Was the Shaman first curator of the ruby’s hidden language? If geology was the seat of power, how do the scientist, the artist facilitate that 'power transfer' today? Great piece, Aaron.
The shaman as first curator — I love that framing, and I think it’s exactly right. Every culture that assigned meaning to minerals was doing curation work: selecting, interpreting, transmitting significance. The scientist’s job was always to extend that tradition with better tools, not replace it with a different language that nobody else speaks. The artist’s job is to make the formation story feel like what it actually is — the most dramatic thing that has ever happened to a rock. When those two work together, the power transfer happens. Most of the time we’re still working in separate rooms.
Was the Shaman first curator of the ruby’s hidden language? If geology was the seat of power, how do the scientist, the artist facilitate that 'power transfer' today? Great piece, Aaron.
The shaman as first curator — I love that framing, and I think it’s exactly right. Every culture that assigned meaning to minerals was doing curation work: selecting, interpreting, transmitting significance. The scientist’s job was always to extend that tradition with better tools, not replace it with a different language that nobody else speaks. The artist’s job is to make the formation story feel like what it actually is — the most dramatic thing that has ever happened to a rock. When those two work together, the power transfer happens. Most of the time we’re still working in separate rooms.
So true. A unified room! Where the scientist’s tools and the artist’s lens collide — talk about a power play.