Question everything - at least once
I believe one of the strongest problems with our society is people do not know how to argue with themselves. They take the easy way out - accepting their current or long-held views and beliefs without looking back. These days I get the feeling everyone feels like a genius. Everyone is an expert about everything, and their opinions cannot be swayed for they have gained some sort of infinite source of knowledge and ultimate truth. People know less than ever, and act like they know more at the same time. Where did this come from?
Researching both sides of an argument is something anyone can and should do, but sadly I feel many completely ignore our natural reasoning as human beings and let our opinions be molded by our own stubbornness, others around us or single people we feel are more intelligent than ourselves.
How many times in history has the general consensus of the people turned out to be incorrect? I hope you can think of at least one example all on your own, it's fairly easy. Let's see....the earth used to be the center of the universe, cigarettes used to increase your lung capacity, and cocaine used to be nothing more than a naturally revitalizing ingredient safe for all purpose consumption.
I cannot stress how important it is to put all of the deepest and dearest beliefs you hold on the table - and pretend they are completely wrong for a little while. You have to believe you are wrong about some things, it's completely illogical to think otherwise given you are an imperfect human and cannot avoid making mistakes. You have to also consider that the things you are wrong about might be the strongest opinions you hold. Some people are so tied into their opinions that even when they have hard evidence thrown in their face to show their error, pride takes over and results in an illogical safekeeping of said opinion.
We are human beings, which is the farthest thing possible from infallible. Why even begin to pretend otherwise?
posted by Peter
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Deftones Magazine Cover
 (repost from November 29th, 2006)
The December issue of Maximum Ink magazine will feature the Deftones, along with cover art I put together on extremely short notice. I was asked to do this with only a handful of hours left to go before the magazine went to press, and was considering watching South Park reruns and eating junk food instead. My love for the Deftones inspired me to stay up late pounding mountain dew energy drinks and handed in my work about half an hour before the deadline. Go caffeine!
For those of you who are into the Deftones' style of metal, I strongly recommend their new cd Saturday Night Wrist. I've been playing it for a while now, and it's definitely becoming one of my favorites.
posted by Peter
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The best way to steal
(repost from September 14th, 2006)
The life and ideas of the entire world lay at your disposal. The work of the divinely inspired and absolute genius are available for you to use in whatever way you see fit. History has more human thought and belief than you could absorb in your entire life...its up to you to discover what you are best at understanding, and seek out all the paths and groundwork others have laid before you. Why try to understand the world all on your own? Others before you have labored away out of love to discover what they can about everything around us....we can use the blood and sweat of history as stepping stones into the sky. There is profound truth and realization to be found hidden under boulders of the past.
Think of each piece of inspired writing or human work of art as a piece of an infinitely expansive puzzle that can be assembled in an indefinite amount of ways. All you need is to find a few of the right pieces....and they can be assembled into something brilliant.
Take one puzzle piece of inspiration, one piece of science, one piece of psychology and one piece of your own understanding of the world....if you have found the right pieces, they will combine to make an amazing picture that the world has never seen. In a single art museum, in a simple cd store, in one library...these are the places where you can gather your puzzle pieces of choice.
If you ever have trouble thinking of ideas....just remember, there are already a million of them for you to utilize. You don't have to think of a brand new theory or solve an impossibly hard mystery to become a genius, all you need to do is understand the great ideas of others before you.
Dont force yourself to become great at something that frustrates or confuses you. Find something that you brings you joy and understanding, and learn all you can about it. Do whatever you can to find something that brings you happiness, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time. One must truly enjoy what they are doing to walk down it's path with no end in sight - and beautiful scenery that goes on forever.
posted by Peter
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Using the word "infinite" makes me feel cool
(repost from August 22nd, 2006)
There is infinite possible meaning in every life experience, no matter how brief it is.
No matter how small or inconsequential an experience may seem, it is impossible to clearly see every single time it affects your life further down the path. If you run into the right person, they can change your life forever. The events that led up to you meeting this person were possibly completely random acts of living your every day life that measured up in just a certain way that they equaled you running smack into your significant other in the middle of the street, in a town you've never been in before.
Maybe something caught your eye on the way out of a store, and you stopped to look at it for a few seconds. If someone hadnt decided to make that object which caught your attention, and someone hadnt decided to put it on display in their store, you wouldnt have taken the few extra seconds and therefore probably would have missed running into this person.
It's possible you become so enthralled and attached to this person that they profoundly affect your life and way of thinking forever.
If you hadnt been distracted by some shiny object, you might have lived a completely different life
....this whole scenerio could happen a billion different ways. Maybe even a trillion..
posted by Peter
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TOOL Cover Artwork for Maximum Ink
 (repost from September 1st, 2006)
Through a string of seemingly random connections I was asked to create some original art for an issue of Maximum Ink featuring an exclusive interview with Tool. Being one of my favorite bands, I attempted to work my way into the interview somehow, but failed to come up with a good way of getting to Los Angeles. Either way, I was more than happy to take the chance to create something for a band that has created so much for me.
Click on the image for a fullsize desktop picture. The piece I put together is much larger than the magazine layout would allow, you can see the full version here.
posted by Peter
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Seeing vicariously
(repost from September 22nd, 2006)
I used to always think to myself....what would it be like to view my work through someone else's eyes? What would it look like? When I view my images all I can see is the steps I took to get there.....I see a hundred different pieces and strokes that fit together, not just one image.
I realize that you can set an image in front of a room of people, and every single one sees it in a different way. So obviously, I was curious to know what it's like to view something as one of those other people.
Even though you can see yourself in the mirror, in pictures and videos...you are still viewing yourself with your own eyes. You will never know how other people look upon you. I have decided it's impossible to know...and I'll explain why.
The reason everyone perceives things in their own special way is simple - no two people have lived the same life, and we all subconsciously use our past experiences when we study something in front of us.
Heres a simple example....say two people view a painting of Taj Mahal. Let's say only one of these people knows what it is...the other has never seen it before. The first person will think "I've seen this before...this is Taj Mahal." They will then proceed to think beyond this simple thought, and focus on how well it is depicted, what kind of mood or atmosphere the artist has chosen to employ, how the painting makes them feel. The other person, however, is going to focus on the structure of the building they have never seen and the pool in front of it which reflects the image so well. They will wonder if the building is a real one...or if its something the artist created.
These are completely different trains of thought. They will lead to different dissections of the image, and overall a different end thought about the subject at hand.
Now, heres where things get tricky.
In order to view something through someone else's eyes, you would not only need their physical set of eyes...you would also need to either swap brains or have every experience in their life embedded into your own brain. The problem with taking every experience and embedding it into your own is that it will mix with your own life, and create a completely new one.
Which means....the only way to see something through someone else's eyes is to become that person. If you do this...you are no longer yourself, and the thought won't even cross your mind that you are using someone elses vision and perception.
The way you think and perceive the world is completely unique to you. No one can or ever will be able to take this away from you.
posted by Peter
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First Post / Welcome
WELCOME! - The means by which you managed to stumble upon this page doesn't matter. The important thing is, you are here. First off, I'd like to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Peter. Nice to meet you, too. So, uh, you come here often? Yeah, me too. Great. Now I'll try to vaguely explain my reason for having this page to begin with. Above all, this is the place where I will share my creative endeavors with whoever cares to experience them. I don't make things for myself, I make them for everyone else in this world who might care in the slightest about visual art and design. If I was the last person on earth, I can guarantee you I wouldn't be spending most of my time trying to furthering myself and my skills. What would I be doing? Thats a great question - probably smashing a window at the nearest Ferrari dealership so I can finally drive one recklessly while listening to "Straight Outta Compton" at full volume. I also wanted to mention that I'm going to refrain from posting boring and meaningless details of my life. I'm not going write about having a bad day, I'm not going to write about my relationship problems, and I'm certainly not going to bitch about how life isn't fair and nobody understands me. If you were hoping for these things, let me introduce you to your new best friends - MySpace, LiveJournal and Xanga. I realize I am not a genius. I'm not going to write about things I don't know very much about. This is solely for my philosophies on art, design, perspective and the ways in which they can affect our life. I hope you find something you can enjoy and connect with. I hope you can go away with something new and possibly even be inspired to think or see things in a different way. If you don't, thats okay too.
posted by Peter
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