Tuesday, December 12, 2006

the theory of colors

the theory of colors
orange / tayyar
green / amal
blue / mustakbal
yellow / hizbullah
red & white / 14th of march
black / mourning

"and i am living on javel water"

18 Comments:

Blogger laure ghorayeb said...

on ne peut plus sympa et plus expressive.
tu m'as eu

1:59 AM  
Blogger mazen (old profile) said...

hahaha. je t'ai promis une vraie bombe! ça faisait un moment que tu me déprimais avec tes dessins.

2:22 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Je suis entièrement d'accord avec Laure :)
Quel défilé ridicule..

11:05 AM  
Blogger savonaroll said...

C'est gentil et bien vu mais de là à parler de vrai bombe...

2:00 PM  
Blogger bored said...

please please please please

get out of torino.

mish ma32ool, killo bil torino?????

7:03 PM  
Blogger mazen (old profile) said...

savo la bombe est une private joke entre laure et moi.

10:27 PM  
Blogger mazen (old profile) said...

i saw nayla :)

hello bill,

well, i must admit that i do not understand some of my art sometimes... fortunately laure and savonaroll are here to help.
but anyways, in the case of this specific drawing, i think you miss the point because it is very specific to the lebanese people. shortly, you cannot wear any color in lebanon today without being identified as a supporter of a party. which leaves you only with the white option, thus the javel water bottle (or bleach) in the last frame.

for the rest, the only thing i can do, on the net and in real life, is laugh about the shit we are living in (we as human beings, not as lebanee people).
the end of the world is already yesterday and nobody seems to notice.

8:53 PM  
Blogger Paul Illek said...

Hi Mazen
This drawing is great - so clear and humane,just what we all need.
Three weeks ago a friend's son was murdered for being from the wrong[?]of town.
This year has been shit in so many ways but a clear voice helps a lot.
with best wishes to all.
P

1:07 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hello Mazen,

I came to your blog in an attempt to better understand the Lebanese, post-war art movement, but what I've found is something far more precious.

Your work drips with emotion, fear, frustration; it places a human personality on the AP/Rueters photographs we've all come to accept as Lebanon. I can assure you, the American media paints a much different portrait of the conflict.

I see from your writings that you and I have a few disagreements, but that matters little. I urge you to keep drawing, writing, playing, and to be safe while doing so.

I hope to present your drawings on my blog, http://othersite.org, which is oriented around politics/humanitarian artwork. I understand your hesitation in calling your work political, but I urge you to let interpretations be open. It's often best for the artist to let the observer experience the image in a personal way.

Keep up the terrific work.

8:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

your drawings leave me often without words. but always with a warm heart. your blog is one of the best places to find portraits of freedom-of-thought. thank you, mazen.

11:03 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i saw some pictures of you the other day. you are a very handsome man ;-)

3:05 PM  
Blogger Sixtine said...

Suivant les conseils de Laure, j'ai écumé tous les coffee shop d'Amsterdam et regardé sous toutes les tables....
Je ne t'ai pas trouvé.... mais je te laisse imaginer l'état dans lequel j'étais ! rireeeeeee
Amitiés,

Sixt'

6:01 PM  
Blogger m.i. said...

time to give up on the javel water - did you see the Kataeb swearing-in ceremony?

1:26 AM  
Blogger MUMU ZUZU said...

p'tit conseil: il reste le violet, c joli le violet... enfin... juste au cas ou t en panne d'eau de javel.

11:06 PM  
Blogger mazen (old profile) said...

hello everybody and sorry for not posting and/or answering comments for a while (and emails! for those of you who send emails |AND check the blog). i'm actually drowning under work to start / continue / finish. i'll try to upload a bunch of new drawings tomorrow.
meanwhile, since i took a couple of minutes of break to write this comment, i'll take some more to say at least:

to bill,
you are lucky to live in a country where it is so easy to understand the meaning of colors! more seriously, it sounds more frightening for me to live in a country with only two parties than in one where each ten persons form a party. actually i think the biggest problem of today's politic in lebanon is this duality installing itself smoothly but surely. no other otption than supporting the one you feel is "less worst". i still fight with my javel water bottle for the moment, but our friend the rambler just reminded me the terrible shock i got when i turned on my TV on sunday and saw more than 4000 kataeb (phalangists) wearing white to swear -in the party! i must find a new way out. maybe go naked?

to nayla,
well, ALL the shit. from irak and palestine to the rise of the right and extreme right wing in europe, passing by the new world evangelisation launched by mr george bush and mr benedictus sixteen, the rise of the islamic fanatism (also launched by mr bush in a way), the arab and african countries' dictatoships (and the russian, and chinese and american "soft" - or "civilised" fascism), the hunger and poverty everywhere, the whole planet becoming more and more a huge trashcan...
and i do not talk about the rise of the euro and the fall of the pandas.
fortunately we got rid of pinochet (who it seems was still able to hurt some leftist by trying to hit them with his wheel chair).

to m.i.m.
thank you for your words.
it is good to know that you appreciate my work, especially when one knows your consterning bad taste in people :)

to sixtine,
il fallait regarder au-dessus des tables. carrément 2 mètres au-dessus. collé au plafond.
content de te lire pour une fois ici. attention, laure va te faire unne crise de jalousie.

to rambler,
stop reminding me of these 4000 white t-shirts. i thought it was a joke when i put my TV on on sunday.

finally to "other" and all the other new comers to this blog,
welcome!
yes please, do use the drawings. in a reasonable way though (a couple of them and with a link to the blog if ossible) and on condition there is no political and/or commercial affiliation to the website where they'll be posted.

more soon.

12:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

mazen,
you just made me laugh :-D

9:32 AM  
Blogger Sixtine said...

Pffffffff, fils dénaturé et en plus mauvaise langue ! Rireeeeeee
1°) Laure est au dessus des bassesses de la jalousie
2°) C'est pas parce que je n'écris pas que je ne viens pas lire et savourer tes dessins !
En revanche, j'ai bien noté : lever les yeux pour te trouver... Nous partagerons nos bonnes adresses la prochaine fois.
Bonne continuation, l'enfant terrible....
Amitiés,

Sixtine

P.S. : Quand tu fais quelque chose à Paris, merci de prévenir le fan club

10:23 AM  
Blogger Elsa said...

J'aime la plupart de tes dessins, mais tout particulièrement celui-ci :)

1:08 AM  

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