go 4 change!

SLOVENŠČINA

in the high school curriculum of my generation and my surrounding there was even marxism. at that time, i did not think much of it. politics and social struggle were far out of my interest range. in my recent study, however, i came across the name of karl marx again. surprise of surprises, it was in the subject of biblical hermeneutics - science of interpreting the bible, finding its true meaning).

well, i am not going to write here about marx's views comprehensively :), but let me mention his belief that philosophy, religion and art are merely ideological superstructures of economic realities. so, what you think of my art is, according to marx, true only if you can connect it to the socio-economic situation i live in? now, will you tell me what your conclusions are, and why?

in his theses on feuerbach, marx stated that philosophy only interpreted the world. the interpretation brings about understanding, and understanding, in turn, must produce change. although marxism is said to be an opposition to hegel's idealism, (and indeed his course is philosophical materialism; please note that i do not intend to enter into deep philosophical debate i am not competent for, but just use the same terminology to point to rather superficial meanings) this part about the inevitable change where there is understanding is, in a sense, a naive stance. of course, it took much incitations and even manipulation to bring about the social revolution, and then, after decomposition of the communist and socialist regimes due to the poor economic environment it produced, one could ask, why were the revolutionary forces able to survive only by using repression and terror. what kind of “understanding“ and  “truths“ the proletariat was fed with to maintain the status quo? marx's contention about bourgeoisie producing its own grave-diggers proved a reality for the socialist moguls and societies as well.

no true change in society is possible without personal change. communists have the same corrupt heart and selfishness as everybody else. somebody recently said in essence: “if the ideology and socio-economic well-being in former socialist countries were ideal, why people fled out and nobody escaped the 'inferior' capitalistic and imperialistic societies to find a haven in romania or german democratic republic? so in every type of society there is the same danger lurking in ourselves.

it takes much more than information or intellectual agreement to be willing to change. it takes courage and determination, moral integrity and the ability of critical thinking which implies action, not just understanding. and it takes the power from above. jesus said: “if you stay joined to me, and i stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. but you cannot do anything without me.“ (john 15:5, contemporary english version; the fruit here referred to is every kind of noble and decorous deeds)


so, what do you think of changing yourself? no motivation? no hope? how about joining to the source of power you can do nothing without?


this is what developed while i was contemplating the new set of letters needed to compose a sign to be printed on some t-shirts. the metameaning of what you can see above is: why not this summer? and why not whatever change (x) you need the most? go for it! even if you are in maribor, slovenia!


but ok, i will explain the first meaning of what you see. there will be some activities of medical students from eu (if i am not mistaken) in maribor. one of them who called me 'daddy' for this purpose (although he never calls me that, but simply 'dad'; and this ought to be sth in our family for just about the same time his brother called me the same, and asked me to translate his baccalaureate certificate) and got me to think of the t-shirt he would wear.

it started with basically two lines. the figure was vaguely planned to be put somewhere between, or even on -  as a transparent element). but, obviously, one e was in excess, so the first one was erased. now, the x needed to be highlighted in some way. i chose to do it using a different font, size (augmentation) and position (rotation).

it was too big then, and i tried four rows. after adjusting the kerning, i gave thought to the number. somehow now that i had worked with the x, zeros completed the association - the tic-tac-toe game. the idea was that the decision to participate is a winner. (the number is readable, all right! proven. i asked my youngest son to tell me what he saw, and he did see it. if you do not, i must have asked a wrong person for help.) /sorry, vesna! i ended with your smiley. can you see now that it must be a bit more elaborate, anyway?/