2019-12-29

Wall 105 is online

Wall 105. 9.6 x 14.4 meters.




The complete gallery, of all 256 digital variations of painting 1-05 from "the grand project"  is online.


Check some of these here under





2019-12-15

Wall 104 is online

Oil painting 1-04. Size 60 x 90 cm.







The complete gallery, of all 256 digital variations of painting 1-04 from "the grand project"  is finally online.




2019-12-06

First 2 paintings from the 104 series

I started the digital transformations of painting 1-04 of the "grand project". This series will total 256 digital paintings and they are forming a continuum as you can see on Digital transformations 1 +  2. When this series is terminated the wall of 256 paintings will have a size of  9.6 x 14.4 meters. The original oil painting as well as the prints of each digital transformation have a size of 60 x 90 cm.

Click on images to blow up to your screen width.
 _________

2019-12-04

What is going on ? The book.

 

 

1. Book

 

 

I just published "What is going on ?" in book form (302 pages). Click here for a free download.



This is a first version customization in book form of my series of 14 posts going by the same title.  
After letting the book settle for a while I'll eventually further edit the text.
In the meantime I would be grateful to anyone for any suggestions or critiques. Please use the comment section or the mail-form.
________________

2019-11-28

What’s going on here? (14)

7.5. finding meaning in life


Everyone can find meaning in life by concentrating on perfection in the execution of one’s activities or in sharing the love of a family or of a community of friends. But does this appease our existential questions ? Does it help us find solace in our societal arrangement ? Or more generally is this satisfying all the demands of the mind ?

______________


2019-11-21

What’s going on here ? (13)

7.4. knowledge formation and societal evolution


Two ideas, stand out in “7.2. About the mind and thinking“, that have fundamental implications for the societal process of knowledge formation :

  1. the total power of the ‘body’s processing machine’1 is bound to remain hidden forever from our thinking mind “

  2. the difficulty to master the process of conscious reconciliation of the subconscious experience is an intrinsic limitation to the formation of knowledge “

This post addresses the following:

  • 7.4.1. The role of the mind
  • 7.4.2. Limitations to the societal formation of knowledge  
  • ___________


    2019-11-13

    What’s going on here? (12)

    7. Finding meaning in life


     
    This post addresses the following:

    7.1.  on the emergence of societal evolution and art
    7.2.   about the mind and thinking
    7.3.   about truthfulness: the mind and society
    ______________ 

    2019-11-07

    What’s going on here ? (11)

    6. societal collapse


    Over their thousands of years of observation, of nature and of human activities in nature, the ancient tribal wo(men) of knowledge concluded that humans have a nefarious tendency to damage their habitat. To counter this tendency they devised what is called “the precautionary principle” or in the words of Black Elk “the 7th Generation principle”.1 Both of these principles teach that it is imperative to make certain every, personal or societal, decision will not negatively impact the life of future generations. These principles are part of a worldview that was elaborated over the long time span of tens of thousands of years.


    With Modernity ‘the reason that is at work within capital’ concerns itself with one thing only and that is to generate profits. Those who venerate the reason get rich and enjoy an abundance of material possessions. All other citizens envy their richness and the abundance of their possessions. This worldview was elaborated over the relatively short time span of 6-8 centuries.
    _____________

    2019-10-31

    What’s going on here ? (10)

    5. art in the societal maelstrom

     
    The situation we are in –in terms of what receives attention and prominence– is post-art. At this time, and in social space, art is basically an adjunct of the entertainment business. … The issue is how to snap art out of its death trance –living its own death, so to speak– and make it once again a living and lived experience.” 1.

    How to snap art out of its death trance and make it once again a living and lived experience” ?    Hum… assumptions will not revive the function of art Mr. Kuspit !

    The reality is that, over 99.9% of the historical span of societal evolution, art was first and foremost a societal matter while the individual genius was at best an accessory. In that sense snapping art out of its death trance, if it ever happens, will be a societal feat and not the heroic act of individual geniuses. And the probability, that such a societal feat will be instigated by human will, does not register high on the scale of realism.

    But how did art enter its death trance in the first place ?
    ___________

    2019-10-24

    What’s going on here ? (9)

    4. determinant side-effects of Modernity


    From a very long haul perspective the present re-balancing of world affairs appears as the rebuilding of the governance-world in the wake of a category 5 economic hurricane that swept the whole world of its postmodern pipe-dream fantasies. In contrast in the aftermath of the great convergence of all the side-effects of Modernity there is a very high probability that nothing will be left to rebuild. In the most innocuous of all possible scenarios only a small number of humans will survive who eventually will be forced to start a new cycle of “societal evolution in order to survive.

    2019-10-17

    What’s going on here ? (8)

    3.8. emergence of A new world order 

    The day, when international transactions will be paid for with a new world currency, will be recognized in history as the day a new multilateral world order will have succeeded to bury the short uni-polar reign of the American empire. This new multilateral world order will have East-Asia as its core and Beijing will act as its center of gravity.

    The present  post addresses the following:
    4.1. community versus empire
    4.2. Western prospects
    4.3. Western Modernity is out, what comes next ?
    ____________

    2019-10-10

    'One World Rent' against the 'rot dollar'




    The "only way to save the world" is to ban land ownership, says Vivienne Westwood


    What’s going on here ? (7)


    3.7. about the center of gravity of the economy-world



    The last post in this series was What’s going on here ? (6) and it addressed the following:

    3. determinant factors driving the ‘governance-world’

    3.1. Societal atomization
    3.2. Creeping totalitarianism
    3.3. Western illusions
    3.4. The West has no clue about China's strategy
    3.5. The West is setting itself up for a rude awakening
    3.6. The empire loses its clients

    The present post is a continuation and addresses the following 2 realities:
    • how the center of gravity of the economy-world shifted multiple times along its history,
    •  how it is presently shifting from the West (Washington) to East Asia (Beijing).
    __________