League of Freaks

Gustave Caillebotte - The Floor Scrapers (1875-6)

Original on top, later version below

“Despite the effort Caillebotte put into the painting, it was rejected by France’s most prestigious art exhibition, The Salon, in 1875. The depiction of working-class people in their trade, not fully clothed, shocked the jurors and was deemed a ‘vulgar subject matter.’ 

The first response humorously links the behaviors of stockpiling seeds to the behavior of rodents and small birds, animals both known for caching large supplies of seeds to eat. Cardinals are not a caching species, per se, compared to other types of birds like Chickadees, but they are known to eat seeds in their diets.

The final response adds to the joke with a humorous visual. Cardinal in the early twenty-first century, can refer to small birds or high ranking officials in the Catholic church. The first is known for their red plumage, the second for their distinctive red garb unique to their specific rank.

The image depicts a squirrel in what is clearly the uniform of a Catholic Cardinal: a Squirrel who is a Cardinal. The implication of the image is that this squirrel cardinal is defensively replying to the second poster, humorously declaring that the accusation is spot on.

If you look closely at that image, you'll see that it is not a huge quantity of sunflower seeds, but sunflower seed hulls. While humans in the 21st century possess the technology to remove sunflower seed hulls at industrial scale, they are often sold with the hulls still on, which are removed and discarded one by one as the seeds are consumed. What's unusual about this image is that this individual has collected all of the hulls for all of the seeds they've eaten in eight months, instead of disposing of them immediately.

Came across this art installation, Liza Lou's Kitchen, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC. It's a kitchen made of tiny glass beads, that artist Liza Lou did, taking 5 yrs. to complete, from 1991 - 1996.

My favorite part is the sink.

i HATE self-censorship for a lot of reasons, but being in crisis work makes it even more frustrating. who are you censoring for? like i am being so fr, WHO are you censoring for? have you even thought it through? people who have been raped know that they have been raped. if someone attempts suicide or is grieving someone who did, saying "sewer slide" isn't going to protect them from any of the feelings. a murder victim's family isn't going to feel better bc you said "unalived" instead of murdered. if anything, it's just extremely invalidating and othering. it's saying "what happened to you is so bad that i won't even say the word," which is NOT trauma-informed care. you are not protecting survivors/victims when you self-censor. the ONLY things you protect when you self-censor are the puritanical ideologies that are being encouraged by rich fascists who want your money and obedience

Guys... i think i might have locked in too hard 😭😭😭

OTNWAS lil art 🥹

There is no victory in skipping dinner, or lunch, or breakfast, or morning coffee, or dessert.

There is no victory in refusing heaters and air conditioners and fans and heated blankets.

There is no victory in denying yourself sleep, or showers, or movement, or water, or a comfortable bed, or taking the elevator vs. the stairs.

There is no victory in refusing pain meds and heating pads and ice packs and medical help.

There is no victory in punishing yourself needlessly, in telling yourself that this pain you feel is because you are bad to the core and deserve it.

There is no victory in choking back your laughter and your tears, to keep an imagined equilibrium of safety that is really just a dry, cracked, empty, endless emotional desert.

You are here. You are in this body, and this body is yours. You deserve good things. You are alive, and that is messy and loud, and messy and loud are okay.