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Spectre of a Distant War and Esoteric Vision express two sides
of the same human condition -- in the most immediate way: both
were cut from the same piece of wood, and express the opposing
sides of human nature. I did not know how well until later.
The eyes were startling in the wood;
and by cutting just below them, I created a jaw. I noted in my
notebook at the time that it was very reptilian, resembling "the
head of a lizard."
Some time before its creation, I had
visited the Museum of Holography in NYC, and brought home a small
holographic picture. I saw in this piece a way to represent a
holographic I. D. card -- for an extraterrestrial from a place
dominated by ravenous reptiles.
True to the concept, the card contained
the scannable numbers of a bank check. The piece was named Boole
Xynon III: Hyper-Galactic I.D. Card.
But "Operation Desert Storm"
had commenced shortly after the piece was finished, and its name
changed variously to Spectre of a Desert Storm and Spectre
of a Distant War. Did the numbers now represent a soldier's
military service number -- the number of troops committed to
the war -- or the number of deaths of soldiers and civilians
alike?
It so well captured the reptilian brain
of the modern human, with our continuing, unremitting passion
for war and destruction. A perfect reflection, in a dark
pool, of Esoteric Vision.
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