Project_01: Sources

Lyrics to Theme from Cheers by Titus Andronicus: I need a timeout, I need an escape from reality, Or else I need eternal darkness and death, I need an exit strategy. down in North Carolina, I could have been a productive member of society, But these New Jersey cigarettes and all they require have made a fucking junkie out of me. So give me a Guinness, give me a Keystone Light, Give me a kegger on a Friday night. Give me anything but another year in exile. I need a whiskey, I need a whiskey right now. God knows how many times I've said this before, But I really don't feel like doing this anymore.

Hey everyone,
For my first image, I give you The Misfits.You see, I come from New Jersey.
This place is the home of two of the artists featured in this project. The first is the Misfits. I chose The Misfits to represent a part of me because I hated the staus quo in my home town. I grew up with so many disgusting people that I was filled with anger for much of my childhood. I've seen brutal violence, racism, betrayal, and much more. I've seen people get so brutalized by the kids I grew up with that they have to skip town...and that includes teachers. So I intentionally chose not to get involved with my home culture and my own people. To be a misfit was my place in the world for a long time.

Isolation. I found this image on a wbsite about depression and
I couldn't find any direct citations to the photographer, so
here's the website at least. I chose this image because it really
characterizes how I felt for the great majority of my life.






The third and fourth pieces are linked. This painting is
'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus' by Brueghel. The
painting applies perspective really well to show an entire
world of activity from the POV of a single man.
Icarus is actually not the focus of the painting, but he is still
there. I found out about this painting from my favorite
band, Titus Andronicus. They hail from Glen Rock, NJ and
a lot of their music seems to be tailor-made for me. They
have a lot of anger and nihilism that seem to be inspired
by the same features of our common upbringing
that drives my decisions and the work I do. The painting
strikes me because despite Icarus trying to fly so high and
falling to his tragic death, his folly is really insignificant
to the rest of the world. That's kind of the thing nobody realized when I was young. They all thought that if they act like gangsters or beat the shit out of each other, they're important. Nobody really understood me when I tried to explain that there's more to life than selling drugs or cutting class to smoke cigarettes. Nobody cares, you aren't important. Why would you do terrible things for the wrong reasons? You'll all be forgotten and you certainly aren't martyrs. By ruining your life by never thinking past high school, you've done nothing but damn yourself. Since I grew up knowing that 98% of my peers are perfectly intelligent people who are so wholly possessed by consumerist bullshit and shortsightedness while I realized from as early as I can remember how stupid their behavior is, I felt like an old man. It was impossible for me to deal with being around people who I knew would never grow up, and most of them still haven't.


i have a song but idk how to post it so i'll just bring my comp to class