INVERSE OF REASON: STUDIES FOR A PERIODIC TABLE OF ART (2004––2007)
Once there were three trades or professions that had long been on my shitlist––fields of study or interests that for one reason or another I strongly held the opinion I would never be caught, in this lifetime anyways, engaging––those being chemistry, economics and fashion. If one is open to the idea, shedding prejudices & stereotypes is a beautiful thing. As of date I have engaged with varying degrees of passion and intensity ALL of the above.
• • Painter's block for a painter occurs just as often as writers experience their own, so circa 2004 after completing a particularly satisfying series of canvases and still searching for my next inspiration I recall the idea I had four years prior after being gifted "The ART Book"–– Phaidon Press' survey of 500 twentieth century artist. I immediately noted the book's page layout was reminiscent of a style commonly seen on any classroom chart of the periodic table of elements––and thought, "wouldn't that be cool––a periodic table of artist". Looking further I came across Rachel Whitbread and thought, Ah yes, Calcium; Robert Morris, Lead; Yoko Ono, Sodium; Vincent Van Gogh, Cobalt; David Hockney, Chlorine; Joseph Beuys, Carbon, Louise Bourgeois, Brass––on and on until I had a good enough sense the idea was viable. So I decide to continue exploring the process––Helium, Warhol; yada, yada, yada––until here comes Zirconium, Nihonium, Yttrium––Yikes. WTF am I going to do with these?
• • Clearly, relying on free-associative, loosey-goosey, in-joke, tongue n' cheek bla-bla narrative wasn't going to cut it; I was going to need to understand this beast and how it worked, fully. And to do this I went straight to the source, Dmitri Mendeleev. What I learned was essential this: the nature of Mendeleev's ordering transcends mere classification/categorization––the nature of the Periodic Table is itself interactive and it is alive. And if we understand that well enough, as Mendeleev himself observed, the patterns themselves are suggestive and predictive.
• • Jump cut to 2007 and I have three complete versions, three separate tables, each stretching back further into time, art reflecting life, life reflecting art, each a fascinating illustration of the movements of periods and trends within three distinct contexts of art history. Hacking the Periodic Table of Elements went like this: if the atomic weight of each element was approximated to the year of each artwork, and there remained two constants Warhol, approx 1960's (Hydrogen); and Duchamp approx 1910's (Helium). Next, the element Francium, the most dense and heaviest metal on the periodic table, would serve as variable allowing for a direct correlation between the atomic weight of each element––and––the date attributed to any work of art. There were only three rules (with one "error") that allowed my Periodic Tables of Art to function identically to the processes acting within the chart of elements.
• • Rule #1: Period motion is medium specific moving vertically and sequentially beginning with the oldest variable date (Francium) towards each constant (Warhol) Hydrogen then continuing column to column until (Duchamp) Helium .
• • Rule #2: Trends move conceptually, horizontally and sequentially in rows, right to left (the chart itself was inverted to literally reflect art imitating life).
• • Rule #3: the vertical medium specific movement of rule#1 (Periods) and the horizontal conceptual movement of rule#2 (Trends) also maintain sequential consistency.
• • Error: Warhol (Hydrogen) and Duchamp (Helium) placements violate rule#3 but otherwise have no effect on the overall action of the tables (more a final misplaced thread on an otherwise perfect tapestry).
• • My first two Periodic Tables of Art are viewable here: https://oxvmem.blogspot.com/
I hope with a successful application to YC program to gain the opportunity to apply the same tenacity applied to everything I have brought forth in my life to build the next chapter of my life as a leader in development of Next Wave Social Media.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mark Ezra Merrill
Sunday, August 14, 2022 2:45 PM EST
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