TRUTH LOST AT SEA - Limited Edition of 100 Print

“TRUTH LOST AT SEA” is an interdisciplinary waterborne environmental artwork consisting of eight-foot high interior-lit 3 dimensional letters spelling the word TRUTH. Built on a ballasted subsurface platform, the large word will appear to sit on top of the water and its movement will be governed by tidal changes and wind. The artwork is about the interconnectivity of water and humans and their pursuit of truth as it applies to the stewardship of the water bound environment. This particular performative “Journey of Truth” will be documented and preserved in a variety of drawings, photographs, paintings and videos. The artwork is an artistic exploration into the meaning of truth in a world paralyzed and oversaturated by opinion, disinformation and commercialism. It is intended to be more than a humorous visual articulation of the juxtaposition of a word into the environment The first installation will be deployed in the waters of Martha’s Vineyard Sound in Massachusetts, but other water bodies too will have an “appearance of Truth” including possibly the Hudson River, The Mississippi River, Boston Harbor, and others. In this time of extended isolation where face-to-face interaction is bound to digital facsimile or those within a “pod,” TRUTH LOST AT SEA reveals the necessity of embracing the real world. BACKGROUND Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, was a founder of the School of Cynicism and later Stoicism. Central to his philosophy was that virtue could be realized better in action than in theory. He is known to carry a lantern “in search of an honest man” and to live a life of poverty and deliberate counter-culturalism. His lifestyle was the embodiment of bucking established social values and questioning institutions which he thought of as corrupt. At the core of his concerns were the pursuit of Truth and Virtue. The world is at another crossroads brought into focus by the isolation and re-examination of life during a pandemic. After a politically bruising period, where truth was not only challenged, but lies were actively elevated to “alternative truth,” the model for civilized democratic behavior has devolved and mostly emphasized division leaving the concept of truth wounded, exposed and at risk.