Time to pause, check, evaluate and move on again

The past few days have been spent contemplating and researching the subject of identities via some alternative means, and what it means to me in particular.  I've been thinking about how to present an image as well as what an appropriate image could be.  I've considered and to some degree concluded, that the accessories that accompany an identity are not 'an identity in itself' and feel that such items are merely superfluous, in that, whilst such adornments are merely an extension of our desired persona, the true self is beyond the 'first appearance'.

A good allegory to this is the Holbein painting of the Ambassadors, that I referred in an earlier post.  As one can see in the painting, which was completed in the time of Henry 8th, where the two very rich men of European nobility, are dressed in all their finery, together with their latest and greatest accouterments, to portray them with a sense of identity that reflects their highly valued nobility.

However, the "coded" image, which perhaps may not be understood to the viewer without explanation, which looks like a grey smudge at the bottom of the painting, is in fact a representation of a human skull.  It can only be seen properly by viewing the painting from a specific angle; by standing closely to the image, far to the low left of the painting and it is then revealed.  This may have been put in by Holbein as an allegory to both the subject's and our own human mortality.  Basically, in simple parleance, I think he was making the statement, "You may be rich, with all your fineness and ornaments of wealth, but you will still die like the rest of us and have nothing!"....  

(see Double Portrait of Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve ("The Ambassadors"), 1533. Oil and tempera on oak, National Gallery, London. )

Anyway, further pondering has, I'm glad to say given me a different view again...

What is identified in a Personal Identity?

Generally, the first  identity of a person is almost always thought of in terms of their facial features.  Here, I'm thinking of Passports, ID Cards, Warrant Cards, Driving Licences (modern) and the like.

However, we also have a deeper, inner identity which is not displayed.  By this, I mean our history, heritage, desires, goals, thoughts, attitudes, secrets, et cetera.  These are all subjects that could be used to illustrate personal identity.

Evaluate and move on... 

So to evaluate;  I have so far gathered some ideas, some good, some rejected and some to be shelved for the time being.  I have thought about the ephemeral and transient nature of identities, and introduced isolation as a theme.  I wanted to take a moment to jump slightly sideways in my thinking and consider other sources for ideas...

Amazingly, this was triggered after receiving a small present from a friend of mine, who had bought it whilst in Ethiopia.  The gift was wrapped before being brought back to the UK... Whilst I loved the gift inside, I was also struck by the wrapping paper and the designs printed on it.  The designs were clearly inspired by Chinese and Oriental images of people either in traditional dress or more current attire.  The fact that it was likely that the wrapping paper was probably even made in China, used as decoration in Ethiopia, and had arrived into my hands in the UK illustrated for me the international identities it had gathered along it's own journey to me.



This international theme got me thinking again about identities in a different context, - now I considered the permanence of identities again, and what better metaphor to combine permanence and national identity could there be on  a contemporary level than the carved images of the presidents on Mount Rushmore...

Quick reference / Pencil drawing in HB and 2B Graphite, with water for shading.

Maybe I could translate the grandeur of these famous personal identities to some other innovative representation?

Time for another mind map perhaps, but without any pre-conceived boundaries this time...

Recursive Loop Mind-Map of identity... - Without Man, there would be no identities...

I attempted to create a mind map with no boundaries!... Big mistake maybe, or maybe not.  Whilst the exercise was very fruitful in providing new possibilities to illustrate and hence add to this body of work, something struck me.  If I recall, it was Linnaeus (Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778) who attempted to catalogue every living thing on earth, no mean feet at all, but it took him a lifetime and he was still (by modern comparisons) only at the beginning, by the time the poor chap passed his mortal coil...  So rather than start something that can never be finished, I chose another branch of the mind map to pursue....  Our Personal Identity & The State.