Structure and Flow - 2025 03 12

 

Graphite, acrylic ink on paper - 9" x 6" (in progress)

I am thinking about structure and flow. The structure of Celtic key patterns, step patterns and knot designs. The flow of ink and water. Systems of organization, properties of absorption.

Humanity is in a state of catastrophic, rolling system collapse. 

Climate change is part of the story. Changes in weather patterns, rainfall, wind force and temperature fluctuations have created climate emergencies around the world. We are needing to adapt to flooding, extreme drought and heat domes, wildfires, extraordinary strong hurricanes, unpredictable freezing temperatures and unprecedented high temperatures. 

Humanity is the other part of the story. Since our adoption of agriculture, we have been unable to create peaceful, self-sustaining, egalitarian social systems. We have had high population growth and technological advancement without commensurate development and evolution of caring, equitable and just social systems. Post-agriculture social systems and organizational structures have continuously sown the seeds of their own collapse into the foundational philosophies of their existence. These philosophical fallacies have included beliefs in the moral superiority of dominance, beliefs that we can sustain life by destroying our natural environment, and beliefs that wealth hoarding is virtuous behaviour. Commensurate beliefs that underpin the self-destructive nature of these philosophies are that some humans are destined to be the property of other humans, economic systems based on infinite growth, and economic disparity is inevitable.

Homo sapien sapiens have survived climate change over 450,000 years of evolution. The history of humanity is a sine wave of intensity of warfare, religious persecution, disease, ignorance, and cruelty. 

By some miracle, we continue to populate the planet. We continue to pro-create, survive childbirth, and raise children to adulthood.

We are in desperate need of philosophical footings that are self-sustaining through their own contributions. That are self-correcting, adaptive, and energy generative. 

This drawing is an expression of the spiritual principle, "many are one, one are many". In the structure of the drawing are many similarly shaped rectangles arranged in a pattern to give the impression of interconnectivity. Of intersections, of passage over and under, of moving in pairs, the structure of straight lines. 

The paper provides an absorbing substrate to hold the life of the drawing. A grid has been marked on the surface by a series of pin pricks. The step pattern has been illuminated by ink in uncounted variations of yellow/orange and blue/green. Drops of ink wash have fallen onto the surface and blown to spread across the picture plane. These drops and the dynamics of air pressure have added organic tracings to the humanistic structure of the design. 

We need structure to organize our life work. We need flow to give our work life. We need social systems and structures to exist. We are social beings. We need alignment with nature to give our life meaning, to give our work dynamism and energy, to co-exist.

This is a work in progress. This is the first layer. We are at the beginning, even as we are at the end.