Mark's[ist] Manifesto

Mark Malmgren

Just don't call my paintings 'pretty'. Call them ugly or irrelevant or juvenile or any  other derogatory term you can think of, just don't insult me with some diatribe about how they are "...going to match the couch or the walls". I don't paint to match your walls. And I certainly don't paint to make you happy. In fact, I don't paint for you at all. I paint for me. I paint because I'm angry. I'm angry because of mankind's collective stupidity. The kind of stupidity that ruins the garden of Eden that we were given. The kind of stupidity that makes us want to steal and lie and cheat to hoard things that we have no use for. The kind of stupidity that allows us to kill and maim and then proclaim that we do it in the name of 'our' god.

I paint mostly trees because they are a far better species than mankind. They don't pollute and they don't violate the natural laws. They live and they die and they breathe and they have a consciousness that far exceeds ours. They understand the interconnectedness of all living and non-living entities, and they respect and uphold that natural order in ways that we can barely understand.

My paintings are attempts to honor and understand the natural order of things. I have little respect for manmade institutions and creations. The very best that mankind can produce pales in comparison to the tiniest creations of nature.

So don't bother me with banal technical criticisms about my work. I have no interest in techniques. My only concern is to attempt to understand the consciousness of natural entities. All living and nonliving creatures and things have and exude consciousness in some form. Tuning in to that consciousness is my one and only goal.

Mark is guest writer for Brownscape Productions. You can see more of his work at Creative Time or you may reach him at mark@brownscapeprod.com