Contributism #1
Now many of you are thinking what in the world is Contributism? It literally just sounds like a word he made up. Well as a matter of fact Contributism is a word I made up, but so was Surrealism, Cubism, Impressionism, Romanticism, and all of the –isms out there.
Since the dawn of art history there has always been one artists name on a painting or sculpture. When we look at their beautiful works of art we see their vision and their vision only. We take their vision, consume it, and project it back onto the world. Yet the world we live in is not solely based on one person’s vision. The world is what it is today through the continuous addition of peoples visions throughout history. Contributism is the artistic reflection of that idea. The end goal of Contributism is to show every individual on this planet that they are co-creating this beautiful painting we call life. That whatever they end up doing with their life will be shown on humanities canvas. The size of the brush, the color of paint, the amount of paint, and the stroke itself, is all the individuals choosing.
You may be thinking how in the world am I actually practicing Contributism? I start off by bringing a canvas, easel, paints, palette, and brushes to a busy park, such as the Sculpture Gardens or to an Art Festival, such as the Excelsior Art on the Lake Festival. I have found artsy places to have the optimal results. I begin by setting the easel, canvas, and paints up. As individuals walk past my studio I kindly ask them to come and participate in humanities collective painting. I tell them about Contributism and how their life does have an effect, I show them it does by giving them a brush and have them see the painting change before their eyes. Some individuals look at the painting seeing the vision of many before them, some think for a long time, wondering what they can possibly add to this, some kindly decline saying that they can’t paint, and some simply don’t care. Says a lot about humanity, doesn’t it? For the brave individuals who take up their divine destiny they are presented with the tools needed. Each individual who sees the painting did not choose how the painting looks before they saw it, but they do choose the next step in the painting. This is a metaphor for the individual being born into this world, not choosing the past, but being able to choose the future. The next brush stroke on the collective canvas is the microcosm; your life’s contributions to humanities story is the macrocosm. The next step in humanities story is chosen by the collective visions of each individual on this earth.
In the end being a Contributist is about consciously knowing that your life does have an effect on this world. Contributism is about bringing the collective vision of many people together on a canvas to create an abstract and interesting painting, while simultaneously shows every individual that their life does have an effect on this world. Each individual should think long and hard on what sort of brush stroke they are putting on humanities canvas.
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