“I don’t know what game we’re playing, but I’m pretty sure it’s your move.”
It might be a chess board, but then again, the squares march both horizontally and vertically. And the pieces seem a little … off.
Perhaps the biggest clue: When you shake the globe, the pieces stay still, but black and white squares dance wildly in the liquid.
Circular Logic
has made a round trip.
From Denver to Boston and now back to Denver again,
Circular logic was featured in the
“Celebrating Snow Globes”
winter exhibition
at the Sandwich Glass Museum.
Given its name, it’s a fitting journey.
One definition of Circular Logic is that the answer contains no evidence that is distinct from the conclusion. Circular logic cannot prove a conclusion because, if the conclusion is doubted, the premise which leads to it will also be doubted.
After a lot of trial and error, this is certainly true of this piece. The curious invention appears to go round and round, but always begins and ends in the same place it started. The conclusion is the same as the premise.
What does change is the murky liquid, which glistens with coppery metallic dust
when shaken.
The tiny machine measures just under two inches tall and wide,
and continues in its endless, and meaningless, journey.
Always a round trip. Of course.
…
… Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
When I thought of this poem, and the choices we make in life, I often thought of it literally: did I take the road less traveled when I move to a new city, or applied for a job, or learned a new skill? How about when I met new people and tried to understand their point of view? Should I make selections that others likely would not make? Does one see more or experience more on the backroads of life and not the highways? Does one need to make hard decisions to march away from the crowds to be true to one’s self? to reach new levels of understanding?
And then, with age, came a simple wisdom. As light and fresh as the first snowflake brushing against my face. I realized that the road less traveled by is a matter of perception, not location. If you are in a packed room, but your mind is not trapped there … you are on the divergent path as surely as if you were hacking your way through the overgrown jungle, discovering what only you could see and touch firsthand.
The perception of where you are, and where you want to be, is its own unique path. Or as a mentor once told me, “no matter what, the only thing you always have control over is your attitude.” So the same staircase can be a “path less traveled” for one person and less so for another — if what they each think and feel is perceived differently. One staircase may take you away from pain, or toward love, or into the arms of adventure. It can be sure steps toward your goals, or a place to hide from your deepest thoughts. The same steps may represent bravery and risk, or may be the safe choice. It is not the stairway that creates the path less traveled, it is the attitude and perception of the person walking up, or down, or sideways. It is whether you see yourself moving forward, backward, or pausing before the first big step.
And so we have,
“Crossroads”
– a snow globe with a nod to M.C. Escher,
and a knowing smile to Robert Frost.
It’s all a matter of perception.
I was looking for a particular photo to explain how this snow globe, “Tesla’s Workshop,” came to be. When I was introduced to Mr. Tesla, far too late in my life for any reasonable explanation, I was fascinated with the Tesla coil and alternating current and how Tesla generated energy. Or managed it, directed it, whatever it is he did.
And I found this blog that summed up a lot of stuff:
Nikola Tesla is Better Than You
Here’s Why
If you’ve never heard of Tesla, that will give you a taste. Not the deep down scientific awesomeness that is so significant my head hurts just trying to grasp his genius, but enough to make you think: how come I don’t know more about this guy? I mean, he was BFFs with Mark Twain and all that.
I am hoping this blogger comes forward (unless I’m totally dense, I could not find his/her name on the piece), but you never know. The last entry was in fall of 2011. Makes me wonder. Will someone find THIS blog someday and be saying: Why did she quit writing? But for now, I write when it strikes me and the rest of the time I am either making snow globes — or making money to buy supplies. It’s a life.
But when I discovered Tesla, this image below intrigued me. I loved that at the turn of the century (the last one, in the early 1900’s) this man built these outrageous machines, spewing sparks and currents and man-made lightening, and pretty much cooking the bacon on your BLT before you could say How d’ ya do? People must have been mystified and shocked to see such a thing, when they were still using candles and oil lamps half the time. But Tesla, he’s not impressed. He’s the honey-badger of science, just sitting in his workshop, reading the funny papers and not even noticing that the ceiling is a glittering outpost of electicity over his head. This is one calm dude.
While I usually just make tiny “curious inventions” in my snow globes, I was struck by his focus and calmness (under fire), and I thought a fitting tribute was to add a tiny Tesla to my snow globe for perspective. Shake this globe and watch the sparks fly!
Where would you go, and how would you travel?
Dances with Clouds … a battered airship carried by a hot air balloon, drifting high among the tatters and wisps of clouds. Sometimes you write a story and create artwork which illustrates the tale, enhancing the details.
And sometimes, as with “Dances with Clouds,” the artwork writes its own story without a word needed.
Sailing from one adventure and toward another, what story does it tell you?
On the exterior of the tube, a knowing face smiles serenely, never betraying the secrets inside.
Cloud Nine
art, animation, & nonsense
Stuff and things.
TURN THE VOLUME UP
PLANNING ARCHITECTURE INTERIORS EXPERT WITNESS CONSULTATION
RESEARCHING MY FAMILY TREE
one word at a time
Art inspired by physics.
Thousand Lives Modern Vintage Furniture and Decor
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