2022 Collab: Week 13 “Snowflake society" - CLOSED

[FedPete]

This is the Blender collaboration 2022, week 13 challenge. Don’t be afraid to join, a lot of us are beginners. This is all to practice, to have fun, to learn, and get together.

This week’s subject is “Snow flake society”.

• “Snowflake society” - … ? Blog: What Is Generation Snowflake?
• Subject selected by the previous week 11 "Water” winner: Mateusz

The rules are simple. 1 subject, 1 entry, 1 week.
You create whatever object or scene or whatever you can think of that has something to do with the subject. It can be as simple or complicated as you want, all entries are welcome!
Post your picture here in this thread. And at the end of the week, we start to vote. And if you are the winner, you may choose the next subject and win a unique badge.

Deadline: 2022-04-02T21:55:00Z

• Last week’s collab: Blender Collab: Week 12 “ Idioms ”
• Next week: Myths & Legends week 14.
• See all previous challenges in Hall of fame 2022
• Hall of fame 2021, 2020

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Subscribe or unsubscribe to this “BlenderCollab” group.

[NP5]

Very topical and will be interesting to see how it is portrayed.

[sezpul]

This is gonna be a fun one. Might hurt some feelings.

[bitpatio]

Not on the fee-fees!
I’m not sure if I’ll have enough time this week, but will try.

[Kasimir]

WIP - Concept

I think i came up with an interesting concept. I´ll do some more editing, details, lights and texturing during the week.

Problem:
I would really love to convey all those words more through geometry, figures and stuff, so that the scene is not so cluttered with text, which makes it unfocused in my eyes. At the same time i also like it. But to be honest i don´t have a clue how to do that effectively. Especially in that scene. I also have more of a writing background and i guess my whole thought-process works through words, text, speech, etc. I´m actually having a really hard time to convert thoughts into pictures, colors, geometry. So i´m interested in your opinions about that. Is implementing text in 3D-Art okay or is it frowned upon? How can i do it better?

If anyone wants to use/edit this concept for an own project, be free to do so, i´ll attach a dl for my .blend file. I´m curious what someone else might do with it.

life_road.blend

Have a great day

Kasimir

[bitpatio]

In my opinion it’s okay to have text in an illustration/render, but it should be kept to a minimum.

If you think about ads on billboards or comics, there’s only so much text you can fit into a picture or panel before turning it into something else and so much time to get a potential viewer’s attention.

Also, just like there are literary resources, there are resources in visual arts and by embedding walls of text you aren’t taking full advantage of the medium. I think you already understand that by turning the so called snowflakes into cars and life into a long road. You could push it further by making the road into a tortuous track, full of hazards and twisting left and right until it meets the horizon. That would eliminate the need for such a list of words on a perfectly straight road that wouldn’t really pose a challenge. You could also emphasize the visual methapor by making a stork stand carrying a bundle by the start of the road and the crosses of a cemetery by the end of it. Although following the metaphor of cars, wouldn’t then it be more appropiate to have shiny new cars coming out of a factory at the start and a scrapyard by the end?

The possibilities are endless but I hope you get my point.

[Kasimir]

Yes, got it. Thank you, that was some great advice! Guess i was being a little snowflake myself, clinging on to text, which i´m just more comfortable with^^

[Yee]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 1 hour unless flagged)

[bitpatio]

Interesting. That must be the most chill clip on the subject I’ve ever watched.
Thanks for sharing!

[sezpul]

Jordan Peterson was pretty decent on some topics but a bit of a gatekeeper.

[sezpul]

Uh oh, based_frog has entered the chat

[NP5]

Tough to make a scene for, so it is not good. Tried to convey the reality of the fact pc, snowflakism is actually a religious cult as demonstrated by their exact copy of things like blasphemy, ‘things that may not be said’. They are like Puritans breaking down art in churches, and witchfinders and burners of the unbelievers, and heavily entwined in the secular State as was the old day’s deity religions. Power to control the unbeliever to their doctrines.

They are Snowflake ‘creatures’’ made from a six pointed shape. (the sixth is used as a devil like pointy tail!) All in their ‘safe zone’ but attacking and haranguing the ordinary humans. Some hold a ‘pc’ bible, others a puritan/witchfinder style hat. Or a torch to burn the heretics. Some humans are gagged, a statute is being pulled down, and a human is due for the bonfire. etc. One human is falling for their doctrine and is melting in the human world! Their safe zone is a cold desolate Hel(Norse cold version) shaped as some points of a snowflake too, while the humans are in a sunny bright world.

It is a rubbish work, lol, just too complex and all encompassing. But largely avoided words!

[sezpul]

Great comment and art. I like that your image reminds me of a sweeping horde burning the landscape and salting the earth. Great work! I think this captures my feeling on PC that nothing good can be created from it, just tainting things that were once good. Tearing down things with nothing to replace them with. I like the six points and their representation of evil and other things that propagate the snowflake culture. A lot of symbolism in this piece, indeed. Would love to see it reach its full potential.

[Kasimir]

Hey NP5, hey everyone,

just got some thoughts according to the topic off my mind, because it was about time to write them down somewhere. Just happened to be on this platform. Maybe they are interesting for someone. But it´s a whole lotta text. If it´s too much, please just ignore. Hope it´s okay to post it here, even if they don´t have much to do with a blender scene.

TL;DR

Love your conept. Totally agree on the religious aspect. For your render: Maybe pick a single aspect of your concept and just visualize that, so there´s not so much going on in the scene (i love your idea of nebula around the „inquisition“)

Associations

Oof! I thought my own associations to the topic were already pretty dark and harsh. Haven´t seen it from this side yet, but i agree that there is a cultish ideology and also sect-like mechanics going on . It´s an interesting visualization and shows the act of perpetration. And i like that you show it covered in nebula, through which it connects with my own experiences and problems i have with the „snowflakish“ mindset. If you´re in that nebula, you can not take a single step in any direction that may not lead to punishment of yourself or someone else. Which leads to kind of a personal hell, in which the inner child just isn´t allowed to grow up.

My experience

My experience is, that those individuals (mostly) aren´t putting noteworthy harm directly onto others, but it often happens through totally „normal“ people as enablers who don´t see those sect-like mechanics as what they are and cater to the belief in an act of low-cost investment, shrouded in a fake cloud of tolerance, kindness and social responsibility. „It doesn´t hurt me to change my language a bit, but it shows that i´m a good guy“ (own workplace - marketing agency - just changed outbound marketing-communication to gendered language, but boss just sees it from a strategic viewpoint. Doesn´t see that the „inclusivity-rules“ he wants us to implement can change anytime and just make things much more complicateted for everyone, including his own life. Hasn´t experienced the negative side-effects himself yet.) And that´s the way the whole dogma finds its way into politics and the corporate world, where there lies the power to really make things change on a greater scale. For the better or the worse. I like my boss and my workplace, still, but now i wonder how long it can last. And i´m pretty experienced in being kind of a misfit myself, knowing how it feels to be cast out by groups while growing up for different stupid reasons. But after around a thousand kicks in my stomach (physical and metaphorical) it just doesn´t hurt anymore and i can live my life. So far.

Power in language

I believe that language/communication is one of the main-foundations of power and also enables us to find constructive solutions without inflicting too much physical harm on each other. Don´t believe in a bible, but i do believe in kindness, caring, sharing and mindfulness (not as laws, but to keep them in mind) - which are also traits you can find as an aspect of most religions. And that´s what i try to practice in my day-to-day life, since i don´t want to rely on anyone else to do it for me. Also think that this specific „blame-game“, which tries to make everyones life into a neverending walk on egg-shells, plays a role in a larger transhumanistic campaign and is deeply connected to many other ongoing themes. But i can´t specify exactly who or which group is all behind it. I see some of the acting parties and factions, but the real source of it seems shrouded. And then again, maybe i´m all wrong and just biased because of my own experiences.

Solution?

I have no solution but i know how i not want to treat the problem - through demonization and slander of its prey. To me that´s a pretty hard task on its own. Torches not only get lit on the neoliberal side. Let´s not jump to the conclusion that everyone who feeds the conflict is inevitably a dumb or evil person, no matter on which side of the topic they take part. And that goes for myself, too.

A positive experience

A while ago i had a discussion at a party. With someone who tried to shame me for not agreeing that i´m just a privileged white male who victim-blames a girl for telling her to better not leave her cigarettes laying around on the table, after they got stolen. First i was stunned because i never had such a weird encounter before. The moment i told her that it´s not wise to leave stuff in the open at partys, even if people seem nice, i got swarmed by her friends shouting at me. The one who shamed me for victim-blaming wasn´t even the one who got her cigs stolen (woman with missing cigarettes was an au-pair from south-africa and pretty smart, but her local clique did everything to „shine“ as perfect human beings). I told her that people at partys are often drunk and drunk people often do drunk stuff without having an evil intent behind it, and that i didn´t blame her but had to learn it myself the hard way to keep an eye on my goods when taking part in social gatherings. You have to be aware on your surroundings. Her answer: „No, you are victim blaming! This is exactly what victim blaming is! Do you think she´s dumb just because she is from africa?“. It got forth and back for a while, but not for long, since it was pretty exhausting for everyone. While fighting about true or false, black and white, naivity and theft - we all held our ground while sharing some more beers, even clinked bottles over some points we could agree on. After a while, it was about 5:00 in the morning, we decided to search for the local bakery. And on our way, the topics changed and we had a good breakfast altogether, one of her friends even took a naked bath in the nasty river nearby.

PS: Found out, that my best friend took the cigs and didn´t even remember. He can be an A** when drunk, he just stops thinking. Puts him in lots of trouble at times. But when he´s sober, i trust him with my life.

After all, most humans share the love for fun experiences and acts of togetherness. Maybe don´t fight each others political/ideological stance, but show compassion and willingness to talk on a peaceful level, even if it just works out in a fraction of the cases.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!
Kasimir

[Yee]

Great reading, I just think that the word religious is being misused here. As a society, we gave that word a bad connotation, but that’s wrong. Wellness and mindfulness, for instance, have a very deep connection to religious practices, and those aren’t bad nor evil, quite the opposite, they are extremely helpful, unless you take it to the extreme, which is exactly what we think of when we say the word “religious”, we think of an extremist, or better said a fanatic. Fanatism is the word that better describes what you were trying to say.

If anyone is interested, a professor of cognitive science at the University of Toronto, John Varvaeke, has this amazing series that tries to explain this behavior society is falling into, it’s quite interesting but it’s really, really long, it’s almost 50 hours long. The series is called Awakening from the Meaning Crisis.

The title of that series is quite interesting because it summarizes the reason why the snowflake generation exists, there’s a lack of meaning, that’s why we refuge inside these ideologies, they give purpose, meaning, and even better, higher moral ground by doing what Luigi does best, absolutely nothing. I’m not trying to imply anything with that Luigi meme, I’m not trying to say those generations, which I’m part of, are lazy or always looking for the easiest answer, just saying that the temptation is there and it’s huge, we should be really aware of that to not fall into a trap that can be very, very hard to get out of.

[Kasimir]

@Yee

I just think that the word religious is being misused here.

Agree, yet i have a little bit of my own definition of the words. What you describe as “Religion”, i would call Spirituality. I think we both are right in our own sense. And i absolutely agree with what you say about “lack of meaning”.

How i use to compare those two:

Beware - more text ;-)

Religion - to me - is always bound to the teachings of someone else and to a definitive message, which must be accepted and perceived as ultimate truth (God sees everything; heaven/hell exists). And a religion is also bound to a followship, which worships the belief and carries its message into the future and wider society (idea of expansion and conservation). The existence of religion itself depends on the existence of people who worship it. There is a hierarchy within those ranks of the followers, people whose voices have a smaller or larger impact on how the religion is practiced (follower/preacher/priest/…/pope). If there is a change in a single specific belief-system, it will come to a reformation and under-categories will be formed (catholic/evangelic/orthodox/…).

Spirituality - to me - is bound to the active and conscious act of making experiences in life and gaining wisdom out of those experiences (Just depending on the existence of an aware “self” and the willingness to foster the inner spirit/soul). It has to do with energy (which doesn´t need a name or human representative), and is never definitive. Every human (or animal) practicing spirituality can explore it on its own. There can be teachings/books/traditions, but they are not mandative. Only “truth” to accept: “I/We exist (in a way)”. So spirituality is closer to an open philosophy than to a religion. The only way to “gatekeep” spirituality, is to hinder beings from practicing it by forcing their focus on “other stuff” (which must not, but definetely can be part of religious worship). There´s no hierarchy of people, just a hierarchy of inner values. It must never change, but can also change anytime, since spirituality is also a progress, in which we integrate the learnings we make day by day by just being alive - so reformation comes from “deep” experiences and learnings, at the same time it is not a reformation, because change can be/is already part of it. And what i like most about it - some part of our spirit can live on far after our own existence, because we (sometimes) automatically pass it on to the people next to us, without them or us even noticing. And that goes without cryptic translations, statues, churches or preaching - learnings can be directly put to use (Yee commented back on a post, on a topic which i´ve been really eager to talk about with someone for a while but was in fear it´d be totally inappropriate at this place. I´m thankful and reliefed (probably not insane yet). There is something we share and that´s just great, so maybe i can do the same for someone else in the future). Whooops, now every little thing we do has suddenly a meaning

Thanks also for the hint on John Vervaeke, i´ll definetely check it out.

And noooow, i´ll finally continue to work on my render. Should have been more productive, but it´s also been a good choice to focus on other stuff i had to get done.

[sezpul]

Ok, so I am not going to have the time to finish this project but it more or less captures what I was going for. Lots of fun sculpting but had to cut a lot of corners. Here is what I was trying to convey regarding the snowflake society and PC culture.

1. Embracing a culture that champions every unique way of life, can end up celebrating lifestyles that are harmful.

2. When every one supports every thing for every reason they lose all of their own individuality. They do not actually STAND for anything so they FALL for everything. You ironically lose all of the things that make you unique and just become an empty vessel.

3. When culture and what is accepted changes so fast the ways of life, traditions and cultural norms that have worked for 1000s can be cast off. Those that adhere to more traditional or previously accepted ways of life and ideology now seem to be extreme when that does not seem to be the case. It creates boogey men out of people that are essentially in alignment with what all people, more or less, believed up until maybe 50 years ago.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[NP5]

Let’s be careful not to get into political rather than art/Blender critique here in this site please. Use the private message system if need be to talk to one another.

[Kasimir]

If i don´t upload another one, this is my final.

Disclaimer/Question:
Used a photo in the background, which is not mine. Think i found it on unsplash. Is using photos as background ok or is it generally a nono?