Metaxy
On the Art of Simultaneity
I’ll never forget being in Oliver Vernon’s Brooklyn loft back in 2003(2004?), marveling at his multi-perspectival, large-scale paintings scattered around the loft. We were getting into a philosophical jam, and he lit up in telling me how important the world “simultaneity” was to him. It really struck me at the moment, and the memory has never left. Indeed, simultaneity is a key to unlocking the door to a more integral, holistic Consciousness stage. By smashing together so many different visual points of perspective at the same time, OV’s work is truly the embodiment of this word.
Dwelling on it thrusts you straight into NOW, transcending and including the polarity of samsara. To this day, Oliver is my favorite living painter and I couldn’t be more proud to call the above image my very own. That painting has, quite literally, changed many lives.
Plato explored simultaneity with the idea of “Metaxis” or “Metaxy” (μεταξύto), used to describe this liminal state of “in-betweenness” or “middle-ground” that is a unique characteristic of humans being-in-the-world. Particularly, he spoke of this liminality between the human and Spiritual realms, where the human mind is the real-time interface between these seemingly distinct worlds.
Metaxy finds us standing between while embracing perceived dualities; freedom and determinism, love and fear, intuition and reason, self and other, past and future, and so on. Of course, it is difficult for most humans to embrace the simultaneity of Metaxy, often choosing one pole or the other and arguing for its truth, its opposing pole being “wrong”.
Metaxis is therefor synonymous with “Integral,” or the ability to perceive and understand multiple perspectives simultaneously. With it, we have yet another example that Plato was the root of the entire tree of Western thought. Simply incredible to fathom.
Here’s some more Oliver Vernon works for your Metaxy enjoyment!
Love,
jb
