Harold Arthur McNeill
Artist Extraordinaire
Can you tell us what initially sparked
your interest in art?
At earliest memory I was compelled to create. True art is
borne of inner necessity. Its misuse by predatory
commercialism is a spiritual prostitution promoted
by the soulless who have but one virtue, mortality.
In some respects the inner motive of art may be
akin to the birth of a pearl, a response to the tension
of mere matter for those who have souls.
Not all is art, not all have souls.
The modern heresy that all have souls is was even
rejected by the Gnostic gospels of the Nag Hammadi
Library, where it was said; "there are many animals
in human form, do not esteem them as men, for as animals devour each other, so do they."
It is conveyed in that more reliable reference to the spirit of Christ than the counterfeit Jesus
of the church, that man can be divided into three groups; those who know
by revelation and creation like the sun, those who think by mere
calculation and reflection like the moon, and lastly the hateful
relativistic soulless who it was then said will be burnt up so nothing will be
left of them.
It is this pernicious weed that smothers the roses of the soul, found
in all races, and are the root of much that is evil. In the garden of
life one must have the courage to pull the weeds, this tough love is
actually best for their karma. Throughout the ages I see the absolute
relativist who measures by quantity in an ancient battle with the relative
absolutist whose measure is quality. These words will be understood by
the latter, to quote Blake; "as a man is, so he sees." Art is the
truest theology of authenticity and thus more spiritual than n. There is
more ego than god in religion. Dogma is to life what arthritis is to
dance.
You seem to be a Renaissance Man in the sense that you have many
disciplines such as drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and
philosophical poetry. Can you elaborate on how you are able to explore so many
artistic avenues?
All is ripe for improvement; much has yet to be born. There are no
boundaries to the creator, art transcends morality. I have been fortunate
to have things be obvious to me thus needing no training to realize my
objectives. Though I enjoy photography I do not draw from such, but
rather occasionally recreate my work with models.
I have a horror of copying, even my own photos, but know Von Stuck
produced great work in that manner thus am not dogmatic as to the validity
of that approach in some cases. My limited foray into music over 20
years ago can be heard by clicking on the word republic on the bio page
of thirdcamelot.com, which can also provide a sense of how I have
approached oratory in the past.
The world is polluted by art school monkeys whose inner poverty matches
the inauthenticity of commercialism. It is a disaster to place the
culture of a nation into the hands of advertising, as pedophiles should
not run daycare centers. I can be very critical of my work and appreciate
your kind words, given your own artistic achievements and character.
Your work seems to have an influence of Art Deco and Third Reich
aesthetics. Is this a fair statement or does the influence come from
elsewhere?
I consider influence to be separate from inspiration. I resonate with
some timeless aspects that have manifested in the past because they were
within me from birth. Influence is corrupt, inspiration divine. True
man is not a product of history, history at its best is the product of
true men. Authenticity above conformity. What is real is above time,
newness is the fetish of mediocrity.
To address any curiosity as to my view of the Third Reich that may
arise; National Socialism had many strengths such as realizing that man
does not exist to serve capital, capital exists to serve man, but it
became in my view too like what it fought.
Master Race is too like Chosen People for my taste. The absurd
contradiction of racial hatred is in blaming someone for their nature as if it
was a choice, racial awareness enables one to understand and thus
preserve diversity. You do not get apples from orange trees, yet it is
stupid to hate either, nor does one have to like either, all is a matter of
taste and its freedom. Projected equality is as much a prejudice as
projected inequality.
Fresh water fish do poorly in salt water aquariums, that is why diverse
environments consecrated to diverse natures maximizes true diversity
and health of all. One would not wish to go to a paint store for green
paint, and be told that it was thought it might be unfair to the other
colors if they could not be in the same can, so instead of diverse
choices you were left with only a pinkish puke grey in every can. Equality
murders diversity.
This sentiment was also expressed by another of my favorite authors,
Heinrich Heine, a Jewish author I have often quoted to those who seem to
fall into what I call Aryan Zionism. To overcome the global cancer of
multinational capitalism it may take a new multinational socialism,
where upright nobles of all races unite to secure a world that honors
differences without losing them. All that was good from the past is holy in
such a cause, beyond fear and greed. Suppression of symbols or
aesthetics because of past misuse would put the Christian cross on the top of
the list if one went by body count over time.
An amusing quote by that pioneer of family values, Charles Manson
comes to mind; �the cross of iron is above and beyond the cross of wood."
One does not overcome the past by allowing it to determine the future.
Compromise corrupts.
Your poetry echoes a cynical bent. Is this based on your observations
and experiences, or is it wrought from similar thoughts other
like-minded philosophers such as Nietzsche, Ayn Rand and others that you happen
to agree with?
I do not consider myself cynical, for the cynic is the smug accessory
to his own murder. Humility forbids pessimism, success demands realism.
One must not make a fetish out of a heartbeat if one is to serve
quality and thus life in its highest potential.
Nietzsche was exposed to me in high school by an instructor who
thought much I expressed by my nature to be similar. My favorite Nietzsche
quote; "one must have chaos in ones self in order to give birth to a
dancing star." Rand is good in only some respects, the value if the
individual's authenticity especially, but is a bit too materialistic in other
ways.
My favorite Rand quote; �the first person who invented fire was
probably burnt at the stake he taught his brothers to light." I appreciate
even those who I do not agree with if they are true to themselves. To
quote Blake; "opposition is true friendship." Or Nietzsche; "the surest
way to corrupt and destroy a youth, is to teach them to hold in esteem
those who think alike rather than those who think differently."
Does the work of H.P. Lovecraft play a role in your sculptures beyond
your excellent examples of Cthulhu as you see him?
In sixth grade I discovered Lovecraft and often was inspired to do my
best to render his visions in visual mediums. Later I found we were of
similar perspective on other matters. My favorite Lovecraft quote; "art
is not something we set out to do, but something that sets out to come
through us."
Your women are usually depicted of the era of a Weimar Republic cabaret
and many others share the sentiment that this type of woman is the
ultimate in an erotic archetype. Care to elaborate?
I feel that many of my images are not of that timeline, especially the
more mythological ones. I see the dance of the female through time, and
value the most what I define as the solar woman who does not need to
revolve around another for an identity.
The light of the soul is one, but the moon steals hers from the sun. I
try to be compassionate for those whose character is limited by
evolutionary biology, but they can end up hating me for seeing past their
clitoral flatulence.
The exception is what I try to define woman by, as bad painting should
not define art. When disappointed bu cannabelles I have wondered if;
man has soul, woman has spirit, women eat souls, so men drink spirits.
Or if carnivorous plants were named after Venus for a reason. I am
eternally grateful to the exceptional women I know who deliver me from
misogyny.
Nor am I less critical of lunar men, and harshest of all towards my own
faults, this harshness likely being another fault. If I did not have a
sense of humor I would have a body count, though one can have both.
Regarding any erotic archetype or ideal, the following thoughts come to
mind. Form should serve content, not be its substitute. There is no
beauty without depth.
In art one may arrive at certain preferences as to form, but in life I
would rather deal with someone thick in the waist than thick in the
head.
Night clubs can be populated with retarded Barbies that seem like the
nature channel meets the special Olympics, bringing to mind Oscar
Wilde's definition of fox hunting; " the unspeakable in pursuit of the
uneatable." Though some Barbies have neglected depth, and there are gothic
wax apples with none.
Union should not be a Freudian farce but give birth to new ideals
specific to the essence of both individuals, all else is a sad meat puppet
role playing game for the weak of mind and shallow of heart. Love
should be a windstorm that overpowers prior notions like so many leaves,
where only what is false is sacrificed, and the ego is left at the temple
door.
In other interviews, you seem compelled toward the subject of your own
demise. Does this translate into why you create as a juxtapose to your
own destruction?
I find that when one is fighting for life and closest to death, you
can reach past life to the starry dance of the archetypes. A passion for
self destruction was mine from birth, and from this tension I create my
best work.
I often feel like a pearl diver who never knows if I will make it back
to the surface every time I begin a work. One must know hell to create
heaven. Lao Tzu once said; "yearn for death with your whole heart, and
live forever." Or the often misrepresented Crowley; "die daily." Or
to quote Lautramont; �the charm of death exists only for the brave." Or
Baudelaire; "stoicism is a religion with but one sacrament, suicide."
Let the one without neurosis cast the first diagnosis.
What does the future hold for you as an artist and is there a place for
Harold Arthur McNeill as a person in this world of the present and the
future?
Undetermined, as yet. I sometimes have enough mood swings for a god's
playground, and am not suited to exist for only my own sake. I will
likely endure as long as I am of value to those I can respect, and have as
many defined concepts for future governments as any other medium, and
as with any medium all is determined by the quality of available
materials.
An authentocracy may elevate America above the corporate two step of
the degenocrats and ripofflicans. When nation�s capitols are no longer
red light districts where whores run for office, leaders may come to
power. Serving the interests of all that is best in true mankind is a
sacred cause.
To quote Theodore Roosevelt; "the greatest good for the greatest
number also applies to the unborn in the womb of time, of which the present
generation is an insignificant fraction." I have mentioned many quotes
to share value and enfranchise others to that value given public
education, no author represents me totally or I would not be an individual. I
will finish with two by Napoleon; "war is the coward's solution to the
problems of peace." And lastly by Napoleon; "imagination rules the
world."