Description

THE MAGIC POTION

August 2024, Paris

The Magic Potion. August two thousand twenty-four. And I was painting Obelix. Obelix and Dogmatix. Asterix characters. French comic. Goscinny Uderzo. European childhood. Classic. And Obelix bathing in oil slick. Motor oil. Petroleum. Not water. And Obelix’s belly open. INSIDE. American V8 engine. Cylinders pistons. Mechanics. Obelix equals car. Machine. Petroleum addiction. And Dogmatix faithful dog with him. Blind accomplice. And brilliant allegory. ESSENTIAL KEY revealed. Not explosive belt. BREADS. Parisian baguettes. And here same. Subliminal strategy. Funny Asterix story. For viewer finds himself meaning. Petroleum metaphor. Magic potion modern world. PETROLEUM. Asterix episode. Obelix fell BABY into cauldron magic potion Getafix. Permanent strength. Forbidden drink more. “No Obelix you already your dose.” Frustration jealousy. Others drink he no. Transposition. Obelix equals West America. Fell petroleum nineteenth twentieth. Explosive industrial growth. Permanent military economic power. TOTAL DEPENDENCE. V8 engine equals heart petroleum civilization. Mechanical life. Blood gasoline. Impossible live without. Obelix’s selfishness equals West’s selfishness. “Me already my petroleum dose you poor countries won’t have.” Resource hoarding. Dogmatix faithful dog. Multiple symbolism. USA allied countries. Western citizens. OR betrayed ecology. Dogmatix comic equals ecologist cries trees. But here bathes maximum pollution. Western green hypocrisy. Vintage telephone toys. PLASTICS. Solidified petroleum. Daily life surrounded petroleum liquid and solid. Gentle pedagogy. Viewer sees Obelix childhood smiles. Then sees motor oil. Then understands PETROLEUM equals potion. Then reflects dependence. Active discovery not imposed message. Maximum impact not defensive.

I remember August two thousand twenty-four, and three months after I painted “Red Line” May, Ukraine war continues twenty-nine months since February two thousand twenty-two, and modern wars equal petroleum wars, Iraq Libya Syria Ukraine Russian gas Gaza offshore gas, and summer two thousand twenty-four heat records again, European heat waves, visible climate crisis, and yet petroleum consumption continues, gasoline diesel cars, plastics everywhere, and unbearable contradiction, and me sixty-one years old, and idea came, paint Obelix, petroleum metaphor, and Asterix story known all, Obelix fell baby magic potion cauldron, permanent superhuman strength, and forbidden drink potion again, and frustration that, and perfect transposition, West fell petroleum nineteenth industrial revolution, coal then petroleum, explosive growth, permanent superhuman power, and total dependence, impossible live without, and forbidden continue, climate crisis, but West like Obelix, refuses stop, wants dose again, addiction, and other countries want also, China India, but West says no, “me already my dose, you won’t have,” selfishness, and war control resources, and petroleum magic potion modern world, gives power, but also dependence destruction, and painting idea, Obelix bathing motor oil, belly open V8 engine, and playful nostalgic, Asterix childhood, but deep critical meaning, and subliminal strategy, viewer discovers alone metaphor, not imposed, and effective that, gentle pedagogy.

And I started painting, format one hundred by one hundred fifty horizontal, aluminum not canvas, hard cold permanent surface, and composition Obelix Dogmatix center, bathing motor oil slick, and Obelix recognizable character, fat, blue white striped breeches, belt, blond mustache braids, and jovial innocent expression, and Dogmatix small white dog, black ears, and both in motor oil, black brown greenish color, thick viscous texture, and splashes splatters, and Obelix belly OPEN, and inside visible, and American V8 engine, recognizable, eight cylinders in V, pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft, and detailed mechanics, and symbolism fusion flesh machine, Obelix equals car, mechanized human, dependent petroleum, and open belly surgery autopsy, reveals interior, and hidden truth, under flesh engine, under humanity appearance machine, and Dogmatix with him, bathes also, accomplice, and around objects, vintage bakelite black telephone, plastic toys, and all plastics, solidified petroleum, and motor oil everywhere, extended puddle, pollution, and palette ochres browns oranges blacks, petroleum colors, and few color touches Obelix, blue white breeches, pink flesh, and contrast life colors versus black petroleum death, and diffuse light, no visible sky, indeterminate environment, oil puddle entire space, and centered composition, Obelix Dogmatix protagonists, secondary objects, and gaze attracted toward open belly engine, shock revelation.

And rich symbolism, Asterix comic European childhood, collective memory, and Obelix loved character, kind strong naive, and here diverted, subversive critique, and Asterix story, Obelix fell baby magic potion, accident, and now permanent strength, but also frustration, forbidden drink again, and jealousy others drink, and desire have more, and petroleum transposition, West fell petroleum nineteenth baby modern civilization, and now permanent strength, economic military growth, but addiction, and forbidden continue, climate crisis, but desire have more, and jealousy other countries want also, and West refuses share, hoards, and Obelix’s selfishness, “me already my dose,” equals West’s selfishness, and V8 engine America symbol, muscle cars, power, and also waste, excessive consumption, and engine in Obelix’s belly, fusion flesh machine, human become machine, dependent petroleum to live, blood become gasoline, and impossibility live without, stop engine equals die, and total addiction, and Dogmatix accomplice, in comic Dogmatix ecologist, cries cut trees, and here bathes pollution, ecology betrayal, and multiple symbolism, Dogmatix equals USA allied countries follow, or Western citizens accomplices, or hypocritical ecology, green appearance but bathing petroleum reality, and objects telephone toys, plastics, solidified petroleum, daily life surrounded petroleum, liquid and solid, and motor oil puddle, pollution, oil slick, ecological catastrophe, and Obelix bathes in it, not disturbed, smiling, unconscious, and there critique, West bathes pollution unconscious smiling, and until crisis forces stop.

And brilliant pedagogical strategy, use funny Asterix story, familiar reassuring, to make viewer discover critical metaphor, and process, viewer sees painting, recognizes Obelix, smiles nostalgia, then looks details, motor oil, open belly engine, and interrogation, why, and reflection, and progressive understanding, ah, magic potion equals petroleum, Obelix equals West, dependence addiction, and active discovery, viewer arrives alone to understanding, not imposed, and maximum impact, because appropriation, and not defensive, because playful, and gentle pedagogy, effective, and difference with brutal frontal messages, and here Magic Potion August two thousand twenty-four playful nostalgic but deep critique, and variety strategies, sometimes brutal sometimes gentle, according subject, and petroleum sensitive subject, all accomplices, all consume, and frontal critique makes defensive, and playful critique invites reflection, and August two thousand twenty-four I chose playful strategy, Obelix, and success that, viewer smiles then understands then reflects, and perhaps changes behavior, reduces consumption, votes ecology, and art can that, transform thought behavior, not directly, but subliminally, planted seeds germinate.

And context August two thousand twenty-four, petroleum dependence, violence, selfishness, and logical progression, May violence, August cause violence, and also summer heat records, visible climate crisis, and yet consumption continues, and contradiction, and painting denounces that, but with humor, and comparison other works, “Home,” painted March two thousand twenty-five seven months after, bear logs destroyed nature, and “Magic Potion” cause destruction, petroleum plastics, and “One Vincent” June two thousand eighteen six years before, art market critique, joyful self-irony, and “Magic Potion” same, petroleum critique but playful, and self-irony “I’m looking for myself ha ha,” and here also, we all seek magic potion, miracle solution, but petroleum potion, and dependence, and seek other potion, renewables, but difficult transition, and West like Obelix, refuses release potion, addiction too strong, and painting shows that, Obelix smiling bathing oil, and we smile consuming petroleum, and until catastrophe, and Obelix fell baby cauldron, accident, and us also, industrial revolution history accident, and now dependence, and how exit, and open question, painting poses not resolves, and art role pose questions, witness, and August two thousand twenty-four Magic Potion testimony petroleum dependence, playful deep critical joyful, and effective subliminal strategy.

And pictorial technique, oil on aluminum, unusual cold hard permanent support, and thick impastos, broad brush strokes, and Obelix Dogmatix painted bright colors, blue white pink, recognizable, and motor oil black brown thick, viscous texture, paint material imitates real oil, and detailed V8 engine, cylinders pistons, precise mechanics, and objects telephone toys, careful details, and dominant palette ochres browns blacks oranges, petroleum colors, and bright color touches Obelix contrast, life versus death, and diffuse light, no precise source, indefinite environment, oil puddle absolute space, and centered balanced composition, Obelix Dogmatix focus, and gaze attracted belly engine, revelation, and horizontal format allows puddle lateral spreading, and size one hundred fifty, quite large, Obelix almost life-size, confrontation, and August two thousand twenty-four I painted several weeks, each detail careful, Obelix recognizable, realistic engine, and pleasure paint that, Asterix nostalgia, and also serious message, and double level, playful and deep, and finished painting, signed dated, The Magic Potion 2024, and hung studio, and Obelix smiles, bathes oil, and reminds us, we also bathe petroleum, and dependence, and until when, and climate crisis, and approaching catastrophe, and Obelix unconscious, and us also, and painting warning, gentle but clear, magic potion petroleum, gives strength, but destroys, and addiction, and exit how, and open question, and forever August two thousand twenty-four, forever Magic Potion Obelix, forever petroleum potion modern world, forever dependence addiction, forever V8 engine belly, forever fusion flesh machine, forever oil puddle pollution, forever Dogmatix accomplice, forever betrayed ecology, forever plastics everywhere, forever West fell petroleum baby, forever selfishness hoarding, forever “me already my dose,” forever subliminal strategy, forever gentle pedagogy, forever viewer discovers alone, forever playful deep, forever Asterix childhood nostalgia, forever joyful critique, forever gentle warning, forever Magic Potion.