprehend the possibility of the seemingly nothingness of reality, we divulge into the many consumeristic options available to us. The many no longer face their fears instead they barricade themselves within their boxes with fancy gadgets and materialistic comforts designed to give them a sense of worth in world so diluted its become the impossible to find a light to shine in the mere darkness of being.

The Other Box

"Any intervention in a complex system may or may not have the intended result, but will inevitably create unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes"
The basis of the law of unintended consequences.
There is no denying that my work has connections and links to the recent Film The Box(2009), starring James Marsden, Cameron Diaz & Frank Langella. Diaz and Marsden star as a couple who receive a box from a mysterious man(Langella) who offers them one million dollars if they press the button sealed within the dome on top of the box. Of which he says; "I have an offer to make. If you push the button, two things will happen. First, someone, somewhere in the world, whom you don't know, will die. Second, you will receive a payment of one million dollars. You have 24 hours."

This Quote is heavy influence upon my own quote I use throughout my art.
The construct and the look of the box in question is of keen interest to me.

The Guise Of Freedom Takes On Many Forms

Morality;

"late 14c., "moral qualities," from O.Fr. moralité, from L.L. moralitatem (nom. moralitas) "manner, character," from L. moralis (see moral (adj.)). Meaning "goodness" is attested from 1590s."

"descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or,
some other group, such as a religion, or
accepted by an individual for her own behavior or
normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons."

–noun,plural-ties
1.
conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.
2.
moral quality or character.
3.
virtue in sexual matters; chastity.
4.
a doctrine or system of morals.
5.
moral instruction; a moral lesson, precept, discourse, or utterance.

Morality, if keeps us from screaming and loosing our minds in the perils of choice in everyday living. Conformist views shape the politics of life of the everyman. We are shaped by rules that are not our own. Moral choices are made for us in our so called democratic centres for 'leaders' of our country. Who has any more right than anyone else to manage a sovergin state? True democracy would give the chance to the Everyman to do all they can. We instead live in a class system where particular morailty choices are expected of us. We upset the requirement of a selfish goverment and we are apprehended by members of the law that are no more morally right than our very selfs. Whose more right in each of our lives than we ourselves? Whose 'law' is anymore absolute than of our own?