I would say...Don't tell me what you believe, show me what you have done and I will tell you what you believe.
History has said this another way.....Follow the money trail.
This video is a great example of what art is and what its value is.
We don't have to guess what the artist believes is important. Where the video camera points tells us everything we need to know. The accompanying music adds a poetic touch, and a rhythm. If you gave ten people videos cameras and told them to walk around Paris, most people point it at their relatives, because people love their relatives. However, if you love Paris, you would point it at Paris.
Net: It is difficult to be an artist, if you have too many relatives. Having said that, I am really looking forward to the Easter Egg Hunt with all the kids. Does anyone have a rabbit costume I can borrow?
Holiday Party
The chemistry of creativity in the flesh
Creative Spirit of the City of Paris - Monparnasse
Joe Dassin has captured the Soul of Paris in Music and he is an American!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9zSqijt_zY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfgqA_Shvz8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxFaPB-RULU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9zSqijt_zY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfgqA_Shvz8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxFaPB-RULU&feature=related
Human Rights Arts Festival
The first ever Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival will be held in Silver Spring, from April 23-25, 2010. This multi-venue, multi-media event will bring together artists, local businesses and politicians to use socially transformative art to raise awareness of human rights and justice issues, as well as the important work of Amnesty International. The festival will run from 4 pm to late night Friday, and then 10 am to late night Saturday and Sunday. Can you support this event with your attendance?
Creativity: through the eye of an elephant gun
My creativity comes from connecting big problems with math. I start out tackling a huge problem where I think I can get some traction. In the problem space I spend many years reading all that I can and trying to fully understand the core essential problem.
My first such effort was studying why software didn't work -- -- why it wasn't rigorously tested, why it had errors, and why it was unmaintainable. I spent over two years doing this and doing nothing else. In parallel with the problem domain I search for mathematical results that in some way is connected to the problem and would provide some traction. In the case of software I published a graph theoretic complexity measure after two such years -- -- it became a national standard.
I have spent five years studying the AIDS genome. This resulted in an AIDS characterization as a mathematical group that would explain the underlying mechanism for the production of AIDS mutations.
Recently I have spent about 18 months studying software security threats and viruses. This resulted in a algebraic reduction technique that I am in the process of publishing. I also presented this technique to a software audience in Paris on March 9.
The beginning of this process is a bit schizophrenic being emerged in parallel problem spaces and mathematical spaces. As the process continues I try to whittle down the problem space to both it's essence and something that's tractable. At the same time I consider various mathematical models that have underlying simplicity and rigor and look in some way connected. Typically there are very many connections but a breakthrough has to provide a fresh new insight and map onto something operational that solves the problem.
The underlying process is a duality between working very hard and then letting go. It's like interval training for an athlete --- run full blast, walk for a while, run full blast.... And then when I let go and all is quiet it announces itself.
It's also an emotional roller coaster -- -- when I find a mathematical connection it's euphoric -- -- when I then find it has no operational use I feel like I'm wasting my life. Very often after the biggest disappointments and the accompanying depression will be followed by a huge result, wherein I refine the focus and what I thought was an obstacle leads me to the truth.
Here's what drives me. Rather than science I feel like this is a quest for an underlying truth -- -- wherein I can characterize a big problem with mathematical rigor and get a breakthrough result. It feels like Columbus on the high seas discovering a new continent --- the truth was always there, the excitement is finding it.
My next step is to go out and tell the world --- always to the practitioners never to the academics. The practitioners know what works, the academics certify the math after the fact. The reinforcement I got lecturing about software complexity gave me the confidence and momentum to build a successful company.
In short I look for big messy expensive problems being addressed with anemic slingshots -- -- and lug in my elephant gun.
My creative spark in writing poetry is quite different -- -- I aim at the big elephant in the room. Poetry lets me address the unaddressable in a light way.
My first such effort was studying why software didn't work -- -- why it wasn't rigorously tested, why it had errors, and why it was unmaintainable. I spent over two years doing this and doing nothing else. In parallel with the problem domain I search for mathematical results that in some way is connected to the problem and would provide some traction. In the case of software I published a graph theoretic complexity measure after two such years -- -- it became a national standard.
I have spent five years studying the AIDS genome. This resulted in an AIDS characterization as a mathematical group that would explain the underlying mechanism for the production of AIDS mutations.
Recently I have spent about 18 months studying software security threats and viruses. This resulted in a algebraic reduction technique that I am in the process of publishing. I also presented this technique to a software audience in Paris on March 9.
The beginning of this process is a bit schizophrenic being emerged in parallel problem spaces and mathematical spaces. As the process continues I try to whittle down the problem space to both it's essence and something that's tractable. At the same time I consider various mathematical models that have underlying simplicity and rigor and look in some way connected. Typically there are very many connections but a breakthrough has to provide a fresh new insight and map onto something operational that solves the problem.
It's also an emotional roller coaster -- -- when I find a mathematical connection it's euphoric -- -- when I then find it has no operational use I feel like I'm wasting my life. Very often after the biggest disappointments and the accompanying depression will be followed by a huge result, wherein I refine the focus and what I thought was an obstacle leads me to the truth.
Here's what drives me. Rather than science I feel like this is a quest for an underlying truth -- -- wherein I can characterize a big problem with mathematical rigor and get a breakthrough result. It feels like Columbus on the high seas discovering a new continent --- the truth was always there, the excitement is finding it.
My next step is to go out and tell the world --- always to the practitioners never to the academics. The practitioners know what works, the academics certify the math after the fact. The reinforcement I got lecturing about software complexity gave me the confidence and momentum to build a successful company.
My creative spark in writing poetry is quite different -- -- I aim at the big elephant in the room. Poetry lets me address the unaddressable in a light way.
Considering Opposites
One of the most fun things about mathematics is the surprising appearance from time to time of truths that are counter-intuitive. The existence of different orders of infinity, for example, or the impossibility of a set that contains all sets. Perhaps it is examples like these that make me wary that my own thinking may be ruling out viable possibilities. And thus, I sometimes generate new thoughts by considering a favorite truth and prodding myself to "Consider the opposite." As a result, I may discover one of my thoughts to be wrong--or, what is more exciting, a pair of opposite truths.
I like these lines from Robert Frost:
"We dance around the ring and suppose,
but the Secret sits in the middle and knows."
I like these lines from Robert Frost:
"We dance around the ring and suppose,
but the Secret sits in the middle and knows."
Creativity:Truth is Beauty and Beauty is Truth
Truth is Beauty and Beauty is Truth.
This phrase is my key to Creativity. My approach to creative discovery is to follow the mathematics. Galileo said the Book of the Universe is written in the language of mathematics
When I create something, from Math and Physics to Religion, it is a search for Beauty. For example, Maxwell’s Equations, the most famous equations in science, I found to be not symmetric and not Beautiful. This observation led me to investigate where these equations came from and led me to William Rowan Hamilton’s Quaternion Mathematics. Hamilton had developed Quaternions as a means to rotate mathematically a line in space. In the process he invented the concept of vectors.. He started with three vectors:
I, J and K
paralleling space directions. He worked with these for 15 years without success, Then he found that he needed to add a scalar number 1 to make the rotation work.
Quaternion = 1 + I + J + K
The three vectors and one scalar (real number) created Quaternions, a four dimensional space. This was a correct four dimensional space, 60 years before Einstein’s Relativity Theory.
Maxwell used Hamilton’s Quaternion vectors for his equations and went on to make the greatest prediction in the history of science, that Light is a form of Electricity.
Hamilton also invented vector calculus creating a three dimensional vector derivative,
Del= Id/dx + Jd/dy + Kd/dz
Hamilton‘s Vector Derivative, was mathematically incomplete being only a vector not a Quaternion Derivative. I added a scalar derivative to create a Quaternion Derivative:
X= d/dr +Del= d/dr + Id/dx + Jd/dy + Kd/dz = d/cdt + Del
This is a simple addition but with this I can derive mathematically, Maxwell’s Equation as a simple Quaternion Derivative:0 = XE = (d/dr + Del) (Es + Ev) = (dEs/dr - Del.Ev) + ( dEv/dr + Del Es + DelxEv)
Maxwell’s Equations are written as four Equations involving two scalar fields and two vector fields. The Quaternions contain both the scalar and a the vector field. That is what Hamilton discovered , that mathematics and Nature require both a scalar and a vector field in general. In addition, Maxwell’s Equations has two different fields (E and B)where Quaternions show that the only one field is present. The difference is that in Maxwell's time there was no idea of Four dimensional space. Space and time were separate and the time derivative and space derivative are called different names, Electric fields and Magnetic fields. The reason there is always an electric field accompanying the magnetic field is because there is only one field.
Many years later I was looking for a way to present the reality of Quaternions in science. I looked to the Heavens where Hubble's pictures are Beautiful. Hubble's Redshift is the foundation of the Expanding Universe. Hubble himself, did not believe that his Redshift indicated an expanding Universe. Hubble believed the Redshift is “an hitherto unknown principle of Nature”. Hubble was right.
Investigating Newton’s and Einstein’s Gravity Theories, and applying Quaternions to Newton‘s Law of Gravity, the Universe is stable not expanding. Hubble is correct.. I derived mathematically the redshift. The Redshift indicates the balance force to the gravity contraction, needing No "Dark Energy, or No Cosmological Constant".
Space is not curved as Einstein's General Relativity Theory holds, Light is attracted by Gravity and Einstein's Deflection is Newtonian,
Tan deflection= y/Rs = .5gt^2/Rs = .5gRs/c^2 = 8.1666E-6 and deflection = 1.68'
Simplicity is another mark of Beauty!
Truth is Beauty and Beauty is Truth!
Nuff said.
Nuff said.
Daughter's Hug
I couldn't just write about sons, so here is one for daughters. They
are the best huggers in the world.
A Daughter’s Hug
Daughters love hugs and fathers need’m not miss,
a splendid wedding cooked in heaven and bliss.
Their squeeze a present and heavenly trace,
a great big ribbon streamer, a valentine delicate paper and lace.
Daughters look past your eyes, right to your soul’s vine.
Daughters are ambassadors to Sincerity's genuine.
Five Year Old Daughters, precious experts at little gifts for free,
the death till you part, Christmas tree.
Little Threes carefully track the path of dad,
take a step back, they are right there and glad.
The hug of a Six is precious and tender, sugar and good,
like an angel without wings, removed if they could.
When clouds are thick and you need guard from alarm,
a hug of a daughter is a spot of sunshine warm.
Twelve year olds are the first sign of spring and crocus,
a haven and shelter for the stressed and the anxious.
Really, the Creator of skips and hops of a carefree four year old,
bested themselves when created her hug and arm gold.
Daughters are precious to this earth,
but to Dad, they are quite and rather the universe of worth.
are the best huggers in the world.
A Daughter’s Hug
Daughters love hugs and fathers need’m not miss,
a splendid wedding cooked in heaven and bliss.
Their squeeze a present and heavenly trace,
a great big ribbon streamer, a valentine delicate paper and lace.
Daughters look past your eyes, right to your soul’s vine.
Daughters are ambassadors to Sincerity's genuine.
Five Year Old Daughters, precious experts at little gifts for free,
the death till you part, Christmas tree.
Little Threes carefully track the path of dad,
take a step back, they are right there and glad.
The hug of a Six is precious and tender, sugar and good,
like an angel without wings, removed if they could.
When clouds are thick and you need guard from alarm,
a hug of a daughter is a spot of sunshine warm.
Twelve year olds are the first sign of spring and crocus,
a haven and shelter for the stressed and the anxious.
Really, the Creator of skips and hops of a carefree four year old,
bested themselves when created her hug and arm gold.
Daughters are precious to this earth,
but to Dad, they are quite and rather the universe of worth.
Looking Within to Look Beyond
I have been thinking about the creative process as looking within in order to look beyond. Here's a poem about that.
Night on the Deck
I spend it silently churning,
sweeping the dark around me,
baring myself to the inexpressible
that is hovering nearby as
the stars are dying and becoming.
I stay for hours wrapped outside
the stars are dying and becoming.
I stay for hours wrapped outside
of myself, until I hear a single cricket
and then less then a cricket, and then
I listen in on the infinite smallness
where the poem not written by me
finally begins its clear, fragile song.
Fishing Derby
Najwa,
My most fond memory is when my oldest son caught an eel in the lake. It actually jumped out of the water and he actually could identify what it was. Then I put the slimy thing in a bucket and my 4 year old daughter was holding it up with two hands. I was so proud that she was not squeamish. My farmer german grandparents would have loved that. They taught me to make shoelaces with the eel hide. However, if I would have skinned that eel like on the farm, some of the neighbor kids would have passed out and/or called the police.
Yes. I actually fish with all the neighborhood kids. I have a lake in my back yard. I hosted a fishing derby last year for all the boys and girls. I had prizes for biggest fish that didn't bite, biggest fish that got away, most colorful fish, etc. It was pretty chaotic. I had a ferry that transported kids to different spots around the lake.
This weekend is Paper Airplane Rally! We are going to make and decorate paper airplanes and launch them off the back of the dam. More contests!
My most fond memory is when my oldest son caught an eel in the lake. It actually jumped out of the water and he actually could identify what it was. Then I put the slimy thing in a bucket and my 4 year old daughter was holding it up with two hands. I was so proud that she was not squeamish. My farmer german grandparents would have loved that. They taught me to make shoelaces with the eel hide. However, if I would have skinned that eel like on the farm, some of the neighbor kids would have passed out and/or called the police.
Yes. I actually fish with all the neighborhood kids. I have a lake in my back yard. I hosted a fishing derby last year for all the boys and girls. I had prizes for biggest fish that didn't bite, biggest fish that got away, most colorful fish, etc. It was pretty chaotic. I had a ferry that transported kids to different spots around the lake.
This weekend is Paper Airplane Rally! We are going to make and decorate paper airplanes and launch them off the back of the dam. More contests!
Fishing
Keith,
I love the poem ---- it captures the magic both of fishing and casual time that dads and sons need together. Like your dad I had many great experiences with my two sons fishing. We had many adventures in various states trying our hand at catching fish but more importantly sharing exciting adventures.
In fact I thought it was so much fun that I bought a house overlooking the Tridelphia reservoir. My public rationalization was that it was a good investment -- -- the fact is I bought it so we could go fishing. And we did for many beautiful days spent on the reservoir. Early mornings with the night's mist burning off with early sunshine, on beautifully calm water at sunset when all goes quiet.
Those days are gone now and fishing seems incomplete. There's a time and season for all things -- -- I feel blessed for my fishing time with my boys.
Thank you for the poem --- it really hit home.
Tom
I love the poem ---- it captures the magic both of fishing and casual time that dads and sons need together. Like your dad I had many great experiences with my two sons fishing. We had many adventures in various states trying our hand at catching fish but more importantly sharing exciting adventures.
In fact I thought it was so much fun that I bought a house overlooking the Tridelphia reservoir. My public rationalization was that it was a good investment -- -- the fact is I bought it so we could go fishing. And we did for many beautiful days spent on the reservoir. Early mornings with the night's mist burning off with early sunshine, on beautifully calm water at sunset when all goes quiet.
Those days are gone now and fishing seems incomplete. There's a time and season for all things -- -- I feel blessed for my fishing time with my boys.
Thank you for the poem --- it really hit home.
Tom
Poem and Painting
What a touching poem, Keith. Your boys are lucky to have you as a dad! Regarding the photoshopped painting, I wish I had seen the painting without knowing it was photoshopped instead of painted. Because now I view it through the psychological realization that it's done on a computer, plus the obstacle of viewing it in a small size through a second technological layer, my own laptop screen. Due to the fact I am carrying all that viewing baggage, the blurriness looks rather like an effect -- albeit an excellent effect -- more than a genuine expression. I bet I would feel differently if I saw it printed out full-size, though. I do like the crescendo of softness in this compared to your other work (that is, the work I have seen).
Married to the Muse
Here is a challenge we all share that we should post on ----dealing with the lows and highs of the creative spirit. That is accepting the loneliness of our thoughts and observations and then marshaling the courage to express them. And then dealing with life's incompleteness when the creative muse strays -- -- as well as creating the space for its expression before it fades away, rather before it escapes into the night.
Photoshop
Hi Keith,
I totally forgot about the Photoshop process when I wrote my comment… I really thought it was a brush on canvas….on the other hand I did say you are a perfectionist…….………..I love your poem. When I was born my father wrote a poem for me …. How special can that be? So I am assuming you took the kids fishing?
I totally forgot about the Photoshop process when I wrote my comment… I really thought it was a brush on canvas….on the other hand I did say you are a perfectionist…….………..I love your poem. When I was born my father wrote a poem for me …. How special can that be? So I am assuming you took the kids fishing?
A Father's Best Chance
A Father’s Best Chance
Little boys need that boat to lifts their spirits,
and anchors to keep them grounded but singing like Crickets.
Little boys need that happy do-nothing time with Dad,
to hitch to the things most important and glad.
Fishing is a snug wondrous trip to the middle of unpredictable
and the best chance to experience cherished unforgettable.
An old wooden homemade boat that leaks,
add to the intrigue and excitement to peak.
Fishing is a great way to appreciate patience and to reconcile boredom.
It is a one way street to perseverance and “chumdom”
Boats are carried or not to water by trailer,
but they really and rather port on the spirits of the first mate sailor.
Boats are an enchantment and wizard of oz in the safety of dad.
A dusty boat is a reminder of what could have been had.
My best memories of dad were on the water and fir.
My worst memories are the trips promised that never were.
A dad can’t go wrong on a boat,
You can even be grumpy, but be sure to go afloat.
Little boys need that boat to lifts their spirits,
and anchors to keep them grounded but singing like Crickets.
Little boys need that happy do-nothing time with Dad,
to hitch to the things most important and glad.
Fishing is a snug wondrous trip to the middle of unpredictable
and the best chance to experience cherished unforgettable.
An old wooden homemade boat that leaks,
add to the intrigue and excitement to peak.
Fishing is a great way to appreciate patience and to reconcile boredom.
It is a one way street to perseverance and “chumdom”
Boats are carried or not to water by trailer,
but they really and rather port on the spirits of the first mate sailor.
Boats are an enchantment and wizard of oz in the safety of dad.
A dusty boat is a reminder of what could have been had.
My best memories of dad were on the water and fir.
My worst memories are the trips promised that never were.
A dad can’t go wrong on a boat,
You can even be grumpy, but be sure to go afloat.
Photoshop
Hi Najwa,
Yeah. It is blurry because almost all the lines and shapes are done within Photoshop. The photoshop brush is basically a round dot that you can vary in size, depending on how big of an area you can cover. The lines are drawn with a mouse. So you can imagine, it is pretty loose.
When I pull these paintings out of mind, I like to do it first roughly in Photoshop rather than with a brush and paint. I try to get the cool/warm, mood and large shapes correct, before I start with the paint. I like to hit the actual canvas with complete confidence. The masters used to do a lot of pre-painting pencial/ink wash sketches, etc. I think Photoshop is a 21st century replacement for doing that. However, since everything is getting dumber, maybe that is a bad idea.
Yeah. It is blurry because almost all the lines and shapes are done within Photoshop. The photoshop brush is basically a round dot that you can vary in size, depending on how big of an area you can cover. The lines are drawn with a mouse. So you can imagine, it is pretty loose.
When I pull these paintings out of mind, I like to do it first roughly in Photoshop rather than with a brush and paint. I try to get the cool/warm, mood and large shapes correct, before I start with the paint. I like to hit the actual canvas with complete confidence. The masters used to do a lot of pre-painting pencial/ink wash sketches, etc. I think Photoshop is a 21st century replacement for doing that. However, since everything is getting dumber, maybe that is a bad idea.
Keith's new painting
Hi Keith, the photo looks a little blare to me, I don’t think the real painting has that effect...I know how a perfectionist you are..... As an artist, I love cutting loose and following the brush .... and I am guessing that is where you are heading, don’t stop, the canvas is your world and you are in total control, I would love to see the painting in real......I am dyeing to get in front of my easel, not until Sunday......
Keith wants comments on this
Keith wants feedback on his new endeavor---- from Keith 'This technique or style is new to me, so it takes a little more time. However, I like this style because it gives much more flexibility to create a mood.
I am looking for input too. For example…I would rather hear…that sucks you should change this, versus oh gee that’s nice.'
Tom's comment: 'I am no art critic as you well know. However I really like what you've done -- -- whatever style this is it seems perfectly fitted for a shantytown type scene, like Tilghman Island. I would think the technique great for back alleys in Hong Kong and even the narrowest alleys in Ellicott city -- -- but not for panoramic views of Hawaii.
Tom's comment: 'I am no art critic as you well know. However I really like what you've done -- -- whatever style this is it seems perfectly fitted for a shantytown type scene, like Tilghman Island. I would think the technique great for back alleys in Hong Kong and even the narrowest alleys in Ellicott city -- -- but not for panoramic views of Hawaii.
I have the sense that this type of painting should be unfinished. Just like the unfinished shantytowns it represents.'
Thoughts about Paris
It felt wonderful to take a trip to Paris just to sample and connect to the place most called home for artists. And I thought often about our group and how each of us would be so at home here and excited to share the experience.
Although alone I walked with many companions. You guys, our newly formed homegrown artist community sharing our excitement and trials pursuing our dreams. I also felt the ghosts of Hemingway and Sartre. And a camaraderie that I visit their venerable place of culture to deliver a lecture of my own creation -- -- mathematics not literature, however my own creation nonetheless. I felt a companionship of shared kinship -- -- business associates are colleagues, but fellow artist are more like blood brothers. When I read of their struggles, sacrifice, obsession, rejection .... I feel connected to their spirit -- -- this characterizes my life and career even though it resulted in a business. It was much more the new mathematical creation than the business enterprise.
I write this to both reflect on Paris but also to share with you. There is something really special about our new group and I feel a strong bond and connection to it.
Tom
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