Scientists tell us that the amount of functional DNA in our genes is about 3% and matter represents about 4% of Space.  So 3% of the genetic material in our cells is responsible for human kind. Four percent of Space is responsible for all of the matter. Does means that 97% of the genetic material and 96% of space remain relatively unknown and purposeless? What kind of pattern of reality does this perhaps suggest. Scientists focus on that part of the gene that results in humaness. The rest they assume is the result of past evolutionary trials and errors and has been 'shut off' for practical purposes.  Representational artists focus on the 4% of space that is matter. Are both overlooking something that is worth further exploration? Why are the two percentages so close?  A question to ponder.         

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One of the most interesting facts about the Egyptian Pyramids is the 'scale up and scale down' history of pyramid building. In just 60 years, based on historical accounts, the Egyptians went from a pyramid containing 330,000 cubic meters of material t0 one containing 2,600,000 cubic meters of material(Giza/ 4th Dynasty). In addition the complexity of construction progressed on a similar order. In the intervening time frame only two other pyramids were attempted and they were left incomplete both with less than 50,000 cubic meters of material. What happened that would have made this possible? We know even today that technology does not appear magically and certainly even if it did it would not be applied in a short period of time. The human time frame and change does not allow that to happen. What is of more interest is that shortly after the Giza Plateau Pyramids the Egyptinas seem to have, once again, lost their ability to construct. Of the 22 known pyramids that followed the largest is said to have contained about 275,000 cubic centermeters of materal and most all of the 22 are in worse condition than those of Giza.  If one did not know better it would seem that some bit of magic occured during the 4th Dynasty not to be heard from again. Is this like our Space Program that had its 4th Dynasty magic time in the 1960's only to lose its way? Or is it because of some other more profound reason. This is I think worth exploring as within it may lie a key to productivity and progress.        

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  I applaud Obama's new direction for space exploration. It provides NASA with a focus for its mission. It will also help to foster the development of the commercial Space Industry. It brings clarity that has been missing in the past. This will allow the creation of new captial investment in Space thus accelerating progress.

Clarity is one of the missions that I always thought was primary in realtion to an effective goverments role. People like clarity as it brings a sense of understanding and stability. In the case of Space we can now move forward with a greater sense and understganing of the role that each of us should play. No longer need the private citizen sit on the side lines. Rather than just promoting space as the next frontier we can now move with more confidence and in a more deliberate manner. While several entreprenuers have already sought to develop some direction in space it has up until now been in areas that create little value. We have merely been dabbling.  Value creation is now not only possible but probable. The first to move will be the first to gain. The new 'west' is calling and the new adventure is about to begin in earnest.               

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As a part of the Burning Forest series I am creating a series of paintings depicting ruins of old and a vision of what the ruins of today might look like sometime in the not to distant future. The ruins of old in most cases reflect great architecture, character and the great materials used in construction. The ruins are as compelling as tghe original structures ( In some cases more compelling!).  Of today's ruins I cannot say the same. In most cases I think they will look like trash heaps and will not in any case have the perpetuity of those of anitquity. What does this say of civilization? Are our principles and values reflected in the buildings that we create? Are they as flimsy, transitory and disposable as the structures in which we live and work? Does this tell us something in regards to what we might need to change? These are all questions that I reflect upon as I try to invision what will be left once we are gone.   

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Lack of information, or emptiness, is one of the key precepts of Chinese aesthetics. It is the experience of having done the work of art that is important and not the work itself. Is that the case with the Pyramids? Was it more important to the builders to have done it than to have recorded the how and why? In the arts it is the undsaid that carries the energy through the piece. As Simon Leys relates in his book The Burning Forest, 

" It should be observed tht it is precisely emptiness that provides the best conductor for this current'.

This energy is Qi. So perhaps it is this the lack of information that is the best conductor of the current of purpose and awe that is expericned when confronted with the great Pyramid. It and not the Pyrmaid is the underlyng energy with which we are confronted.  

 

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" Extant Egyptian records, whether written or pictorial, throw no light on the methods employed by the builders of the pyramids either in planning or in constructing their monumental works."

So says I.E.S. Edwards in his famous book The Pyramids or Egypt. Logically this makes no sense. But whatever information they used to construct the pyramids on the Giza Plateau must also have been quickly lost as the preceding contructions reveal a lack of the same sophistication of construction methods.

It also makes no sense that within the great pyramid and others there is no writing or pictorial illustration. If we are to believe that the purpose of the pyramid was as a tomb then why did they not follow the same procss as was later followed in the Valley of the Kings. There the tombs were fully decorated? This lack of records or other ornamentation in regards to purpose and the methods of contruction may provide a clue rather than a mystery. What can we suggest if we look on this lack of information as a clue.

1. The information used to construct the Giza complex came from somewhere and was lost quickly.

2. Wherever the information came from it is not apparent from other sites of antiquity that have been excavated.

3. No burial has been found in any of the Giza Pyramids or, I believe in any of the others.

4. No technology has been uncovered that would suggest methods that would allow the construction of these objects on such a grand scale. Some ideas have been suggested but none is productive enough to have been the method used. 

5. Such knowledge/ information would seem to be a treasure of any civilization and would most likely be protected and passed down to succeeding generations.

6. There is no mention from succeeding generations that they recieved any information on how to build the pyramids.

7. Pyramids that followed the construciton of the Giza Plateau seem to be trial and error projects to reverse engineer the Giza constructions.

8. If the number of people suggested particiatied in the construction of the Giza Complex it would seem likely that one of more would have in some way recorded some information in regards to the construction.

9. The constructions seem to have come out of nowhere. There is no construction information available that records the earlier pyramid building leading up to the Pyramids at Giza.

10. The Giza Constructions are like seeing a balance sheet of a small company that during a particular quarter grows immeasurably and then shrinks back to its original state by the next quarter with no explanation. How could life have proceeded normally in the face of such an achievement?

11. To the lack of information is the clue. It tells us that something extraordinary happened that for some reason came from nowhere, was not recoreded and was never successfully replicated.

 

This mystery is a part of my directon in exploring the ruins of past and future.  I paint these ruins, as a part of the new Burning Forest Series based on the essense of what I feel versus what I know.  As I saw them for the first time a year and a half ago they are, and will remain, one of the most fascinating challenges both artistically and  intellectually.                   

 

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According to Simon Leys the Chinese esthetic requires not imitation but rather creation or a summoning of nature.

"Painting is thus, in a literal sense, an activty of creation and not imitation."

This is what he says gives pictorial art its sacred character. This runs contrary to the illusionist nature portrayed in most classical western art. It again points toward the capture of the essence of the subject and not all of the detail. It points away from techinque aimed to decieve the seer to one aimed at giving the seer a deeper insight into the true nature of the subject. It therefore requires a different point of view, a diffrent starting and ending point. The viewer of an illusionsit painting may be awed or decieved at first;  but once the veil of the illusion is lifted the painting loses its power. The Chinese esthetic, however, is less objective and therefore has more staying power. As a strategy to create a 'forever painting' it seems to suggest a more powerful approach. This is the direction my new Buring Tree series seeks to follow.       

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We are all familar with the ruins of anitquity and many of these are captured in paintings on my site. The interesting thing is to ponder what the ruins of our current civilization will look like to those who will ponder them years from now. This idea is the beginning of a new group of paintings on the subject of ruins that I will be working on as a part of the new Burning Forest Series. Ruins of the past and ideas of ruins of the future will portray what I believe to be an interesting reflection on the direction of our culure and its relationship to the ideas of time and space. The following is a quote from a recent article in Parabola Magazine on what it means to be human. 

" As the cycle progresses, or rather decends, the very nature of time and space changes. In earlier ages, space dominates; the forms of things are more important, more real than the changes they undergo; time is relatively eternal."

In antiquity this was true but as we have progressed to the current part of the cycle time has begun to take over and the quality of what occupied space has changed. A deep state of calm represents a time dominated by space while agitation dominates a culture dominated by time. This is reflected in the architecture and the resultant ruins. This is the thematic concept of my new group of paintings.

The paintings will begin to reach the site this month and will launch my new Buring Forest Series. I hope you enjoy them.       

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This is the first of a series of blogs that I will writing based on thoughts contained in Simon Leys book, The Buring Forest. The book addresses his understanding of Chinese Culture and its impact on the arts and politics. The following is a quote,

" The ideal painting is achieved not on paper, but in the mind of the spectator; for the painter the whole skill consists in selecting those minimal visual clues that will alow the painting to reach its full and invisible blossoming in the viewer's imagination."

 How is this to be achieved? I think it is best achieved by the power of suggestion that can be contained in a whole rather than in the parts. In other words the construction of a design that is aimed at essence and not at detail. I have seen some painitngs that are stopped short but were not designed to stop short. They do not 'read well' because the artist did not prepare the initial design. If this is not accomplished at the beginning of the process then the artist continues to render until the whole story is told and nothing is left to the imagination. To pusure this idea I am working on a new series of 'Burning Forest' Painintgs that will explore the idea of minimal visual clues. These will contain only the essesnce of the idea. I will be writing on further quotes from this book as the process of creating the paintings unfolds. 

I look forward to your comments as the new paintings hit the site!                     

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I have recently(past year) been moving toward a more spontaneous process with my watercolors. I have stopped creating detailed sketches that I would then paint. Moving away from painted sketches into actual paintings has been a great experience. Since I was pretty good at sketching this was a difficult move to make but it has made all the difference. Rather than having a 'tight' drawing to follow, I now follow the painting itself and it seems to lead me to a more painterly conclusion. I now start all of my paintings loosely painting wet into wet. As the painting begins to dry I begin to add the darker and more detailed passages. This process creates more 'flow' and spontaneity and I would recommend it for anyone who feels 'stuck' in terms of progress.  I do create some thumbnails to work out the values and composition for larger paintings but may sometimes just 'let it happen'. Either way I end up with a much more rewarding and convincing performance. It has helped me move one step closer to my goal of creating 'forever paintings'.       

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