Thoughts Faster Than Light, 1985-1986

These fifteen drawings were the last series I produced in Victoria before moving back to Toronto in 1986. They were done with only black, white, grey and silver mixed-media on heavy 27 x 27 inch grey drawing paper. I was interested in finding ways to represent a pataphysical blending of apparent illustrations with seemingly plausible scientific theories, principles and assumed facts.

The drawings present the viewer with ideas that are themselves probably absurd, but which appear serious and illustratable. For example, the title of the series (and a particular individual drawing) suggests that the speed of thought is greater than 300 million kilometers per second, which is the speed of light. Ironically, I recently learned a car can travel faster than the speed of thinking. So much for pataphysics.However, the question raises a more fundamental scientific and philosophic consideration. Where do thoughts travel from and to? Do thoughts even travel? Or, do thoughts develop first in the unconscious mind and then appear instantly in the conscious mind without moving? Is this a measurement of time rather than speed? Can time be separated from speed? The answers to these questions have interesting implications for the various cerebral processes that artists indulge in as they make art.

This series was exhibited at Xchanges Artists' Co-op and Gallery in Victoria in 1986. All but two of the drawings are in private collections.