| Using an integration of abstract and realistic elements, the current work revolves around transformation in the natural world and the cycle of return; where death and decay reveal themselves to be full of light and colour. Some of these Limited Edition Prints are 64 pictures of the moment, which are named by the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. These limited edition prints will be released on a schedule of 8 editions per year for 8 years, beginning in 2005. This new work is centered by specific numbers and the creative process is completely binary [information becomes form].
In 1679 an old Chinese manuscript fell into the hands of German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, who was perfecting his idea of the binary system. Leibniz lacked confirmation of his theory, when proof came to him in the form of an eleventh-century commentary on the I Ching, a far older system of portraying the complexity of the world with a series of either/or combinations. It was understood to contain a secret code that would awaken human consciousness. There is also an ancient definition in Chinese that defines it as ‘generating new life.' The manuscript illustrated a sequence of 64 hexagrams, which Leibniz perceived as graphic proof that his own system of 0s and 1s was valid. The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest books in existence. Legend has it that the symbolic and mathematical structure was laid down by Fu Hsi some 5000 years ago by his observation of nature while living in the forest, revealed by writing on a turtle's shell. The present form dates back to King Wen, who ruled over 3000 years ago, and is based on 64 different 6 line figures, or hexagrams, each made up of combinations of whole and open lines, "that symbolize all states of being, or tendencies of energy orientation. The lines correspond to Taoist polarities of a whole, rather than as dualistic and separate opposites: Yin and Yang, dark and light, receptive and creative, female and male. They are poles of an interconnected continuum of changing proportions, shifting by degree in relationship to each other, relating to the movements of nature, proper conduct in society and the individual's fate in the world." Some forms employ the Chinese calendar, with a subtle interaction of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Each hexagram, suggesting an image drawn from nature and the affairs of humans, visualizes this image into the moment of Now. From either/or alternatives, the I Ching's 64 possibilities sagely sum up the cycles of existence. The key to the structure and dynamics of life in human DNA is the same as the I Ching's 64 dynamic states of tension between the polar opposites of yin and yang, The ability of the I Ching's hexagrams to relate accurately to a particular moment was explained by psychologist Carl Jung as the principle of synchronicity, that which seems coincidental actually follows from the interdependence of all things. A hexagram, according to Jung, is "the Chinese picture of the moment."
|