daniel displays usa as the beast

[Billy Castillo]

Daniel will agree that u are the devil. can u prove i am wrong? excatly fool talking dosent prove that i am wrong fool. I win god always wins

Oh, so now you're God?  Or should I use...
Yeah, that's more appropriate. By the way, and I think you should realize this... you are supposed to capitialize the "g" in God. Not "god"...God. Oh, and Jesus taught compassion for others. As I can tell by your constantly flaming of others, you really need to re-read your Bible, or have one of your caregivers  read it to you.

Also...weren't you asked (read:told) to cease and desist? Yet you're still at it.There are far better ways to get attention than sign up to a message board (that is supposed to be about Daniel Johnston) and be a troll. You have done nothing but constantly flame others, and your act is getting old. This is a pretty good site filled with and run by decent people,and your constant trolling is disrespecting the folks here, and indeed, Daniel himself.

[lojomcgatto]

1# god God read it what does it sound like?2#no im not jesus so i suppose u are?3#respoding to others comments is not flaming4#i will agree i shouldnt be calling people fools but that dosent mean it isnt true5#ghost jr threw a hissy fit to my opinions and she lost cause she had no proof then she results in a threat6#u say my act is getting old but it has only begun i will respond with my thoughts and if u or anyone else dont like it tough7#me disrespecting daniel is not a fact its your opinion which dosent make it valid and if i am disrespecting him so be it i will speak my thoughts thankyou

[Henry Long]

lojo-

Look. There's no one here trying to win, or trying to piss-off anyone. Your observations are just as worthy as everyone elses. It's just that you seem to have an agenda, like you've got something to prove. And once people start decorating their comments with inappropriate references to GOD or The Devil or Ahura Mazda, it gets old really really fast.

You're not alone in finding symbols in Daniel's art. ALL ART IS SYMBOLIC! The viewer completes each and every image an artist does by bringing to it their own collection of metaphors and meaning.

Someone can look at a painting of a yellow dog sleeping beside a red barn. One might say, "That dog is isolated and depressed." Another "That's a picture of the vanishing rural American landscape." Still another, "That there barn is gonna fall apart next big storm." And so on. Eye of the beholder stuff. And the cool thing is, they're all correct! But what the artist actually intended, in my opinion, is secondary. Most times the artist is the last to know what "IT MEANS." Trust me on that one. They're too busy creating it...making it happen...keeping it fresh and new to them. If every artist knew what they were doing, art would get pretty boring pretty fast.

As is this paranoid agenda which seems to flow from your fingertips...

"oh i will and there is nothing any of u will do about it"

C'mon lojo...re-read that line. How does that sound to you, honestly? No one here is out to get you, okay? Ease up, man. You ain't saying anything new. Most everyone here has known about Daniel's work, visual and musical, for years. Decades! It's open to all kinds of interpretation. No one is alone in being "RIGHT" about any of it, even Daniel himself. So how could you possibly be the only one with access to the Truth?

We welcome you to ask questions about Daniel's work, post comments, share stories. But keep in mind there is a fine line between expressing yourself in this manner and promoting arguments. Look over your posts. All I ask is that you think about it and try to see it from my point of view, as I have yours.

And don't call people names. It's not polite.

 

[lojomcgatto]

henry thankyou for clearing the air in a respectfull manner. i will not be disrespectfull. so i will dead this issue and i excpect the others to not be mean to me aswell. we can discuss but no more verbal mistreatment. thankyou

[Billy Castillo]

Works for me.


Henry, that was awesome. You have a good way with words, dude. Very well stated.

[Gammon Records]

Well, I may be out to get him...

Mawhahahahahahahahahah!

[Billy Castillo]

Get who 

[chunk1904]

i love this board we all seem to have good sence.
on how to treat each other and work things out.
i am fairly new here but in comparison to the elephant 6 mssgbrd you all are very cool to each other.
 when it comes down to it we are all the same .
where fans of the great artist dan johnston.
and most people i know dont listen read about get into his art,
as much as me so when i come here i feel like we are all a bunch of pals.
take care.

[dejected]

I don't spend much time here these days, but looking at a SPAM report, this caught my eye.  So I ramble...

Daniel does not "think" that the U.S.A. is "evil", or misguided or even off-track.   He is not given to the current day's political mob mentality does not travel with the anti-Bush crowd.   People regularly read their private political or religious / non-religious persuasions into Daniel, and that is called "projection."  It happens.  We live with it.  Big deal!   We don't get "offended" or demand retractions.

For example, images like http://store.hihowareyou.com/images/products/S2505-Whitney-med.jpg with "God Bless America" doing a heil-hitler style salute, a swastika on his arm, and "Fear Yourself" at the bottom, is not a political commentary on the U.S.A. or a statement that the U.S. is evil.  I've asked him, and its not part of his sentiment.  If it's not possible for you to see anything except that when you look at a piece like this, then you might want to consider if you are projecting your sentiments on other things as well.

Secondly, you might want to consider that SHOULD Daniel Dale Johnston have a view about something (such as the imagery on the dollar bill as he rambled on in a mentally bizarre state), it doesn't define reality or become a cause to defend or a club to beat over a fellow man's head. 

Daniel is delightfully insightful about a lot of things, and that might promote us to listen more carefully to lots of things he says.  When that happens, there's lots of neat stuff there.   (Sorry. Yes, I still use the word "neat").   However...

Depite hysterical states of his mental illness where he might speak with a lot of "conviction", he doesn't proclaim himself a medium or wizard or prophet, AND IF HE DID, you would be foolish to accept that as a VALID or TRUE statement.  (How to tell the difference is subject for another discussion)

We err if we treat what he says, means, or doesn't say or mean as a "cause" to be defended to the "verbal death"

Third, I appeal to you to hold to your senses even in this cyber world.   Don't surrender all personal respect in petty verbal disputes with your cyber brother where you surrender dignity and restraint to insult and press "SEND" for some worldly gratification in a momentary and meaningless exchange.

We give near-full lattitude in this forum, but sometimes it might be appropriate to clamor for some review of the quality and worthiness of exchanges here.

If you are to engage in battle by Daniel's definition, it is a battle we must do with ourself.  If you haven't figured it out yet, the most pressing battle with Satan is something you do with yourself and about yourself.

If you want to get excited about something, defend something, or fight for something OUTSIDE YOURSELF, let it be a a selfless and worthy thing, and let the fight will be done with respect.   When that happens, winning may "feel" like loosing.  So lose!  Because if it is RIGHT, that kind of loss is winning - This, of course, is said for those of you who can understand that kind of language - which lojomcgatta should understand.

Fourth: be FAIR in your words.   To be "FAIR" to me would not be to portray me as I am at my worse.  Neither at my rare best.   But a fair portrayal would not portray me only as my worst even in the heat of a debate - to do so would show you look only for my demise for personal gratification.

It is not necessary to be verbally abusive to make a point.  When you do that with names, expletives or disparaging speech, it does not sustain your view at all.   Period.  It doesn't do that.  It MIGHT allow you to BELIEVE inside yourself for personal gratification that you've made a point, but it injects a destructive poison in everyone who listens.   

If you loose the internal battle and give in by pressing "SEND" with a petty put-down, you are forfeiting something precious in yourself that is hard (not impossible) to retrieve when lost.  Anyone who doesn't stumble in their words is perfect in every way.  We all mess up.   But we don't have to make a habit of it.

Finally logomcgatto: The original post in this thread says "Daniel displays america as the beast" - you then deny that there is any meaning except what your words insist.   Well, instead of us guessing whether you have a point or not, display the art you are talking about.   Email it to me at dejected@rejectedunknown.com and I'll post it here.

Also, logomcgatto: I might surprise a lot of people by AGREEING with many things you say, but I'm sorry to have to say: shame on you for this KIND of talk (yes, an old fashion "SHAME" statement!!) saying things like: "excatly fool talking dosent prove that i am wrong fool. I win god always wins"

Who calls other men "fools"?   Who are you to love from the heart and love as yourself?   What arrogance would cause you to declare a self-proclaimed "win" by putting others down?  YOU know what I'm talking about.

Do you think you have some great insight to tell others?  If you can't say it in love, you don't have the right to say it BY YOUR OWN VIEW of right and wrong.  Shape up or stay off the board.  Can you respond to a brotherly rebuke or is the beast in you going to have the upper hand in this? 

Mentally stable or not doesn't mean you are exempt from these rules.   You will have to control yourself in regard to how you feel about and treat others while you say what is on your mind.   

If you want to talk to me about this, email me at dejected@rejectedunknown.com.

[Billy Castillo]

Very well put. I do need to comment on something though.

Also, logomcgatto: I might surprise a lot of people by AGREEING with many things you say, but I'm sorry to have to say: shame on you for this KIND of talk (yes, an old fashion "SHAME" statement!!) saying things like: "excatly fool talking dosent prove that i am wrong fool. I win god always wins"

Although I also agree with some of the statements made,  it is that exact responses quoted that rubbed me the wrong way. That said, I admit that I have also been out of line in my responses, and I regret allowing myself to wallow in the mire, as it were. Let's just wipe the slate  clean.

For example, images like http://store.hihowareyou.com/images/products/S2505-Whitney-med.jpg with "God Bless America" doing a heil-hitler style salute, a swastika on his arm, and "Fear Yourself" at the bottom, is not a political commentary on the U.S.A. or a statement that the U.S. is evil. 

There are also sunflowers, and what looks like a "Jesus fish" mixed up at the top. There undoubtably many different interpretations of this piece, just like any artwork Daniel does. Actually, I think it deserves its own discussion.  Its the presence of the sunflowers that really throw everything off. My initial interpretation is: the swastika and the american flag, coupled with the salute, imply blind loyalty. The "Fear Yourself" part may be about fearing the part in yourself that blindly follows without question. Recognizing this fault in yourself will lead to enlightenment and total awareness, which is represented by the blissful sunflowers. This can only be done through Jesus, hence the image at the top.

Of course, I can be 1000X wrong.

[Henry Long]

"...This can only be done through Jesus..."

"...Of course, I can be 1000X wrong."

Fear Yourself?

Personally, I think fearing one's self is a very bad idea. It's a close cousin to hating yourself, which is downright evil. Loving one's self is a good idea. One of the better one's out there, in fact.

As for the image in question, I'd say it's more about juxtaposition (an American Nazi surrounded by happy faced flowers) than any overt statement. And at the risk of reading too much more into it, (and believe me, I hesitate to do so), I see the graphic symbol over-head not as "jesusfish" but rather 4 overlapping eyes, not unlike the "all seeing eye" which, when atop a pyramid, can see all 4 sides of the base at one time. But then again, I may be simply "projecting (my) sentiments" as well. It happens.

P.S. Chunk 1904- Your kind words were much appreciated. This is, in fact, a friendly place, and "we ARE all a bunch of pals." After all, it's about Daniel!

[Billy Castillo]

 

Let it be known that  that was just one way it could be interpreted. The sentiments I stated are from an interpretation, not my own feelings! I'm not a Christian...I do believe in and worship God (rather strongly, too), but do not belong to an organized religion.

Personally, I think fearing one's self is a very bad idea. It's a close cousin to hating yourself, which is downright evil. Loving one's self is a good idea. One of the better one's out there, in fact.

  Well, yeah. Like I said, just an interpretation, not my actual belief. I do like your interpretation, though. Sure is a lot simpler and less convoluted than mine; I wonder why I saw it such the way I did. Maybe it says something about myself, too...? I did see a jesus-fish initially in the mass of images at the top, but I can also see the all-seeing eye, like you did.

See? That's why I love Daniel's art. More layers than  an onion (sorry...I just finished watching Shrek on DVD). It's funny...I never got into discussing art and analyzing it until discovering Daniel, yet I *enjoy* this!

[lojomcgatto]

i think daniel has a sixth sense.Daniel knows where this world is and most importantly where it is ultimately going. i dont think i am better than anyone else and i am truly sorry for insulting people.as far as your statement goes from dejected u use tricky speech which can cause essentially a mind**** even though u also bring out good points.daniel is like a nostradamus but in a more subtle way so subtle that like i said only few understand only few look at his artwork and know immediately the hell that has occured and the hell that will be fullfilled.

[kung_fu_elvis]

Ok... well anyways,

Myself, looking at this piece... my gut reaction is a bit of a giggle... To see the American/Nazi doing the salute brings to mind the movie "Full Metal Jacket"... the part where Joker is confronted by his superior officer...

"You have a peace symbol on your vest, yet you write born to kill on your helmet... well, what is it?"

"I think it suggests something about the duality of man, Sir."

(a very loose representation of the scene, but if you've seen the movie, you know the one I'm talking about...)

This idea, the duality put against the flowers, w/ the EYE, or the fish overhead seems to suggest to me... Regardless, I think it says something about despite the duality it can turn out ok... The world comes up flowers. We can embace the light and/or dark yet, if we look close enough, there's flowers.

Just me.

I'm glad this discussion has taken a turn for the better...

Cheers y'all.

[Billy Castillo]

Myself, looking at this piece... my gut reaction is a bit of a giggle... To see the American/Nazi doing the salute brings to mind the movie "Full Metal Jacket"... the part where Joker is confronted by his superior officer...

"You have a peace symbol on your vest, yet you write born to kill on your helmet... well, what is it?"

"I think it suggests something about the duality of man, Sir."

(a very loose representation of the scene, but if you've seen the movie, you know the one I'm talking about...)

:lol I love that film...good one.