So there I was standing in line at the ice cream shop when I began to have some funny thoughts. I briefly questioned the unmanly glee I felt inside as I stood there waiting my turn to select the flavors. I should be fighting a war somewhere, I thought, pillaging some foreign land, instead I'm here waiting for an ice cream cone.
But then I had another thought. How come we’re always thinking about ourselves? Oh woe is us, humans. Us lifeforms in general, walking around as if inanimate matter doesn’t have any feelings or thoughts.
Looking around me, I saw men, women, and children with ice cream cones in their hands, bringing them up to their mouths then with the organ of taste called the tongue, they gave the cone a lick. And then another. Lick after lick. Nobody asked the cone for permission to be licked. They just assumed the cones didn't mind because they’re lifeless things. But what if they do mind? Perhaps they process intelligent signals differently, yet they're still living structures, or part of one at least.
We have tried to define life but things get hairy at the margins of the definition. Are atoms alive? Is light? What about the planet? People say Earth is alive like an organism, so it’s that just a metaphor? If it isn’t, then we find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of being part of a system that is alive, and which includes ice cream cones.
So, the more I thought about it, and the more I saw the tongues licking licking licking, the more concerned I became. After ordering my waffle cone with Pina Colada and Tiramisu ice cream, I decided to do something about this injustice.
My initial idea was to create some delicious looking ice cream cones. I did so, generating some great looking pieces. But I realized those images did not have what I was looking for, and indeed might even have the opposite effect of my intended intent. So, I began to experiment with faces until I got some interesting results.
Art is not just a tool of expression and entertainment. Of beauty and comedy. Art is a tool of change! Thus, I hope that I bring a little transformation within you. To stop before you stick out your tongue and lick that ice cream cone. Remember this post and the interconnectedness of all things.
Images generated by 