| In early 2007, I realized that since Hebrew Torah font is binary, it references the theology of other religions where there is a binary theology. Good and Evil may be seen as binary, but also Yin and Yang are. So the binary letters actually also reference Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism and probably other religions also. Being binary it also references modern technology, such as computers, which are binary based.
Hebrew has an involved symbolism that is applied to each letter itself. I have a very lovely book with prints by Ben Shahn that tells the story of Creation as a fable that appears in the Talmud and Kabbalah, wherein each letter comes before the Lord requesting to be the first on in Genesis. The story goes on with each letter being rejected for this or that reason, usually because the letter begins other important words, until finally the letter Beit is selected as it begins words like house (home). As such it is a more feminine letter. It also stands for the number two, being the second letter in the Hebrew alphabet.
So, the very first letter in the Bible indicated the duality or binary nature of Judeo-Christian theology.
Since each letter in Hebrew represents a number (after one reaches 10 then the system moves along. Then letters represent larger numbers in a ten digit system. Thus yud and beit signify 12) UnGraven Image paintings could be considered to have a value (not monetary value) based on adding up all of the numbers. There are several ways one could do this, by adding the individual letters or by taking each word as a number value. Small details are not my forte, so if this ever occurs it will be done by someone who is great with details, someone with the mind of an accountant.
However, I am good at theorizing so I also realize that there is another way to tally up the letters used in any specific painting and that would be binary. Since each letter is composed of a yud (lets assign it a binary 1) or a vav (lets assign a 2) then each letter would represent a binary number. So Aleph, which is the number one in the regular numbering system, equals two yuds and one vav, its components. I think that would be 22. I have seen different binary systems using 1 and 0 so depending on the system used the totals would vary. I am eager to have feedback from the mathematicians who will be able to explain in better, including to me.
There have been several art contests, one I entered and one not that have dealt with Contrast or Duality. I recognize that the average viewer or art judge would not recognize the strong duality inherent in the binary nature of my strokes. That the contrast in my paintings is not just based on my use of dark and light, but is inherent in the binary reality of the symbol-strokes themselves is certainly going to go unnoticed with some explanation. When one enters a painting in a juried show, only the painting or slide is reviewed and without explanation, like the earliest paintings in any new art theory (for instance, Impressionism, Cubism, Conceptual art, etc.) the work is misunderstood and sometimes rejected (my work has been accepted in other shows).
Sometimes I have really enjoyed rejection of my art, this is especially and commonly based on feedback that goes,” It's not good Pointillism” and/or “It's not good Impressionism.” I enjoy this as although the works most closely resemble these two movements, it is neither, but it does represent UnGraven Image. UnGraven Image is most closely aligned, or a next step from Conceptual and most specifically Word Art, which it resembles not at all (except in concept, pun intended).
Although it has only recently dawned upon me, the inherent meaning in UnGraven Image's symbol-strokes always points to a theological truth held by so many of the world's religions, that there is a duality in life, a binary scientific basis and one of good and evil, It seems fitting for an art theory that is simultaneously secular and religious, based on scientific theory and Judeo-Christian (and seems like other) theology, that duality of intent and understanding is present within the strokes.
May 1, 2006 |
