Pretentious Yet Pointless
Sol Aris has not described the aspect ratio of this sculpture. In this image Sol Aris depicts the relationship between dark and light. The figured figure indicates a division of space that parallels our innermost confusion. Sol Aris has not supplied the aspect ratio of this sketch. An important part of this work is the dominant angularity and horizontality contrasting strongly with the arena of contrasting tone and hue to indicate the spiritual dimension and its endless possibilities. This image is quintessential to one of the central preoccupations of Sol Aris's art, the creation of the impersonal forms and industrial colours where the outstanding aesthetic sensibility to the picture is the pattern of unconscious thought. The work shares not only Sol Aris's death-identification but also his cosmic perspective and obsession with power. The arena of contrasting summer and winter of Sol Aris's previous works are still present, but entirely altered. The major feature of Shaker æsthetics is that it enables the viewer to define the composition in terms of dimensionality, rather than weight. An interesting side of this image is the dominant angularity and horizontality contrasting strongly with the shapes of the painting. The sculpture shares not only Sol Aris's death-identification but also his cosmic perspective and obsession with power.
A particularly contentious aspect of this picture is the impersonal forms and industrial colours contrasting strongly with the arena of contrasting beer and happiness so clearly visible.
In Shaker æsthetics, the visual phenomena of the manifest world are, in themselves, empty: the important thing is feeling, as such. An interesting aspect of this particular painting is that it is a reflection of the process of creation. Of a sudden, we see the diagonal axis representing power and authority curve back and forth, suggesting inconstancy.
``Paradoxically, this work, which has such an assertive and fascinating physical presence, simultaneously undermines its physical reality by the way in which it reflects, and thus elides or blends with, its surroundings.''
[Tate Gallery Guide, 1990, p.262]