Pure Art : As good as it gets. New Zealand. Shihad - Pacifier

 Sensitive Political Art Rock Band who pull off popular rock rifts with heavy metal super star quality, Gets a big chance to go big in America with the full weight of the industry investing to make a buck. Early Focus groups were unhappy with the groups name, Shihad as it to them meant some kind of declared war by middle eastern people against Americans, so insisted that the name be dropped. Johnny Toogood, more that ready with an acceptable name - labeled the band, pacifier, blind siding the redneks with a title of their beloved missile, while firm socking them one to it, with the rubber babies nipple ALSO connotation. And what the actual lyric refer to explicitly. The single is released. There is a small atomic bomb that goes off in New Zealand, like some one farted, the name was mediafied as an insult to Kiwi staunchness, not standing up to the Austamericans. There fore a substandard product and now tarred with the brush of unpatrioticness, the spark falted the ignite failed to happen and sales in America never happened. America getting wind somehow of this unpatrioticness and insuring this mood would not infect it's host country. (sorry slaves). The subsequent video made for the supposed big cross over hit, was infact the bands most intelligent expression of the true possibilities that lied at the core of their gathering of a bunch of blokes. Most telling is the Duchampian dropping in the huge beautiful choice exhibited by Shihad to become pacifier and choose to recreate scenes from A Clock Work Orange. Clockwork Orange an important cultural mile stone of fine art achievement, from one of the mediums masters, Stanley Kubric is about the conditioning by hypnosis mass media use in response and to perpetuate social stagnation. A very important topic and not one that many directors would be able to articulate let alone know the people who would fund such a critical perspective. There's not that many people awake and still making money. How to catch them just as they wake up. See my new book opening up, on 5th Avenue, This saturday the 5th and 10 am. See you there. Art is rather scary when practices properly, there is risk involved when you dare to leave your self open for interpretation, this on the whole is also not how we predominantly experience communication. The norm is a series of orders, from our brain to our bodies, so too does society function on a set of instructions followed, learnt. Here with the example of shihads Brilliance of being all of the above, do the wheels fall off. For though they did opt for taking the bull by the horns, the only choice if you are to be that good, being from New Zealand, a culture that promotes it's greatest Fire Storm artists as harmless hobbiests, when it came to making the tough decesions, when it came to backing the integrity of the viewer, There was just no way Shihad had a chance, There is no way they could believe that an audience would appreciate the accuracy of the homage, the attention to controversal detail, means devotion to understanding and therefore a willingness to go into battle in the culture wars we now call the information age, and sell one for the ironists out there, those that have read a few books over the years and can tell when a plot is being followed by that curve ball over there, and that popcorn stand over there. New Zealand Art culture as it is managed and promoted, by the academic trainers in our uuhverseties, our public museums, the city art galleries and their flunky suck ups avoiding the task of real public engagement and the garenteed debate that goes along with it, (LAZY FUCKS): let down SHithad and pacifier. Let down the art movement. Destroyed the dreams of one band, of brothers, one dream of balanced paradise with hell. Surly left us in the hell shihad became after.. They still possess the grim genesis of genius, it's a crumb. But it's always enough if there's enough of us to get it. The sliding scale of grandeur, applies to literally everything.Another high tide wave of cultural maturity washing a single piece of treasure upon the ring road, and driven over,




















Lyrics:

You feeling good today
cause I got told that you were
smashed up on your own motorway
but it's O.K
the first upon the scene
a life support machine
but you still collapse as if you were an accidental star

Do you know what the time is
is it messing with your mind kid
are you hurting all the time
and you need a pacifier
come on, lets take a look outside

Don't look so worried you know
there ain't no hurry
cause life's supposed to ebb and flow
now you're all clear to go
and when you're out there
no, they can't catch you
precious star, you are the best at what you are

and do you know what the time is
is it messing with your mind kid
are you hurting all the time
and you need a pacifier
come on, lets take a look outside

come on, lets take a look outside