Actual philosophy on a shirt.

These designs consist of philosophical puzzles and positions on various topics…descriptions accompany each design. To wear one is to do actual philosophy in somewhat of a public way. These designs are conversation starters that will create perplexity and a sense of humor in many cases.

GENUINE REPLICA

This phrase originated in an art performance I conducted in the late 1990s. The performance involved my walking around downtown Atlanta with a vending cart and blocks of wood with this phrase stamped on them. I engaged passers-bye in conversation where I would claim that the block of wood was in fact a replica of some object in the environment I pointed to. The object most often chosen was a manhole cover…the blocks of wood were squares. All of this was my attempt to counter argue Nelson Goodman’s theory in his book Languages of Art. The second iteration of this phrase in an artwork occurred in 2014. The piece, A Beautiful Manhole Cover Thumbtacked to the Bulletin Board on Nelson Goodman’s Door, was published in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (Winter 2015, Volume 73, Issue 1) — a special edition on printmaking. This piece, which should be considered a photograph, concerns the ontology of printmaking. The words “GENUINE REPLICA” were hand-printed on a letter press.

 

The current iteration, in t-shirt form, is probably the most interesting as the referent of the phrase is ambiguous. It could be the shirt and it could be the wearer. Both? The most intriguing thing about the human referent is that it’s true of our actual lack of persistence as physical things. Each successive moment we believe ourselves to be the same persisting thing but in actuality our bodies are constantly replacing cells and our memories, beliefs and personalities are not indefinitely preserved.

“GENUINE REPLICA” has a tinge of humor for the thinking person as it seems contradictory in itself. The objective here is to wrap a lot up in a bite size conversation starter.

 

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BEIGN

This design is a potential misspelling. Most people experience the word “BEIGN” as a kind of short circuit. In not recognizing the word there is a movement towards correction. The ready alternatives are “BEING” and “BEGIN”. Maybe this points to the process going on in the mind and an awareness of being in the moment. Maybe it’s just annoying and seen as an error that doesn’t point at anything.

 

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NOTHING IS NECESSARY

This phrase is part of the nothing series. This double entendre is a logic derailing expression. Consider the multiple interpretations. To claim that something is necessary is to claim that it must be. But how can nothing be, in the sense of existence? On the other hand we often use this expression to mean that things that occur could have been different or that what will happen in the future isn’t predetermined. This phrase has also appeared in other artworks. In one instance the phrase was written on a chalk board in a punishment style as would happen in a middle school setting. It also appears in chapter 1 of the artist book Putty: Philosophy Thereon.

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NOTHING IS INEVITABLE

This phrase is part of the nothing series. This double entendre expresses both the ultimate truth (maybe) and an insight into our everyday practical experience. It seems likely that this something that we are and all that exists will at some point cease to be…hence, nothing. On the other hand it expresses something like indeterminism and the idea that no future must be the case.

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NOTHING IS ENOUGH

 

This phrase is part of the nothing series and it illuminates our current predicament. It seems to me that the general consequence of being in western culture is that we have learned that we can’t get enough. It’s a natural outcome of commercialism and the marketed messages we live within.  The expression “nothing is enough,” as a double entendre, both identifies an insufficiency and a possible antidote. It eludes to a certain spirituality, Buddhist perhaps; the phrase points towards an experience. This work has been exhibited as a series of laser cut stencils with encaustic wax paint. The stencils were given away at two shows, one at Berry College in GA and another at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

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