SOLIPSIST BY ANDREW THOMAS HUANG

A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA

A little something extra

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#TBT: IN LOVING MEMORY, RIP KURT COBAIN AND LAYNE STAYLEY

Looking back on my angst ridden teen/tween years, there are two very influential bands who shaped music and lead the grunge movement forward and beyond its highest potential. These two bands were Nirvana and Alice in Chains. Both bands had immensely creative and deeply troubled lead singers who were deep in to drugs and depression. As a teen, I loved the emotional sincerity of the music, and appreciated the heavy metaphors and wordplay.

Kurt Cobain's suicide note

Nirvana, the poster band of the 90's grunge movement, was headed by Kurt Cobain. Cobain was a blonde haired unkempt poet of a lead singer. Cobain never anticipated or wanted the fame that Nirvana was garnering in the early through mid 90's. He just wanted to make music. To many, this mans poetic, angry music characterized what the 90's were all about. Anger, frustration, confused rage against a system that no one understood, and to some point, dismissal. The 90's rebellion that was captured in Nirvana's could be summarized in one word: Nevermind. Nevermind was the title of Nirvanas capstone album that solidified their place in music history. All of the hit songs that are now played on rotation on rock and metal stations are from that album. Courtney Love of Hole played a large part in Kurt's life, as both were drugged muses of each others art. The two got married, and had a child, Frances Bean Cobain. Kurt had always been addicted to heroin and pills. It was no secret that Cobain struggled with these vices, so much so that Courtney Love even arranged an intervention at one point. Cobain was found dead at his home on April 8, 1994. Forensic analysis determined that he had committed suicide three days prior on April 5. The Seattle Police Department incident report states: "Kurt Cobain was found with a shotgun across his body, had a visible head wound and there was a suicide note discovered nearby." The King County Medical Examiner noted puncture wounds on the inside of both the right and left elbow. Prior to his death, Cobain had checked out of a drug rehabilitation facility and had been reported as suicidal by his wife Courtney Love.
Despite the official ruling of suicide, several theories have arisen of alternate explanations for Cobain's death. 

Layne Staley, the lead singer of the band Alice in Chains and Mad Season, was a vocal heavyweight who used his voice as a powerful instrument. Alice in Chains had a unique sound, and was a much darker and emotional sounding band than most grunge acts of the day. Layne used a lot of harmonizing in his music. Layne, who mainly worked with bandmate Jerry Cantrell on writing the lyrics and music for the band, wrote songs mostly about his drug use and depression. Alice in Chains first album was released in 1990. Facelift was the name of the album, and the moody vocalizations and albums heavy tone set the tone of the bands career from then until Laynes death on April 5th 2002.  From 1999 to 2002, Staley became more reclusive, rarely leaving his Seattle condo; little is known about the details of his life during this period. It was rumored that Staley would spend most of his days creating art, playing video games, or nodding off on drugs. Staley's mother owns the last known photo of Staley, taken on February 14, 2002, which features him holding his newborn nephew, Oscar, although the photo has never been published. Other than this rare incident, Staley was not seen often by family or friends. In his last interview, Staley stated, "Don't try to contact any AIC (Alice in Chains) members. They are not my friends." Kinney has commented on Staley's final years and isolation period:

"I kept trying to make contact...Three times a week, like clockwork, I'd call him, but he'd never answer. Every time I was in the area, I was up in front of his place yelling for him...Even if you could get in his building, he wasn't going to open the door. You'd phone and he wouldn't answer. You couldn't just kick the door in and grab him, though there were so many times I thought about doing that. But if someone won't help themselves, what, really, can anyone else do?"

Layne Staley

In his last interview, given on December 20, 2001 roughly four months before his death, Staley admitted, "I know I'm near death, I did crack and heroin for years. I never wanted to end my life this way." Staley's physical appearance had become even worse than before: he had lost several teeth, his skin was sickly pale, and he was severely emaciated. In the same interview Staley spoke of the damage caused by his heroin addiction:
 "I'm not using drugs to get high like many people think. I know I made a big mistake when I started using this shit. It's a very difficult thing to explain. My liver is not functioning, and I'm throwing up all the time and shitting my pants. The pain is more than you can handle. It's the worst pain in the world. Dope sick hurts the entire body."

Layne Staley and Kurt Cobain had a huge impact in my life. They defined the voice of the  90's generation. Rest in Peace.

INDY SHOUT OUT: JPLUS

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"PUTTING THE CANVAS ON A PEDESTAL": THE STRUGGLE OF A NEW ARTIST

As an artist, I am a fan and supporter of other artists. As such, I see a flood of beautiful and inspiring and highly skilled art every single day.

And then there's me.
Staring at this blank canvas. 
Paint on brush, idea in head, 
And yet I am afraid to touch the brush to canvas.

WHY!?
Why???

Because I put the canvas on a pedestal. Though it is nothing more than some canvas stretched on a simple wooden frame and covered in gesso, I had subconsciously placed the canvases value above me and my work & ideas. I started seeing it as more than what it was, a tool.
I "put the canvas on a pedestal".  

Have you ever seen The Forty Year Old Virgin, with Steve Carrell? The movie is a simple post modern rom-com about a virgin and his friends who are obsessed with breaking his virginity.  A piece of advice one of his friends gave him, regarding his virginity was "Stop putting the p**y on a pedestal." What this meant in context with the film, was stop being afraid. Stop putting this idea of what this is, ABOVE you, inside your head.

And this where my debacle comes in. A canvas is a tool of creation, like pens and paint and markers.
It's blank so it can be filled with ideas and color and eventually a masterpiece. You are not below your tools. You are not above or below anyone else. All artists have been where you are at this point at one point in their career. Staring at their canvas, mind full of ideas and drowning is self doubt due to personal expectations set for yourself and other hang ups. Don't put the canvas, or whatever media you use above you. Your tools are there for the purpose of creation. 

KEEP CREATING.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: SHAWN HOCKING, DIGITAL VISIONARY

Shawn Hocking is a prolific Visionary Artist out of Keaau Hawaii, who creates beautiful digital and multimedia designs, music, and videos. Hocking began his career as a corporate designer, and created major ad campaigns for many major companies in the early 90's. During that time, Hocking was living in Florida, and had begun to get in to the expanding electronic music scene. After some major entheogenetic breakthroughs, and a realization that the corporate world was not for him, he branched out and began to work for himself.

Higher State of Mind, Shawn Hocking 2015

One of Hocking's first endeavors was Triple3 Designs, where he began to experiment and create spiritual Visionary art work. Since that time, he has grown and now has numerous entrepreneurial endveours including:

-Shocking Artwork
-Flyer Art by Shawn Hocking 
-Shamans Dream Organic Dream Enhancer
-Smoke Sesh with Shawn Hocking Podcast

While Hocking is an entrepreneurial creator, and a highly productive artist, he is also very down to earth and has a wicked sense of humor. Hocking definitely "keeps it real". Shawn has worked with a number of other artists and musicians including Nahko and Medicine for the people, Hope from Medicine for the People, and Beats Antique.

Finally, Hocking has a clothing line through Infinite Bit that includes his designs on shirts and hats, and also has a line of heavy duty beautiful blankets through Art Blankets.

-Infinite Bit Shawn Hocking Clothing Line 
-Shawn Hocking Art Blankets

In conclusion, Shawn Hocking is a great and inspirational artist, entrepreneur, and etheobotanist.
Check out his work!! Support Independent artists!!!!

NOTHING MAN: TASMAN POET, PHILOSOPHER AND COMEDIAN

Nothing Man, A 21 year old creative hailing from Tasmania, is changing perspectives through his work. The young artist began writing at 12 years old, and has always been a creative and rebellious force. Nothings works consist of philosophical metaphors and ideas, emotion, and yearning to be understood. As a young man, the artist read more poetry than talked to people, and because of his voracious appetite for the written word,  he learned rhythm and gained a voice. 


Nothings work is inspired by "love and hope for a better world despite all of the suffering.", Nothings main love is poetry, because it is a challenge to write. Love, is his main inspiration. He also is inspired by other writers such as Shakespeare, Walt Whitman, Alan Watts, Nietzsche, and Machiavelli. 

Nothing recently wrote about 400 poems as part his first poetry book, as well as performed stand up at the Queens Club in Tasmania for charity.



You can find his work here:

Nothing's Soundcloud
Nothing's Poetry