Insights
Towards real democracy and better global governance
[Insights] outlines a scheme for categorising personal non-commercial purposeful art and audio projects, which were mostly produced years before the website. Insights gained from this process provided the starting point for developing a framework for a new type of economy.
A small number of non commercial artworks were produced prior to the development of this website. These are outlined in Purposeful art.
To justify inclusion in the chronological collection Artworks, a categorisation scheme was devised for the various exhibits. Additional subjective criteria were then applied, such as the effectiveness of expression; the gravitas and/or timelessness of the content; and the quality of craftsmanship. Some of the images not included in the collection are used as additional illustrations in the narrative and notes.
The categorisation was inspired by Philosophy of Art (Carroll, 1999). It is meant to be helpful in the context of the limited range of images of artworks displayed on this website, but no claims are being made for any philosophically rigorous generality.
Within this scheme, most of the displayed artworks could be categorised as "purposeful art", with a few works falling outside the spectrum which could be categorised as "contemplative". There appears to be a continuum from brash campaign art to quieter, more contemplative art. Snapshots of the degrees of various attributes heading the table below are listed as rows, in which each attribute is assumed to form a continuum.
The continuum feature is discussed further in Notes below.
Notes: The use of visual metaphor
A metaphorical light/ dark concept emerged from this process. This spotlighted an obvious truism that a right route contributes towards reducing a problem, and a wrong route contributes towards making it worse. This logically trivial premise was later used as the basis for an initial working definition of business as usual, which then led to the development of a framework for a new type of economy.
The following colour coding convention has been adopted for internal website links to images of art projects and illustrations:
The category-allocations, including those for items not selected for the chronological collection, are listed below.
Illustrative photographs
Following the attempt at categorisation, it was decided that photographs used to illustrate the narrative could be regarded as a form of purposeful art, within that context, but would not be listed in the chronological collection. On this website, the term digital art implies a degree of image processing beyond that which would conventionally be used to crop and tidy up a digital photograph.
Some examples of photographs used to illustrate the narrative:
Illustrative schematics
A simple stylised original schematic can be useful for illustrative purposes, and avoids copyright issues. A caption can reinforce the message. Two recently produced examples:
Campaign art examples
It was found that broadly defining categories helped to clarify the intention underlying the artwork content. This often preceded a practical response to a situation.
A local campaign provides a practical entry-level opportunity to find one's political voice through art, by producing a blatantly-purposeful image. One such image was produced in 2000 using text, diagrams and a photograph of a mini-installation; and another in 2012. However, the original text/ slogan-heavy images would not qualify as art. Two very toned down versions of the original image content were produced for the website, but neither example meets the criteria for inclusion in the [Artworks] collection. These revised images would now be better categorised as illustrative-conceptual art.
The digital images below were originally produced in 2015. They were used in various combinations in slow videos, and as Twitter banners; for example with a text strapline about keeping to 1.5°C.
The following digital image was produced in 2020 from a photograph. It might be classed as illustrative or campaign art, depending upon the way it is being used:
Since the following experimental music track was used for the purpose of project development, it might be better categorised as illustrative art, but is allocated here because of its brashness:
Illustrative and illustrative-conceptual art examples
A number of illustrative art images have been completed since 2009, requiring the development of some digital art techniques. The examples below do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the [Artworks] collection.
This purposeful art categorisation covers art which is less overt than campaign art; more explicitly informational or diagrammatic; and may require conceptual-informational interpretation. In the first two examples listed below, the images were produced by combining digital art with one or more photographs. The third digital art example was produced in 2021.
Illustrative and illustrative-conceptual art images:
Illustrative-expressive art examples
This purposeful art categorisation covers art which requires conceptual-informational interpretation at a more sensitive and subtle level.
The last four illustrative-expressive images listed below combined digital art with photography:
A music-associative contemplative technique
On a purposeful art continuum, the paintings What have we done? and Feeling the common ground might both be categorised as illustrative-conceptual art. However it was found that the process of critiquing and fine-tuning of each artwork could be better focused if a particularly appropriate piece of music was selected for listening to, during contemplative evaluation. As a result of this fine-tuning, it was decided that both paintings would be better categorised as illustrative-expressive art. Neither of the images have been categorised as contemplative art because of the underlying political intent in these works, but perhaps this a little harsh.
The discovery of this music-associative contemplative technique probably marked a shift in interest towards audio-visual work. The idea of inner transformation through music and silence, as a way of softening hard hearts in a secular world, had evolved during the experimental music project. The notion later found expression in the Impermanence Son et Lumière concept.
Contemplative moments
Although the slow-video project Impermanence was intentionally political, it has contemplative moments. The ending in particular. Two other short video extracts from Impermanence are also shown in revised form as miniclips within the main webpage text. The miniclips and a number of audio extracts from the video are listed within the Impermanence part of the chronological collection in [Artworks], but are not separately listed as links within this section.
Purposeful illustrative-expressive audio and audio-visual works:
Contemplative art examples
This categorisation covers art which is not primarily purposeful or conceptual-informational. It requires sensitive and subtle interpretation during silent contemplation. Since first exploring Buddhist meditation in 2004, several contemplative art works were produced, using a variety of techniques including wood-carving.
The use of light as a visual metaphor [Artworks]
As stated earlier, although the slow-video project Impermanence was intentionally political, it has contemplative moments. The ending, in particular, is contemplative and so has been extracted as a short stand-alone slow videoclip Tranquillity .
The use of visual metaphor
Links to sections The use of visual metaphor [Purposeful art]; The contrived use of visual metaphor [Artworks: Notes]; and The use of light as a visual metaphor [Artworks] which reference the notes below.
Colour mixing: light and dark
The colour spectrum can be manifested by mixing light (additive colour mixing), or pigment/dyes (subtractive colour mixing) (Feisner, 2000, pp.23-31). More pigment tends to darker shades, less pigment gives lighter shades. More coloured light tends to white light, less light tends to darkness.
Colour mixing: sound and light
"I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener".
Arvo Pärt. - from his Musical Diaries
Colour mixing: visual balance
"The idea that the tension generated by the juxtaposition of opposites is somehow central to human existence stretches right back to the roots of Western and Eastern thought. Hereclitus, one of the Pre-Socratic philosophers of Ancient Greece, referred to this idea using the lovely phrase palintos harmonia (counter-stretched harmony). He pointed out that wherever one finds a tension of opposites one also finds a unity; hot and cold are opposed yet are part of one continuum....harmony in music and art is produced by the juxtaposition of two or more contrasting things that come together to forge a higher unity.
Perhaps the clearest explanation of this is in colour theory, where complementary colours are those that are opposite on the colour wheel ...By juxtaposing complementary colours in a painting or design, such as red and green, one creates a visual balance and harmony" (Robinson, 2018).
Use of visual metaphor: a light/ dark concept
Detail from The use of now
Wanting more or wanting less is depicted in the above detail by a direction of travel, which could be viewed as a free will life-choice of switch-position (up/down, or on/off). The graphic depicts the normal inherent sense that more is better, and that better is up (on), but also an implication that to want less is somehow more 'right'. Given that humans have evolved a hard-wired wanting more psychology as a survival strategy, the viewer might well ask why would anyone choose to want less. One good reason is, with some irony, if to do so needs to become a survival strategy.
At first sight, a simple switch polarity does not seem to be applicable to a specific global problem such as the identified issues associated with business as usual. Whether more is perceived to be better seems far too simplistic a measure. It depends on too many factors, such as better for whom, and better in what sense, etc.. Values, ethics, and rights all have to be considered, together with environmental science.
But noting that a simple switch-polarity could only be applicable at a very general level, this could still be conceptually useful to broadly identify steps in the right direction; whether these could be taken by societies, or by individuals.
On this website the right direction is taken to mean more overall progress towards tackling the problem of dark governance, which is at the root of all the major human-caused problems, and the wrong direction means less progress. The right direction is defined, and what needs to be done discussed in [Power structure]. The approach is substantiated from mainstream scientific, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives in [Life choices] and [Being].
There are various ways to interpret the significance of 'switch-position' in the above use of now graphic detail. Once it is decided whether more or less is 'better', and whether 'better' is signified by up or down, then the cumulative effect of multiple switch position life choices throughout a life can be imagined. This suggests a possible reframing of the original ongoing quest along the following lines:
It is part of the human condition that the nature of individual life choices moment-to-moment characterise a unique life journey. The cumulative effect of these choices could be imagined to provide coarse indicators of what this journey actually amounts to.
The use of now refers to life choices at an individual level, with an apparent implication that to want less is somehow more right.
The present moment and lifestyle choices [Life choices]
Metaphorically, right is typically associated with light, and wrong with darkness. Conceptually this could be correlated with a choice of switch position using colour mixing theory:
on = light-mixing, such that more is the route to white light,
off = pigment-mixing, such that more is the route to darkness.
Applying the colour mixing analogy to the above graphic, it might be said that a materialist view would be best expressed by pigment-mixing; with more = up, such that more paint equates to increased veiling of the light. A post-materialist view would be best expressed through light-mixing; with more = down, such that more light equates to lifting the veil.
The major problems of the world cannot be solved by more greed and selfishness of the few. They might yet be solved by the restraint and cooperation of the many.
Spectral colour
denoting levels of unveiling of consciousness
Additional links to sections Post COP21 images [Purposeful art] and Illustrative-expressive art examples referencing the image below.
The coloured vertical bands bordering the skylark photograph symbolise Ken Wilber's levels of consciousness. Depending upon one's belief about the primacy of conscious awareness, the bands could be viewed as levels of unveiling of consciousness. The spectral colour scheme used is that defined in Integral Spirituality (Wilber, 2006, Figure 2.4, facing page 68).
It had sometimes been necessary (Wilber, 2000b, pp.47-54) for Wilber to refer to the (different) colour scheme used by Don Edward Beck and Christopher C.Cowan in their book Spiral Dynamics (Beck, 2001) which also used the idea of developmental levels (vMEMEs). The correlation of Wilber's levels of consciousness with Beck & Cowan's "vMEMEs" is discussed in (Wilber, 2000b, pp. 231-232).
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This page last updated 28-06-25 [day-month-year]
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