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View In My Room

Marshall McLuhan, Robots, Massage, and the Soviet Smoker (2022) Print

James Mercer

Canada

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ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Marshall McLuhan inspired this artwork. His brilliant analysis of how typographical Man was is eclipsed by the new world of digital technologies--the rise of the Internet--and global telecommunications. The work probes into his ideas about fluxus and the endless cycle of visual-spatial media waves in the informational age. McLuhan pointed the way in the 1960s with his classic text, The Medium is the Massage (1967). McLuhan's insights reveal the profound changes that have impacted modernity to date. My artwork reflects this idea--the role of media ecologies in our lives--and how the [added] metaphors found in Brave New World and 1984 compliment the mix. A journey which reflects the visual schizophrenia of our current zeitgeist. The Russian soldier smoking--before launching hypersonic cruise missiles--or the threat imposed by an army of robotic AI machines--each intent on patterns of mass destruction. This is the world that McLuhan imagined in the future. A world plummeting into a dark abyss--saturated with techno dreams and fears swimming in the unconscious. (I conducted [art/culture/ethnographic/science] research in 1998/99 at the McLuhan Programme for Culture & Technology, University of Toronto.) The painting is a homage to McLuhan's aphoristic vision of the human condition and its link to technology.

DETAILS AND DIMENSIONS
Print:

Giclee on Canvas

Size:

14 W x 21 H x 1.25 D in

Size with Frame:

15.75 W x 22.75 H x 1.25 D in

SHIPPING AND RETURNS
Delivery Time:

Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.

Canadian artist who has been creating art since the age of ten. My father had a big influence on my thinking--his experiences during WW2 in Europe, and his own [war] art. I explore a variety of media; focusing on painterly traditions that blend constructivist ideas with expressionist forms. I see the artist as an extension of the body living in the world as a subjective omniscience. Being-in-the-world: discloses the infinite realm of possibilities in the human imagination--all forms and psychic mediations reflect the Unitary Reality--that animates the cosmos. Poetic ripples in space-time--flow through the hand onto the canvas--bringing life to inanimate matter through the Primacy of Perception. Art opens up a world to the viewer's soul: transforming myth and reality into new manifestations of Being. I enjoy experimenting and testing design ideas like a scientist in a secret lab...seeking to understand our place in the cosmos. Imagination lives beyond the multiverse--between consciousness and the unconscious--awakening in a sun-wind. The dream-time: speaks when we encounter each sacred 'place of creation'. The artist is a time traveller, and dives into the vortex at the speed of light. I seek to share my quest with you, as a fellow traveller, among a sea of stars. Art is eternal. It provides an outline of our transpersonal Self. We reach out and touch art with intelligent hearts. Both classical and Western modern art have informed me about many ideas. At the same time, I appreciate Oriental, and world mythologies. Science and the role of technology in our lives is of special interest; devoting attention to astronomy and astral photography. Music has always been a part of life--classical, Mongolian, and jazz--since I began playing the piano at age four. I grew up close to nature in Ontario...and enjoy scuba-diving in undersea environments. I have travelled to every continent (except Antarctica) seeking contact with the mysterious beauty of nature. It has been my joy to teach children and adults of all ages over the years--across cultures. (I write science fiction, and travel stories, too.)

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