palimpsest

The Palimpsest cycle deals with cultural shifts in different parts of Western culture. Some works are titled after the year of a particular event that has had lasting, if rarely still noticed effects on our daily lives.

Click on the titles to see references that inspired and directed the development of the paintings.


48" x 36" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

On the palimpsest, from the Chicago School of Media Theory →  uchicago.edu

In-depth information and history of palimpsests → wikipedia.org

Conservation efforts of the "Archimedes Palimpsest" →  archimedespalimsest.org

59" x 35.5" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

Fred Hoyle and the Steady State Theory vs. the Big Bang Theory → carnegiescience.edu

George Gamow and the Steady State Theory → aip.org

 

27.5" x 44" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

Dmitri Mendeleev and the Periodic Table of Elements → khanacademy.org ↑

 

27.5" x 44" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

A map of the vast network of Roman roads, some of which have been built over and are still in use today → lu.se

 

27.5" x 44" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

Roads and trails throughout history → wikipedia.org ↑

44" x 27.5" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace → berkeley.edu

On a lasting misunderstanding of the theory of evolution by natural selection (video and transcript) → khanacademy.org

 

86" x 53" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

The recurring concept of the end of history → wikipedia.org

 

36" x 60" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

The Great Schism, the split between Eastern and Western christianities (video and transcript) → khanacademy.org

The East-West schism in depth → wikipedia.org

 

44" x 27.5" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

Origins of European explorations of the Americas (video and transcript) → khanacademy.org

The Columbian Exchange, the transfer of commodities, people, and diseases (video and transcript) → khanacademy.org

In-depth information on the Columbian Exchange → wikipedia.org

 

59.5" x 35" acrylic on canvas

59.5" x 35" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

Marie Curie and the discovery of radium → cnrs.fr

A biographical context of Marie Curie and her work → khanacademy.org

A gift from the AAUW that allowed Marie Curie to continue her work → aauw.org

59.5" x 36" acrylic on canvas

The process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound tracks, cartoons, photographs—to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every predication made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place.

(George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four")

↓ theme references

George Orwell's complete "Nineteen Eighty-Four" → gutenberg.net.au

 

48" x 36" acrylic on canvas

↓ theme references

The rulers of Europe for every year since 400 B.C. (animation/video, sound optional) → youtube.com