RedTree: Stand Tall— Coming to Principle Gallery, June
Give me a place to stand, and I will move the Earth.
– Archimedes
This quote is actually a condensed and long accepted version of the words of Archimedes. It was originally about the power of lever in physics. He actually said: Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the Earth. But the lever has been dropped over the 2200 or so years since he lived and has come to signify something more than a statement about physical mechanics. It is an almost existential statement about the power of the individual in changing the world.
The small somehow defeating the overwhelming forces set against them.
David versus Goliath.
The biblical David’s lever was his intelligence and the sling and stone that he used to offset the Philistine Goliath’s size and strength in order to take down the giant. Every underdog seeks to identify a strategic advantage that will enable them to triumph against all odds. Something that plays to their own strengths and magnifies their greater opponent’s weaknesses.
What is the lever you will use to move the Earth?
I’ve used the preceding paragraphs in a post many years ago but felt that it also applied to this new painting that is scheduled to be part of my June show, Continuum: The RedTree at 25, at the Principle Gallery. This is 40″ high by 20″ wide on canvas and is titled RedTree: Stand Tall.
It is a simple composition, but its size and colors give it a visual oomph that belies its quiet appearance. Though it is just a solitary tall tree set against the moon and sky with receding hills and a bit of water in the distance, it has a presence that demands to be heard. Around the base of the tree are a number of large stones. Perhaps a reference to the stones employed by that aforementioned underdog David?
It stands alone, without protection for all the world to see.
Yet it stands. Just standing where you are with stony resolve is sometimes a lever powerful enough to change the world.
Perseverance is often its own victory.
Persevere. That’s what underdogs do.
I’ve often felt the underdog. Maybe it was only a perception in my mind but, as a result, I have always rooted for underdogs., people who face long odds in taking on bigger, stronger opponents. People without privilege who are underestimated, overlooked, ridiculed, and pushed around. People who refuse to go with along with the crowd and are willing to stand on principle when the whole world seems against them.
And that’s what I see in this painting. Simple and strong.
Okay, here’s a song to fittingly fill out this post. It is a 1969 song, Stand, from the great Sly & The Family Stone. The lyrics fall right in place here.
So, give a listen then go figure out what your own lever might be that will move the Earth. Then stand tall.
Redtree Times 