As I am working on an art project focused on the moon I thought it appropriate to add some entries in regards to my fasination with that object. As we all learned in school, the moon is responsible for setting and  maintaining most all of the rythms of life on earth. Imagine that a rock in space could have that power of influence on our planet and its biosphere. It's location and size make it ideal for these patterns for biological surface life as we know it. The Sun provides the energy and the moon maintains the patterns. Reflecting on this one begins to ask other questions and the answsers are astounding. Along with my current entries on the tools of ancient Egypt I will begin to explore some of these astounding and significant aspects of the moon and its place in all of our lives. Paintings will be posted on the site as completed.              

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So which direction will I take to begin to take the next steps in pursuit of the idea that the Ancient Egyptians had advanced manufacutring technologies? There are may trails on which to embark.  I have chosen the trail of  searching for physical evidence of the tools. If in fact more advanced tools, machines  and techology were used where did they all go? Has time merely sent them to the dust bin? My first stop on this trail will be to explore potential places where physical evidence might be fouind now that we have a better idea of what we may be looking for. The first place I would look is in the 'basement'. Here I am referring to the tunnels that we know have been discovered under the Giza Plateau. In my next blog I will discuss what has been reported/ not reported in relation to the tunnels. I will also discuss the paintings that I am working on in relation to these sub terranean spaces.             

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A recent book by Christopher Dunn entitled, Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt, has ushered in a new era of possiblities and exploration into the Egyptian past.  Seeing the artifacts throught the eyes of a modern manufacturing expert brings up both new questions and possibliites in regards to the sophistication and knowledge of those that built the Pyramids, the Sphinx and the Temples. A new light is shed on a potential pathway to answsers to questions that have long eluded the best archaeologists. The problem has been the narrowness of their training and capabiities to see what Dunn so dramatically displays in his book.

The question on the table now is where do we go with these new insights.  If in fact Dunn is correct, and all evidence points in that direction, then what is our next step in unraveling the mystery? This blog, in 2011, will continue to develop this idea and suggest some directions that can be taken.

His book has been an inspiration for me to return to Egypt to see first had the evidence that he has provided that seems to indicated that in antiquity our ancestors did in fact possess the skills to manufacture artifacts at a very high level. It has also motivated me to begin again to paint some of the Egyptian subjects but now with a new appreciation and point of view. The new paintings will be up on the site in the next couple of months and I look forward to your feedback.            

            

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The author Simon Leys states that "There is something more important than a finished work of art: it is the spiritual process that preceded it and guided its execution". This quote is the opening line in a paragrah about the Power of Emptiness. To Leys the work of art is of secondary importance and is only an artifact of the artists journey. It is the journey that is primary. Here I think he is referring to the true work of art as a symbol of some spiritual insight. It is the insight that is the source of a forever painitng and not just a painted copy. It is what the subject feels like rather than what it may look like.  Herein lies the quest to feel beyond mere surface appearences and render the essence of the subject matter.  It results in a painting that comes from within and not without. Watercolor is particulary suited for this process as it is more spontaneous than other mediums. What comes from 'within' is rendered 'without' in one stroke and cannot be overworked by the logical but mundane part of our mind. The best paintings are those that occur when the artist has 'let go' and is not concerned or in fear of failure. This ability to let go comes from the confidence and motivation supplied by the spiritual processs referred to by Ley's.       

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There are levels of commercial design strategies that make sense in the development of art that is forever. Meaning, quality, aesthetics and funtion all make up some of the concepts that need to be considered when developing a piece of art that is intended to last for perpetuity. To focus only on one of these is to miss the point. They make up an integrated whole without which he art goes 'wanting'. Blind spots in many paintings are the result of a lack of understandind of this key aspect.       

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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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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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" 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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