Carcosa Bound

The Accademia Gallery in Florence is a lot of things: the home of Michaelangelo's David and other sculptures, an exceptional collection of musical instruments, and exhibit rooms full of early renaissance paintings. It is magnificent.

Perhaps foremost of these – at least for me – it's a temple to the development of symbolic and representative realism.

This slammed into my awareness on actually seeing the things, with that rending force particular to occult insight: reality changed when Europeans learned to accurately represent three dimensions on a two-dimensional plane.

The explosive and transgressive nature of this cannot be understated.

I specifically noticed this, looking at the fingers of the paintings of Saints, mirroring their poses. I wanted to see if I could communicate with the powerful and evolved post-human entities accessed through their hagiographs, and draw on their power and guidance in exploring this city.

On trying to do this, I saw how the painter had attempted to paint closed hands, or pointing fingers.

Instead, another insight exploded, so utterly prosaic and “so what” now, in our global society of the image. Foreshortening was a development in seeing that permitted a whole new expression of idealism, and aesthetics – high fidelity, “as-if” visions, scenes that put you there, as a participant-observer.

Before this, someone had to tell you, or you had to read it (out loud – silent reading didn't become commonplace until much later, much less widespread literacy, or access to texts).

With this, anyone could see for themselves. When you can see for yourself, you create your own relationship, and interpretation.

Further, perspective permitted representational realism, and a grammar for this. From “as if” to “if/then”.

Creating a whole new domain to explore, develop, communicate and inhabit – one we're still exploring, and teaching our beautiful silicon golem-children to explore, too.

Summoning all manner of sublime force into an imaginal triangle: the Artist, the Artwork, and the Techniques by which it is created.

Pure, symbolic, visionary magic.