In-between Space: Piedmont Revelers Revisited

An old piece of mine, the “Piedmont Revelers,” was selected back in early May (2022) for
The Space Between” Digital Art Online Exhibit – at the Cape Cod Art Center. The emphasis on “in-between space” intrigued me: “The challenge we were asking you to think about is the space in between. Some may have interpreted it literally as the space between objects. Where the space is implied within the context of an image, for example a cityscape, in between buildings. Perhaps a landscape or seascape that represents a meditative space. Or the image may describe a very personal journey where you enter a transitional space, abandoning the familiar in search of new ways of being. All interpretations were considered.” See my Art Shows page.

Piedmont Revelers

The Bible: Crystal Ball or Mirror?

I know a little bit about the bible. I have an M.Div. for Christ’s sake; it’s one of three graduate degrees for Pete’s sake! I may no longer be an ordained Benedictine monk, but I sure as Hell sat through my share of biblical studies, theology, even Greek courses. Most of them were fascinating. I had a brilliant seminary professor, one of several like that, in fact, who approached the study of sacred scriptures from a literary-criticism perspective, steeped in critical hermeneutics, semiology, and philology…right up my alley. He planted the following image in my mind (I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.):

click on image to enlarge

Reddin’ Up for Pete’s Sake

I grew up with that gem of an expression, to red up, most likely related to the word “ready.” It means to lightly clean i.e., to make ready. Yep, I’m reddin’ up by posting these four drawings done somewhere between California’s Central Valley and Kauai so I can move on for Pete’s sake.Reddin' Up

Here they are separately:

spotlight hydrant

spotlight hydrant

tropical plant

tropical plant

sunday's sundae toppings

sunday’s sundae toppings

reflection differs

reflection differs

Practical Hermeneutics, Living Context, and the Deep End

I’m still thinking about Between, mirrors, and inter-independent subjectivity in relation to interpreting and understanding texts of all sorts, tangible and intangible. Weren’t you just asking about that?  We so underestimate sense making and, consequently, settle for less and less.  I’m thinking political discourse, marketing, educational psychology, etc.. We’re told we’ll go off the deep end if we unglue ourselves from the loyalty wall and approach sense making eclectically, pragmatically, and collaboratively.  Soon each of us will be hopping around and around in a private, one-legged sack race, taking personal responsibility for one one-hundredth of his or her cognitive capital and sacrificing the rest to what, an antiquated but persistent hermeneutical habit?

But wait! “Cada uno es hijo de sus obras.” Aha! Cervantes had Sancho Panza himself say this in Part I, Chapter 47 of Don Quijote de la Mancha.  Who better than Sancho to balance things off, turn things up-side-down and inside-out?  Roughly translated, We are the children of our works. Oh, the offsprings?  Never mind.

deep ends

 

Sack race rules.

 

Between

Here’s the image that came to mind just after I started reading this interview by Amy Santee with design anthropologist, Armonia Alvarado.

Armonia invited folks in the LinkedIn group, Ethnographers to read her interview by using the following quote, which helps us understand what is meant by design anthropology: “Mediation between objects and people has always gone in both directions. Anthropology breaks the dichotomies: person – object, humans – tools, user – designer, company – consumer. Anthropology reframes these relations, bringing processual understanding of the constant moving forward of creation and human reinvention. Design anthropology has given the industry the tools to create and respond to ever-changing human ecosystems.”

It was that quote that prompted me cognitively to drag out some of my favorite images in this illustration, e.g., facing mirrors and straddling stuff, in order to go back and understand the interview better.

between