Sunday, February 03, 2013

RETURN OR ARRIVAL?

Returning Oil on linen 50 x 94 cm 2012
Returning is in my current exhibition COSMOLOGY There are 9 paintings in the exhibition, so its not a large show, but it embraces a massive cosmological story! Just how massive depends on your imagination. Hopefully, I will have photos of the exhibition soon.

My painting above, Returning, references many types of returning, from the prosaic to the poetic; from here, there and everywhere; from the past, present and future. Yep, it's complex!

The 2.30 min video below All Alone in the Night - Time-lapse footage of the Earth as seen from the ISS made me think about returning. The astronauts who stay and work on the International Space Station experience a 'return' that is rare. For six months or more they get to see Earth from a perspective that must stir awe and appreciation. What do they think about once they return to Earth? Do they actually 'return' to the place they left months before, or do they 'return' with new insights that make Earth seem so different... that rather than returning...they arrive?




I imagine that the perspective gained from space must make Earth seem both special... and not special. The former because it would seem blatantly obvious that, for now and the foreseeable future, we humans have one home...which we all share. So, Earth is special to us. The not so special status would be that Earth is just but one of many billions of celestial bodies in a seemingly endless Universe.

Perspective makes you think!

I recently wrote about my painting below Ad Infinitum, which is also in COSMOLOGY:
We know that human life started but a blip ago, when compared with the history of the universe. Yet, all of existence could come under the title of life....couldn't it? I suspect that the majority of human beings believe that human existence... here manifested in us thinking, breathing, bipeds...will continue ad infinitum. It's a tad scary to think otherwise! But, it depends in what form the ad finitum existence takes.

Ad Infinitum Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm


Another painting in COSMOLOGY is Cosmic Auroboros  I wrote my BLOG post about this painting in November 2012 and it has very quickly become the most visited post on my BLOG!

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

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