Opening Reception: MARK SPENCER | Melting Pot
Melting Pot is a term originated by the British author Isreal Zangwill in his play of the same name to popularize the notion of many cultures blended together to emerge as now only American, shiny and new; one under a common flag. Now this phrase, used for decades to describe the macro culture of the U.S., is criticized for not valuing diversity, not recognizing inherent power imbalances. Spencer’s art pushes beyond the limits of many becoming one in this traditional, even simplified, sense. Instead, it suggests the many ARE already one.
“I was in my late teens when I had the epiphany that all things in this world are connected.” says Spencer. “Our thoughts, our physical beings, our gods are all part of the same cosmic fabric.”
Spencer says human nature is the act of contextualizing one’s life—to make sense and give meaning of one’s time on earth. Nature, on the other hand, is all life, is existence in all its forms. Not that which is alive in the sense of an organic system, but that which is alive as part of a cosmic system of consciousness.
This cosmic consciousness is the melting pot from, and within, which this artist draws his forms and dips his brush. The melting pot is the Oneness of it all. We are lucky to be reminded of this truth by those who can show us. Mark Spencer is one of those.
