The Asian Welder

begins within our own mind… the human responsibility to PEACE in this dynamic and degenerate world we live in today.

abacus of virtue (in japanese, soroban. was also defined as “the art of reckoning”) is a conceptual piece I created last year.  it is based on a Buddhist story about a monk who would collect white and black stones and count them at the end of the day to see how many virtuous vs. negative actions he had committed.  I loved this concept. as a very organized somewhat obsessive-compulsive type I could relate to the ritual and process of being mindful with the use of visuals. notice how the white beads escalate up and therefore the negatives flow down.

this is the “conveyer” at the junkyard that I rescued her from.  very broken and not resting in peace.  my idea was to re-new, recycle and re-use the parts that I could and add a new life or purpose to her existence. she was configured to replicate the japanese abacus not the traditional chinese.

i have a japanese mother who used an abacus daily and I can recall how the beads freely spun and made a pretty noise.  her fingers were nimble back then and they moved like wildfire! her calculations were always dead on, something that did not pass down in modeling or genetics!

PEACE is defined as the absence of hostility. We are not a world in this definition.  there are wars a plenty and not just between nations but amongst cultures, barrios, peoples, families, individuals…within our very own mind.

i’m doing my part with a smaller “abacus of virtue” and it is not easy…simple yes, but not an easy task as I add one more black bead up or down! it’s a great visual! with the larger one in my warehouse/gallery it can hold thousands of virtuous actions or…..