The Noosphere Chronicles
Noosphere: the "sphere of human thought"; derived from the Greek νους ("nous") meaning "mind" in the style of "atmosphere" and "biosphere"; conceived of as a transhuman consciousness emerging from the interactions of human minds. (Definition verbatim from Wikipedia)
The French visionary Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) imagined the Noosphere. He saw human peace and unity as being based intrinsically upon the spirit of the Earth. He suggested that the Earth--in its evolutionary unfolding--was growing its own consciousness analogous to the evolution of human consciousness. The Noosphere is a "planetary thinking network" -- an interlinked system of consciousness and information, a global net of self-awareness, instantaneous feedback, and planetary communication. At the time of his writing, computers of any merit were the size of a city block, and the Internet was, if anything, an element of speculative science fiction. (Background derived from gaiamind.com)
Artist Statement
The Noosphere Chronicles is inspired by my desire to make visible what I envision the Noosphere to be. To use the language of the painters, to direct thought for a moment or longer.
We exist in a marvelous space time of light and gravity, and as a painter I wanted to connect the idea of psychic phenomena to materialism in this series of works. I sought to weave into the body of paintings the possibility of consciousness upon consciousness, of matter and mind into making connectedness a visibility.
Contemporary humans tends to regard themselves as separate beings in a linear time momentum, so I wanted to deconstruct that perspective and view our lives within a whole system that transcends time. My intention through this exploration is to tap the source of energy beyond the individual mind, to imagine the gap between myth and science closed.
As an artist I experience moments when creativity breaks through the barriers of self, and the act of painting extends, seemingly, from elsewhere—from something like the Noosphere, the layer of thought energy surrounding the planet, the spirit of the earth. At such times, I pretend there is a field of encoding which encircles this planet where a part of all our minds can go. I imagine the field as a place where thoughts merge to gain integrated structure, a measurement without measure. I like to think about the mysteries behind synchronicities, telepathy, simultaneity, coincidence, dreaming, and visions. My passion for this invisible world is imaged by the manipulation of color.