Nothing exists apart. Everything has a share of everything else.

Anexagoras, fragment, 6

Divination is the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers, a non-scientific method of acquiring knowledge unavailable by other means. Divination provides insight, the intuitive perception in contrast to the objective intellect.

Various methods of divination utilize random patterns as reflecting the forms inherent in nature at the instant of time they are observed. These patterns are tangible configurations of the present state of cosmic being and mirror the nature and potential development of that state.

"Although the relative effectiveness and mechanisms of divination are contentious, the principles underlying a belief in the efficacy of divination are identical the world over, being performed by a specific person at a specific place and time. Each divinatory act is an unique event, and contains within it the uniqueness of the whole of space and time at that instant."1

The modern concept of synchronicity provides a link between scientific materialism and the ancient, magical, worldview of divination. The synchronous definition of the universe states that all elements are linked to each other by their very existence in space and time. The major elements that exist in the universe are revealed by these patterns at the moment of formation.

Fractal geometry is another, and according to the theoretical physicist Fritjof Capra, the universe is one indivisible dynamic whole whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as patterns of a cosmic process.

The ancient practice of divination by throwing of arrows or sticks, "the casting of lots", evolved into many of our gaming implements in all parts of the world: the shaft into cards and the arrow tip evolved into dice, dominoes, counters and chess pieces.

The origins of board games embody these ancient belief systems. The symbol of many divine beings, found in ancient representations all over the world, was the sacred grid, the grid being a powerful symbol of order, of the structure of the world and of the divine or human dominion over space and time. Many games are descendents of ancient religious rituals. Some preserve their sacred origin by corresponding to floor plans of temples and holy cities; in others the array of pieces on the board reflects some aspect of the ordering of society. These structures become the conscious intellect and scientific ordering to divination’s intuition. As games evolved they lost all mystical significance, although, as in art, games reflect the culture that produces them and are imitations of real life situations.

Besides the corollary to contemporary science and philosophy my fascination with the history of games is the parallels that can be made between divination and art-making practices in general, and given the abstract quality of games, a parallel exists in the spiritual origins of early 20th century abstract art also. I utilize my intuition/intellect or unconscious and conscious processes in the creation of my own works of art.

These structures, (game boards), are now vehicles for my own exploration.

"SIX DEGREES of SEPARATION" derives its form from Chinese checkers. The web of lines, that constitute the structure of the board, drawn directly on the wall, floor to ceiling, resembles the world on its axis. The 60 painted discs are individual paintings whose random gestural strokes are actually drawn from marbles. The 6 base colors of 10 sets each are red, white, blue, and green, yellow, black. These are also the principle colors of national flags around the world. Each set of base colors contains all the other colors in combinations of 2, 3 & 4 colors, each disc containing a color combination from flags internationally. The object of the game is to move all of your pieces across the board first. The configuration, a melting pot of discs within the structure, was arrived at from a game of Chinese checkers played between the 6 participants of this exhibition. I stopped the game at the point of what I thought had been total engagement of the players and while the mixture seemed the fullest, a gravitational form. The potential configurations are infinite. The individual interactions creating movement and change in time over a given space has both micro and macro interpretations. As the title suggests, we are all related, connected in complex interactions.

"DOUBLE HEX" is based on a board game called HEX, invented by a Danish poet and mathematician, Piet Hein, in the 1940s. The object of HEX is to form a continuous line in any direction with counters connecting the opposite sides of the board, your opponent attempting to connect the other opposite sides of the board. A powerful metaphor is found in the premise of the game, attempting to create a line from one side to the next and blocking your opponent from connecting their sides. A parallel HEX board subverts the game. One board is drawn in a corner with color counters, the other board drawn around the corner with black and white counters, creating the classic push/pull formal dynamism explicit in the game. Overlapping each other on the center wall, one game blocks the other game from happening. Implicitly, each board contains the other as symbolized by the black & white and color containers.

As a counterpoint to the environments created by the other two pieces that the observer can walk into and move around, "SOLITAIRE" is scaled to the size of a torso. The board consists of 37 holes drilled directly into the wall and 36 arrows are used in place of pegs. The game, in process, has some arrows in the wall and the remainder scattered on the floor. In this metaphorical act the artist, or observer if you place yourself into the piece, acts as diviner or shaman. The arrows, however, have a double edge, as you could be the participant of a game, or like St. Sebastian, the victim.

1 Nigel Pennick, "SECRET GAMES of THE GODS"