Anarcho-Capitalism Flag Painting & Wallpaper
The dearth of writing over the last few months has been chiefly due to a lack of motivation and general frustration with debating these issues with anybody. However, do not fear, my love of liberty has not been lost. I recently decided to paint as an occasional hobby and almost immediately those familiar black and yellow colours were flowing out of my (highly amateur) brush! If the logical part of my brain has been shying away from expressing my voluntarist ideals of late the creative part was clearly itching to come out and play. Maybe this is a lesson for all of us: if you’re feeling burnt out from always discussing philosophy logically perhaps expressing the things you deeply care about in a creative way will kick-start your passion? I’ve always felt that one of the main things our movement lacks is artistic vision. A movie as well put together as Zeitgeist but putting forth our own (far better–more coherent) ideas would probably have a far greater impact than 1000 talking head videos or blog articles mostly preaching to the converted.
With that said: I am not a painter. I post these because I think it came out okay and people seemed to appreciate my previous an-cap wallpapers. If there are any real artists out there (and I mean that far more broadly than painting, of course) then I strongly urge you to start thinking about ways you can use your talents to get across our message. We are overflowing with engineers and armour-plated logical arguments but in the real world it’s often art (propaganda?) which inspires emotions in people and it’s emotions that give people the reason to really delve into the academics of libertarianism. Saying that, the following painting and wallpaper will be of interest only to the already converted so do as I say, not as I do…
Full painting wallpapers
[1920 x 1200]
[1600 x 1200]
Detail wallpapers
[1920 x 1200]
[1600 x 1200]
Some preview pics:
August 18th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I like those paintings and I completely agree that there ought to be a more creative and passionate emphasis in advocating voluntarism. Too often it seems to me libertarian academics tend to be rather drab middle aged white men. That isn’t entirely true of course but I feel for what its worth that we need more firebrands, confident, animated and emotive advocates, whether it is in oratory, painting, music, non fiction or fiction (I would like to see more modern-day Ayn Rand types particularly in fiction.) When you read socialist literature or oration, despite the myriad problems with it, one thing that often never fails to shine through is the passion with which it is delivered. That much has always impressed me and I should like to see the same imbued into a libertarian context. I understand Stefan Molynuex is currently working on a documentary with the intention of having it (hopefully) go viral – a sort of voluntarist equivalent of the Kony video. That’s something we could get behind.
August 18th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
“Highly amateur”? I don’t think so! I really like the textures you’ve created on the canvas – it makes the symbol look battle-scarred but solid and enduring. :)
I would agree that graphic art (or music or fiction) can be a more powerful medium for communicating our ideas and deepest feelings about liberty than abstract theorizing (which can be a bit of turn-off for some people). Because art is a more indirect mode of expression, it can provoke an audience to become more open to understanding when they try to decode the meaning themselves. They’re not being fed the meaning; they have to work for it, and this affords some intellectual or imaginative satisfaction. Art forms also have the ability to communicate ideas in a disarming way, appealing to people’s sympathies as well as their reasoning, so the presentation of a subject can undo preconceptions. And artistry admits subtlety and nuance and idiosyncrasy in a way that sloganeering does not.
The iconography of the marketplace is a beautiful thing too, though people might dismiss advertising as “too superficial” to be real art. But I like to collect such images and I have a number of bottles, tins, and jars with iconic designs on display as ornaments on my shelves at home.
Contemporary artists have, of course, been plundering advertising art for the past 40 years, but I don’t know how far they appreciate it as a beautiful and socially beneficial thing in its own right – because it encourages commerce – and how far they’re just aping a style of art that communicates effectively, as a kind of postmodern “ironic” homage.
August 20th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
I feel inspired!
What a fascinating challenge it would be to create an artwork that expresses a complex idea. Would be challenging/comical to create one that encapsulated the need for a market in human kidneys. Maybe a beggar holding out a bowl with an x-ray image of their £30’000 kidney inside. Too literal perhaps?
September 27th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Good stuff. You might like this UK anarcho-capitalist / voluntaryist Union flag I made recently – https://twitter.com/Free_Caledonia/status/240555557046599680/photo/1/large
December 7th, 2012 at 3:04 am
I’ve used one of these for my Twitter account, I hope you don’t mind. It looks very good.
December 9th, 2012 at 1:01 am
Don’t mind at all. Flattered in fact!