Tis True Without Lying 201, 202, 203 (series 2, Above) Drawing 202 is part of the ‘Telephone’ Exhibition.
Hybrid human-robotic ink drawing on acid-free paper. 420x297mm

Tis True Without Lying 301, 302, 303, 304 (series 3, Below).

“Tis true without lying, certain & most true.

That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing.

And as all things have been & arose from one by the mediation of one: …”

Isaac Newton. “Keynes MS. 28”. The Chymistry of Isaac Newton. Ed. William R. Newman June 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2020 from: http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/newton/ALCH00017.

Tis True Without Lying …

In 2019 and 2020 ‘Truth’, or simply ‘What Is’, has become more and more clouded in smoke screens, covered by thousands of tweets and face book posts. Truth has become super politicised causing serious problems for democracy. Public opinion of truth is the Achilles’ heel of democracy and, already in the early days of democracy, the Romans exploited this to great effect (see Mary Beard, SPQR, 2015). Although our democracy is quite a different thing, public opinion of truth is still a very weak spot.
I came across a translation of a translation of an ancient Arabic text describing the Tabula Smaragdina. The history of that text itself shows that the question of truth is an ancient one and a constant battle. Equally, how to ‘translate / transcribe / transmit’ a particular event or text is a very old problem. How does the minute relate to the big picture? How does the inside, the heart of the matter, relate to the context? Do we only see the tip of the iceberg? The quest for truth, how to hide it and how to gain it is very much part of this kind of ancient texts.
The translation I used is by Isaac Newton (see quote). … From the era of Hermes Trismegistus, to Isaac Newton, to Today, the quest for the truth continues.
In collaboration with my writing robot, I have created a text-based artwork in several series and iterations. Each iteration stops at a different point of the work in progress. At one point, one of the motors of the writing robot did not work anymore and I decided to use this mechanical intervention as the start of a new series.
I will leave it up to the curator or collector to present their own truth: a selection or the full series of iterations.

Below is another series of drawings, interrupted in a different way, creating another set of drawings. The words seem to be knitted together in a different way, creating connections, sentences and shapes.

Tis True Without Lying 301, 302, 303, 304 (series 3).
Hybrid human-robotic ink drawing on acid-free paper. 420x297mm

Tis True Without Lying, drawing 202, is part of the exhibition Telephone. More about the exhibition:
https://phonebook.gallery/

One of the artworks is featured in Art and Cake, A contemporary art magazine focused on the LA art scene.
“Collaboration in Covid Times” also features an interview with Nathan Langston, who is organising the online exhibition Telephone that will feature amongst many others my work. Have a look at this brilliant article: collaboration-in-covid-times/

These works are available for sale and for rental through ARTIQ.