Seed within seed 7

This painting could be considered Op Art for the new millenium. I wrote this in 2004 around the time this work was created:

The computer is a fascinating art medium with rapidly expanding possibilities. The images shown here were created using a CAD design program, a graphic illustration program and a paint program with thousands of gradated colors. This work (as well as the other mandalas on my website) evolved as part of an experiment in pure geometric form and color, based on the circle.

In Buddhist cultures circular art evolved into highly formalized expressions of spiritual states or realms. In China the first mandalas appeared, depicting realms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In Zen the circle appeared as an Enso (Japanese) a spontaneous ink-brushed circle, symbolizing timeless perfection and wholeness. Tibetan Buddhist monks have developed a unique ritual, creating intricate and beautiful sand mandalas. They then return form to emptiness as the sand is whisked away after completion. Most artists would be aghast at the notion of destroying their work after months or years of creative effort.

In the movie “Pollock”, about the pioneering abstract painter, there are some amazing scenes in which the artist seems to be dancing as he creates his images. He is squeezing pure color directly from tubes onto the canvas and moving paint with brushes, sticks, and hands. His motion becomes part of the final product. Of course, creating digital art is much less physical. One sits, relaxed, yet focused. Hand motion, using a graphic pen on a digital tablet, instantly becomes a shape or color or line on the screen. One can zoom in or out, seeing the whole or concentrating and working on a tiny section.

In creating these images the final results were not predetermined, although many choices were made along the way by the “artist”. The programs and computers were developed and produced by countless people. So in the act of creating these images was there a single artist or doer? Or only a “doing”?

Digital art can appear or disappear at the mere touch of a button. Hundreds of hours of work gone in a flash, yet available when the hard drive “wakes up”. A print can be made which has a certain lifetime or the image can be displayed on a screen. However the “original” is really just………. ones and zeros. Form? Emptiness?