Painters, Sketchers, Photographers have an Eye for Obvious Profundity

There are two communities here at Vocal that appeal to me that I haven't submitted to yet: Art and Photography. Now with this submission, I've got one in Art. Yet for my "image" I've used a photograph that I took. Why not a painting or a sketch? Would that have been better? I decided to go with this photograph because I haven't shared this photograph yet, while most of my paintings and sketches have been shared online because once I'm finished painting or sketching, I'm quick to share it out of pride for the creation. Do you like the photograph above? Why or why not? I wish you would comment on it. I can tell you more about it. I took the shot at a weird angle as you can notice. Why? It was the only way to get the Palm tree and the hammock inside the frame and I felt that the message I wanted to convey with the photograph made it essential that both the tree and hammock were shown. Does that change your impression of the photo - knowing why I angled it that way?

Does this image have anything to do with this article (my first submission into the Art Community at Vocal) or was it just randomly picked? Well, I could spin some tale about the message of the photograph and make it relate, but what if it was just random and not meant to be connected to what I'm writing? Would that upset you as a reader? Is that not as presentable or acceptable as the AI submissions that seem to have everything so orderly and perfect? I don't think that's what Art is about.

My favorite quote about writing is: "If you write to express, it will ALWAYS be good; But if you write to impress, it will always be bad." I think the same idea can be applied to artwork. If you paint to impress, if you sketch to impress, if you take a photograph to impress.... Was that all it was about? To impress? Who were you trying to impress? A stranger? A stranger's opinion means that much to you? What would you have painted, or sketched, or taken a photograph of if you already knew that everyone was going to love it? Would the picture/image have been different?

Am I the only contributor here on Vocal.media who thinks the AI stuff is bad for us? Have you seen the power of AI on Facebook and how it effects the viewers? It's scary what they can do. They can create panic and fear with one AI video. Does the painting by Goya "Saturn Devouring His Son" have the same effect as some AI video of a Tsunami wiping out an entire city? Or some mythical creature flying out of the ocean and swallowing a cruise ship? Does that sound ridiculous and insane? Maybe. But some people are being effected by such things. I can tell you that the first time I saw Goya's painting, I was terrified. By today's standards, it's mild. I think that says a lot about the evolution of art, and the evolution of people in general especially the ethics involved in how we share art.

For decades in the previous century, there were pornos and magazines with naked photos and naughty stories published and distributed to many subscribers and bookstand purchasers. They don't seem to exist anymore to the general public. Did you miss that? Go ahead. Go look. See if you can find a Playboy magazine at Barnes & Noble bookstore. No, right. I didn't see it there either. Is that because free amateur porno was so easy to access so who needs Playboy Bunnies, right? Do you think that's progress or degress? Do you think that ART or the value of ART has anything to do with the progress or degress? I do, but I'm not sure I know how to express it any better than the photograph I've shown you above.

A dead Palm Tree still standing, and a green and blue hammock underneath it. Is that poetic?