Confusion in an Expanding Universe
( Size: 44.5" x 60" Oils )
The theme is of an expanding Universe.
As the Hubble Space Telescope meanders through space, it is
sending back photographic evidence of unimaginable depths to the
Cosmos, thus making our planet, solar system and galaxy a
comparative backwater.
There is an estimated 50 million galaxies in the Universe. It is
awe-inspiring, beyond comprehension, on a scale without comparison,
(and still expanding ).
Edwin Powell Hubble ( 1889-1953 ) was an American astronomer, noted
for his work on extra-galactic nebulae.
We are told by scientists and astronomers that our planet Earth
was created by the "Big Bang Theory", as evidence shows this may
be true. Hubble has evidence showing the forming of galaxies.
These galaxies, some young, some not so young, but all in a state
of evolution and millions of years old.
All the above is in the past. Maybe in time, with technology and
scientific furtherment, we can look in to the future. Time travel
could one day be reality, making a nonsense out of the distances
in our Universe.
The painting attempts to relay the message that, at present, the
human being is devoid of the ability to see beyond itself,
thinking blinkeredly that we are (metaphorically) the species
alone, unaccompanied in a cosmos devoid of any being of
superiority.
We have through man's short period on Earth achieved very little,
technically and innovatively. Even though primitive, we have
moved faster in this century than all before it, yet we kill
one another, are barbaric, unjust, unequal, racially and
culturally xenophobic.
Subjects in the painting:
The painting has also a religious theme of expansion.
The Apple
A Christian symbol, used as a date line,
a point in time for the creation, the garden of Eden and the
mythical birth of sin.
The Ladder
Leading to a "Brainless" head depicts the arduous
journey of learning about ones self, acquiring the knowledge
that leads one to an higher plane, physically, mentally and
spiritually.
The Brainless Head
Suggests the ongoing brainwashing of
our offspring to conform to society, its rules, laws and
restrictions.
The Inverted Cross
A symbol of Christ, each knot in the cross
is a Schism, Christianity too from its creation has expanded, with new ideas and
beliefs, becoming less dogmatic and welcoming the onset of
modernism.
The Brain in Hand
The aftermath of indoctrination by society,
thus we have become moulded, stereotyped and "Clone Like" to
serve government and society alike.
The Blue Whale
Vacating an open box, it's tail also a
"Rung" of the Ladder, simply a metaphor for "Man-Mammal-Man"
all one and the same.
The Suit & Top Hats
Represent the faceless bureaucrats
that shape our destinies. They must be held accountable for all
their misgivings, but who can punish the ones that govern us ?
There are more topics portrayed in this painting but too
numerous to write about.
E.W.Powell 16.6.98. Painting completed 13.3.1995
Complexity comment:
If an advanced civilisation visited this planet how would they judge mankind ?
Few of us would be happy about the prospect of such a 'stewardship of the Earth' review.
Yet everywhere religious people expect to be judged by their God as worthy of
'salvation'. On the basis of the average human performance a re-incarnation as
a lower lifeform would seem more likely, or perhaps the hell so many fear but do
so little to avoid ?
Complex state space has many options. We, as beings blessed with choice,
can shape our own destiny and that of the world around us. Whether small
or large, we make constant choices - but do we make the right ones ?
I AM my brother's keeper and my brother is mankind...
Page Version 1.1 October 1998
Edwin Powell Hubble ( 1889-1953 ) was an American astronomer, noted
for his work on extra-galactic nebulae.