Belief Dependent Realism

Posted on by Thor

Michael Shermer said, “What we believe determines our reality, not the other way around.” These belief systems can be quite irrational. COVID-19 is something that is invisible and therefor unless a person is themselves sick they can choose to not believe it exists.

We are a country of narcissists who only believe in “ME” not in the greater good, the “WE.” We have become a country with no empathy. When people express concerns of weakness they are attacked online.

I find myself researching various scientific papers and news sources to come up with my illustration concepts each day. However most people only look at sources that support what they already believe to be true. That is why misinformation is so widely consumed without question. That is how the Q Anon cult has been allowed to sweep the nation, creating a death cult.

Regardless of weather information is scientifically proven, a person will defend, justify and rationalize even the strangest and irrational ideas. If questioned, most will defend, deny, deflect, and double down. Truth is not as important as being right.

I get to see this play out over and over again as people react to my art online. They want me to site my sources but I am fully aware that they will not read the research if it is provided. If the source is a major news outlet, they will cry “Fake News.” mirroring the repetitive talking point of the former president of the United States.

Early in the pandemic most Americans were willing to make the sacrifice to lock down to control the spread of the virus. However after it became known that more African Americans were dying of the virus, white Americans began to invade state capitols demanding that the lock downs cease. A wave of white supremacy  continues to sweep the country fueled by the virus.

Parents are stuck between a rock and a hard place having to sent their children back to school knowing that they are not safe from the Delta variant of COVID-19. Thousands of children are already in quarantine over COVID-19 exposures. In Mississippi, 20,000 students from 800 schools are in quarantine after being exposed to the virus, and 4,500 students have been diagnosed with COVID-19. More than 10,000 students and staff in Florida’s Hillsborough County Public Schools district are in quarantine or isolation, just a week into the school year. There have been 2,640 COVID-19 cases in students and staff, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard on Friday.

Politics around masks could hinder the nation’s fight against Covid-19. When schools follow the science: classes can go on without disruption as long staff and students wear masks. But when staff and students do not wear masks, Covid-19 can spread, forcing people to stay home to quarantine and classes returning to virtual learning. When we are young, we are taught not to look directly at a solar eclipse. When we learn to drive we wear seat belts. Yet this simple piece of fabric has become a political football. Some conservative parents are willing to sacrifice their children’s health to prove their politics are correct.

Jacksonville was like Mississippi

Posted on by Thor

Jacksonville was like being in Mississippi. After standing up for his rights Sam realized he was in a city with deep rooted racial hatred. Jacksonville was the site of Axe Handle Saturday in which blacks were attacked by a white mob who struck them with ax handles. I painted a negative view of the violence which plays back as a time lapse as the painting forms. Each horrific memory is depicted with this effect. On top of this I composited an old film look with scratches.

This film is now on display at the Orange County Regional History Center (65 East Central Blvd Orlando FL) for the new exhibition, Yesterday This Was Home, about the 1920 Ocoee Voting Day Massacre. The exhibition is open until February 14, 2021. The 1920 Ocoee Massacre in Orange County, Florida, remains the largest incident of voting-day violence in United States history.

Events unfolded on Election Day 1920, when Mose Norman, a black U.S. citizen, attempted to exercise his legal right to vote in Ocoee and was turned away from the polls. That evening, a mob of armed white men came to the home of his friend, July Perry, in an effort to locate Norman. Shooting ensued. Perry was captured and eventually lynched. An unknown number of African American citizens were murdered, and their homes and community were burned to the ground. Most of the black population of Ocoee fled, never to return.

This landmark exhibition will mark the 100-year remembrance of the Ocoee Massacre. The exhibition will explore not only this horrific time in our community’s history but also historical and recent incidents of racism, hatred, and terror, some right here at home.

The content will encourage reflection on a century of social transformation, the power of perspective, and the importance of exercising the right to vote, and will ask what lessons history can inspire moving forward.

To promote safe distancing, the museum has implemented new ticketing procedures for this special exhibition. For the run of the exhibition, the museum will have extended operating hours to create a safe viewing experience for a greater number of people. On Sundays the museum will open two hours earlier at 10 am. and stay open two hours earlier until 7 p.m. And on Thursdays, we will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.