The Future Is Now

Turning Points, Tipping Points, Trigger Points and Focal Points

The Six Rules of my trigger point theory to find order in chaos.

This is a seminal time for me at a seminal time in the world. My work is getting attention. The world is hurtling over a cliff at warp speed.

In any artwork, there is a focal point. In a flat image, it could be a dash of cadmium red paint. In a sculpture, it may be the torque that guides the eye through space. In a work of conceptual art, the focal point might be what is implied: that an idea has a visual presence in our brain. Activist and social practice art is easy: what is the functional change? As an ecoartivist, my focal point is just beyond my reach right now. It is in what I can't know, predict or anticipate.

The heart of my trigger point theory is exactly that unpredictability, but it always addresses a simple question: what is the way out of a particular subset of chaos? Right now the chaos is global, triggered by a handful of arrogant madmen, enabled by a world of flying monkeys who hope to personally benefit. at the expense of the entire world, ie., global warming, mass extinctions, vast wealth gaps and excruciating deprivation for many.

I believe the world is at a tipping point into chaos. I feel it is difficult to identify the focal point where chaos might resolve into a benevolent order. I think art could play a significant role in divining that

So my practice is to apply the rules of trigger point theory. The now right now is very pressing, not the least of which is a confluence of professional events. To repeat that line-up for me:

Tonight my early work will be featured in a presentation at the Whitney Museum about art and therapy from Jacob Stewart-Halevy chapter in the new book, "Modernism, Art, Therapy."

11: AM Valentine’s Day tomorrow I will co-moderate a significant panel on art and law with Gale Elston for the College Art Association 113th Annual Conference. Afterwards, I will be at the New Village Press booth at the conference book fair to help relaunch my work memoir, "Divining Chaos."

Tuesday evening, I will have a significant studio visit for my new work in the apartment I now share with my partner.

All these events are about claiming a visible role in the arenas that my work impinge upon. All these events are taking place as the global arena shifts on its axis. I have always had the idea that the best art I could make would be a collaboration between my practice and events beyond my control. If ever events seemed beyond my control, now is the time. At almost 80, I might have hoped to live in a calmer time, with a settled life. Now all the tarot cards of life have been thrown into the air and all any one of us can do is show up where we might be needed: on marches, phone calls, in conferences, museums, bookstores and galleries to speak our truth reveal what is unseen.

I am one of many seeking orderliness, truth and insight right now. The war is not yet lost, but we are on a knife's edge of the future, at once, powerful to inflect it and powerless to control it.