Is life so dear, or peace so sweet,
As to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God.
I know not what course others may take; but as for me,
Give me liberty or give me death!

This is a portrait of Patrick Henry. Those are his words above the portrait. He spoke them in an old church in Richmond, Virginia, a mile or two away from where SurfingtheSpectacle resides. Henry was an orator, a statesman, a patriot who spoke of freedom with tremendous passion.

It was the age enlightenment, of reason, of revolt. With the French Revolution and the American Revolution, ideas of freedom, equality and brotherhood spread through the land. These kind of grand notions might get a man thinking.

Especially if he were a slave.

Gabriel was a slave. In the year of 1776, he was born as someone else’s property. But he made sure he died his own man. No one ever made a portrait of him.

Gabriel wanted liberty; they gave him death. It was early October when they hanged him. You can go to the place he was killed. It’s now a parking lot.

The story goes that Gabriel had worked as a blacksmith, and his master hired him out from time to time. This gave him some mobility. He could talk and drink with Richmond’s slaves, free negroes and working class whites. They all wanted change. There was talk of injustice, of revolution. Ten years before in Haiti, the rule of the slave masters had been overturned. Why couldn’t it happen here?

Now was their time. Gabriel was strong, educated, persuasive. A natural leader. He slowly hatched a plan, gathered his forces and amassed weapons. His hope was to take over the city in bloody fashion, kidnap the Governor of Virginia and begin to negotiate a new order of racial and economic equality.

In 1800, he led what is considered the first major slave rebellion in American history. Thousands of slaves were in on the plan. But the night of the revolt, a ferocious storm ensued, washing out roads and bridges. The plan was delayed a day, but in that time, all was lost. It’s said that two slaves informed on the rest, and the state militia came together to hunt down all the leaders of the rebellion.

This is a portrait of James Monroe. Before he became the 5th American president, he was the Governor of Virginia. He was the one that called out the militia to quash the slave revolt. When Gabriel was in chains, Monroe questioned him.

It must have been extremely awkward for many of the founding fathers, daring to fight for liberty, expressing it in the most eloquent and forceful ways, and then going home to their estates and their family wealth, all of it utterly dependent upon slave labor. Yes, extremely awkward.

According to Governor Monroe, the interrogation proved uneventful. Gabriel “resolved to say but little on the subject of the conspiracy.” Nor did his companions betray a word about the rebellion. The accused slaves carried themselves with a dignity that white observers found frightening.

One of the accused made these remarks during the trial:

“I have nothing more to offer than what General Washington would have had to offer, had he been taken by the British and put to trial by them. I have adventured my life in endeavouring to obtain the liberty of my countrymen, and am a willing sacrifice to their cause. And I beg, as a favour, that I may be immediately led to execution. I know that you have pre-determined to shed my blood, why then all this mockery of a trial?”

On October 10, 1800, Gabriel and other slaves were hanged in the city gallows.

A week before the execution, very close by in Southhampton, Virginia, a boy was born into the world. He was black, a slave. He would also have something to say about liberty and death.

His name was Nat Turner.

Michael Dickinson is a very rude man. He creates unpleasant images.

His work is tedious. It’s preachy. It’s pretentious. Oh, children are starving. Oh, goodness. Oh, voracious consumption is bad. Oh, woe is me. Oh, our values are debased.

Give me a break. It’s easy to see why he’s hardly a blip in the Art World. Sure, there may be some talent here. Some sense of aesthetics. Perhaps he could start doing something more…abstract. Something powerful.

But no. He keeps doling out the same old crapola. His depictions of American foreign policy can be most tiresome. Of course, we’re all against torture. We don’t wish to hurt people. But in the neverending war against global terrorism, we’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

Perhaps many, many, many eggs.

And to show American leaders in such an unflattering light? That’s libelous. And just plain wrong. Dickinson has a particular obsession with President George W. Bush. What’s Bush ever done to him?

Nothing, that’s what. But still Dickinson makes his disagreeable implications.

Historically, photomontage has been used for powerful political expression and outrage. But that was then. Back in history. When Hitler walked the streets, and the world was a terrible, terrible place. Now it’s far more complicated. We need some courtesy. Some restraint. We need afffirmative images. Positive things. Not offensive depictions that no one cares about in the slightest.

Dickinson has even created scenes that reveal his own dark fantasies – clearly something that no respectable artist should indulge in.

One can only ask, how can this madman be stopped? You’ll be relieved to know that the Turkish government may have found an answer. More on that next time.

We live in an age of empty signs, of meaningless gestures. An age of profound vacancy. The celebrity culture that millions tremble before shocks the imagination with its sheer tedium, pretense and toxic self-absorption.

Thank God, then, that a paragon of substance and spirit can still emerge upon the barren landscape. I speak of the incomparable Paris Hilton. Few can live a life of integrity, commitment and creative imagination, but somehow Ms. Hilton does it each and every day.

It is now possible to watch videos of her every movement on YouTube where she has her own glorious channel. The other day, for instance, I saw her buy a puppy. It was very beautiful. She has also released a glorious album. I heard this one song called Fighting Over Me. It has played more than 908,000 times on her MySpace page. It is very beautiful.

But some people want to destroy all that which holds goodness and beauty.

These people are frequently called “artists.” One gentleman goes by the name of Banksy. Not his real name I bet. He has replaced hundreds of Ms. Hilton’s CDs in the UK with his own doctored versions. His fake versions feature bare breasts, inappropriate comment and extremely bad music. Unsuspecting consumers will naturally be devastated. It is an outrage and certainly illegal. There is damning video evidence as well.

One can only hope that the authorities mete out swift and severe punishment for the so-called “guerilla artist,” Mr. Banksy.