c the open field fifteen years later

Bunch of Keys — The Dispossessed
3 by 4 feet
October 2009

The original idea for the open field is that one works in the field for a span of years, leaves the tools in good condition, and, having advanced the field that much more, passes it on to the next generation… a wide open and fertile field.

The tools I used?  Essentially two… 

The first tool is the first painting of the series “The Contradiction” is the color keys as I found them.  Fifteen years later C is still claret, C# is still japonese red to orange, and D is still warm blue.  So the progression of the notes within an octave still has that irregularity.  This is not a matter of simply plugging in values 1 thru 8 or A thru G.

The second tool I use is my fiddle.  If you recall Pythagoras’ monochord… a one string fiddle with a moveable bridge… out of this he pulled geometry, astronomy and the five modes of what we now know as Western music.  He pulled all that out of a one string fiddle!  For Pythagoras the harmonies of nature were as the harmonies of music.  

“The laws of harmony are the same for painting and music”
This is a direct quote from all three: Kandinsky, Leonardo, and Pythagoras

I pulled all these paintings out of a four string fiddle… and one I could not play!  (and not for lack of trying)  Because I could not play it, I was always seeking the form of music.. always reaching for what was not there.  I had to get inside the piece of music I was trying to play.  It would be impossible for me to paint music any other way, i.e. from the outside in, splashing about with paint while listenting to music.

I believe, along with Kandinsky who practiced music painting and wrote the first book about it, that paintings can uplift the human spirit, and so can lead humanity to higher levels of civilization.  Kandinsky thought, as Cezanne wondered, that to be a painter is to be a member of some kind of priesthood.  The artist has a spiritual mission.

I know that symphonic, jazz and “feel good” funk music can uplift the human spirit.  I know that film can uplift the human spirit.  I know that literature can uplift the human spirit.  I know that paintings can uplift the human spirit.  Can the arts bring about some kind of spiritual convergance that will advance the human race towards a more peaceful coexistence,  towards more creativity,  towards a higher level of civilization, even towards enlightenment?  The list of historical persons who believed this is longer than my arm!

So let me just quote the voice that launched me on this spiritual artistic quest, John F. Kennedy:

There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in the arts.  The age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias.  The age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the age of Leonardo da Vinci, the age of Elizabeth also the age of Shakespeare, and the New Frontier for which I campaign in pulic life, can also be a New Frontier for American Art.
Letter to Miss Theodate Johnson, Publisher, Musical America, September 13, 1960

I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.
On behalf of the National Cultural Center which would come to bear his name November 29, 1962

To further the appreciation of culture among all the people, to increase respect for the creative individual, to widen participation by all the processes and fulfillments of art — this is one of the fascinationg challenges of these days.
“The Arts in America,” Look, December 18, 1962

This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.
State of the Union Message, January 14, 1963

I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecreaft.  I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of our citizens, and I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization as well….

I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty.
At Amherst College, October 26, 1963

 Fifteen years later, this is what I have to say about music paintings.

Quite simply anything that has form can be painted.  In music I found my “sublime theme” that I could explore for a lifetime.