Platt Holden (pholden@worldnet.att.net)
Wed, 3 Jun 1998 16:21:48 +0100
Hi LS,
Since I like to find expressions of Pirsig's metaphysics in art, let me
suggest the work of sculptor Alexander Calder as a particularly
beautiful representation of the Dynamic/Static split.
Calder is perhaps most famed for inventing the mobile which set static
sculpture in motion. He introduced the dimension of time by making his
works change under the influence of invisible forces, whether a puff of
wind or the motion of passerby. The static elements of his sculpture
(abstract shapes) move around and close in on themselves and stretch out
again in beautiful dances, offering varied mediations of elements and
differing perspectives of the whole simultaneously.
Calder's art captivated Einstein who once stood for 40 minutes gazing
upon the 1934 work, "Universe." The philosopher Jean-Paul Satre wrote,
"Calder establishes a general destiny of motion for each mobile, then he
leaves it on its own. The objects inhabit a halfway station between the
servility of a statue and the independence of nature."
The patterns in Pirsig's metaphysics occupy a similar halfway station
between static and dynamic, between servile predictability and
independent uncertainty. But all are patterns of value, just as Calder's
art.
Platt
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