Remember talking to my partner about the acceptance in mainstream society of some BDSM style imagery. The whole “do it properly” thing from Magee got me thinking about not so much acceptance but conformism. The whole equation of BDSM isn’t accepted entirely but the imagery can be commodified. Here we come back to recuperation of what are non-conformist positions or at least should be. With graffiti and its coded nature there is still ample non-conformist approaches that are really political stances but are seen as delinquency or at least I hope so. When you picture the street art equation and its rejection of coding for plain english non-conformist statements that seem to become a road to galleries it makes you wonder. How many street artists are currently active illegally in Sydney? Not as many as graffiti writers by a long shot, the initial rejection of heavily coded work brings with it an acceptance that is embraced. It is as much about fashion as it is about conforming. Well look at Pure Evil doing work for Royal Doulton how street art is that? You would expect me to come back to the series of crockery by Ghost Patrol I really can not help myself. As I said in past posts I accept it and don’t begrudge it but I really like non-conformism as a practice in general. Well what is so non-conformist about me? Well not much now I must admit but it is the spirit of it that I share with street artists and graffiti artists. The spirit of bucking the trend. The real issue is how do you keep it real? Especially when you have reached forty have two kids and a mortgage! Well it made me smile to see Magee telling me to do it properly, I am probably doing better than I realise. Especially with Magee’s HSC style artworks (which are done properly) being accepted into major art shows. I shared my partners initial positive acceptance of this trend to accept what was taboo imagery but now I don’t. Keep it taboo, I remember dreaming up scenarios of my kids coming home with a cyborg arm or a tattoo of Hitler on their arm something to get my hair standing on end. “Oh Dad I had my arm cut off for this super cool cybernetic arm…..what do you think?” and there I am dreaming of kittens and puppy dogs hoping for anarchy. Well I still want to want to make work that can annoy and with Magee my wish came true but really I want you to love me and my Hitler tattoo too or my cyborg arm might have a pimp slap ready. That was the funny part of the SI how far can you go? That will be seen especially with the scary hardware the US military has already built and deployed such as drones and that is the tip of the iceberg from what I can imagine. It is no joke and conformism can be very scary imperialism even more so. People are dying every day due to wars while in Australia we are paranoid of invasion from boats filled with foreigners. People are voicing their opinions while at the same time governments are pushing for licencing journalists. Just to quell the dissent and yes the dissent is real but don’t expect to see it on television you may come across blogs but they will be railroaded for “real” reporting “real” opinions and positions in a world that wants to do it properly. I do live an alternative lifestyle if that is anything and I have rejected a lot of conventions such as marriage the suburban lifestyle with the car and kids instead living in a house that is like a piece of art or at least a bit mad. I can always do more and I hope some of my own works can break convention maybe be a little unexpected but at the end of the day I am doing commissions by the book i.e. properly for all it is worth but my history was hardcore illegal graffiti and really I am glad I am not doing it anymore but I respect it for being out of the ordinary. I also respect the street artists who have dreamed up beautiful work too, things that I never imagined possible. It is the unexpected that makes me happy the change you needed but never thought possible. Lets keep creating just for the joy of it.