No Woman No Cry

Soon you will be able to view a presentation of my new work on my site http://www.ashermains.com/.

The idea behind this painting is that music creates an environment - a soundscape - and then we can experience the environment through music.
Music entangles and embraces, intertwines and is repelled, music is the air and the ground. In "No Woman No Cry" the music is in the sky and bounces off the sides of the buildings.
Music drapes over the crying woman. Unintelligible calligraphy are the song's lyrics as it constructs the world we experience.
Music represents the power to experience through others.

Through these paintings I want to give visual reference to aural cues. I want to help the viewer experience. I want to change the way you view your music.

Making a point to read

Following up on my last post I want to learn even more about Reggae specifically as a Caribbean artistic entity. Jamaica, through reggae, has exerted a force in global music only achieved by the UK and USA. Here are some books I'd like to make a point of reading in the future.

This of course is not an exhaustive list but a good starting point to reference. If you see any of these books, buy two and send me one :). Click the book covers to go to a more complete description of each title.

Tools of Decolonization

When I say "Decolonization" I do not mean a destruction of a place that was once colonized. Decolonization is the active reconfiguration of a society in the light of the debilitating effects of colonialism and now, neocolonialism. The extremely summed up version is that places that were colonized, specifically in this case the Caribbean, were not settled to be enriching centers of self advancement. All colonies were settled in order to benefit the country doing the colonizing. This ripple effect has produced a mentality that places like the Caribbean are second rate to places like the UK or USA. Once there was an agricultural bounty in the Caribbean and while that is still to some degree being taken advantage of - another problem is the intellectual harvest. Because systems had not been set up for intellectual advancement within the island, anything serious beyond secondary school needs to be done over seas. Once people have a university degree they begin a career path overseas that is non-existent back home. A lack thereof perpetuates a lack thereof. 

So there needs to be decolonization to be free from certain mentalities about self as dictated by colonialism.

My brief thoughts are on the use of music and art as tools of decolonization. Reggae music is rooted in the heart of decolonization. From the roots reggae supernovas like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Jimmy Cliff, and more we get music of resistance. Not accepting what colonialism has given the people. Reggae is intrinsically educative. A divergence from reggae in the Caribbean towards mainstream North American music would represent a loss of identity as an enriched Caribbean person. If I were an educator in the Caribbean I would consider making a survey of reggae, curriculum in schools.

Music in the Caribbean is all encompassing. Rhythm is ingrained and even speech patterns are musical. From the commentary style of Calypso, to which there is no real North American response, to the intense, percussive style of steel pan music, the Caribbean offers musically to the world something unique. Sometimes the things that are so pervasive are the things that escape your attention. Music needs to be taught in the Caribbean either explicitly or implicitly as a vehicle for mental emancipation. 

Art is another avenue where people from the Caribbean can show their colors. The beautiful scenes that flow from the brushes of Caribbean artists is seen by the international art community as shallow and kitsch; artistic panhandling to the aesthetic weaknesses of the unsophisticated tourist industry. One of the reasons however is that much of the art community has gone down the direction of a kind of deconstructionism. Art to them represents things that are dark and ugly and taboo - and to represent the beautiful scenes of the Caribbean is antithetical to what they perceive as art. 

It is more of a credit to the Caribbean artist that in spite of the centuries of oppression and the current neocolonialism structures that impede progress beauty is still pursued. Even more credit to the artists who love beauty because living in the Caribbean that is what you get! If Caribbean artists are to be criticized for not being cynical enough at the world around them then the Caribbean artists should be able to criticize the international art community for allowing their spirit to be broken. 

Music will rescue us. Art will rescue us. Jah will rescue us. 

This post is severely under-expounded, I will mostly likely bring up some of the topics again later. This is to serve as a cursory preface to my perception.