Title: Government
Oil on canvas
2003
By harj
My interpretation
This is my interpretation and I would love to know how you see it. please dont let my examination over power your understanding of my artwork.
I would like to dedicate this post to Ludwig Mises who said " he who is unfit to serve his fellow citizen seeks to rule them"
This art work i did when I thought about how can one person/group/book have such power of his fellow man. What is freedom ? How much freedom do we have ? Who else has our freedom and can we ever have it back ? I wanted to paint this idea and this painting is the out come.
Dear Steemians,
Thank you again on this discovery into human action and gaining a better glimpse into the actions and choices we make.
I really hope that you enjoy my art and PLEASE please I would love to know about your interpretation of this painting, if you could leave it below, it will give us all an insight and a better understanding.
Thank you so much for you kind support and input.
Big hugs and big love
harj x x x
what goes around comes around
Life is like a circle , a being has no definition of its origin likewise its end just as the circle with no origin or beginning.
For this reason , with limited circumference of our lives which should endeavor to be good and Human enough to our neighbors and people
@olanrewaju
I think this looks like a spiral, which resembles an inner path towards oneself. The spots are the different events/people we meet/encounter along the way, but the real path, which is traced in yellow, is the way we get to know ourselves, and once then, like the sun, we shine without depending on external factors.
Yes that's a great way to put it! Trust in your own self but also love others #independence
wow! great thought ...good job ..
Totally!!
thank you yes we do live in the unknown and we are so tiny compared to nature and we should be good people to each other I think karma is correct. we need peace not war.
1984
“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
Oh! This shouldn't be applied in this modern time
a call for real peace
The circles represent the people.
The curves represent chains, but not any chains, chains that hypnotize, so the people would not notice that they are chained.
wow thats a diffrent and great way to put it Fmalafaya! and it describes the world we live in #chainsofGovernment : ) x
@harj i found another cool program for "free" upvotes. it called @steembasicincome
and basically you do is send 1 steem and sponsor a person. you and the sponsored person both get shares. I was wondering if you sponsor me ;) i'll pay back 0.4 steem for you'll be earning from it as well
lets do it!
K send 1 steem to them and in the memo say you are sponsoring me . When you do i'll send 0.4 steem.
ok 1 sec
done! : )
I'll send the steem in a sec
what do you think about the delegation programe they got 25sp for 1 extra share ?
what they say is good idk what actual result is.
Yes I agree keep me posted and any other opportunities bro
I had a vision like this once in a induced dream state, my vision had framed images around the spiral. i have been trying to draw it for years now. if i ever finish it up i will tag you in it @harj. I like this artwork as it somewhat resembles my vision in my dream
wow its so cool that you can recall your dream and remember it so vividly thank you please do mfxae x
Yeah I have always been able to remember my dreams quite well and they usually have some kind of message for me to take away from them. im actually thinking of writing up some of them to post here on steemit in the near future :)
Hello @harj
When I look towards the center of your painting I am like sucked. I feel like I have to go to the red circle, but something holds me back and pushes me towards the opening on the bottom right.
It's like someone saying to me: "Do not follow others, find your own way".
It's my freedom. My freedom is stronger than anything. It controls my feelings and actions and gives me the direction to follow. Just listen to her and not the world around us.
That's amazing your interpretation,how you relate that to yourself with this painting as a analysis moreover the conflict between your purpose and that of others xxx thank you X
Art speaks to me or does not . After reading your interpretation I told you what your painting sent me back. Nice one
Here's my simple yet fittingly explanation to your art.
It's an organized chaos. Your painting has that formal, organized feeling to it. Everything from the colors, shapes and arrangements are tactically placed, yet, there is chaos, roughness, unrefined quality. This, to me is exactly what the government looks like!
Love your art! A lot of heart poured into it.
awww thank you The goverment is exactly like that love your description mostvulnerable x
First thing that came to mind looking at your painting...
Harmony cannot be achieved if unity is not first established. And that humility promotes unity.
thank you reign your words are words of wisdom! ! x x x
just random thoughts...
missed your blogs & sharing input..
have a nice day! 😊
First off, overall impression: I love it.
Government: I see the center circle as the government we see. In my case, the President, the Congress, the Cabinet. 95% of reporting is done inside of this circle. The next outer ring represents the upper bureaucracy, that we see sometimes. 95% of the remaining reporting is done from that circle which includes the military and the various departments like HHS, DOJ, etc. As you go further out from the center it is less and less and less reported.
But they are not exactly circles as drawn with a compass, are they? That aspect leads me to change. The circles aren't fixed and the edges move a little, sometimes more visible, sometimes less.
All in all, the painting is very dynamic to me. Never quite the same twice. A truly wonderful piece.
Thanks for sharing it!
hey I love this understanding of the art yes I agree with you 100% thats how it seems to work as I see it too! I would like to add the many layers/circles we talk about they seem to get bigger and less transparant. : ) x
I enjoy it. I feel like the rings represent the different levels of social status and class, such as our current society presents; i.e. government.
Really nice. Always enjoy seeing your work. Thanks again :)
thats very interesting view point but yes its new and unique view point thank you herbert!! x
Upvoted😊
thank you szamalev : )
very accurate!
thank you bro!!!
I just scrolled through the comments to make sure no one shared my interpretation lol
Very interesting artwork with a powerful theme. It is quite a beautiful contrast of color choices. My interpretive thoughts are these.
Many people from all nations, races and cultures, the full ball circles represent these groups of people, the white. yellow orange and red circle lines represent a bull's eye theme, for with government, comes control, surveillance, and target practice for defense war weaponry against one another. We are all at risk of violent retaliation and martial law order.
These are my thoughts, and I enjoyed your painting. Much success to you and Steem on @harj
You have gained my following support
Awww thank you verbal!!! yes I undersand exactly how you say, and its a sad shame that the governemnt loves the colour grey! not many flowers #governmentgrey
You are most welcome. Yes a grey color for a concrete world void of God's love
The image reminds me of a bearing (mechanical thingy). I didn´t know what it´s english name was, so I used wikipedia to swap it from dutch to english and found there a nice definition. :) A bearer is a construction that makes sure that different parts of that constructions are able to move better relative to each other by reducing the friction. Would be awesome if a government could do that...
awww mirjam thats a great description a government like a well oiled machine ! they would love that but its the complete opposite! lol a money hungry leviathan monster #governmentleviathan x x x x : )
Circle of power which spreads from the central figure of the painting and goes far beyond the limits of the canvas, taking a firm grip over everyone it comes across thus submiting them to its will, by the appeal of its idea, or simply by brute force. That's how I see it.
I can see what you mean like an evil empire that is democracy where 51% control the 49% and put in charge a crazy nut hell bent on good intentions (the worse kind) or slightly better kind that can be bribed (Mussolini). #roadtoserfdom thank you dosbosnivianos
Actual governments are a paradigm to change in the future. I believe the next generations will prepare a new era based on a true democracy and human rights. Actual governments belong to the past. Realities as the blockchain are a true hope for mankind. Great art of yours, for me it depicts a parliament, with many colors but separated by fences. They are apart, not together. Cheers!
Thank you nolasco yes I agree that it is a paradigm shift happending and the government is trying its best to destroy it but cant and yes a #democracyistwofoxesandachickenvotingforlunch : )
Yes, you are right!
Is wonderful man, beautiful post
I've gived the vote 2 u bro. please check out our site😉
awww thats really kind of you yes I do check your post : ) love the picture but cant understand the lauguage.
My interpretation -
The rings look like the different levels in a centralized government, such as -
high level posts, middle level posts and bottom level posts. The middle dot is the bossman whereas the surrounding dots are under him.
Cheers. :)
I do see your point yes the bossman/Trump going on and on down the chain. like a pyramid. thank you yessaye!
Your artwork is mainly represented in spheres and circles. Our world is represented in spheres and circles. The law of karma is represented with a circle, what goes around surely comes around. Everything revolves in this world, good and bad has a cycle in which it must complete due to the law of the universe. We all have a part to play in this circle, and how you choose your part is based on the type of circle you wish to cycle through. Is it the circle of a good life? A free life? Or a circle of an evil life?
Deep painting
Really enjoyed reading your post on life and the many circles that make up life good and bad. How dense is power the law of trade and force
Excellent post, looking foward to your next post.
thank you dils x x x x
Hi Harj, nice choice of colours again, I think the spiral created by the thin circles drags us towards a determined path like a tornado sucking its victims. I guess it´s our choice to look outside the circles, find our own point of views and believes. Look deeper at details and see behond what first catches our eye, in this case I would look over the circles and find the beautiness in the strokes between them. Nice work!
thank you for the deep investigation and seeing what you said "beautiness in the strokes between them" and "towards a determined path like a tornado sucking its victims" I understand how hard it is today to look outside the circles, find our own point of views and believes this is what is hard I think thank you art-meetup upvoted! : ) #lookdeeper love that point by you!
I really love the colors you've used, and the circles remind me of containment and eyes. There is much beauty in abstract art. Thank you for sharing.
awww I love your words!! "circles remind me of containment and eyes" thank you Shawnamawna
Very true
As weird as it sounds the first thing I thought of when I saw the painting was Atlantis because it was said to be a place built within concentric circles.
It also sorta looks like an eye, maybe the Illuminati? Heh. Though in reality that symbol I think is more of a Free mason symbol than an Illuminati one, though still a powerful symbol regardless. I think that's one reason they use it. It is a powerful symbol!
Cool artwork man and I appreciate your thoughts on government as well. I think we agree a lot in regards to that based on what you've shared here. Cheers bud.
Thanks Apoly your perspective it is insightful. I'm pleased you enjoyed the art. Funny how the only thing that changes in Government is things get worse. Thanks bro love your posts X
Hi @harj
I'm no art critic but seeing you asked for my opinion on your artwork in my intro thread, I thought it would be polite to reply here.
When I put it into context with the rest of this post, it seems like you're seeing governments as circles within circles that all lead back to the same place.
I suppose it does work like that in a sense.
It's intriguing for sure, interesting choice of colours too.
Thank you Khufu yes I see what you mean there is lots of ways how this art work is representative of Government from lobbying business for a privalige, force intervention and tax collection nanny state to full centralised planning.
I think it is not about interpretation, but it is about your belief. I believe this vortex is just summing up ideas of these bald men having an arguing about things which will have an impact on everyone else, just not them. Their impact will be deep as it is cortex but also non important. You see even cortex is after all just a figure as they are. And now is up to us if will we follow this figure to the deep or not.
ahhh I really like your observatoins and how you see the artwork. yes this is a choice to we follow or not. we all need #individualfreedom : )
Very cool art, love abstracts! Also great theme, we don't need overlords!
aww thank you Pittsburgh! We sure dont need #governmentoverlords
Followed you bro, keep it up.
your artwork is really amazing
awww thank you Geeta x x x x: )
Love your painting. You have a great talent. To me the two continuous inner circles indicate life. The outer larger circle that is not attached all the way around represents our life lessons, our hills and valleys. Thanks for sharing.
awww donna your translation of our life, our hills, valleys has help me understand the landscape of the artwork much better making it personal to me! #ourhills
Lovely! This is my favorite so far! As you know, we think along the same lines politically so I love the memes. The painting reminds me of the Fibonacci spiral and the little circles being the obstacles we have to over come (governments, monarchies, dictatorships, etc) .... Much love my friend! Great work!
awww Suns thank you yes! we do see eye to eye which is lovely. I like your fibonacci spirals ! yes we both value #freedom : )
This painting makes me feel sad and angry, I see a person in the center, who with his power of conviction (the circles) attracts everyone like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. It reminds me of Chavez and all the disaster that my country is going through because of the people who followed him blindly. :(
wow I feel your pain your understanding is one that I can see very clearly. I wish others would not use him to grab land/money/power at the cost of everyone else : ( theft is theft .
I love the striking colours and the intense brush strokes. It is fluid and the circles have no beginning or end....timeless. A beautiful piece!
awww I love how you sum it up so well thank you Karen xxxx
Your painting and the title you give it recalls something I jotted down in a diner a couple days ago:
Divide and Conquer
A circle
Divided in two
Black and white - evil and good - truth and lies
This circle is established apart from truth and so its truth is not.
The two sides battle and both produce compromised versions of their ideology.
This splitting process continues, creating blurred lines between the original distinctions.
The liars are infiltrating both sides in a strategy to drain the power of free thought.
The factions become so many and revolve around differring perspectives of how to reconcile things that are not to be blended.
I really like your interpretation truthminer! Divide and conquer yes I see how that stratergy works even today in the media. your explanation of two sides and how liars drain free thought with blurred lines and how to reconcile is amzing thank you x x x x
Lovely painting, @harj in my own way of interpretation, I think the circles (Rings) represents Power/ Authority/Governments in cadre. The balls represents humans. In every sphere of our existence, we are never free. Watch closely there is some amount of freedom the balls have that is, they can roll to stretch out but at the end they are still held in the circle. Some balls escapes a certain ring but not two rings at a time, it tells us that some people are even bigger than a certain government at some point in time. In conclusion, someone’s master is another man’s slave.
Hey Frequency love your words and your example on bad Government and we its working slaves. #Governmentfarming thank you
Ya thanks, hope to see more of your painting
really your post is very interesting for me now i will follow you 😊😊😊😊@harj
awww shelly thats really kind of you to say! glad you found in interesting x
What a nice piece of an artwork!... my interpretation is that our life here on earth, ruled by government, is just in the circle. We cannot have much of what we want to do because there is always rule to follow. I will see that one in the middle is the executive branch, then second circle, I will say the legislative branch, then next is the judicial branch... and goes on and on and on...
I want to live in this world with rules to follow. No rule, chaos will reign...
very good point I do like your views and yes we need real rules of law created by the people for the peole not politians thank you like your description Zionist x
Very interesting interpretation my friend :)
thank you bescouted Im glad you liked it x
Hmm, hmm some more.....im pondering here, Goverment you say? I love those guys, it looks to me as a representation of the spiral of life where like Tesla coils the course of life energy travels, the energy of all living things and their direction, yet everyone is trapped between the bars of life and the direction. Damn it and i was trying to be so positive about those guys too.
Genuinely like the art, and if i was honest i am unfamiliar when thinking in the abstract, but i would always always see anything with Government on it and instantly have a problem looking to the optimistic. nice work, i like it .
As a gamekeeper on the abstract if there was a cross on the middle it would make an excellent target? (just kidding)
Sean
lol I love your game!!! : ) and your atempt of kind words towards the powers that be. thank you sean #excellenttargethumansforpayingtax x
I felt the joy pass through the text and genuinely make me laugh. bless you.
My interpretation to this painting is that,
In Every success begins, with a single step
We start first in small humble beginnings, then years going by we are gaining and equip with experience & knowledge and tight decision (that's why it's coming bigger)
Until we reach the biggest circle, that's our success.
I like how you have interpreted the artwork as a process towards our goals as we achieve them thank you very much X
Wonderful artwork! You continue to impress me!
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Awwww melinda X looking forward to your wonderful competitions thank you again : ) xxx
I know nothing about art but the image remind me of candy cake. Love your art.
awww thank you arwine I appreciate your insight : ) x #candycakeart
You are so talented!!!
awww thank you body x x
I am not much of an interpreter when it comes to art. But here I see a master in the center which goes on and on forever and we entrapped within the circle can never be truly free.
I think your right #traped thank you watersnake
Very interesting. Upvoted!
awww thank you Jen! x x x
a leader who only sees his people with one eye, a king who has no piety. but we must look at what is happening around us, not for one direction only.
that is my interpretation.
thanks for an intelligence
I love your interpretation and yes leaders looking with only one eye is very insightful! they do that all the time like sales peddling dodgy ideas. thank you !! axsteem x #lookingwithoneeye
thank you @harj for this interpretation, we wait for the next challenge.
awww axsteem thank you how have you found your broiler I loved you last post!
Wow @harj. You really took some time in this. I love it. All your pictures and quotes swim around the painting so we don't get a fair chance to interpret it but the painting stands alone.
First impressions
Another look
I would love to visit the room this is hanging in to get a better view.
The swirl - There is almost a black whole sucking the people's energy into the one in the center. This gives an orbital effect spinning at a central axis.
Ring colors - It's interesting they go from light to dark. The final ring is red.
The meaning
The meaning to me is that there are these rings we try get get into. Each one is a little more narrow than the rest. When we get to the final ring we are totally in darkness. Our freedom must come from inside. Instead of fighting against the machine we must overcome the anger within or "we" will be "them".
wow you are so amazing mineopoly! I do see you exact point! and your example are the best!!! wow I love the another look viewpoint "the final ring is red" :))))))))))))))))
The meaning
The meaning
" to me is that there are these rings we try get get into. Each one is a little more narrow than the rest. When we get to the final ring we are totally in darkness. Our freedom must come from inside. Instead of fighting against the machine we must overcome the anger within or "we" will be "them".
#originalviewpoint : ))))
Thanks for inviting me here.
I just noticed the cover picture is a tank and a girl. This is really symbolic. I don't know how I passed that last time.
I see faces in colors of varying hues, none more special than the other...but for some reason, some are targeted and none are free
xoxo
@mamajeani
awww thats sounds pretty much as it is thank you mama #whatisfreedom
Great concept. @harj
thank you nigel
You're welcome. @harj
Good work well done
awww thank you isco!!!
I dig! Thank you for sharing and directing me to your fine art through your comments!
ahhh thank you ! great to know what you think about the artwork!
If noone obeys, nobody can rule :)
That said I live by the golden rule... Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.
This also make me think about Thomas Jefferson, "If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."
ahh this is a very good point I like you angle : ) do you see that in the painting anthonyj
Certainly seems like the center object is radiating something fierce. I'm not sure how I would interpret it without an explanation. Still a fan!
Your use of color and the brush strokes are epic!
awww thank you I love the radiating fierce!