www.kenboe.com

GALLERY 414 - FINAL FRIDAY CLOSING RECEPTION
Please Note: This Show has ended, some works still available.
click here to see some Ken Boe Art on myspace

Overview: The “man-made” object is subject to the violence of being thrown out, exposing it to the elements and entropy of nature. The object is divested of its functional meaning, entering a state of abstraction, until it exists no longer. My art works harvest these types of abstraction midway, also including The Scribble painting with Manipulated Whips(Action Printing), and other techniques which brew design from chaos and order. Why I do this has its roots in my learning on the function of art itself: The Theory Of Synchronic Alchemy.

The intention is to create an ambiguous but wide ranging vocabulary of imagery which may become synchronic at an unconscious level with the creative thinking process of those who are in the presence of the work. For this, I prescribe “sticky” images, rather than hyper-clean “digital” imagery, especially in today’s commercial environment. My work is very experimental, and by exhibiting them one is communicating the basic idea of experimentation to those present, for instance.

My main theory of Synchronic Alchemy is that while at a gallery or museum one may spend a few moments staring at an art work, but most of the time art work and other objects around us are only viewed peripherally. Yet, peripheral viewing is a powerful process not well known. The subconscious mind is “seeing” and processing peripherally gathered information in numerous ways. If there is someone in a crowd you knew years ago, your subconscious mind will inform your conscious mind to notice them. Other signifiers are to recognize danger, food or water sources, lost items, sexual orientations, tool making needs, and the intellectual and communication tools of Analogy and Metaphor. A synchronous intellectual harmony exists in a gathering of two or more naturally when they share an art-rich and/or nature rich environment in which they discuss ideas together: The place of the discussion is the most immediate language shared. It is where our bodies are. It is an instantaneous and experiential well of shapes, forms, and variable symbolism to derive tropes from for communication and concept making.

Cognitive Science has demonstrated that language is foundationally metaphorical, and experientially embodied. For instance, the earthly experience of gravity informs the metaphorical basis of “up” meaning positive, and “down” meaning negative. Hell is falling down, heaven is ascendant, on and on, but let’s not get bogged down in examples.

What I discovered in 1992 hiking in the Berkeley Hills was that surrounding imagery informs creative discussion with someone else you are with. While involved in a very intellectual and creative discussion, I noticed that I was using metaphors and analogies from the natural environment around us to bridge the concepts between us. Roots, branches, and an old bottle became creative tools in our discussion. But I had not noticed that I even saw these images, until I looked over and realized the synchronic processing that had just occurred. This moment convinced me more than ever to continue with my pursuits as an artist, and to hone a path for further learning to develop these ideas for my art work. My goal has been to create art which provides a rich synchronic vocabulary for those around it, enabling the creativity of those who press on together in changing the world in their own ways, with pleasure. I hope to create the ultimate art for the creative class to display in their offices, conference rooms, studios and living rooms. Raw art is like vitamins to a digitally sterilized work place. In fact, I believe that class rooms should be filled with art if educators are serious about having real discussions.

I am interested in doing artwork designed for specific teams of people to display where they work (this can involve a gentle but experimental interviewing technique with participants, and/or research into the archetypes most suited to their creative needs.) I am also interested in working with a clinical researcher for a more empirical study on peripheral sensory information collection/processing, and the pharmaka† of art (†Greek for both painting and remedy.) For an appointment with the artist, e-mail to kenboe@gmail.com to see works from the current exhibition, to commission work, or to participate in similar projects and collaborations.
© 11/24/2006

The last group show at Gallery 414 in Wichita, Kansas concerned itself with metamorphosis. I offered up to myself and the other artists an essay-bibliography-poem by Norman O. Brown titled Daphne, or Metamorphosis. This wonderful meandering image-ontology of myth and imagination offers a sapling from which we may grow or revive artworks to put in this show, even without much time to do so. But we artists cannot rest on our laurels, and any excuse to produce must be induced as much as possible, and that is what I aim to do here with these shows. Metamorphosis is a constant in art, and symbol making in general, and some of our cultural roots in trying to understand this transformation of meaning and image go back to the ancient Greeks, and the story of Apollo and Daphne. Brown’s writing is a modern way of approaching that without telling the artist exactly what they should do, and for the artist to do what they do, without telling the audience exactly what they should think or perceive from a piece.

Here is a sample of Brown’s writing, as allowed online from the publisher:click for METAMORPHOSIS