artist on twitter

im following some very interesting people on twitter now and
unlike a lot of others i choose to ignore the famous people who have time to freeze up the servers by continuously typing "Lets Go People" or "Im the real [dumb ass celeb name here]"
but instead some everyday "normal" folks who just enjoy chatting with other people.
a few of them artist [ie poets, photographers, etc] and they really have me wanting to pursue more of my career in the art industry. one in particular is @DiggsWayne or Dwayne Rodgers whom i found snooping thru someone elses following list. and i followed him because of his awesome default and with in an hour of two of following him, found out that he too was an artist. a photographer to be exact. funny thing is i googled him, not to be an e-stalker, but to get to know more of his work and from what i have seen, his portraits are some of the most beautiful work i have yet to see. give it im on 20+ yes i still have more to see, but for now, im freezing my time with his art.


so i got my "e-stalk" game on and found an interview between him and Hannah Oakland where he speaks of certain views that he has regarding politics, music and other things but what stood out to me the most was the question


"We've read that your inspiration for this piece was mainly from Fela Kuti's proclamation of being the black president and Obama's expected victory, was it hard for you to give up control of the picture once it hit the Internet?" in which he responded:



To that list of inspirations I would like to add Bill Clinton, or at least the fact that Clinton was called the first Black President. (Because he like Fela could play saxophone?) There was an act of reclamation in my image. Our new Black President is actually, well, black. It seemed like a good idea to point that out. Obama is not conveniently black or even black by choice. He is actually, well, black. Gone are the days of Marlon Brando playing a Chinese man. Gone are the days of Black Presidents who are not actually, well, black. Gone are the days of Catherine Zeta Jones as Cleopatra. Well maybe not, but we're moving right along.....In terms of "giving up control" once the image hit the Internet, I actually welcomed the loss of control. The beauty of the Internet is that it is the ultimate playspace. A giant romper room for ideas. A great jam session. I love the idea that I blew a little riff and people could pick up on it and elaborate. For you philosophy heads out there I think that the Internet is the perfect paradigm for "play" in the sense Derrida meant it. On the Internet there is no presence, no truth, but a series of playful vignettes which can evoke meaning through a perpetual dialogue in which every idea constantly approaches its "opposite". Obama/Fela. Get it? Got it. Good. so not only does he have a good eye for art but he also has brains [and witt if you follow him] which i love alot. some of his work, that are my favs so far, are below. enjoy them. i did.

why follow someone who doesn't have time for you when you can follow someone who is willing to explore with you?

love and light -ibaO