The Silver Book – a new view of Creation
The Silver Book describes a new view of creation and tells of the possible link between the immaterial and the material world, how this might have come about. Quantum physicists are close. It is about the emergence of space, through time, energy and matter and on to life … through possible spiritual forces.
This investigation is not another illustration of the Bible or a so-called Big Bang, but takes eons of time to the beginning, or before the beginning – not so easy to imagine – when there was no time. Texts exist as an introduction to why in this work this subject is explored. Drawings with short lines of text explain how the development from immaterial to material world could be imagined, from a possible artistic point of view.
This written and drawn work is the preliminary form for a planned tapestry. The format of approx. 0.80m high and 70m wide/long – across is based on the size of the Bayeux Tapestry (11th century and probably the first comic – approx. 0.50m x 68m).
The idea is to present the texts to the drawings as a dialogue in comic form in order to achieve an easier identification and understanding of this theme with a wider audience.
This presentation of creation enables insights to open a new consciousness for those who wish or are interested …
Beate von Harten, 13 September 2023
Introductory thoughts
The eternal riddle of humanity, who we actually are, still seems to exist!
Also the questions of what abilities we are endowed with, have determined and made ourselves aware of: and know, “I AM!” are always topical. How did this universe come into being, how did it come to be created, by what spiritual impulses was its physical nature and life itself created?
Whether passed down orally, in visual language or writings, transcriptions or translations, cultural works show themselves as signs of answers. Would creation be conceivable without a divine spirit? Is it the Vedas, Buddhists, Christians, to name a few, who conducted spiritual research in search of wisdom, handed down their philosophical explanations and used this knowledge to open up an explanatory picture of the world in their records?
Is it the general need of human beings to “be free”, to think in freedom and to communicate and act freely on a spiritual level in order to be individually what they imagine themselves to be? What if this knowledge and insight of the Vedas and Buddha, developed over approximately 10,000 years, were to be made accessible and accepted not only by the chosen ones in Eastern monastic communities, but also by the West?
Does this West lack the kind of wisdom to be able to free itself from a materially oriented prison? What would this liberation be good for? Would the Western method of operation be about arriving at a way of acting in general and common agreement with materialistic thinking and acting that places the spiritual much higher than matter?
With this change, in which matter and also violence do not elevate themselves above all, but with pure communication, contemplation or thought to arrive at the above-mentioned freedom, would our aim be?
Could then the most respectful consideration of all life, as a basis of operation, be superimposed on matter, whereby the planet – in particular humans, animals, plants, be given the least harm with the greatest possible benefit? Since many people have been and are being brought into the condition of not reflecting by themselves and also by others, to kneel before matter and to no longer consciously trust their own ideas, it could become rather darker on this planet? But if we reverse this view, and bring out the precious knowledge, could the spirit have the role as the strongest force to look with consciousness into a living, respectful and non-violent future?
Artists and their art would be quality mediators to dedicate themselves to this goal!
The Genesis we know tells us in the Gospel of John chapter 1,1: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God …”. Whether it was the translations or knowledge of the time is not for us to evaluate.
The “Word” referred to could also mean “thought” and would be closer to the investigations of how physicists formulate the origin of matter.
How creation may have come into being is developed in abstracted drawings and this design of threads on a woven ground is carried out as a so-called “world language” for all peoples and times of our planet, because textiles were developed everywhere on our planet. This sequence of images invites us to new insights, to close the “missing link” between spirit and matter.
Wanting to understand these representations is coupled with one’s own active interest.
Draft sketches for a sequence of images on the theme of “Creation”, drawn on paper (gouache/graphite) on the themes: “space, time, energy, matter, light, communication, life, agreement …”.
Why tapestry?
Woven textiles are designed to be sustainable in terms of content and material as information carriers or public relations. Tapestries from the 15th/16th centuries (500 years old) tell of historical events, mythologies, allegories and biblical scenes in high-quality, artistic depictions. Their presence in castles, churches or at times outdoor spaces such as town squares enriches posterity and briefly created a gigantic impact with gigantic series such as 12x50sqm surfaces, at certain festivals.
Pre-Columbian textiles from the 2nd millennium BC (4000 years old) served the religious rites/ideas of the time of influencing fate by appeasing the gods and the form of afterlife after death. Their quality reached the highest artistic and most refined designs and techniques in this philosophical environment. With the weavers of that time, messages more than a thousand years old were preserved under favourable climatic conditions and transmitted into this time now.
Whether digital data or information carriers can survive these long periods of time is already questionable in decades or centuries.
The textile medium not only demands sustainable materials, but also orders of magnitude, which is oriented here to the format of the well-known approx. 1000-year-old example “The Bayeux Tapestry”.
This historical pictorial story depicts the conquest of England by the Normans in 1066 and was created between 1067 and 11079. The dimensions are approx. 50m in height and 68m in width. This vivid narrative depiction seems to be one of the first humorously embroidered comics! Printing did not exist at that time!
When Napoleon discovered this work lying on horse-drawn carriages as a cover about 700 years after it was created, he recognised its significance and identified himself as the reincarnation of Willem I the Conqueror – Duke of Normandy.
Inspired, he planned to repeat the event of the conquest of England and began to build a new fleet. This embroidery served as a welcome PR to convince his contemporaries of this plan. However, this did not come to pass. He then had this important carpet restored and ensured a dignified presentation, which can be seen today in Bayeux.
Technical description
The textile work is created on a high loom, from which the long warp of approx. 70m flows, on which the silver ground and silk moves and grows out of the loom. This beginning of the work is further embroidered on a table with “laying technique” and the finished pictures are led to a wall for presentation.
A centrally placed main line is planned with a height of about 50cm, the secondary lines above and below are planned with about 15cm. These can be designed for comments by the public, with the possible invitation to have their names/characters/coats of arms (with donation for realisation) immortalised on this work in sections.
This means: participation and integration in art and creation!
Planned dimensions: Height: 0.80m x width: approx. 70m
Warp: wool, weft: wool and silk
Drawing with threads: linen, silver, gold
Content
On the woven silver-coloured ground, approx. 70m long, in landscape format, an artistic investigation begins in abstracted individual scenes from left to right before the beginning, i.e. before the actual – known to us – creation.
Drawn with threads, a cause/consciousness develops, how from it, i.e. its contemplations, the physical world may have come into being.
This development takes “eternities”, which may have begun before the reckoning of time, i.e. eons, quadrillions of years.
Therefore, the length/width of approx. 70m is to be experienced as “their short” time-lapse of this dimension!
The depiction is dedicated to a cause with its enormous abilities and intentions, which as a being artistically – creatively – inventively contemplating tries to achieve an effect.
Could this cause thus bring space, time, energy, matter, light and life into existence?
Who or what affects this physical world?
Questions about the dialogue between art and science!
Is there a common denominator to these above statements?
Quote from Max Planck: “This spirit is the original basis of all matter…”.
Is it possible to describe “non-physical” phenomena in order to gain insights into a missing link between spirit and matter?
What or who creates and weaves energies into the physical universe ?
What or who am I?
How do space, time, matter, light, communication and life causally arise? What do life impulses have to do with digital technology and the weaving of our time?
Conclusion: “Imagine”
Suppose there was a so-called “something” (a term from the language of the physical world) that was called cause or intention? This “something” or “nothing” would have no mass, would therefore not be detectable with physical wavelengths, would have neither a position in space nor a relation to time:
What or who is this?
Could this phenomenon have abilities as a so-called CAUSE? To create space, time, energy, matter, light as well as life without being physically measurable itself?
Could it be called “consciousness”?
Sustainability
The creation time of the entire drawings can take more than a year, the production time of the tapestry about three to five years. As this work grows, it can be observed and/or actively participated in its creation, whether in action with previous textile knowledge or as a financier.
Not only a comprehension of what has been created, but also an experience: “I myself can create”, could be profitable for all. This work can be created without electricity, gas or other energy supply, i.e. in pure daylight, and will transmit messages to posterity solely with human joy and creativity, which is stronger than all mechanised processes.
The loom is made of wood, the approx. 70 to 100kg of materials consist of natural materials such as: Wool, silk, linen, all compostable or recyclable and can last materially for around 1000 years or more given the right climatic conditions!
The message can convey a sustainable awareness about our BEING.
Closing words
By participating today, interested people are engaging with the theme of creation and this large-scale work! This is an invitation to dive into “A New View on Creation”, because everyone can be a creative creator, as it is not only about a creator, but about all of our deeds and conformities.
Shared responsibility and creativity can bring us closer to a goal, an “age of the living” for the realisation of all our futures! What happens when the meaning and magnitude of the spirit that created matter is understood? Are we then no longer slaves to a materialistic world, but cause over peace and freedom on our planet?
