"Great art, music, and literature forces us to reassess our place in the cosmos. That’s what science does.”
– Lawrence Krauss
– Lawrence Krauss
If we are to judge by petroglyphs and monuments left strewn across five continents and several thousand years, astronomy might be the oldest human discipline. The great cultures of human history saw and emphasized their relationship to the cosmos, through ritual, celebration, inquiry, and architecture. They re-enacted their creation myths in how they built their cities and their homes; they taught their children how to see the world as one coherent pattern, in which each life has meaning as a fractal microcosm of the whole.
Today our story is of randomness, our lives divorced from deeper purpose, and we see the fruit of this in burning forests, broken homes, and epidemic existential grief that manifests as cynical constriction to a smash-and-grab mentality, or worse, apocalyptic dread that seeks release in suicidal wars. We need a better story, one that honors our humility as infinitely modest members of a giant universe but also emphasizes our importance as the stewards of our planet and an adolescent race about to take its maiden voyage out into the stars.
It isn’t either/or. We are both infinitely insignificant and infinitely great, our vast potential matched by how profoundly tiny we must really understand ourselves to be if we’re to act with humor, grace, and decency as we develop godlike technological abilities. And for this reason, science justifies itself – not as the means to greater ends, but as the process by which we discover both the deeper meaning and the silliness of life, a post-religious holiness and future arts beyond today’s imagination. There isn’t any end to this at all. The end is in the constantly unfolding curiosity.
Today our story is of randomness, our lives divorced from deeper purpose, and we see the fruit of this in burning forests, broken homes, and epidemic existential grief that manifests as cynical constriction to a smash-and-grab mentality, or worse, apocalyptic dread that seeks release in suicidal wars. We need a better story, one that honors our humility as infinitely modest members of a giant universe but also emphasizes our importance as the stewards of our planet and an adolescent race about to take its maiden voyage out into the stars.
It isn’t either/or. We are both infinitely insignificant and infinitely great, our vast potential matched by how profoundly tiny we must really understand ourselves to be if we’re to act with humor, grace, and decency as we develop godlike technological abilities. And for this reason, science justifies itself – not as the means to greater ends, but as the process by which we discover both the deeper meaning and the silliness of life, a post-religious holiness and future arts beyond today’s imagination. There isn’t any end to this at all. The end is in the constantly unfolding curiosity.
[...from my new writing gig at Globalish.]
Travel:
Find me on Tsu
Right now I'm excited about a new social network that pays its users 90% of the ad revenue we generate – if you've ever felt like Facebook and others are this century's version of slave labor, join me over at tsu. It's badass. I'll still frequent those other sites but I'm eager to participate in what I see as an evolution in how we organize ourselves online.
(It isn't as progressive as minds.com – it's still proprietary, not open source. But it's a step in the right direction.)
(It isn't as progressive as minds.com – it's still proprietary, not open source. But it's a step in the right direction.)
New Painting: "Fire Flower"
Oil and acrylic paint markers on 24"x36" masonite panel
Painted in studio 09 02 – 10 21 2014 and live at:
• 01 October – Austin, TX – Lanai Rooftop Lounge for Bumble, Funky Jesus, Luxor, Twips, Fractala
• 10 October – Austin, TX – Swan Dive for Jabu Mbara, Meganoke, Satalights, Myth Magic, Matthew Squires & The Learning Disorders, Deadbeat Poetry
Original painting available and currently on discount (see below).
New Articles For Globalish
Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the big perspective – the importance of placing our quickly shifting age in context as a moment in the evolutionary story, to connect our generation's challenges with a greater understanding of life, the universe, and everything.
Globalish is all about that, and I'm so grateful to have a regular gig writing for them. If you consider yourself in the growing global movement of creative urban seekers, you'll be just as glad as I am to have found this site.
Here are some of my most recent articles for Globalish:
Revolution:
Art:
Life:
New Tanks, Tees, & Sweaters @ ArtistThreads
I'm excited to release a whole suite of new apparel through this California-based company, whose contracts are respectful of participating artists and whose prices are super reasonable considering the expensive dye-sublimation process that gives these awesomely bold, never-going-to-fade colors! Check out their site – I'm on there alongside several other fantastic artists.
Original Paintings Negotiably Cheap Until December 1st
If you're looking to gift someone some totally rad original art – lovingly-produced, hypnotically vivid eye candy created in high-energy environments and inspired by our world's deepest mysteries – I've discounted all of my live paintings to a pretty ludicrous degree for the next month or so. Have a look. – the absolute worst thing that could happen is I distract you for the next five minutes. Best case scenario, you take advantage of an awesome opportunity and we all go home happy...
Thanks for reading and have an awesome weekend!
