With All That's Wrong With the Human World, and I Agree, May I Introduce a Life of Frugality and Imagination

ronthroop (72)Pro Artist USAin WORLD OF XPILAR • 2 days ago

Australia Does Not Exist 2025. Acrylic on paper, 24 x 36"

I’m doing it again. Going broke. World leaders cannot stop a genocide, so I’m cutting my rations, living more poor, keeping below the U.S. poverty threshold. I’ll make it seasonal to postpone nuclear annihilation, minute by minute, day by week, marking every income and expense. It’s my way of chopping wood and carrying water, of leaving the world behind to freeze human devolution. And I’ll do it underground, so nobody needs to watch. But you can if you’re curious. Just peek into the False Consensus Effect every so often to check in on a poor boy making art. I remember how wonderful the feelings felt during the first few weeks. The truth is, consuming is gross—that’s the first big notice. Planned obsolescence in all things sold, and restaurants be feeder bunks of salt and bad service. I abandon them happily for homemade corn tortillas and brow sweat. The dollar store has nutritious canned deals, and walking to get my Friday beer helps breaks down gout crystals to keep all toes painless and wiggling free.
This does not mean that you or anyone should refrain from getting a Ron Throop original. I want to make money to free Rose of total financial responsibility. And I want it to be under-the-table so no tax goes to battleships and child beheadings. I can be rich and poor at the same time. You too. Help us, the you and the me.
I made the following painting last night, fast. There is a rush of temporary angst when the ego is starved from the insta-gratification of Instagram and the like.

Ron With Cane, Ochre Locks, and New Skin 2025. Acrylic on paper, 24 × 36"

One more thing.

I was disinvited to partake in a filmmaker’s film about Stuckism. Originally I was to record my interview at home to avoid expensive travel to the UK. That plan has been nixed. I can still be in the movie if I can be present in North London a month from now. Rose said yes, it’s worth the investment to be temporarily immortalized in someone else’s art. My gut said probably not a good idea, even if I made the most of the trip—visit and paint with Edgeworth, give away paintings in Camden, maybe even accost a gallery or two with a suitcase full of paintings to shame them into Throop recognition. Something seemed not quite right, and I couldn’t put a finger on it.
Then I called Edgeworth to get his take. I knew one thing for certain—if he wasn’t invited to be interviewed, then of course I’d stay back and carry on in obscurity. You can’t leave out the current Director of Stuckism to do a movie about Stuckism. Fortunately, he was invited but has work to do in Camden that day. I told him what Rose said about marketing our identities across a broader spectrum, to inevitably sell more paintings. Edgeworth said he doesn’t want to shine in someone else’s spotlight. He prefers to be one of one, and not just another “he also ran”, which I learned is an English saying that refers to horse races where the winners are congratulated and the losing horses who “also ran” are blithely mentioned. Oh I love a new saying, especially one I agree with wholeheartedly.
I’ll save my travel money to paint with Edgeworth in rural Thailand someday.
The old Stuckists deserve their credit because it’s due. The new Stuckists will get theirs eventually. Black Ivory and Ron Throop of Oswego still have a race to win and lose. Meanwhile I’ll stray from racing to “also have run”.

Another painting because it’s true: