My wife Roberta is teaching herself the ins and outs of figure drawing, caricature and lately, digital painting. Practice makes perfect, and Roberta has the perfect venue for it: a Reddit discussion board where random people post pictures of themselves (or loved ones) and invite any random artist to draw them.
Here’s the key: artist can interpret or modify the subject in any way that they choose, save sexual.
Challenge accepted:
Roberta is an amateur, but she has a sense of humor and a point of view And so a honeymooning couple posing with the Golden Gate Bridge do so in the presence of an unknown watcher -- almost out of frame.
A flying saucer is almost Roberta's trademark now, at least on that subreddit (discussion board). At the edge of every happy iPhone Moment lurks a saucer: Observing? Abducting? Communicating? Who knows?
Response from Roberta’s Reddit subjects is near-unanimous: they think that the saucers are a hoot. And they are, but Roberta also has an agenda: to point out that this is a world of distractions.
And what they distract you from is the fact that somebody's watching. Watching, and perhaps also doing unimaginable things when you turn your eyes aside for just a moment.
Because it's true. Your computer and smartphone betray you constantly. You usually aren’t aware of what data is being taken, what’s been done with it, or even who’s watching. Though if you don’t yet know that Google is actually listening to you talk, you’re behind the times.
Your “smart” appliances and TVs are likely just as bad. A saucer hovering behind the family dog might seem hilarious. But why is it there? What’s its agenda?
We don't really know. But it's safe to assume that there is an agenda. Or that, when enough data has been piled in one place simply because it's possible to do so, someone will make an agenda. Because they can.
And even if you knew what the agenda was, would you believe it? People just don't do those things, you'd say. You might not believe your own senses.
But what the hell. People have lives to live. They just want to enjoy themselves. You can't spend all your time looking over your shoulder. So what if there's always somebody there?
It's easier to treat every private momesnt as private: even if it's not. What's the harm, right? Even if your pancakes are floating oddly.
Enjoy the sunshine. Hang loose. It's a beautiful day!
And some day, you may get the answers to questions that you never even thought to frame.
If you do.... be sure to drop us a line!