Image by kenne
Image by kenne
Hidden Valley Rock Formations — Images by kenne
Photo-Artistry Sunset by kenne
Zion Digital Art by kenne
— kenne
Desert Wildflower Painting by kenne
— from “Our Heros” by Phoebe Cary
Children, a Stream, and Connecting with Nature — Computer Art by kenne
A picture may seem not what it is.
Two teens may appear more interested in a
phone than a stream slowly passing at their feet.
Like most images, it’s up to the viewer
to place it in some element of their reality.
Put in the contact the image was taken,
the teens are sharing pictures taken in
my iPhone photography class where they
learn to connect the eye, to the mind, to the heart.
— kenne
Source: William Morrow/HarperCollins
It’s just a little after midnight in Tucson, and I’m having trouble sleeping. It could be that Joy is having surgery later today. It could be that in this age of hand-held technology it was several hours ago I received news alert on the passage of Robert M. Pirsig at age 88.
In the 1970’s I was interested in motorcycles — own a couple. It was a time in which I loved reading about technology and philosophy. So, in 1974 when I read a review of a recently published book, “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values,” I went out and bought a copy.
The inside cover jacket begins with a quote from the book:
“ The study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself. Working on a motorcycle, working well, caring, is to become part of a process, to achieve an inner peace of mind. The motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon.”
What better way to write about the conflict between science and religion, and the nature of Quality in art than to have it as part of a motorcycle narrative of a trip Pirsig, his eleven-year-old son and two friends took from Minnesota to California? As it turns out, the real trip was not a motorcycle trip, but a philosophic trip that centers on an insane passion for truth.
In February of this year, I posted a blog entitled, The Zen of Visual Imagery – Balancing Passion and Obsession, in which I reference the novel I have worshiped over the years. Whether in my own teaching of educational philosophy or photography, I can’t talk about life without referencing Pirsig for the truth. It is time for a Chautauqua.
–kenne