A 4 letter word.

http://what-kaveri-seas.blogspot.com.
Thats my new,renamed domain.
For the art that I do,the scribbles I scan,explorations Im lucky to get myself into.
Its still called Sea of Inky toes,but the earlier http://moonskulled-sea.blogspot.com has died a premature death. I let out a silent sigh of relief.

Why the sudden change? No,its not the jibes at my poetical nonsense.(Ok I just added the poetical bit,certain fellow illustrators/batchmates giggle at the randomness!)
I appreciate poetical nonsense,why,Ogden Nash thrived on it like a glorious,absurd little hog-rose.
See,hog-roses dont even exist and yet a Nash fan could agree with me.

Ive been doing some thinking lately,as a student of design(yes,im embracing it) and loyal practitioner of the intangible nuances of WhatTheyCallArt. Conversations with Prof Ranjan (http://design-for-india.blogspot.com) have also lent me a certain amount of understanding regarding the clash of great minds between aesthetics and functionality, in the process of creating something.
Im all for 'art for arts sake',hell,Im a good example of someone who toes the line by doing a lot of work 'because I feel like it/it looks pleasing/I love blue',etc etc.And Im definitly not product inclined,viewing the act of creating as fulfilling the needs of the masses or redesigning for better functionality.

However,when does your work become faff?
Its four letters,and can be as dirty as you want to be.

Im coming across a lot of similes in my contemporaries' work these days. The overuseage of death,of so-called morbidity which means repeated usage of the words 'alone', 'depression', 'pain', 'black+(add another word)', all disastrously in the same context.
Paisleys.God save me.Please look up the usage of the symbol in fashion today.
Hindu Gods.I find this extraordinary. If one does not follow/believe in a part of what they are promoting in their work, then how is it personal?How can you call upon the bad girl sex appeal of Kali or the boy-next-door charm of Krishna to sell yourself?

For it IS selling yourself.
Indian street graphics. Its a category of its own, I love the way people celebrate it in posters and coasters and ove toasters.But there's Autooverload. Bad imitatons of Sabyasachi's bindified and goggle-eyed ramp models. Truck art to shame all trucks.Gods with blue eyes.Blinded by this blasphemy of 'culture'.
And then theres the genre of individuals who freely place copyrights on the lyrics of The Beatles ,Floyd,The Doors,I dont know,choose your poison.
The Blogsphere is scarily full of it.

For it IS selling yourself.
Faff.
In this whole struggle to be noticed, no one seems to notice that the limelight's turned a rather unpleasant shade of red. A virtual bloodbath, with schools of fish trying to be individuals.
Its a troubling question,for who wants to be caught in the trap?
I find myself hesitating to illustrate songs I like,for fear of pretentious dragonflies omshantioms and washes of colour that will drown whatever Im trying to say.
Do I dare?
Do I dare disturb the universe,after all?
The sacred order of things that makes cash flow and the world grind to a screeching halt every once in a while?
Faff.
Precisely why I am no more http://moonskulled-sea.blogspot.com,
I'm joining the squad of sheep grazing on yonder side of the hedge.
Wish me luck.

Dear Reader,your comments and criticism will be appreciated greatly.I place my words on the table and invite you to a pleasant debate, over one of my more opinionated posts.