jam @julem - Tumblr Blog

Beyoncé X Bionicle advert, Circa 2002.

Once when I was in undergrad, someone described something as “problematic” in class and our professor was like, “That’s cool, but ‘problematic’ doesn’t really mean anything. It means that the thing you’re describing has a problem, and in and of itself that’s not bad. Art, especially, should always have problems, or else it’s not interesting and not art, either. It sounds like you’re trying to say that this is bad, but you don’t want to say ‘bad.’ Is that right?”

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

Anyway. Whenever I see the word problematic, I can’t help but think of this professor being like, “Good starting point, now let’s get specific.” I think when we have to commit to saying “that’s ___” it requires a lot more careful thought about the truth and impact and complexities of whatever we’re claiming. Sometimes there really is some bullshit afoot, and also sometimes it’s art, and it should be full of problems, because that’s what art is.

hypokeimena

#'this is present in the text' is often a good first step #but those second and third ones (naming it; describing its function) are vital (via @elucubrare)

ros-sauce

"Cutes" is an autological word

ros-sauce

It's literally cutes...

importantcatpics

#z-fighting

estrogenesis-vaporeongelion

it's important to yell "fuck you kill yourself" at the tv advertisements to counteract the mind control

dajo42

it’s been ten years

geniusoflove

its been 12 years

shivshivshivvyyy

13 years

pinkthinkspalistineshouldbefree

14 years

momperlman-deactivated20251022

15 years

dammmithardison

16 years

thswrtchdthng

Loss is a dancing queen, young and sweet, only 17

logicoso

18. it’s now legally allowed to vote, drive and buy hard liquors in a lot of countries

jomjjeoro

hey guys. this is my invention. check it out

bastionkeeper

listen no matter how depressed I am whenever this post shows up on my dash I fucking lose it I just laugh so hard, it’s such a good post. The way it’s presented? Soap on a sink nozzle, okay clearly this is some sort of handwashing appliance. Then there’s just water going everywhere no further explanation it’s so good I’m so happy

atrusovaartist

acrylic, canvas 40*50 cm “jellyfish in the ocean” 2024 #artwork #acrylicpainting

kawaiichibiart

The results of my Drawing Drawfee Characters from Memory video:

The original designs:

In order, from what I think is best to worst:

Jacob Horse, Merobiba, Bobby Hill, Confident Arthur, York.

I want to do this again, it was a lot of fun. I'm considering Spheal and/or Todd (from Mario)) for the next one, but if y'all have any other characters in mind I should draw, feel free to suggest them :D