Palantir NIKH

I love... LOVE, art. When I was hired for my first teaching position, California was in a massive teacher shortage, so I got the job without a teaching credential. Technically, I was hired on what was then called an "emergency" credential. And this will piss-off many of those in teaching programs who have to earn their way in by "student teaching," etc. But, I never had to do that. I did however need to go through a credentialing program while working and complete it within five years. (I remember it taking about three years.)

So, no training! Just straight into the classroom. This should have been a massive shock to the system, but I'd been an athlete with a father as a coach. Even before I was done competing at the junior college level, I stepped right into coaching at eighteen. So, somewhere in my twenty-three year old mind, I believed I could step into a classroom full of teenagers and effectively show them how to make art. Looking back, I know it should have been harder, but it didn't take much effort. I used my knowledge of art history as the foundation on which every assignment was built. Listening to comments from past students during that era, it sounds like I had created an artist boot camp for kids that would probably never become artists.

One day, as I was teaching my class, I shared images of the Mona Lisa. "La Gioconda." Da Vinci and his fellow Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were on full display. The greats of the Italian Renaissance! Artwork I had never laid eyes on in-person. That's when one student in a darkened class lit only by the glow of an old overhead project said, "I've seen her." I thought he was joking. He was not, and then I wanted to, I don't know? I guess, lose my mind? I should I seen it first! I was the professional. I was the one obsessed with art! It would be seven more years of teaching the works I admired before finally experiencing them first hand.

With the art of my most recent show, (RED) represents Information. As always, it is gathered for knowledge and power. It is currently the most valuable commodity on the planet, and I use the red sphere to represent a Palantir, (yes, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings) and this Palantir is connected to this information and knowledge. It is a representation of the physical world, a realm that is contaminated by many things, including adjacent realms. The ancient Greeks were fully invested in their stories, and Nike, goddess of victory, was held in high regard. Winning meant everything. Information is how victories take place.

This artwork, Palantir NIKH, was my attempt to fuse control and conquering with our insatiable need for data. As you will read in my posts to come, the information gathered on "futures" don't just come from data mining. They can also be gathered from adjacent realms, both quantum and spirit related. And that information can pertain to events that haven't happened yet. A Palantir, or glimpse into the future.

I finally had the chance to see The Mona Lisa, and Nike of Samothrace is right down the hall.