I told my significant other it was time to get some life insurance. He was understandably confused, since our topic of conversation was health insurance and the cost of medical treatment. He has health insurance. I do not. Niether of us can afford to go to the doctor. A simple diagnosis can easily cost $4,000.00 after insurance. A heart attack will cost around $40k, if you have good insurance. I can’t afford health insurance or a doctor… I figure I’d better get some life insurance.

I am all for health care reform. I just don’t want it to be managed by the fed, thank you very much. Govt management of anything has a track record of miserable failure.  From parks and wildlife to social security, to public schools, to farming…. the folks on the hill have managed to obliterate potential. Welcome to the machine. Put your life right here in the hands of the machine. It does not compute, and it does not respect.

There are three concepts floating in my mind. They are: membranes (the fabric of space time), oceans (for this environment is not unlike the membranes), and visual languages… the human experience. Each time I consider how I might relate membranes to others, I am drawn back to the analogy of the ocean. Fish swimming in the ocean suck in the water, blow out the water, live out thier lives inside the body of a fluid abyss… much like we do on land. We breathe the air without thought for where it’s been or what microscopic particles may be carried into our innermost parts by the action. We walk, run, fly, kill, die, and copulate without much thought for the membrane we live in. It is alive, as surely as the ocean is alive. In fact, we know there are lakes beneath the ocean where some oceanic creatures go “fishing”.  Is the ocean a different membrane? Is the totality of our physical existence pinned to one membrane of the proposed 11 which theoretically make up the sum total? Is there no place where these membranes might fold together? If, in fact, these membranes do meet and meld… perhaps at the edges, perhaps at the black holes, it might produce some strange effects for us human beans. We might enter into a  membrane”subduction zone” within our physical reality. Really, it might explain alot of the “mysteries” humanity has recorded in anals of history. It might even make divinity a bit more comprehensible.

Now we come to the visual languages portion. I wonder what language the membrane(s) might be written in? Obviously, it is not one which is available within the limitations of human vision. Suppose every breath we take is recorded into the membrane. Every breath, every thought, every action makes an impression or a ripple. Each of these things converts energy from one form to another, so it is not only conceivable… it is wholly implied, that this is exactly the case. This would mean that any being with the ability to decode or read the membrane(s) would have access to every breath, thought, and action which ever occured, or will occur. One would have to be able to interpret the impressions of every sort of energy conversion, of course, in order to understand the impressions and ripples and such. The energy released in an massive earthquake might otherwise be confused with that of single days child birth, on a global scale.

But the membranes arent just global… they are universal. The music of the spheres is, indeed,  played on strings. My mind reaches again and again for the visual language of energies in a constant state of flux and flex. As always, I must conclude… wouldn’t that be something~!?

Art is subjective. Four people looking at the exact same thing will interpret four different things. Individual perception, dimension, and genetics apply.

I was sitting in a public place, watching all the individual perceptions strolling by… wondering at the splendorous diversity… and it struck me (again) how we mirror the fabric of the universe in our subjective relativity. Yet, we are closer to deconstructing creation than we are to understanding our humanity.  Human ambitions frequently overpower our inspiration. Also, it occurs that our (relatively) shortened life span contributes to our willingness to ignore the gaping holes in our cumulative self awareness.

Let’s say I really want to understand how you think and feel. Not just you, but others, also. What I am after is to comprehend our subjectivity, in a relative sort of way. I don’t want to know how you think it, or how to change what you think… I am just sort of interested in what you really think from one moment to the next. How does that compare to what George, Jane, Joe, and Gracie think? No posturing, no pretense… the genuine article… in all it’s glory. The sigh that was actually sheer boredom, at a time when compassion would have been a more natural response for you, but you were overwhelmed by contrived drama. Inappropriate laughter or desires are not judged, merely observed with relative objectivity. <grin> Welcome to the wunder brane.

The fabric of this universe is interwoven with yours, but only to an extent. It might look something like a soda cracker. It has a front and back side which meet at the edges. A hypothetical traveler will not fall off the edge, but will casually stroll (in the absence of gravity) to the opposing side. The surface of both sides is dotted with a pattern of holes, also, which conduct thoughts (or events) from one brane (or brain) to another. No powers of inuition or psychic gifts required… simply locate a portal hole. You may notice the little cracker is a bit like a pillow, also… heat has caused pockets of expansion between the layers. The interior of these pockets is visible only in cross section. I hypothesize the hitherto missing cosmic material (mass, brain or matter) exists within these hidden spaces. The holes actually serve a triple purpose. 1. Limit expansion resulting from heat 2. allow exchange of information and energies between branes and brains, while 3. providing interior chambers and pockets for the containment of dark matter or anti matter.

You and I have certain things in common. To start with, your brane/brain is made up of the same stuff mine is, even if the landscape on your side is significantly different than mine. We may be polar opposites, but we both have holes and edges in common, which enable us to become familiar with the other’s brane/brain. The only requirement… is a sincere desire to understand, and a fundamental knowledge of the nature and limitations of our commonalities.

Rhythm

Designers and artists have a whole box full of tools. Rhythm is one of the least considered, most used. Elements are arranged in such a way as to establish a pattern. The pattern may be designed to control eye movement, or to trigger emotional response, or simply because the artist or designer had a specific tune stuck in their head. (Hey, it happens!) In fact, music and visual art share many basic design factors! The flow of piece lies in the rhythm.

Examples:

Movement: Both of the samples below share a similar rhythm, both use the rhythm to establish movement. Yet, obviously, the theme and content of these works is very different. (You may recall proximity and color relationship from previous entry?)

When you look at the piece below, make a note of where your eye wants to go… what is the first thing you see in the piece? Is there a point where your eye wants to “rest”?

It is human nature to seek out rhythm and patterns. Our brain quite naturally wants to play, “which of these things is not like the others?” at any age. The first step in that game is to associate things which are similar. Thus, the human eye bounces across similar things, in search of anything that doesn’t “belong”.

 Perspective provides the illusion of depth on a flat plane. We are provided with a very distinct idea of a large, outdoor area. The arrangement of panels recedes a good distance. We are made to feel as though we could walk through the piece. Utilizing repitition, the viewer is quite literally “told” what to expect next, and “snagged” when that pattern is disrupted. 

Yes, your perception is unique… just like everybody else’s. Yet, in nearly every moment of our daily lives, the mood and the scene is set by an artist or designer, with a specific objective in mind. Consider the arrangement of desks in an office, the color of the walls in the super market (can you recall EVER having seen the walls inside a super market?), or the “austere” or “stoic” appearance of government and judicial buildings. The purpose is to recognize the influences these things have. Why is the area around the customer service desk painted such a cool blue, yet 10 ft away is a display of childrens toys in primary colors? Perhaps so Mom is calm and the kid will be distracted? Subtle or blatant, the effects are everywhere. Those who are not prepared to recognize it, not “literate”, are not making informed choices.

EDWARD KIENHOLZ   Gads, I love this artist!

Exquisite craftsmanship, mixed medium installations, provocative, thoughtful… awesome!

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