Siler's Art of Consciousness

Metaphorming: Revealing the Nature of Consciousness with Metaphorms

Fifty years ago, Artist (ArtScience) Todd Siler coined the words “Metaphorm” and “Metaphorming” to describe human/nature’s creative process. He says that these two verbs and nouns combine all forms of metaphor, analogy, comparison, signs, symbols, numbers, stories, allegories, figures of speech, euphemisms, premises, models, and other connection-making devices our brains/minds have been consciously using for millennia to communicate. Siler writes, “Of all the states of mind that have inspired my works of art over five decades, intuition rises above them all. I've always associated this mind-expanding creative process with a great power we all possess—a power that’s part of our genes—empowering us to grow and propelling us to evolve.”

Without consciousness, Siler says, there’s no mind—no art, no science, no technology, or humanity. Consciousness transforms us from aimless organic matter, like jellyfish adrift without purpose, into beings capable of reflection, creation, and empathy. It’s not just about existing but thriving with intention.

Conscience deepens this awareness. As we tap into our creative powers, material possessions lose their grip, making space for the immaterial—love. When science fuels the Arts & Humanities, civil society flourishes, revealing humanity's beauty and the marvel of civility.

[RLK Note: I met Todd at MIT in 1980, when he was a graduate student at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies and in a class in the Department of Psychology and Brain Science taught by Professor Stephan Chorover; I was the teaching assistant.]

Todd Siler's paintings and his descriptions follow - "Cerebralism": Rethinking Our Perspectives On Consciousness

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Remembering…It will never happen again. (1989) mixed media on synthetic canvas, 6ft. x 12ft. (Robert Lawrence Kuhn Gift to the Picower Institute for Learning and Remembering at MIT and The MIT Art Collection, 2016)

When we challenge ourselves to think as fast as light, anticipating our urgent, global challenges, invariably many of us wonder: Is it possible to create a higher conscious and conscientious civilization? Meaning, as more people become inspired by Nature and advancements in Art-Science-Technology, the more respectful of one another we become as human beings: embracing diversity, inclusivity and a real willingness to engage in creative collaborations that work to meet the needs of our One World. What would this “better world” look-n-feel like? Would we be more open-minded and resilient to continually improve life for the benefit of all? Would civilization still strive to strike a balance between the freedoms it serves to foster and protect, and the responsibilities its global citizens commit to caring for the world at large and locally? Would we aim to maintain our individuality while strengthening our commitments to community? Then I remembered…What we need to change systemically, while never forgetting: ”The Past Is Always Present In The Future”…It can always be improved in the continuum we all live in.

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Deciphering The Neural Rosetta Stone (1989) mixed media on synthetic canvas, 6ft. x 12ft. (Robert Lawrence Kuhn Gift to the Picower Institute for Learning and Remembering at MIT and The MIT Art Collection, 2016)

The Rosetta Stone, a historically significant artifact of the Ptolemaic dynasty (c. 196 BC), bears three inscribed versions of a decree written in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Ancient Greek, which were key to deciphering the hieroglyphics. As a Metaphorm, I’m connecting it to the various symbolic languages the human brain uses to communicate (with itself and with every body), which neuroscientists are learning to “decipher” using a wide range of neuroimaging and data-mining tools. These tools help us understand the complexity of the human “brainfinity” (our finite brain & infinite mind). To generate further insights into unsolved brain/mind mysteries, I use these basic questions which keep me up around the clock. I enjoy challenging myself to respond to series of questions while I’m painting and doing some serious lucid dreaming, such as: “What constitutes a creative process? Is this process the same in art as it is in science or pure and applied mathematics? Does it involve the whole brain or only a set of cognitive and affective abilities that perform almost seamless acts of creative-critical seeing and divergent & convergent thinking, all of which we associate with discovering, learning and innovating? My experiences lead me to believe: Creativity is any unconditioned response to familiar and unfamiliar things (stimuli, data, knowledge, concepts, phenomena, experiences)? One upshot: All art from all ages is “Contemporary Art” when seen with imagination!

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The Brain Theater of Imagination (1983) Monotype print/painting mixed media on synthetic canvas layered with several paintings and a white light hologram, 12ft. x 100ft. Installation view of “Metaphorming Nature” at The Boston Center for the Arts, 1990)

Created over a three day period on my sister’s horse farm in Andover, Connecticut, this “neuro-impression”of Nature’s creative process intimates how the human brain is connected to all of its creations: from the concept of "zero" to "infinity"; from processes of Prehistoric Art to practices of Postmodern Art; from an existential “theory of nothingness" to a mathematical “theory of everything"; from promising philosophies of peace to practical businesses of war, love and death. Searching the deep connections between our minds and what we make of them, this work of NeuroArt reveals how everything we've created since the beginning of time is a product of the human brain. How exactly, no one knows for certain. And yet, we intuitively know that every thing human-made reflects the brain's handiwork. Every problem we encounter is brain-related. Every solution we create as individuals, families, teams, groups, organizations, and nations is conceived by this compact network of neural tissue perched on everybody’s shoulder. When the layers of images are narrated with true stories and then projected on this giant cortical screen, they’re as dynamic as imagination can be—not static—like the evocative “Still” Life paintings by my two favorite Impressionist artists, Claude Monet and Camille Pissaro, and the incomparable Post-Impressionist, Vincent van Gogh. When my images are projected like film on this cross-sectional view of the human Diencephalon, they’re as effervescent and boundless as I experience them while painting the absorbing beauty of The Brain Theater.

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The Big Bang of Consciousness (1983) mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage, 3ft. x 25ft. x 1ft. Installation view: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY.

When did humankind first wake up to wonder: What enabled humans to start “questioning everything”? In the Paleolithic Age (2.6 million years ago), early mankind was clearly clueless about where all thoughts come from: “What brain?” In the New Stone Age (c. 10,200 B.C.), some minds were curious enough to know, “What is a brain?” By the early Bronze Age (c. 3500), we were aware enough to wonder, “What does a brain do?” Then, ancient (c. 470) philosophers wisely wondered, “What else can we do with a brain?” Hundreds of years later, the Greek physician Galen (in 177 A.D.) inquired, “How does the human brain work physiologically?” Relatively soon afterwards (1504), Leonardo da Vinci got to work on this great challenge: “How do the different parts of the human brain work?” Leaping far forward to the 20th century, the computer pioneer Alan Turing tackled this challenge: ”What can we do with a brain that works like a computer and vice versa?” In rapid succession, leveraging the advent of prototypic Thinking Machines, we’re now asking “What counts as understanding the brain’s potential, and measuring it?” As we courageously leap forward into the world of quantum computing, many advanced technology builders are asking, “What brain?” My three questions remain unsolved and deeper than ever: 1) “How is the human brain connected to everything it creates?” 2) “How are all of our creations connected to Nature, and how does Nature connect everything it creates?” 3) How do the neural mechanisms of thought influence the contents of thought?

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Envisioning the Evolution of Consciousness and Conscience, 2000-12, mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage, 5 ft. x 16.7 ft. x 7 in. (Collection of Peter Reynolds, Chicago, Illinois)

I’m conscious of human beings living their dreams of possibilities, experiencing flights of creative consciousness! I sense how these dreams uplift our minds above the boundaries many of us boxed ourselves in since early childhood. The higher our consciousness inspires us, the more deeply we wonder how far and freely we can soar—perhaps, beyond our belief systems, and before gravity brings us down to earth in ways we can neither number nor measure. In this instance, I’m picturing a world in which everyone raises one’s consciousness to see our world anew—inspired by insightful thoughts we now know better than ever before. But will we choose to deepen our sense of conscience, developed by natural law? Or will we just use the laws of nature we’ve learned over eons to build on—without thinking twice about it, or what we’ve built? Watching these layered questions stream from my mind-n-brain, which I’ve drawn on this work of NeuroArt, I’m wondering: Do you see me peering at you warmly, welcoming your thoughtful responses to these open-ended questions about our present future? Do you hear me inviting you to help us all understand what’s at stake for humankind as we willfully apply our creativity & destructivity equally?

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Grasping Synapses and Photosculptures from A.R.T.strings (All Representations of Thought) (2000-04) mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage, 5 ft. x 14 ft. x 18ft. (Courtesy of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY)

Synapses make everything we think-feel-act-do real: possible! They’re the fundamental “building blocks” of human nervous systems that enable curiosity, creativity, imagination, critical thinking, problem-posing & solving, invention & innovation, communication and consciousness! They enable us to Have a Life! “Grasping Synapses” illuminates this Reality: This nature of Nature.

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Envisioning the Power of Intuition (Papez Circuit) (2009-11). mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage, 5 ft. x 12 ft. x 4/

Humanature is strangely attracted to butterflies and chaos! Something I learned while reading about the “Lorenz Attractor” in Chaos theory. Over four decades ago, while exploring the art of human neuroscience, I had an epiphany: In the heart of every human brain exists this memory-making powerhouse of our Limbic System: The Papez Circuit. Here your thoughts-feelings-emotions-actions merge & emerge in milliseconds, and you can consciously experience the nature of creativity—if you’re aware of what you’re experiencing. In this area of the central nervous system, our affective & cognitive functions may instantly merge in the matrix of the brain. That premise formed in a flash of intuition (“cerebral fusion”): a term I coined that connects the creative process of the brain with the power of nuclear fusion: a process of stellar systems that shapes the universe we live in. It was “mind-blowing”..feeling this awesome power, and envisioning how it can be used to stoke our creative energies indefinitely—that is, if we choose to respect this great power. At that time, instantly, the World of “Metaphorms” became self-evident. I was conscious of my mind opening up to see them and make sense of them. I could feel their presence everywhere, once I realize: Metaphorms make up all of our symbolic languages and connection-making tools: Things we use to give purpose to our lives. And these things can be used in personally meaningful and powerful ways to do “good” and to stop us from doing the “bad and ugly” things we regret after the fact with the ring of conscience.

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The Sparks (Nucleons) and Roots (Neurons) of Consciousness (1982) mixed media on plexiglass 18in. x 15-45in. x 2.5in.

Cerebralists often echo one of Einstein’s insights, “Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.” Imagine getting everywhere anytime your mind’s open to going anywhere you care to go for any reason or intuition. Holding that thought in mind can take your imagination as far as you’re willing to go—letting your curiosity lead you, and as long as it sparks the creative engine in your vehicle of imagination as you joyride into the unknown frontiers of NewThoughts! All the while, it compels you to keep and open-mind as you adventure deep into the charted territories of the known world too: The Wilderness of Innovation. Re-searching the key role intuition and reason play in understanding “the world as we know it” (to invoke another truism of Albert Einstein) remains a catalytic source of inspiration for me—and, probably, billions of other kindred spirits passionate about experiencing the priceless rewards of learning and innovating in ways we may not know it! As this Metaphorm intimates, intuition and reason together catalyze breakthrough thinking, collaborative problem solving, inventing and innovating. Metaphorm It!

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The Brain Theater of Imagination with Thought-Assemblies” emerging from the Limbic Brain (1979-82, 2014), mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage, 9 ft. x 153 ft. x 35 ft. Installation view: CU Art Museum, University of Colorado, Boulder. (Collection of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT and The MIT Art Collection, Cambridge, MA)

More than a random stream of consciousness recording mere seconds of my reflections on the nature of human creativity, this NeuroArt interprets the structure and organic order or unity of thought. It presents an alternative perspective on the neuropsychology of creativity, combining many acts of creating, discovering, inventing, innovating, collaborative learning, and problem solving. It suggests that nature may be one interconnected creative process with myriad manifestations. The overall pattern of this Metaphorm resembles an EEG recording, indicating that the mental states (e.g., varying degrees of alertness and levels of consciousness) are closely correlated with the shape of the EEG (its frequency and amplitude). The mosaic of mental imagery documents ephemeral flashes of creative thinking. The apparent linearity of this artwork belies the non-linear, stochastic process of creativity. The information portrayed in this artwork consists of three interactive axes. Presented on the X-axis is information based on intuition and perception about the brain. Intersecting this plane is the plane mirror, or Z-axis, which reflects vertically above and below the X-axis. Above the X-axis, the information is abstracted and implied, entering the realm of art. Below the X-axis, qualifying and quantifying information is added, entering the realm of science. “Thought-Assemblies” indicates that analytic and artistic thought can proceed from the same frame of insight-perception and that these two modes of thought converge. As an exercise in topology, if the artwork were folded to form a tube and then the ends of the tube were brought together to form a torus, the farthest points at both ends of the X- and Y-axes would be contiguous.

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Radical Futures (1993) mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage and free-standing steel Central Nervous System (CNS) Icons,” 12ft. x 200ft. x 10ft. Installation view at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, NY)

An urgent message—hastily hand-written in charcoal on the wall at the entrance to the Ronald Feldman Gallery—reads: “Here / in the Neurosphere, in full view of / our intuitions and touch / hidden from the grasp of reason / live all visions / of evolution evolving / of humanature re-emerging and re / discovering itself. Here / unfolding in the infinite space of our minds / rise our futures / between the beats of consciousness… ”over millennia. Civilizations—visualized as abstract, dynamic creatures—rise and fall, toppling one another like dominos tumbling in the tides of time. Who knew that at the opening of this solo exhibition in SoHo, the first terrorist attack on the Twin Towers would happen ten blocks away from the Ronald Feldman Gallery! Everyone present in the gallery and in the chaotic streets surrounding us, were mortified, as frantic fire trucks and blaring police squads were instantly mobilized to rescue people near the bomb site. The horrific events that day sparked a systemic change that our whole world would shortly come to fear: dreading that our civilization may never recover from this incident. Our collective consciousness remained on “High Alert” until eight years later, when we dropped our watchful guard again.

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Metaphorming Ascension (2007-25). Panoramic view, mixed media on synthetic canvas with collage, 15 ft. by 58 ft. Installation view: The Madden Gallery, Museum of Outdoor Arts, Greenwood Village, CO.

Primordial thoughts of lifeforms from prehistoric times? Contemporary life revealing climatic environments in Post-modern times? What does all this “matter” mean to you, to me, to us, to our world as we evolve in ways we’re all forever challenged to imagine? I’m wondering how we humans have survived our “ascension”: ascending from countless masses of molecules evolving to amphibious Mudskippers, millions of years in the making; further evolving to Hominids a mere 360,000 years ago; and further, to intelligent beings capable of creating life-sustaining and life-threatening technologies born from the boldest imaginations? When did all that astonishing evolution happen? When will it end? In today’s Age of “ASI” (Artificial SuperIntelligence), I’m wondering: Will our optimism harbor enough hope to prevent us from destroying ourselves? Or will it enable us to appreciate this new Era of Enlightenment? No one knows. Not even our ASI machines we’ve invented to “know better” and, maybe, best of all. Why is everything we see a “Metaphorm”? How is that possible? Well, keep this fact tucked in your mind: “Everything that is possible today was once thought impossible,” as one anonymous awareness goes. Implying, everything human-made and nature-made can be connected or related to something else. That's how we’re all able today to create new meanings and purposes and uses for all things; that is, ever since the Big Bang of Consciousness occurred countless eons ago: when humankind started to think, began to create, proved we could innovate to survive, grow stronger and evolve in all hostile environments.

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Creative Consciousness: Neuroimpressions of Human Ingenuity, 2014, mixed media on synthetic canvas, 181 in. x 59 in. (Collection of Museum of Outdoor Arts)

Neural Fragments: “Gone With The Winds” of Human Central Nervous Systems,

2000-25, mixed media on synthetic canvas, 181 in. x 59 in.

Words flow in and out of the countless layers of paint while creating a story of human nervous systems experiencing life on all scales, dimensions, and spaces. As these elements of our symbolic languages give form to the Abstract Realism of the human brain, they mirror nature in every way imaginable. Since early childhood, I’ve been passionate about the biological, medical and physical sciences—recognizing their unmistakable presence in Art History and Fine Arts. I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to study these subjects in the 1970s at Bowdoin College and Smith College. At that time, they were quite compartmentalized subjects. It wasn’t until I was a grad student at MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies, where I was able to fully integrate these subjects in ways I had envisioned and refer to as the “ArtScience” process: combining the learning methods, creative inquiries and tools of the Arts & Sciences. They remain the main themes of my ArtScience explorations, which focus on the brain’s ability to connect everything it creates—and to build on these connections, adapting them to our world of changing environments.