Tarotic Deconstruction is a process manifesting in the body of eleven paintings each containing a portion of a hacked-up Crowley/Harris Thoth deck that had been retired for many years. It’s fading colors and warped edges are undergoing an alchemical transformation by X-Acto knife and scissors into collage fodder.
If you line up the cards of the Major Arcana in a row in numerical order from left to right the center of the line of 22 cards are Lust (in the Crowley/Harris deck only) and Fortune. If you then move one to the right from Lust and to the left from Fortune you get the next pair, The Hermit and the Hanged man and so forth. This symbolizes the radiating out of Art from the heart center of the artist.
Each painting also contains an assortment of semi-randomly chosen cards from the Minor Arcana and Court Cards which correspond to the sephira to which the 2 Majors connect on the human map of the Cosmos, the Tree of Life.
Along with the sacrificed remains of the sacred tarot are an assortment of found objects specifically and intuitively placed to help ground the esoteric current of the Book.
This project was an esoteric development of my Citywood project which makes use of standard playing cards to contribute texture and depth to night time cityscapes loosely based on the scenery visible from the wooded areas of Portland, Oregon.
The first step of this journey blends the sacred fuck of the Lust card with the endless twirl of
Lady Luck’s ups and downs. A sad Pan and a moody Monkey (really an ape with a gigantic brain) in the lower left contrast with the Big Bang humming in the background of the ever cranking wheels of the Heavens and of humanity’s love affair with Spectacle on the Earth. The blending of forces is further explained by Our Lady pouring the blood of the saints on the head of a serpent. The Big Bang never ended. Even in our crowded cities the ever present Creatrix/Creator vibrates the universes into existence. Hindu god Ganesh both consecrates the beginning of this process and reminds us not to take our moods too seriously as the wheel keeps on turing.
This sort of thing is obviously very hard for a mere primate to grok right away. Monkey leaves the mad rush of the city periodically to sort things out in a quieter environment. The Hermit and the Hanged Man calls for the sacrifice of outdated habits of perception. The Earth Mother manifests as the Hermit Tree, holding the lantern that prevents the tripper from losing his way even when the ground melts beneath his feet. This is where he finds that humanity is not the only intelligence on Earth. Monkey’s heart is shown in a cage with drooping wings. At this stage he does not yet realize what he must sacrifice, but holds onto it even though his holding will kill his heart if allowed to continue.
Often a moment of crisis can result in supreme clarity. An Adjustment of Death comes about and Monkey makes the right sacrifice after all. The scales of Maat show the burning heart much lighter than her feather. Scorpio’s serpent arising from the graveyard is also a very disappointed Sebek who has no heavy heart on which to dine this night. The heart on the scales was merely the shell of Monkey’s old habits of perception. His old world is crumbling in the fires of the cremation grounds. A totem pole of crossroads spirits including Ganesh, Odin, Raven, Tahuti, and Legba guide Monkey’s soul to the launch pad. The pyramid of Science will crumble along with all the other artifacts, but it served Monkey well to keep his mind clear enough to remember what to do at the End of All Things; Lighten up. This clarity also helps Monkey remember what not to do; Don’t Panic.
Alas, the End of All Things was just the End of All Things Monkey Previously Assumed True. Rumor has it that the phoenix held in that burning heart shell made its way to one of the multitude of stars visible from the cremation grounds. Rumor has it that the star was the galactic host of our very own Earth.
Phase 4 of this journey is currently gestating.
Come back for updates.
Death/Adjustment
Hermit/Hanged Man
Lust/Fortune
